Midtown Lunch

 
Photo by Blondie and Brownie

• Doughnut Plant’s meyer lemon doughnuts are available at the Joe and the Art of Coffee inside Grand Central [Blondie and Brownie]
• Josh Ozersky thinks Schnipper’s is “obviously a hamburger restaurant, built on the model of the Shake Shack,” but falls short in the Burger Dept. [Feedbag]
• If you ask for it, you can get four flavors in one cup at Forty Carrots in Bloomingdales [SE:NY]
• City Lobster is selling $1 oysters as a recession special [Eater]
• There is a new gelato & crepe place opening just out of bounds in Midtown East [Miss Menu]
• The city of New York plans on closing parts of Broadway in the 30s and 40s to give lunchers more space to eat (if you can stand the tourists) [NYT]
• The 100% Healthy & Halal cart has unveiled a new look (and the greek salad is no longer “off-the-menu”) [Wined & Dined]
• A day in the life of a DOH inspector [NYT via Gothamist]

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe it was time to introduce a happy hour column to the site. Every week, our Happy Hour Correspondent “Mamacita” will post about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap. Today she writes about one of my favorite places in all of New York City, and surprisingly it’s in the heart of Midtown!

It seems like everyone knows about Sake Bar Hagi. This little Izakaya, on 49th btw. 6+7th, has been continuously packed since being reviewed in the New York Times in 2006, and even more unbearable since being profiled by Anthony Bourdain on the Travel Channel last year. Though there is little that hasn’t already been covered in other reviews, we just had to include it in our list of the best places in midtown to drink and eat for cheap! And with most small bites coming in at under $4, how could we not!?!

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Brian Williams was on the Daily Show last night, and during his interview Jon Stewart casually referenced Hallo Berlin, the German Restaurant on 10th Ave. whose famous cart parks on 54th and 5th Ave. So random! They were also making fun of Twitter, so you guys should like this one.

The video is after the jump, and the mention is about 6 minutes into the clip…

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In case there was any question (I’m not sure there was), the new sign for Famous Dave’s BBQ on 47th btw. 6+7th confirms that this place is going to be a big box tourist magnet.  They’re shooting for a March 10th opening, and I got a sneak peak at a menu.  It’s surprisingly reasonable for a Times Square bbq joint, but still too expensive to be a proper Midtown Lunch.  Sandwiches are $11, with a special $13 “Texas Manhandler” consisting of Texas beef brisket *and* hot link sausages, topped with hellfire pickles (sounds like my kind of sandwich!) The rib plates are $13 to $23, and combo plates are $17 to $22.

Maybe they’ll add some sort of under $10 lunch special that isn’t on the menu… if not, I probably won’t be checking this place out.

So it looks like you guys weren’t the only ones having trouble redeeming the free “one million sub” coupons at Quiznos.  This guy claims to have gotten his free sub on 34th St. in Midtown, but Consumerist has posted tons of complaints– including photos of “We Are No Longer Accepting the Coupon” signs, just like those described by ML commenters. And, of course, now they’re claiming that all one million subs have been given away, so the whole thing is over. Awesome. Great job Quiznos. (Worst… promotion… ever.)

Agreed. Twittering or blogging your breakfast is totally retarded. Now, lunch on the other hand. That is completely acceptable.

*******THIS RESTAURANT IS NOW CALLED MAD FOR CHICKEN*********

All Photos by Daniel Krieger

When Bon Chon opened up a few years ago in Koreatown (on 5th Ave. just south of 32nd Street), it probably never intended on being a lunchtime destination. It was meant to be an Izakaya style restaurant, made for after work and late night drinking and snacking- in this case, on their much lauded Korean fried chicken. It looks more like a night club, or fancy restaurant, than a branch of KFC- and the service is not exactly conducive to a one hour lunch break. But, after many years of hearing complaints about the lack of Korean fried chicken in the area during lunchtime hours, Bon Chon clearly decided that it was time to capitalize on their popularity. And a few months ago, they opened for lunch.

It took awhile for this unbelievably exciting news to make its way to Midtown Lunch HQ, but once it did, I rounded up a crew and headed to Koreatown for some kfc action!

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Forget about vacuum packed sandwiches made in Massachusetts and shipped to Walgreens… this is what I’m talking about! From an Egyptian cart called the “Charcoal Grill” on 55th btw. Mad+5th, which also has “Egyptian sausages” (whatever that means.) Anybody sampled the liver sandwich from this cart yet?