Midtown Lunch

The new Au Bon Pain opened in the subway station beneath Rock Center yesterday (in the old Sbarro’s space), and if you forgot to stop by and grab your free tumbler they supposedly will have more today. Of course we’d never eat lunch at ABP, but they do make some decent cookies… and if you like their coffee, apparently the free tumbler gets you some sort of discount.  They will supposedly be giving them out between Breakfast and Lunch, or you can just go in and ask for one (although we can’t guarantee that will work.)

Thanks to Lunch’er Spacegirl for sending in this photo of the new 2 Bros Pizza location opening on 8th Ave. and 38th.  They’re running a few weeks late, but should be open any day now.  (Just waiting on one last gas permit from the city…)

Related:
2 Bros Pizza Opening Two More Midtown Locations
$1 Slice Alert: St. Marks’ 2 Bros. Pizza is Officially Open

Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Rachael, a publicist who loves eating BLTs in the summertime.

Name: Rachael

Age: 29

Occupation: Publicist

Where in Midtown do you Work?: CUNY Grad Center 5th and 35th

Favorite Kind of Food: Nachos. Also: raw tuna belly, oysters, fried chicken, pomegranates,
concord grapes, homemade pickles, cheeseburgers, Bun thit nuong, street cart cinnamon buns

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Pre-made sandwiches, gummy ice cream, overboiled eggs.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Spicy Masala Dosa at Minar (on 46th btw. 6+7th), Chocolate rice donut from Zaiya (on 41st btw. Mad+5th), Falafel Laffa from Olympic Pita (38th btw. 5+6th), Lazarras (38th btw. 6+7th), and of course there is the always fun game of chicken and rice plate roulette.

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It’s become a Midtown Lunch tradition to spend Fat Tuesday eating a fried shrimp po’boy at the Grand Central Oyster Bar Take-Out window, one of the closest examples of NOLA food achieved in this South-hating city. And this tradition isn’t going to die on our watch, but for this Fat Tuesday I wanted to explore the other Bayou-inspired item from said window, the Cajun Fried Rock Shrimp Sandwich with Creole Sauce. It’s like a po’boy in muffuletta clothing.

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4Food, the crazy new chain concept that plans on “de-junking” fast food by serving doughnut shaped hamburgers filled with healthier fillings, has announced an opening date for their first location. According to their twitter account, the first location of 4Food will open April 19th on Madison Ave. and 40th Street, and they are looking for volunteers to taste test their french fries this Sunday. Just call the phone number above if you’re interested in being one of their guinea pigs.

Related:
New “WTF” Burger Concept: 4Food To Bring Doughnut-Like Burgers (With Vegetable Centers) to Midtown

Photo courtesy of Ultraclay!

• An argument has broken out over how “Japanese” Izakaya Moku is [Chowhound]
• Looking for a Valentine’s Day reservation at the Midtown White Castle? [Grub Street]
• In case you’re not sick of reading about the CookieBar… [Blondie and Brownie]
• Get free desserts on Sunday at Noon in the Time Warner Center [Dessert Buzz]
• Congrats to Ed Levine and crew on their new book deal! [Grub Street]