Midtown Lunch

Nothing about Beacon (on 55th btw. 5+6th) says Midtown Lunch, but we do like their burger… and their latest deal is kind of too great to pass up. All day long at the bar (the regular bar, not the burger bar) $19.95 will get you 2 drinks (house cocktail, wine or beer) and a burger or wood oven pizza.  Out of the Midtown Lunch price range?  Sure… but if you’re looking for a liquid lunch, or a kick ass happy hour/dinner deal, you’re not going to do better than that in Midtown. [via Wined and Dined]

Related:
Beacon’s Burger Bar Attempts to Gain Coveted Midtown Lunch Status
NYMag: Beacon Has One of the Best Burgers in NYC

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.

After a recent trip to the Famous Halal Guys (formerly Shendy’s) on 52nd btw. 6+7th I ended up doing a little walking around and noticed Whiskey Trader on 55th Street. I peaked in and saw a dimly lit bar sunken a good five or more steps down into the bottom floor of the tall building. Similarly, the guys crowded at the bar were deeply down into their 5th drink. I hesitated, but went with my first instinct and shyly took a seat and feigned interest in the soccer game being shown on many flat screens. Then unexpectedly, the Sex Pistols blasted out the speakers, the conversations grew louder and things got way more interesting.

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Ouch.  Nothing like ending your biggest PR week of all time with a little Department of Health action.  Lunch’er Alvin spotted this in the window of the new 2 Bros Pizza location on 38th and 8th.  It’s too soon for the inspection to be posted on the DOH website, so we have no idea why they were closed- but with a new place like this it’s probably something stupid, like not having the proper sink installed.  No word on when they will reopen…

UPDATE: The owner just checked in with an explanation… and surprise! It is something stupid.

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Sad sad news from Lunch’er “Cecil” yesterday…

“My coworkers and I were grouping together to order some Indian Pizza from Bombay Eats on 52nd Street. Sadly, when we called, the owner picked up and said they lost their lease and are no longer in business. You could hear the construction workers breaking down the restaurant in the background. A sad day for Midtown Lunch.”

That’s upsetting. Their saag and tandoori chicken topped pizzas were one of a kind. (And nothing at all like what passes for “Indian Pizza” in Queens.) There is a rumor floating around that the spot is going to be turned into a ramen joint, but nothing has been confirmed…

Related:
Saag Paneer Pizza? Bombay Eats Has Got You Covered
Indian Pizza Meetup Unlocks the Mysteries of Bombay Eats

I guess there is something about today’s gorgeous weather that screams lobster roll! (Well, that and the fact that it’s Lent.)  Both Cer Te (on 55th btw. 5+6th) and the Urban Lobster Shack (in the basement food court on 3rd btw. 49+50th) are reporting (via twitter) a larger than normal number of advance orders this morning.  In other words, if you want a lobster roll today you might want to get on it now…

Related:
Other Lenten Lunch Options on Midtown Lunch
Urban Lobster Shack’s $10 Lobster Roll Is Worth the $$

Now that Downtown has its very own section of the site, what are we going to post on Fridays at 10am? Answer… how about a new column devoted to those lunches just south of the ML boundaries. Please give a warm welcome to Jason Lam from the blog Me So Hungry. Every Friday at 10am he’ll post about lunches in Murray Hill south, Grammercy, Flatiron, and everything in between… or as we’ll call it from now on: Flatiron Lunch.

Midtown Lunch has been all chicken wings, all the time this week.  And all this talk about Kyochon and Cravings and Woorjip really had me craving some Asian fried chicken. I had almost all but forgotten about Tebaya in our hood. It’s not Korean, but Japanese and their signature chicken wings are tasty… but their fried chicken sandwiches are even more awesome.

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Thanks to Lunch’er “Nick” for passing along this one.  He was walking by Rock Center yesterday, where they were handing out flyers asking people to audition for a new show called “America’s Top Restaurant.  It’s from the producers of Top Chef, and the show is going to pay to turn somebody’s idea for a restaurant into a franchise. They’ll be at the NBC Experience store today (Friday) and tomorrow (Saturday) from 10am to 2pm scouting for people and apparently you don’t even have to cook or anything… you just have to have one good idea.  Maybe Lunch’er “Jim” will pitch his Thai food cart idea. What do you say Jim?! We’re behind you…  You can get more details about the auditions here.

• Would you eat a shrimp and mayo taco? [Midtown Eating]
• Help ML contributor Brownie win a contest, and she’ll give you pie [Miscellaneous]
• If you had read the forums yesterday, you would have gotten a free burrito [Midtown Eating]
• Are Happy Meal’s so stuffed with preservatives that they equal Twinkies?!? [Miscellaneous]
• Saturday March 20th is Macaron Day! [Eating in Other Areas of NYC]

“Here’s a menu… come back on Saturday”

From Lunch’er Alyssa in the ML Inbox: “Just went out to get Kyochon (on 5th btw. 32+33rd) today and was informed that they’re closed for the next two days to retrain all of the employees due to the poor reviews they’ve received. Further proof that all those too-early reviews just ruined it for everyone else.” Clearly, your voices have been heard.

Related:
The Really Early Word on Kyochon
Cast Your Judgements on Kyochon Now That It’s Open For Lunch (That’s Right… You Read That Correctly)

I’m sure it sounded brilliant coming out of the mouth of some overpaid marketing consultant (“what better way to cure a post St. Paddy’s day hangover”) but a 7-9:30am free food alert!  What were you guys thinking?  Those who did manage to stumble into work on time today were treated to a delicious free breakfast (and virgin bloody mary) courtesy of Tabasco on 48th St., but according to neenabee there was absolutely no line (a stark contrast to the NBC free food trucks back in February.)  I wonder how the downtown location fared… they got a far better Noon time slot!