Midtown Lunch

Chicago based Argo Tea (aka the Starbucks of tea), will soon open in Columbus Circle! (On Broadway btw. 58+59th) Their first NY location opened some months ago in the Flatiron building and, I have to admit, I’ve been sneaking out of Midtown on occasion to freeload on wifi while nursing chai tea there. If you hate coffee/love tea there is a wide variety…  hot and iced tea, loose tea, tea pots, plus prepared foods like sandwiches, salads, and pastries. A lot of people won’t like the idea of another beverage chain taking over NYC street corners, but I can’t help but love them. Anyway, Grom is opening soon too right next door. And what better way to wash down delicious gelato than some delicious tea?

Remember how we told you that Metro Marche in Port Authority was going to become a Heartland Brewery? Well, it’s finally open! I know what you’re thinking: “Isn’t there a Heartland Brewery in Times Square… just two blocks away?” Yes, there is. But that one is for people who like drinking middling beer and eating overpriced pub food with tourists. This location is for those who like suburbanites, homeless people, and exhaust fumes! Get an inside look at the new space, and their menu here.

Photo Courtesy of Ramen & Friends

• Onya has a springtime plum udon special [Ramen & Friends]
• Is it possible K! Pizzacone could be getting better? [I Dream of Pizza]
• The menu for Shake Shack Midtown is up, and we’re getting a pretzel concrete! [Eater]
• Interesting interview with the owner of Five Guys [Inc.]
• Another look at the newly opened Tri Tip Grill [Feast]
• People who live in NYC actually eat at the ESPN Zone? Life With Food and Drink]

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so every Friday afternoon 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.

Blue Ruin turns 1 years old today. Yes, the big one-o has finally come around and Ruin has made it through the beginners trials of establishing a new bar and clientele in Hells Kitchen. It is a great moment for a saloon that was spawned from the dual efforts of Michele Gascoigne and Kal Narvilas, both veteran captains of previous NYC watering holes. The g-strings still hang off the brass lighting fixtures and the bartenders still captivate the patrons with a dominatrix’s touch that includes a hot lipped fire breather. Ruin will be pouring loaded libations all night and claims that anyone who shows up wearing only a diaper gets free drinks on the house.

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Thanks to Lunch’er “Pigiron” for the photo… If you’re in the Flatiron district, BLT’s new “Go Burger” truck is parked in front of BLT Prime (on 22nd btw. Park+Lex) today handing out free burgers from 1pm until they run out.  According to the New York Times you can plan on seeing this truck at street fairs all over the city selling burgers, hot dogs, and shakes (on Saturday it will be downtown, on Sunday it will be in Hell’s Kitchen). No word yet on whether the new truck plans on operating during the week (or in Midtown), but according to Eater it is the 12th and final step in street trucks becoming uncool. Don’t want to say we called it, but we kind of called it. (Got nothing against free food, though! Flatiron freeloaders, engage- and let us know how the burgers are in the comments.)

This week my lunchtime errands took me to a part of midtown I rarely visit: the garment district. I’ve seen Djerdan get some props in several Luncher profiles, so when I found myself within striking distance I had to check it out.
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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, Gramercy, Flatiron, and everything in between… or as we’ll call it from now on: Flatiron Lunch.

I was wondering how long I could keep my go-to lunch spot to myself. But now it’s time to give it up. The name’s Taste Good and it’s more than just another Chinese take-out spot. Not to be confused with the popular Malaysian restaurant in Queens, this Taste Good is on 25th St. between Broadway and 6th Ave. Their made-to-order menu is just common Chinese-American takeout, but at the heart is the Chinese home-cooking filling the steam trays at lunch time. It’s the kind of food that my parents made for their staff meals at their Chinese restaurant growing up …nothing that would ever be on the menu.

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