Midtown Lunch

The highly anticipated new Midtown Shake Shack (on 44th and 8th Ave.) might have soft opened on Saturday… but lunch today is their first real test. Ready to brave the madness? Our man Jeremiah is sending live reports from the scene to help you decide.

11:45 am – Just got to the brand new Shake Shack on 44th and 8th, and shockingly it’s not really mobbed at all. Maybe a dozen people in line. Pix 11 is here taping people order. I’m ready for my close up!

11:49 am – The line’s moving pretty quick and it’s decidedly not-hectic. Still probably less than 20 people in line.

11:50 am – Deciding what to order. I’m obviously getting. A burger… and a concrete. The question is, should I get a Chicago dog too?

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It looks like the Street Vendor Project’s program to help vendors accept credit cards has hit Midtown. Lunch’er “Ex_Flexitarian” noticed this sticker on the Kwik Meal cart last week.  Makes sense… Kwik Meal has always been the classiest (read: most expensive) Midtown cart.

Related:
Famous Halal Guys Say Cash Only!

The last few times I’ve gone to Little Morocco, the delicious street meat cart on the NE corner of 39th and 7th, I’ve asked for the kofta over rice and gotten a shake of the head in reply. I assumed they kept selling out. But yesterday I noticed that the kofta and fried shrimp had been duct taped. The guy running the cart told me that he’d stopped making the kofta because no one was buying it (seriously?!?), and that he’d bring it back if customer demand was there. This means two of the items that put Little Morocco on the map have been discontinued indefinitely. So, head down to Little Morocco and tell him to bring them back. We want kofta! In the meantime, maybe I’ll finally try the fish that Danny liked.

Thanks to Lunch’er Andy for the photo

Enjoy the sight above, because chances are it’s the last time you’re going to see the highly anticipated Theater District Shake Shack (on 44th and 8th) open and not completely packed.  Saturday night Lunch’er Andy sent word that the Shake Shack soft opened on Saturday, with NO LINE (probably because they told the New York Times that today was the big day.) Those bastards at the Shack may have cheated us out of the opening day festivities, but I guess we respect their attempt to get the staff up to speed ahead of what we all know is the real opening day… the very first day of Midtown lunching. We expect them to open today at 11 am, which means there will likely be a mob scene at…um… 11 am.  I plan on heading over just before noon, to see how things are going (and grab myself a burger.) Stay tuned to Midtown Lunch for live updates.

Photo courtesy of @TheFeastHQ

• Your first look inside the Midtown Shake Shack [FeastNY]
• The line for 88 cent pasta was very long yesterday [Eater;FitR;Grub Street]
• Eddie’s Pizza Truck takes way too long! [I Dream of Pizza]
• Another look inside Todd English’s food hall [The Atlantic]

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.

Summer time is grilling time, but unfortunately most of us don’t have a back yard Weber. That’s where Gyu-Kaku (3rd ave btw. 49th/50th) comes in, serving up Japanese BBQ to the midtown masses. Yakiniku is a DIY experience without the mess. The procedure is simple. Order plates of meat and then grill them to your own satisfaction. Or as our former president would say: You get to be the ‘decider’ in the extent of ‘grillification’ of your meat products. During lunch Gyu-Kaku has a few semi-worthy options, but their happy hour is a delectable meat fest with 50% off meats, $5 appetizers and drinks starting at $3 bucks.

Take a look after the jump Read more »

Couple of weeks ago there was a question in the forum about good bubble tea in Midtown. The other day I was walking by Shanghai Mong, a K-Town Korean/Chinese spot known for their jjajangmyeon (on 32nd btw. B’way+5th), and saw that they have bubble tea! They’re known as one of the go-to Korean-Chinese restaurants around k-town. Many are fans of their jjajangmyeon. What I never noticed was that they had bubble tea. So I investigated for the sake of possibly finding some good bubble tea. After inquiring about it, I almost choked at the price, $4.90. Seriously that’s gotta be one of the most expensive bubble tea prices that’s out there. They got the usual flavors like coconut and taro and some not-so-usual ones like blueberry and thai.

As a test for what they have to offer, I picked taro because it’s easy to measure this one against the one inside of the souvenir store. What came out was not what one usually consider bubble tea but it was more like bubble slush (a taro frappuchino with tapioca balls, if you will.) The taro flavor was strong. This option is enjoyable and refreshing for the hotter days of the summer The price is the main drawback but on the whole, it was still pretty good. (And not a bad choice in this weather…)

Shanghai Mong, 30 W 32nd St (btw. B’way+5th), 212-629-6450