Midtown Lunch

Making jokes about how dirty Tad’s Steaks is standard practice around these parts. After all, any place that serves steaks within the Midtown Lunch price range is bound to raise some eyebrows. But Zach was a huge fan, and the DOH agrees as the 47th and 7th location is proudly displaying an A in their window. Maybe this will finally put to rest all those nasty rumors about Tad’s making people sick. Making people dodge falling light fixtures is a different story, of course.

The day after Crisp announced that they’d be taking their falafel from storefront to the street, we got some bad news from a tipster regarding the M.I.A. Daisy May’s BBQ Cart. “Just wanted to give you guys a heads-up – I noticed the Daisy May’s Cart on 50th St. has not been there for the past couple of weeks and finally decided to give the restaurant a call. It turns out that they’re not doing the cart anymore — a big loss for Midtown lunch options, in my opinion. You guys should spread the word – maybe if enough people request it they’ll bring it back!”  Sad news from one of the original gourmet food carts to launch from a brick and mortar.  Daisy May’s used to pull their carts off the streets when the weather got bad, but this sounds a bit more permanent.  Here’s hoping it’s not! UPDATE IN THE COMMENTS: The cart might be back on April 1st?

Do you wonder what the ML contributors do when they’re not eating lunch in Midtown? (They’re actually pretty easy to stalk!)

Blondie was at the Doughnut Plant in Chelsea over the weekend where she discovered a new oatmeal doughnut,  Ultraclay was surprised by how much he liked Hanson Dry in Clinton Hill, and  Donny enjoyed the disco fries at the original Bill’s Bar & Burger in the Meatpacking District. Also, Brownie needs your help winning a pie contest (please vote for her!)

In the rest of the ML Universe… I used lent as an excuse to eat a bunch of fried seafood in Los Angeles, Jamie took a bus from Philly to Flushing where she ate at the notably awesome Friendship Shopping Plaza, and  Andrea is giving away a dinner for two at The Harrison ($120 value) over on our Downtown site.

For the past two years we’ve been hearing grumblings about the formation of a lobbying group headed up by the owners of the Rickshaw Dumpling Truck, and this morning the Wall Street Journal has confirmed that it’s official!  According to the article, the association has 32 food truck members (22 of which are listed on their website) and their initial goal is to push for a speedier licensing process “and the right to park and vend at metered spots”.  Sounds good to us!  Anything that makes it easier for food trucks to park in Midtown is alright in our book, provided it doesn’t end up unfairly hurting old school food truck vendors (who are conspicuously absent from the association) or make it easier for the food truck business to be overrun by large fast food companies.

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Friday, March 25 marks International Wafel Day and once again Wafels & Dinges will offer a FREE WAFEL to customers “fully dressed in our Belgian tri-color on Friday, March 25.” That’s black, yellow, and red. This is seriously upping the ante from last year when you only needed to wear yellow. No word on if a black, yellow and red post it note tie will cut it (though I’m guessing not with the “fully dressed” requirement.) Freeloaders, check your closets!

Yesterday, Schnitzel & Things finally became a bonafide brick-and-mortar (3rd btw 45th+46th), and the line was out the door. The new space allows for a larger menu, a much faster line, and cookies! Though I wasn’t there as early as the third customer, Donny, I did make it over before the lunch rush to get my schnitz on.

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When Roll and Go (38th and 8th) opened a few months ago, it seemed like the kind of place I usually avoid. I’m of the opinion that if you’re serving shawarma and pizza alongside made-to-order sushi rolls, chances are none of it is all that good. Jack of a few trades, master of none. And if adding $1 pizza to your menu months after you open is an indication that business isn’t going so great, than clearly I’m not the only one who isn’t interested in $5.45 tuna rolls. In a move clearly meant to poach business from compete with the 2 Bros. across the street, Roll and Go has by started selling $1 slices of pizza. Can they make a dent in the $1 pizza empire’s business? Only time will tell (we doubt it).

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