Midtown Lunch

When I heard the Red Hook Lobster Truck was serving a Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato sandwich with lobster, I eagerly awaited for them to show up again in Midtown. Perhaps the excitement stemmed from my rebellion against my Jewish upbringing or maybe it’s just the fact that bacon and lobster are two of the most delicious things in the entire world.

The truck finally rolled in to Midtown on Friday and I decided to head over there early just in case they were shut down by the cops. Somehow, they seemed to make it through the day. They were there at 12:30 when I arrived and they were still out when I walked by a few hours later.

Read more »

This has been a tough few months for anybody who likes eating from food trucks, but the most recent crackdown in Midtown East has hit me particularly hard because I just discovered the Jerk Pan Truck! And it pains me to think that they might be forced to leave their current spot (48th & Park).

Read more »

The $10 lunch special bibimbap at Miss Korea. Photo by Pabo76

• Food Gallery 32’s Crepe Monster makes a good crepe [Feisty Foodie]
• Here’s what you missed at the last ML Happy Hour [Tasty Eating]
• Chipotle’s pinto beans aren’t vegan?  The horror!!!!! [Gothamist]
• And the tofu at Szechuan Gourmet isn’t as good as the pork belly (shocker!) [SENY]
• Veloce Pizzeria is moving to Midtown [Grub Street]
• A city council woman wants to force food trucks to carry tracking devices [West Side Rag]
• Qi Bangkok Eatery has some good bar bites [SENY]
• Wahoo’s Fish Tacos has signed a lease in Kips Bay [Grub Street]
• A morning in the life of the Mexicue truck [FeastNY]

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” posts 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.

The first time I visited to Bierhaus I brought with me a large group of revelers. The rustic banquet style wood tables, communal atmosphere and liter sized Hofbräus lent themselves perfectly to a night of brats and brews. If you haven’t been here yet, then maybe Saturday is the day to bear the wurst Bierhaus has to offer at their first Bierfest drinking competition. Stop by tomorrow from 2:00pm to 6:00pm and join in on the festivities which include playing quarters, flip cup, beer pong and a Masskrugstemmen competition. Can’t make it this weekend? A second event is set for August 27th with the finals held on Thursday, September 1st. Register now to grab a space at www.bierhausnyc.com/bierfest. You have to pay to play, but beer specials and a 15% discount will be added to any team check.

It never fails. As soon as I go out of town for a couple weeks, some sort of amazing deliciousness pops up at home. This time, it’s Cannibal, the new butcher shop and lunch counter from the folks at Resto. Urban Daddy reports that the shop may be open right now and will be serving interesting deliciousness like cow tongue pastrami, boudin noir and a pig’s head cuban sandwiches. I’ve long been a fan of Resto’s pig face sandwiches, but it breaks the ML price limit pretty easily. Their booth in the Madison Square Eats this spring managed to slip in just at the $10 mark. Hopefully, this sandwich-focused service will offer something as economical.

Cannibal, 113 East 29th St. Between Park & Lex. 212.686.5480

This tiny rice ball shop seems to be always packed during lunch time and that’s why I have always ignored it. I had tried it back in 2004 but I don’t remember what I thought about it then. I do love Japanese rice balls because they’re cheap and are great little snacks (I get them all the time at Cafe Zaiya). One day I found myself craving for Japanese food and was thinking about going over to Dainobu but it started to rain so I ran into Oms/b instead.

Read more »

Every Friday our man UltraClay goes south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch. He’s out of the country this week, so Blondie has graciously stepped in to take over.

When you first look at Terry’s Gourmet (6th Ave btw 16th+17th), it looks like any other steam-table deli. And if it hadn’t been for a Trinidadian friend of mine tipping me off to Terry’s off the menu item, we’d never know that Terry’s offers up some of the only West Indian food in the area. Every day, they offer a few types of West Indian curry, that can either be combined into a platter or made into that wonderful Caribbean burrito, the wrap roti.

Read more »

From here on out we will officially refer to food truck crackdowns as “shitnanigans”.  Also, I’m picturing the theme song from Superman playing the background… let’s show them our support!

The dining options in Grand Central are about to get a lot more interesting with Tri Tip Grill and Shake Shack set to occupy nearby spots in the downstairs concourse of the station. Working in Rock Center I’ve become a fan of Tri Tip and I’ve been curious how they’ll operate in the old Central Market Grill space. We checked in with the owner Dave Kassling, who gave us a peek at the rendering of the new space.

Read more »