Midtown Lunch

Got super excited when I saw this on the Twitter Tracker this morning… thinking that the Vendy Award finalists had been announced. No such luck though! It appears as if the Comme Ci Comme Ca truck jumped the gun a bit on the announcement. The Street Vendor Project makes videos about each of the vendors, so the finalists always find out a bit before we do. If it does turn out to be true, a big hearty congrats to Chef Samir! (I guess nobody said anything to him about keeping it a secret?)

Oh, and if you haven’t bought your tickets yet for the September 24th event at Governor’s Island you might want to get on that. There are less than 40 General Admission tickets left. Scratch that. General Admission tickets are now sold out! But there are still early admission tickets left ($145) and sponsorship packages come with tickets, making sponsoring the Vendys not much more expensive than buying tickets directly (plus you get to support a great cause.)

This past Monday, Beer Table Pantry (an outpost of the popular Beer Table bar in Park Slope) finally opened in Grand Central. If you’re a fan of Beer Table (like I am) and have been happy with their well curated list of local and imported beers then you will not be disappointed. Check out what you can expect to see and buy after the jump.

Read more »

What is the deal with the Korean fried chicken on the 2nd Floor of 314 Fifth Avenue? Originally it was a Bon Chon location and then the name changed to Mad For Chicken. Then in another push for re-branding the restaurant became known as Mono + Mono. After that music pub/eatery closed back in February, there has been silence on the chicken front. Now, it looks like a sign for Mad For Chicken has appeared again in the window. I attempted to go upstairs but the security guard wouldn’t let me, saying the restaurant was not open yet. When I asked when it would open, he said, “Later.”

A call to the Mono + Mono phone number re-directed me to the East Village location where the hostess there had no information about the possible re-opening of Mad For Chicken. I also called the Flushing location for Mad For Chicken, but again no answers. Why is everybody keeping so quiet about the fate of this restaurant? Could it be an attempt to make this a “hidden gastropub” once again? Doubtful but who knows. Anybody have any insider info?  Let us know in the comments…

When I heard that the old Bai Cha space was being re-purposed as a Latin food spot, called ‘OUT’ I was both excited and hopeful. To be frank, Bai Cha was plain out awful, and as much as the food scene in Hells Kitchen has improved over the past few years, the area still needs a serious culinary kick in the ass. A few weeks ago I paid a visit to Bai Cha’s replacement (I confirmed that OUT’s owner is different than Bai Cha’s as well), and found that unfortunately, it seems that any restaurant space occupying 710 9th Ave may be doomed to mediocrity.
Read more »

Thanks to Lunch’er Harry for posting this little tip in the forums… a new burger truck popped up on 55th and Park Ave. on Friday called Wall St. Burgers. All we know is what’s on their website. Grass fed angus burgers, crispy chicken wings, tempura battered onion rings, seasoned curly fries, and it’s called Wall St. Burgers because the owner quit his job on Wall Street to open the truck (a storyline we’re starting to get a little sick of, but we’ll reserve total judgement until we taste the burgers.)

Ironically enough, while this new truck was testing the waters of Midtown East, a few older trucks were getting kicked out of their spots…

Read more »

Schnipper’s photo courtesy of Tasty Eating

• The sloppy fries at Schnipper’s are fantastic [Tasty Eating]
• KalBQ‘s kimchi taco has too much lettuce [Fork in the Road]
• Coolhaus ice cream sandwiches are now $6!? [Blondie and Brownie]
• Liza hits up Kelvin Slush for one of her great videos [Food Curated]
• Alfama has a Portuguese bread kiosk in the front of the restaurant [GS]
• Ma Peche defeats Mailaino to move on in the BIB [Eater]
• Chipotle on 9th leaves a lot of guac wreckage in the sewers [Observer via Eater]

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 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.

So we all know the drill. It was a crappy day at work, your boss was being a real jerk, and when you finally get out of the office, the heat and humidity make it feel like it’s 1,000 degrees. All you want is a cold drink in an air-conditioned place. So you just go to wherever is closest. Well I’m here to urge you to use caution, because sometimes… IT’S A TRAP!!!!!!

Read more »