Midtown Lunch

Photo courtesy of Food in Mouth

“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of the DoH grading system, I will fear no C grade – for I am the baddest mother***er in Midtown’s lunch desert.”

Just keep thinking that. Yes, there’s a very big and very present C grade on the DoH’s website for Rinconcito Mexicano, formerly Las Poblanitas, but after readin a review from Food In Mouth I felt like it merited a visit. If you have the gumption to frame the C grade, and the confirmed roaches, in the framework of a hidden gem from a pre-Giulianified Manhattan, you’re gonna find something better than good – you’re gonna find authentic.

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

Pulling Taffy with Salty Road in the latest Edible Brooklyn. Photo by Clay Williams.

Brian ventured to The Bronx to try the pastrami and corned beef at Liebman’s Deli, Rachel surveyed her recent sandwiches from ‘Wichcraft, Donny had the pork chop special at Uncle Gussy’s, Blondie had a Big Gay Root Beer Float, Brownie is making cakes based on T-Shirts from Threadless and my photos are in a feature in the latest issue of Edible Brooklyn.

Elsewhere in the ML Universe… Andrea recommends the doubles at Nio’s Trinidadian Roti downtown, Jamie’s got the scoop on a free lunch in Philly and Zach’s complaining about lunch in Los Angeles…again.

As ML overlord Zach Brooks has been saying for years, Food is the New Rock, and we’ve seen a trend of musicians getting into the food game, whether it’s Questlove getting his fried chicken on with David Chang, or musicians opening their own restaurants. And now the amalgamation of food and rock has reached across the Pacific by way of South Korea with Kristalbelli (8 West 36th Street between 5th & 6th Ave), a Korean restaurant with a diva’s pedigree – a production by legendary recording artist and producer, Park Jin Young (aka JYP).

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This Friday is the opening day of the New York Public Library’s exhibit “Lunch Hour NYC” at the Schwarzman Building (42nd+5th). Two years ago, curators Rebecca Federman and Laura Shapiro were told they could do an exhibit on any food-related topic and they kept coming back to the distinctly New York phenomena of the lunch break. I got a sneak peek at what’s in store and if you’re any kind of food or history nerd, you should definitely check it out. If you’re not, you should at least stop by to see the replication of an Automat plus a map with all the things that used to be in Midtown.

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• ANOTHER Potbelly is opening on 56th!? [Midtown Eating]
• Any good Chinese food trucks in Midtown? [Midtown Eating]
• This guy is eating nothing but street food for the entire month of June [Midtown Eating]
• Kristabelli is a good option for a group lunch [Midtown Eating]

Thanks to Lunch’er Harry for sending along this photo of the currently shuttered BK Whopper Bar in Times Square. I can’t imagine too many who read this site will be crying any tears over this, but if you’re interested DNAinfo has more of the story.

Every Tuesday we turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Kellie, a conference producer who loves spicy food and Mongolian BBQ.

Name: Kellie

Age: 28

Occupation: Conference Producer (and a foodie blogger on the side. Check me out at: www.iatenewyorkcity.com)

Where in Midtown do you work? 44th & 5th

Favorite Kind of Food: Anything spicy!! Mexican, Thai, Indian I LOVE chicken wings (extra crispy) and I eat a ton of soup…I always add crushed red pepper flakes to make it hot! I’m also obsessed with seafood. especially oysters!

Least Favorite Kind of Food: This one is hard… I eat pretty much everything and will try anything once! Creamed herring totally grosses me out though!

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Hale & Hearty – Awesome variety of soups! Food World (on 46th btw. Mad+5th) – I LOVE the Mongolian BBQ! Delish (on 44th btw. Mad+5th) – spring rolls are insanely good! Little Italy Pizza (on 45th btw. 5+6th) – really good veggie pizza! I am also a sucker for cart-food.

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