Midtown Lunch

Yesterday afternoon the doors swung open to Flavortown Guy’s American Bar & Grill in Times Square (on 44th btw. 7+8th), but not in time for lunch. Which makes today their very first lunch service. How could we not? Our intrepid reporter @samkimsamkim is on the scene reporting live…

12:02pm – Ready for Flavortown!

12:03pm – Yes, that is a electronic menu outside of the restaurant… complete with Guy Fieri clips. Mesmerizing.

12:05pm – There are a surprising number of solo diners in suits. Surprised there aren’t more tourists. Not surprised that Guy Fieri fans who have to go opening day have no friends.  (This will surprise nobody, but I too found it difficult to find somebody to go with me.)

Alright… let’s take a look at the menu.

Read more »

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 Christian, a Marketing Director who hates bodega sandwiches but might be eating a horsemeat sandwich in this photo.

Name: Christian

Age: 34

Occupation: Marketing Director

Where in Midtown do you work? Near Bryant Park

Favorite Kind of Food: Oh man, where to start! I’m a Southerner by raisin’, and I’ve always been partial to fried chicken with hot sauce. But I could also eat Thai food at just about every meal. Cheeseburger with jalepenos are a perpetual favorite. And who doesn’t love a good taco slathered in salsa verde? I guess my favorite food is spicy and calorie-laden.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: I actually like sandwiches a lot. But crappy, generic bodega sandwiches? They are the worst.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: The twice cooked pork from Szechuan Gourmet (on 39th btw. 5+6th) is awesome. I eat the Zach combo from Biryani Cart (on 46th & 6th) once a week. But the pernil from Sophie’s on 45th between 5th and 6th avenues may be my #1 choice.

Read more »

2012 Vendy’s Finalist, Uncle Gussy’s, has made a name for themselves doing traditional Greek dishes–homemade loukaniko (Greek sausage), pastistio, and of course, pork chops with lemon potatoes. And of course they do the typical Queens style greek souvlaki on a stick with salt and lemon juice. But did you know they also do a shrimp souvlaki as a lunch special!?  And it’s anything but typical Greek food… Read more »

Last week Mark Bittman took on white table cloth restaurants in the New York Times, an article that wouldn’t normally catch our attention. Except for the fact that he spent the entire second half off the article extolling a Japanese hole in the wall in Midtown that he loves so much he refused to tell anybody what it was called. Thankfully he leaves enough clues that we should be able to figure it out…

My place right now is a Japanese hole in the wall. (I’m keeping it that way by not naming it. Sorry.) There’s no celebrity chef, no publicity, no hipness other than that exuded by the young servers. It couldn’t be less trendy and to prove it, I’ll tell you that: a) it’s in Midtown, and b) it’s populated almost exclusively by expat and visiting Japanese. I suspect it’s in a Japanese guidebook to New York.

How did I find it? It’s across the street from the back door of what was once my building. It’s ugly: the tables are Formica, with standard cafe chairs; the napkins are paper; and the cash register, which is at the back of the kitchen, is wrapped in plastic to keep the grease off the keys.

More, after the jump…

Read more »

If you were hoping to be one of the first ones to eat lunch at Guy Fieri’s new Times Square T-Shirt shop (which also happens to serve food) you were very disappointed today… they’re not open yet. Our man @samkimsamkim was on the scene during lunch hoping to score some grub, but all he got was photos of tourists taking photos in front of the restaurant. It has begun…

Between watching groups of out-of-towners do their best Guy Fieri poses in front of the restaurant, Sam  found out that they plan on opening at 4pm today.

Yagura (41st btw. Mad+5th) is the most unassuming Japanese grocer in the 41st street trinity tetrad, once called the “ugly duckling” of the group by Donny. It’s true, there is no fancy sign to herald its existence. In fact, I had to double check with the staff that it was, in fact, Yagura. It’s a favorite in my office for its value.

Read more »

Get excited, Num Pang fans, the next in the “chefs give back” sandwich series will be the Cardoz Pang, a collaboration with none other than chef Floyd Cardoz (of Tabla and North End Grill fame, not to mention the winner of Top Chef season 3). According to Grub Street, the sammie includes black pepper lamb braised in yogurt and spices on a toasted semolina baguette with chili yogurt, pickled red cabbage, carrots, cucumber, fresh cilantro, and mint. Launching on Wednesday, the Cardoz Pang will run you $9.25, $6 of which go the Young Scientist Foundation.

Related:
“ABC Pang” Launches at Num Pang Tomorrow
“Batali Pang” To Hit Num Pang Next Week

Photo courtesy of Robyn Lee/Serious Eats New York.

• A look at Cer Te’s new lamb hot pocket [SENY]
• Okadaman’s okonomyaki is good despite being pre-made [EIT]
• A bagel and lox from Ess a Bagel is totally worth the splurge [Tasty Eating]
• Uncle Gussy’s portokalopita is damn good [Eat to Blog]
• Get a tour of Guy Fieri’s new Times Sq. restaurant…[Eater]
• … and here’s a look at the menu [Eater]
• Big Gay Ice Cream Truck has a cookbook coming out… in 2014!? [Grub Street]
• Here’s where the dude form Crave Ceviche bar likes to eat in Midtown East [SENY]
• Bombay Fast Food and 2 Bros have come to a pizza compromise! [NYT]

Zeytinz, afavorite of many Profiled Lunch’ers and home of heavy bowls of bibimbap, has been temporarily shut down by the DOH. When the ML team stopped by earlier today, much grumbling could be heard from disappointed and disgusted deli-goers upon reading the sign on the storefront indicating it is being fumigated. According to the DOH website, the inspection took place yesterday, and the violations can be found after the jump (in consideration for those of you who prefer not to know.

Read more »