Midtown Lunch

Mooncake Foods has been a great Midtown Lunch option for two years, now, and has become my go-to order spot when my days get so busy that I can’t leave my desk. I can confidently order just about anything on the menu and never feel bored or ho-hum about my lunch. The pork sandwich is a winner, and the spicy tofu bahn mi is a vegetarian treat, but what about a bahn mi-like smoked white fish salad hero?
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A whole year in the making, Smokey Burger Organic finally opened on 45th btw 8+9th at the top of the year. I stopped by to check out the menu and was a little shocked that it is nothing like anything in the area, when it comes to burgers. Not even close. Craving an elk burger or perhaps ostrich? Smokey Burger Organic has you covered … but it’s going to cost you. This is no Midtown Lunch.
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Photo courtesy of Tasty Eating

• Phil’s makes the philly cheesesteak we’ve all been hoping for [Tasty Eating]
• The bun is one of the best parts about Schnipper’s cheeseburger [Pink Pig]
• Starbucks vs. Midtown Coffee Cart [Reddit via Eater]
• The al pastor cemita at Tulcingo del Valle is a great lunch [SENY]
• Check out B&B’s street food book cover! [Blondie & Brownie]
• Rize is a coffee oasis in the heart of Midtown [Ramen & Friends]
• Spring is suing the landlord of his building for scaffolding intimidation [DNAinfo]
• Barclay Rex tobacco shop is being turned into a burger joint [Jeremiah’s Vanishing NY]

Back in September, I had the privilege of giving LT burger a first look for lunch. Although the $10 burger with no fries or cheese didn’t quite qualify as a Midtown Lunch, I noticed the 5-7 pm happy hour didn’t look so bad with $5 Hoegaarden Witte, Brooklyn Seasonal, Ommegang Hennepin, Sixpoint Sweet Action, and… Bud Light! This week we went to try it out.

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You may have wondered, as Luncher Vic did in an email we received, what was going on with the original Kwik Meal cart this week. Some days it’s been missing and on other days there was a much smaller cart in its place, serving the same food and bearing the same logo. Well, the mystery is solved. The cart is at its biennial inspection and on certain days, the guys have been able to rent a smaller cart to operate. Let’s hope everything moves quickly and easily at the inspection so they are back on the street permanently again soon. Owner Muhammed Rahman ensured us they will be out in one form or another today.

Every Friday we go 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.

Sometime last spring, I walked by Rohm Thai and put it on my list for a future FL post. Throughout the year, it kept floating on the list, but I never made it a priority to try. Perhaps I feared it wouldn’t be as good as Jaiya. Perhaps it didn’t quite distinguish itself from the several other Thai spots in the Flatiron and Chelsea areas. A few weeks ago I was talking with friends who live in the Gramercy area about Flatiron Lunch, and they said I must go to Rohm. They go there regularly and started telling me about the great food. So to the top of the list it went.

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Have you always read Midtown Lunch and thought “I could do that!” Was that thought immediately replaced by “I really *want* to do that!” Well, we’re looking for a few more lunch contributors and it could be you.  Ideal candidate will be familiar with the Midtown Lunch brand of under $10 lunches, with a likeminded aversion to boring sandwiches and salads from generic Midtown delis. None of us really make any money doing this (i.e. compensation is minimal) so ideal candidate will also already have a job in Midtown that pays well, and preferably that job will not have a boss that keeps you from going out to lunch every day.  To apply please send an email to zach@midtownlunch.com detailing exactly why you should be the next member of our team.  And be sure to include what area of Midtown you work in… we’re in dire need of some more Midtown East love, although everyone is welcome to apply.

But wait, there’s more.  Do you love Midtown Lunch, and have online sales experience?

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Don’t know how we missed this one, but I walked by the Irish Rogue pub the other day on 44th street between 8th and 9th avenues to find that it’s now a BBQ joint called Harley’s Smokeshack & BBQ. A little research told me that the management hasn’t changed, and the switch probably happened sometime last fall. There’s an original outpost in East Harlem and it’s “2013 Michelin Recommended,” but this location is not doing so hot on Yelp, so that inconsistency is troubling. The regular menu looks intriguing, though not in ML budget. Unfortunately, the lunch menu bores me, but a couple of the $10 brisket sandwiches have caught my eye. I will miss drinks at the Irish Rogue — home of countless after-work drinks with my coworkers over the many years I’ve worked in the area — but if you’ve been since the Harley’s took over, let us know in the comments!

Over the holidays, Japanese eatery Rio & You closed its doors after six years on 45th street between 8th and 9th avenues. If Rio & You was Bittman’s secret Japanese restaurant as suggested in the comments — which we’re pretty sure it wasn’t — he’ll have to find a new spot. December 23 was their last day.

There is good news for those still in mourning over the loss of Vic’s and Times Square Bagels. Zucker’s Bagels opened last week just outside Grand Central. This is the new location of a Tribeca favorite and it’s owned by the bagel royalty behind Leo’s and Murray’s.

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