Midtown Lunch is taking the week off between Christmas and New Year’s (back on Jan. 2nd) so this is the last post of 2006.   I thought about making a Best of 2006 list, but then I thought, why bother?  Every place I’ve ever eaten lunch at in Midtown is in this blog- so some list isn’t going to tell you anything you wouldn’t find out from reading the archives.  But I can tell you the most read post of 2006.  And that is hands down Kati Roll.

More people have read the Kati Roll piece than anything else I have written, and it is still the most searched for lunch on the site.  (And it’s delicious to boot).  I feel like the purpose of Midtown Lunch is summed up by a place like Kati Roll (well, that and so you can see pictures of people lined up for a free burrito at a Chipotle grand opening).

For 2007 I have a few dreams for Midtown Lunch’ing.  And here they are:

1. We need a Momofuku Ssam Bar in Midtown.   Are you listening David Chang?????  Have you seen the lines of people paying $8 for crappy Mexican burritos.  These are the people who will pay $8 for your delicious pork buns and Korean/Chinese burritos!
2. Somebody open a cheap/take out Vietnamese place in Midtown.  So much Indian food.  So much Chinese. Koreatown is very close.  A few places for Thai (although there could be more)… but no cheap Vietnamese!
3. We need a good Chinese All You Can Eat Buffet (for under $10).  There is one on 8th Ave. in the 40s, but even I’m scared of that one.  Come on people.  Actually, we need more buffets all around… and not the $13.95 Indian buffets.  I’m talking about under $10, all you can eat buffets!  I have a dream, people!
4. And finally I have a New Year’s Resolution for everbody.  Forget about exercise… eat more.  And do it at lunch time.  And don’t settle.  We work too damn hard in Midtown Manhattan to run down to the nearest crappy deli, for some garbage sandwich that costs $9, just to run back upstairs and eat at our desk.  You get an hour.  Take it.  There’s plenty of good Midtown Lunch’ing if you’re willing to walk 5-10 minutes in any direction from your office.  You need a break!

That’s it for this year.  Midtown Lunch will be back on January 2nd with a whole week of Profiled Midtown Lunch’ers, and their dreams for Midtown Lunch’ing.  If you are interested in being profiled, email me at zach@midtownlunch.com

Finally, a special treat.  Midtown Lunch 2006 a year in thumbnails, after the the jump.  Looking at everything in one long photo makes me sort of embarassed I ate all that.  It’s a doozy…  click on the link (and see why my wife is disgusted by me).