The “Man Bar” at City 75

City 75 is not usually the type of place I eat at (or write about), but after last week’s Profiled Midtown Lunch’er Andre said it was home to the best Philly Cheesesteak in Midtown, I figured I should check it out.  City 75 is like an upscale version of all the generic delis in Midtown, but with one difference…  If you make it through the girly overpriced fancy buffet by the pound in the front- there is a pretty spectacular “Man Bar” in the back left hand corner.  Naturally the Philly Cheesesteak was there, along with burgers, fries, onion rings, pizza and grilled sandwiches.

Now, before you email me with “I’m a woman, and I eat at the ‘Man Bar’!!!”, I want to say this- I’m sure a lot of you women eat at the “Man Bar” in City 75- but you also read this blog… and those two things put you in the minority of Midtown Lunching Women (When I say “most women”, I’m talking about your annoying co-workers.  If they are not reading this blog, they clearly have no taste in food).  The simple fact is this… if the “Man Bar” wasn’t there, most men would not set foot into City 75 (it’s way too fancy, and expensive).  And if the rest of the place disappeared, and City 75 was only the “Man Bar”, and nothing else, most Midtown Lunch’ing women wouldn’t eat there.  It’s the perfect blending of the two that makes a nicely dressed business woman (with every intention of eating a salad) willing to eat a steak and cheese sandwich, and a guy like me willing to eat at a place like City 75.

Pics of the food, and a +/- after the jump…

The “Man Bar” has got many items of interest, but there were only two that stood out to me.  The aforementioned Philly Cheesesteak (surprisingly, only $5.95) and the Sirloin Burger.  I ordered the Cheesesteak which comes with peppers and onions, and of course- nacho cheese sauce (or cheese whiz as they like to call it in Philly).  If you are from New England, you may be used to your Cheesesteaks coming with Provolone or some other kind of real cheese melted on top of your sub- but when you see the word “Philly”, it should come with a yellow cheese sauce, and this one fit the bill.

I’m not a huge fan of the cheese sauce, so I was happy there wasn’t a ton of it- but if you are into the cheese sauce, you might be disapointed that the the sub isn’t drenched in it… although I’m sure you can ask for extra sauce.  Other than that fact I would recommend it… a nice size, steak tasted like real meat and it came with onions and peppers.  For $6, in Midtown, it’s a pretty good deal.

My co-worker got the Sirloin Cheeseburger Deluxe (deluxe just means with fries).  The burger was pretty big, and it came with a ton of shoestring fries (my favorite).  I don’t know how it compares to a place like the Burger Joint, Prime Burger, or Goodburger- but for $7.45, it’s big, tasted good, and came with a ton of fries (way to much to eat on your own).  If you work in the Rock Center area, and need a burger fix, but don’t have time to walk 10 minutes to the popular burger places- the City 75 sirloin burger is a pretty good solution.

Now I have to issue a warning to all men reading this who aren’t used to places like City 75, but are going to go because of what I have written.  When you walk in to City 75, the pull of the by the lb. buffet is going to be very strong.  It looks like an all you can eat buffet, and the food looks delicious- so it’s understandable that you would be drawn to it.  The variety, the cute little containers… it’s very distracting.  DO NOT BE FOOLED!  Continue straight to the back left hand corner and order immediately from the “Man Bar”.  Any attempt to get lunch from the buffet will end with you saying “Why the hell did I pay $14 for this!!!”

Yes the food is good.  Yes, it’s fun to eat from a buffet.  But I cannot stress this enough… THEY WEIGH THE FOOD AND CHARGE YOU ACCORDINGLY.  It’s a fat guy trap, and I guarantee that no matter how hard you follow my rules and try to limit yourself, and pick “light” items, it will end up costing you more than you want to spend.  Our friend Marco was fooled, and while we were scarfing down our delicious cheesesteak and burger,  he was going on about how his lunch was “worth the money” ($14) because it was “soooo good”, but you could see it in his eyes that he was trying to convince himself, more than us.

(Dislaimer: If any part of my talk about “typical Midtown Woman” or a “Man Bar” offends you, than I was totally just kidding!  It’s just stupid stereotypes… can’t you take a joke?  If you relate to what I wrote, than I stand by every word of the post.)

THE +

  • $5.95 for a good Philly Cheesesteak (with peppers and onions), at a upscale generic Midtown deli is a great deal!
  • Same goes for a cheese burger and fries for $7.50
  • I love shoestring fries!!!
  • Perfect for the person who wants to eat something gross for lunch, but your co-workers want to eat at a generic deli

THE –

  • The cheesesteak doesn’t have enough cheese whiz
  • The burger is not as good as other burgers in Midtown
  • The shoestring fries were a little dry
  • The allure of the by the lb. buffet might end of costing you a ton of money…

City 75, 75 Rockefeller Plaza (51st btw. 5+6th), 212-247-1500

14 Comments

  • great great great cheesesteak at D&S deli on 56th btwn 5th and 6th (closer to 5th).

  • I’m from philly and while I’m not a cheese steak snob (although it’s true that no one seems to get the bread right outside of philly) one point I have to make. The “whiz” in cheez whiz isn’t nacho cheese. It’s pure kraft original cheez whiz. Not saying that’s a good or a bad thing (personally I like provolone) but a real philly cheese steak doesn’t have a nacho taste to it.

  • hahahaha I was going to say what Jim christy said- I don’t think it’s nacho cheese. I lurve cheez wiz (wit-wiz) on my ‘steaks…. mm, Jim’s on south street in philly is calling my name. Although- and I know there’s one by 34th tho that might be too far for you- Carl’s Steaks does a decent job of getting it close. there’s one by us and i order take out sometimes via seamless web (it’s not really by us, but they’ll deliver to us)

  • watch your language, sir!
    i’m a girly chick who eats manly food, but i was not offended by yr description of the man bar. i WAS offended that, in yr “disclaimer”, you use the word ‘than’ improperly — it should be ‘then.’ your cheesesteak was better THAN your friend’s overpriced buffet food. if he agrees, THEN maybe he’ll take your advice next time.

  • I got a cheesesteak there today for lunch, and they used american cheese! Sacrelige! Aside from that, it was great!

  • American, Provolone, or Cheez Wiz are all acceptable philly cheesesteak toppings. Grilled onions should also be available; peppers are iffy.

  • went today for lunch. Tasty! Thanks!!

  • went today, no great shakes. decent, but nothing to write home about. the cheesesteak is generic and has nothing on a real philly cheesesteak vendor like tony luke’s (42nd and ninth). plus it’s $5.95 for just the sandwhich — no fries or anything — so it’s not filling and doesn’t end up being much of a deal. and yes, they do use american cheese slices, not even provolone. i don’t work nearby, so i definitely won’t be going out of my way to go here ever again.

  • I agree 100% with the review, but always order a cheesesteak with provolone for the simple reason that Cheez Whiz is disgusting. City 75 has good provolone cheesesteaks and good fries.

  • Just went here today at like 2 something. They ran out of meat for cheesesteak so I ended getting the Cheeseburger. It was most fulfilling burger I had in a long time. The bun was huge, probably the size of iHop Pancakes (in terms of diameter). They toasted the bun so it wouldn’t be soggy. I got lettuce, tomatoes, ketchup and mayo on it. It taste like heaven! I’m so glad I found this site, which helped me find this place and get the cheeseburger. I’m surprise it is so close to my workplace (within 1 ave).

  • The City 75 “Man Bar” has an awesome, fast-moving and relatively cheap breakfast bar.

  • The buffet is definitely too overpriced. I went there today for the first time in a long while and just as expected, I regretted going in. I ended up paying $9 for for my small pickings from the buffet. I was tempted to say forget it. With every bite, I thought to myself, $9 for this. I can only imagine what I would have paid had I been very hungry.

  • i hope to see you at the man bar soon… and i appreciate your stereotypes :)

  • User has not uploaded an avatar

    The food is tasteless. The prices are absurd. Pick another place. Pick one at random and you’ll be better off.

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