I love a good deal as much as anyone else, but it’s been years since I’ve found any great pleasure surfing the dollar menu anywhere. That said, when I saw the sign for $1 burgers and dogs at Pop’s in last week’s Links, I knew I’d have to investigate. Lunchtime Monday afternoon, I went over to 7th Avenue to check it out.

The low budget food court that Pop’s sits in looks like it was transported from two levels downstairs in Penn Station. In the front of the shop you’ve got pizza that looks about as good as the S’barro’s a couple doors down and the (in)famous Gyro II, which also serves beer, buffalo wings and an odd mishmash of other items.

The big bargain at Pop’s is of course that hot dogs, burgers and fries, which all cost $1 each. If you’re willing to spend a couple cents more, you can get chili on the dogs and cheese and/or bacon on the burger.

The burgers and fries were already packaged up and waiting in the ‘pick up’ area when I got there. There’s no ‘made to order’ nonsense here.

Further back, the hot dogs sit on the griddle like at a papaya stand in various degrees of done-ness. The counter man minds them as he flips burger patties and passes them off to get topped and packed up.

I ordered a burger ($1), a bacon cheeseburger($1.75), a hot dog($1), and fries($1)… you know, to be thorough. I also got a Snapple, which, at $2.25 was the most expensive part of the meal.

For $1 it shouldn’t be a shock to anyone that the burgers are small. The word slider has been tossed around by some, but that’s not quite right. Compared to the ultimate sliders, White Castle, the bread is too big and not nearly sodden enough in the burger grease to be considered a slider.

The meat inside, on the other hand, was probably about the right size for a slider and the little dollop of ketchup and slice of pickle aren’t quite enough to stop the whole thing from being a little dry.

The bacon cheeseburger was definitely an improvement on these counts. The toppings definitely added some moisture to everything and that single slice of bacon had enough smoke in it to up the game a little. The fries on the other hand were sad and dry and I made the mistake of not dousing them with ketchup when I was down at the counter. Not so great.

The hot dog was good though: a Sabrett’s, well done, with kraut and mustard and a bit of relish. I wouldn’t necessarily go out of my way for it (after all, there are other $1 hot dogs floating around), but it’s the closest thing to a papaya stand near Penn Station these days, so that’s convenient.

Obviously there is nothing about Pop’s that is going to make you think “Now this is my new favorite place!” But is that really the point? If you are looking for something great, and only have a few dollar bills in your pocket, well, good luck to you!  If you’re outside Penn Station, and looking for something super cheap, you could do a lot worse than this.

Pop’s Dollar Food Shop, 427 7th Ave (btw. 33+34th)

What I got (who am I kidding, I ordered everything), and how it was (who am I kidding, you know I loved it) after the jump.

6 wings for $3.  I was kind of bummed about this, because they serve two different kinds of wings (sweet and hot) and they are willing to give you 3 and 3, which is what I asked for.  But I wasn’t paying attention, and he ended up giving me only sweet. How you like your wings is a very personal thing… personally, I like mine as dry (read: crispy) as possible.  I hate when they are under fried, and you get the moist chewy bits of skin (but that’s just me.)  I don’t mind sauce, but I like it super sticky and clinging to the dry, crispy wing.  So these were right up my alley.  I like sweet wings too, so that didn’t hurt.  Not sure what the hot wings were like…

Egg roll, $1.50.  Qualities of a good egg roll is another thing you could argue about for a long time. (Well, I can anyway.) Once again, I’m a big fan of dry (this time on the inside.)  In other words, my favorite egg rolls are the ones where they really shred up the cabbage and carrots and everything that make up the filling, and then stuff it in the skin as tight as possible.  I hate loosely packed egg rolls, where the filling ends up being really wet and moist.  The moisture should come from the duck sauce you dip it into, not inside the egg roll.  Am I making any sense here?  Either way, the ones at Chinatown Express are exactly the kind of egg rolls I like.  A delightful surprise!  (I was ready to hate…)

And finally… the main event.  2 pieces of fried chicken and lo mein, $3.75.  I was completely prepared to get a little container of lo mein with my two pieces of fried chicken- so when the guy scooped a massive amount of noodles into one of those big styrofoam containers, I almost lost my shit.  Really?  Seriously?  For $3.75?  I like the way you guys think…  unfortunately, just from looking at the lo mein, you could tell it was going to be mushy and not that good.  But it is filling, and for that much food it’s tough to get a cheaper lunch than this.  As for the fried chicken itself, it was surprisingly tasty… and by “tasty” I mean it tastes like Chinese food.  It’s hard to put it into words, except to say: the fried chicken at Chinatown Express tastes like it has been fried in the same oil as a million other cheap Chinese food items (fried wontons, egg rolls, etc.)  If you like that flavor (and of course, I do) you will love this fried chicken.  If you don’t, you probably wouldn’t be eating at a place like this anyway.

Admittedly, I haven’t been inside Chinatown Express in probably 9 or 10 years, and hopefully this little trip will keep me away for a little longer. As you know, I always get myself in trouble when I have to pay what my lunch weighs.  All in all, despite the sub par lo mein, I was pretty content with the lunch.  Now that I’ve checked it off my must-try list, walking by the place every day should be a little easier now. 

THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

• So cheap
• I love cheap Americanized Chinese food
• I love sweet chicken wings that are dry and crispy
• I love mushy lo mein (who would say that?)
• They give you a ton of lo mein
• I like dry, tightly packed egg rolls
• I like my fried chicken to taste like Chinese food (you’ll see what I mean if you try it)

THE -

• The lo mein is pretty bad
• I like my chicken wings to be super moist on the inside and slightly chewy on the outside
• I don’t like my fried chicken to taste like it’s been fried in Chinese food oil that hasn’t been changed in a year
• I hate Americanized Chinese food

Chinatown Express, 427 Seventh Ave. (btw. 33+34th), 212-563-3559

Since I started this site, I’ve been on a quest to find a *real* gyro sandwich in Midtown. And when I say ji-roh or yee-roh or however the hell you want to pronounce it, I mean the Greek inspired sandwich, featuring slices taken from those giant hunks of rotating meat you see on every street meat cart in Midtown, topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, and tzatziki sauce (the white yogurt sauce with shredded or sliced cucumbers). Not shawarma (which has a distinctly Middle Eastern flavor), not the pre-made gyro ovals they serve at diners, and not that chopped up stuff you see served off of every street meat cart in Midtown. I want a real Greek style gyro. (I say Greek style because I don’t actually know what an authentic gyro sandwich in Greece is all about… I just know what I ate at Greek festivals growing up as a kid, and I love it.)

I understand the economics of the situation. While most street meat carts have the generic lamb slab used by most Greek restaurants that serve gyro sandwiches, they don’t have the time to allow it to fully cook up on the spit. So what do they do? They cut it off before it has a chance to brown, chop it up into pieces, mix it with onions, peppers, and whatever else, and cook it on the flat top. Tasty… but not a gyro. I just want a simple sandwich, with gyro meat that has been given the chance to get crispy on the spit, sliced and put directly into a piece of soft pita, topped with onion, lettuce, tomato and Greek yogurt (not the street meat “white sauce”).

Last time I mentioned this on the site, the only in bounds recommendation I got was for Gyro II on 7th Ave. btw. 33+34th. I checked it out last week…

Gyro II is typical of most “Greek” take out in Manhattan, in that it also serves pizza. The gyro spit was probably the biggest I’ve ever seen, which was both exciting and scary all rolled into one. It also had this reddish tint, which I was not too excited about. They get busy during lunch, just like the carts, so they make your sandwich from meat that has already been sliced, and then stored below the oven, but that’s ok, because at least they allow it to fully cook on the spit before slicing. This sign was also slightly reassuring:

I should have been skeptical though because the gyro I’m looking for shouldn’t have a special “white sauce” worth mentioning, it should just have plain tzatziki, a simple yogurt sauce that matches perfectly with the gyro meat. Cool, and creamy it’s the perfect topping for a Greek style gyro. What you get at Gyro II is nothing like that. Incredibly watery, it had a overly sweet flavor that was more like cole slaw than tzatziki- and to make things worse, they cover the whole sandwich in it, rendering it the biggest mess of all time.

If the gyro meat had been standard, it may have cut the sweetness of the “special sauce”, but it wasn’t. It also was more sweet than salty, making the whole sandwich a sickly sweet mess of dashed hopes and dreams. I’m not saying it’s a terrible sandwich, and I know a lot of people are big fans, it’s just not the type of gyro I’m looking for. Growing up in Miami, if I could get a decent gyro at Miami Subs (back in the day, before they became an all out chain with the bologna of gyro meat,) then how hard can this really be?!?!

I’m guessing you could go to a cart, and ask them to make you a gyro the way you want it, but I’m thinking it still won’t be right, because it’s not what they do. Has anybody had the sandwich I’m describing? Cart or walk in… doesn’t matter to me. Got the perfect rec? Put it in the comments below…

Gyro II, 427 7th Ave (btw. 33+34th), 212-239-0646