Midtown Lunch

I guess they couldn’t stand being the only dessert Vendy Award nominee without a regular Midtown spot… the Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Truck is parked on the NE corner of 57th st and 5th Ave right now. Their other truck is still in its regular spot in Soho, but they hope to park this second truck in Midtown at least a few days a week. We’ll see how it goes…

They’ll be at this spot until 4pm, and then will probably move somewhere else. (I’ll keep you updated on this post if they move today.)

Here we go again! The scene at City Burger $1 burger day (on 39th just
East of Bway) is vaguely reminiscent of opening day with a few key
changes. Only 1 person at the register so the cooks don’t get
overwhelmed, and the orders seem to be coming out a little faster… but
there is still a general disorganization, and orders are coming out
wrong (not surprisingly.)

Got in line at 12:15, ordered at 12:30, food came out at 12:45 (although
the guys after me got their food 5 mins before I did, and they ordered
their burgers cooked medium, and I ordered mine medium rare. Go
figure.) All in all, not terrible… unless yours was one of the orders
they screwed up. Line is a little longer now at 12:45, but not by much.
“Sister Christian” playing while I waited for my food certainly
helped… not a complete shitshow- but the potential is there. You
have until 3pm (and of course there is next tuesday and the tuesday
after.

What can I say?  I feel like if you are going to sin, you may as well do it up right.  I mean, if I’m going to eat on Yom Kippur- why not EAT on Yom Kippur, right? Two years ago I made a list of pork and shrimp dishes in Midtown that were worth going to hell for, and since that list still applies today- I decided to head over to Cafe Cello (on 46th btw. 5+6th).  Thanks to a lunch’er tip, I discovered that they are now serving a roast pork sandwich, made from their always amazing roast pork.  But don’t get too excited, it’s just pork on a generic looking roll with lettuce and tomato.  And they don’t press it or anything, so it’s not like a legitimate Cuban. I think I’ll just stick with my standard roast pork over rice and beans with plantains (and crispy pork skin of course.)  Like I said… if I’m gonna be bad, might as well be really bad. 

Bacon wrapped lobster for dinner anyone?

If Magnolia Bakery is wondering how to get more dudes into cupcakes, I think this may be the solution.  7th Ave and 46th St. is the place to be for fans C-List Celebs and cupcakes (until 2pm.) What more could you want? As we reported earlier, it’s some kind of Celebrity Apprentice thing– which is kind of funny if you think about it. Aren’t real entrepreneurs supposed to come up with the next big thing?

Photos courtesy of Nataki Hewling. More after the jump…  Read more »

Are you kidding me? 4 hours of doing nothing, and then an hour and 45 minute lunch break? Two blocks away from Chinatown. Judicial gods- please oh please pick me for a trial. I have so much left to do here. Although… with the damage I did today for only $5.80, I’d be scared to look in the mirror after a few weeks of lunch’ing down here. Full report coming tomorrow…

(Added Note: I have already seen fellow possible jurors come back to the room with crappy looking pizza, Subway, and one girl with just a starbucks- you know, because that’s lunch. Such suckers!)

It’s pandemonium at Toloache with early arrivers getting to place to go orders… but by 12:30 the line was about 15 deep with nobody providing any information at all. They stopped taking any take out orders at 12:30, but they were seating people at tables (if one is available and you’ve waited in line long enough to get to the front and actually talk to someone.) The promotion is supposed to last until 11pm but clearly they underestimated demand.

At 12:45 I saw the guy take a to go order from somebody, but he told them it would be 30 mins. If you got turned away consider yourselves lucky. I talked to one person who placed a take out order at the door at 11:30 and just got their tacos at 12:40.

12:50 There is no more line, and the guy takes my to go order, tells me I can order more than 7 if I want, and told me it would 10 mins, maybe less. Somehow I doubt it.

12:52 The line is out the door again, and lord knows what the guy is telling people now.

Try later, and you may get lucky, but clearly this promotion is a poorly planned free for all.

UPDATE: Got my tacos in less than 10 mins. What a delightful surprise… full report coming soon.

So, I’m about to enter the cauldron of doom. My stomach has been tested and pushed to the limits time and time again… but nothing holds a candle to Tad’s Steaks, the bastard child of Midtown Lunch’ing. The only place that makes you think “some things just shouldn’t be that cheap.” But the challenge was issued, so I must oblige.

If I don’t make it, you’ll know I went out doing what I love best: eating disgusting food in Midtown Manhattan.

It’s 2:30pm and the line to buy Metal Gear Solid tonight at Midnight stretches all the way from Virgin Megastore in Times Sqaure to Margon on 46th btw 6+7th, which is where these kids got their cuban sandwiches (they’ve been waiting on line since Noon). Waiting on line for twelve hours is definitely easier if you’re in front of some of the best cuban food in Midtown.

Some other good options for those waiting on line… Minar (right next to Margon) and the Briyani Cart at the end of the block.

Apparently free cuban food is more of a draw than free frozen yogurt… it’s almost halfway through organic’s free frozen yogurt day (it ends at 3pm), and the scene is oddly calm. There’s more of a line over at Pampano Taqueria.

Wait time at 1pm was under 5 minutes, but they still managed to make it annoying by saying “Welcome to Yorganic, where the toppings are organic” when you order, *and* when they hand you your free frozen
yogurt. Yeah, we get it. It’s organic.

Avoid this by ordering one of the non-organic toppings. I got a pretty surly “Not organic capn crunch.”

Despite reports saying that Hallo Berlin Express (9th btw 50+51st) will not open until lunch tomorrow, they are saying everything is ready to go and it may open today sometime after 4pm. Anybody up for an afterwork beer and brat? If the answer is yes, check back here this afternoon, and I’ll confirm as soon as the first sausage comes off the line…