Midtown Lunch

As soon as Chipotle announced that they would be launching a new Asian fast food concept known as Shophouse, we knew this had to be coming… ML favorite, Pure Thai Shophouse (on 9th btw. 51+52nd) is now calling themselves Pure Thai Cookhouse. A call to the restaurant confirms that Chipotle did indeed set their legal hounds on the Hell’s Kitchen Thai spot forcing them to drop the “Shophouse” moniker. Although it was a sucker punch for this tiny Thai eatery, everything else, including the menu and ownership, is still the same as before.

Yes, as reported in the NYT this morning I will cover the “arrival of a new Chipotle” (ideally because they’re giving away free burritos!) But clearly they didn’t read “The Midtown Lunch Ultimate Burrito Theory (and how it relates to Chipotle sucking)” or the Midtown Lunch post that exposed Chipotle’s posted “calorie ranges” for the sham they are! (Spoiler alert: That burrito bowl you’re eating is not 130 or calories.)

Word has come that in addition to the two new Baja Fresh locations, we’re also getting another Chipotle on 7th Ave. btw. 37+38th and another Qdoba on 3rd Ave. and 40th Street.  That will bring the total to almost 20 new burrito chains in less than 3 years!  Don’t get me wrong… I’ll admit to getting excited about Baja Fresh (Is it real Mexican food? Of course not. But it was my goto lunch when I was broke and living in L.A. for two years.)  But overall this trend is kind of worrisome.  The chain-i-fication of Manhattan food has been slowly happening for years now, but the bad economy looks like it’s accelerating the whole process.   With so much real estate open around the city, big chains are the only businesses with the kind of money you need to expand, and survive through this crappy economy. Sure, I want In N Out Burger, Chick Fil A, and Panda Express to open in Midtown. But not at the expense of Blarney Stone, Cafe Cello, and Hing Won.  Can’t we have it both ways?

Thanks to Lunch’er Rebecca for sending along the photo.

Grub Street reports that the final new Chipotle opening in 2008 will be on Madison and 39th, on December 11th- and they’ll be celebrating old school style on December 10th with free burritos from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.  6 p.m. No acoustic bands, no Halloween costumes, and no charity tie-in… just free food, given away to hoardes of freeloaders, just like the old days.  I’m down with that.