Midtown Lunch

Sad news from Lunch’er “Rose” yesterday… Mantao, the Chinese sandwich shop that moved from Tribeca to Midtown East back in July of 2009 has closed. Their website is still up, but they haven’t twittered since February and their phone is disconnected. But that’s not the only news from 52nd btw. 2+3rd… Busan, the fancy pants Korean spot that was mentioned in the forums once, has also closed. Hopefully something good will replace both spots soon.

Got some sad news over the weekend via twitter… DC Fusion Cafe, the bourbon chicken spot that moved from the Manhattan Mall to 7th Ave. btw. 36+37th when JC Penny shut down the food court, appears to be closed. We have no official confirmation, but our new man Jeremiah walked by this morning and it definitely looks closed.  What’s a mall food court bourbon chicken lover to do?!

Related:
Giving In to Bourbon Chicken Temptation at DC Fusion

Ahhhh shucks. Technically Las Poblanitas (38th btw. 8+9th) is out-of-bounds by a few feet, but we still claim it as a Midtown Lunch. And it definitely had all the attributes of a good ML joint: it was off the beaten path, not a salad joint, and served good, delicious Mexican food at great prices. So we were sad to hear from Lunch’er Rich this morning that it has been shuttered!  One of the windows didn’t have its gate down, but it didn’t look like there was a DOH sticker in the window (and their last inspection in March was passing.)  I wonder if business dropped off because of the 2 Bro’s pizza next door, which had a line 20 deep when I walked by.  Sadly this closing is only temporary… but it’s not looking good.

Related:
Las Poblanitas is the Perfect Place to Spend Cinco de Mayo

Earlier this week we heard the new that Hello Pasta will launch its fast food pasta empire in Midtown this June, and was so distracted by the imminent arrival of “the Starbucks or Pinkberry of pasta” we neglected to mention Nooï, a French import and the OTHER fast food pasta chain that’s moving in this summer. Early reports place the soon-to-come Nooï at 41st and Lexington so, naturally, I went looking for it. With Pret a Manger dominating one corner and Cafe Metro, Barami clothing store, and Everyday Gourmet Deli swallowing the others, it was hard to tell where French pasta would fit in. The only vacant-looking spot was the recently shuttered Zaro’s Bakery location on 41st btw. Lex & Park, which looked pretty sad under scaffolding. We’ll keep our eyes peeled for the new place, but let us know if you find it first. In any case, prepare yourself for a fast food pasta face-off! (Yum?)

From Lunch’er Steve: “Just walked by Spoon City (on 33rd btw. Mad+5th), the ice cream/soup place across from the Empire State Building. It was all cleaned out. Looks like Shake Shack wins.” Well, we didn’t think there was any chance that Shake Shack would *lose* but it is kind of surprising that more people didn’t get excited about this place. I guess people only like concretes when they have to wait in line for them.

Related:
Spoon City Brings Shake Shack’ish Custard to Midtown

Photo courtesy of Kathy YL Chan

According to the Real Deal, the only US outpost of Demel has served its last sachertorte in The Plaza’s underground retail concourse. Pastry aficionados (like my Austrian born great aunt) will be disappointed, but for most MLers it was a bit too pricey and kind of out of the way. Todd English is still supposed to open a European-style “Food Hall” in the concourse this spring, but the Plaza’s Palm Court is cutting their high tea price by $20. Could this all be a sign that the new food court might (or should) have decent ML friendly options? I’m going with probably not, but one can hope.

On my way to Oms/B the other day (one of my favorite Midtown Lunch spots on 45th St. btw. 3rd+Lex) I noticed an eviction notice plastered on the door of the Subway on 3rd Ave.+45th.  This site is all about finding the alternative to Subway, so clearly I’m not going to miss the foot-long subs I never ate-  however if for some reason this Subway was your go-to spot (I’m not cool enough to say “I pity da fool…” but there you go. I typed it.), maybe this will be just the motivation you need to try far superior sandwiches like Oyster Bar’s Grilled and Sliced Tuna Sandwich with Tomato Salsa or the small but mighty ones at ‘wichcraft!  No word on what will take this Subway’s place, but it would be particularly gratifying to see something good replace it (since it feels like more and more it’s the other way around these days.)

Sad sad news from Lunch’er “Cecil” yesterday…

“My coworkers and I were grouping together to order some Indian Pizza from Bombay Eats on 52nd Street. Sadly, when we called, the owner picked up and said they lost their lease and are no longer in business. You could hear the construction workers breaking down the restaurant in the background. A sad day for Midtown Lunch.”

That’s upsetting. Their saag and tandoori chicken topped pizzas were one of a kind. (And nothing at all like what passes for “Indian Pizza” in Queens.) There is a rumor floating around that the spot is going to be turned into a ramen joint, but nothing has been confirmed…

Related:
Saag Paneer Pizza? Bombay Eats Has Got You Covered
Indian Pizza Meetup Unlocks the Mysteries of Bombay Eats