Midtown Lunch

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

Is this too much Pump for one day? Or is it good to get it out of our system and never speak of it again? The Pump location in the food court on 3rd Ave. btw. 49+50th (with Sophie’s, Pampano, & the new Urban Lobster Shack) has closed. Makes sense now that they have their crazy new Chipotle-like location on 52nd btw. Lex+3rd.

Last week we got some terrible news from the Diamond District, the strip of jewelry shops on 47th btw. 5+6th known for their hidden lunch options.  The Diamond Dairy, a kosher luncheonette hidden in the back mezzanine of the jewelry exchange on 4 W. 47th Street has closed. Along with Taam Tov, the almost 60 year old diner is one of the most well known of the hidden gems in the diamond district, and it will be missed.  Even as I stood at the bottom of the now closed staircase leading up to the place, a number of confused customers looking for lunch were turned away in disappointment.  No word on exactly why they closed, but according to one of the jewelers it came out of nowhere (and they are definitely gone for good.)  With Chanukah just a few days away, this is an especially big blow.  Where am I going to go for potato pancakes this year?

Related:
Chanukah Potato Pancakes in the Super Secret “Diamond Dairy”

It appears as if the Rock Center Cinnabon has claimed its first victim.  Blondie and Brownie is reporting that the Auntie Anne’s in the Rock Center concourse has closed. Thankfully we still have the other four Midtown locations to fall back on for our cinnamon topped, butter soaked pretzel needs.  Also in sad-pastry-news, Lunch’er “Owen” emailed in this morning to say that Gulluoglu, the amazing baklava haven on 52nd St. and 2nd Ave, is closed because of some sort of “sprinkler” issue. Might have to hit up the Turkish kiosk in Bryant Park as a temporary replacement until Gulluoglu reopens…

Photo courtesy of Blondie and Brownie.