Midtown Lunch

Wow… today has not been good for the Midtown Lunch’ing news.  This just in from Lunch’er Jill: “Two Boots under Rockefeller Center is closing!  Today is their last day. They are opening a new place at 9th and 45th.” And confirmed on the Two Boots website:

And it was one year ago this month you guys voted this best slice in Midtown. The end of an era… and a big loss to the lazy lunchers of 30 Rock who hate leaving their building.

The Sophie’s Cuban location on 40th Street btw. 7+8th, which always seemed crowded during lunch, is now closed.  This surprising turn of events comes less than six months after being written up by the New York Times, and less than 9 months after opening.  The company itself doesn’t seem to be in any trouble (they just opened a new location on 23rd Street btw. Madison+5th) but who knows.  If you are a huge Sohpie’s fan, you’ll have to make due with the other two Midtown locations (in the food court on 3rd Ave. btw. 49+50th, and on Lex. btw. 40+41st) or the two former Sophie’s locations, now called Tina’s Restaurant (56th btw. 5+6th and Madison btw. 33+34th), where the food is exactly the same.

All is not lost though- at the very bottom of the sign it says “Look for a new Sophie’s Cuban Restaurant opening in this area in the near future.” But that just makes you wonder why they closed this one. Emails to the company yesterday were not returned. Thanks to Lunch’er Dan for the tip.

The Midtown branch of Sakae Sushi (the conveyor belt sushi chain from Singapore that is hugely popular in Asia) has been permanently closed down.  I can’t say I’m entirely surprised… the prices were kind of high, the quality of the fish was not the best, and the place was never at capacity.  I’m still kind of bummed it didn’t work out though-  I do love conveyor belt sushi.  Their West Village location (on 3rd Street just East of 6th Avenue) is still open, so we’ll see if this overseas chain can make it work in the states.

Related: Sakae Sushi is Betting That You Care More About Fun Than Value

This terrible news was just sent in from Midtown Lunch’er Elizabeth about the Blimpie on 46th btw. 5+6th:

I know you’ve called out this Blimpie for the scary vegetarian sandwich, but I just went for my favorite ghetto lunch today, and there are signs saying it is closing. It sounds like it was supposed to close tomorrow but it has been extended through Thursday. So they are offering two specials: free combo with the purchase of a giant sandwich, or $1 combo with the purchase of a regular sandwich.

This is terrible news for all the fans of the “Indian” special spicy sandwich (with Doritos)… and bad news for any fans of Blimpies in general- which seem to be disappearing at an alarming rate. The Blimpie on 35th btw. 7+8th closed last month.

We got this tip from a lunch’er, and it was confirmed by the Starwich corporate office: “DUDE, this is serious!
Starwich on 38th btw. 5th+6th is closed. They did have extremely tasty sandwiches and salads although really expensive. Although your site is concerned with LUNCH, their breakfast sandwich is not something that can be ignored since it may have been one of the best deals in midtown. $4.28 (after tax) would get you a super-filling pile of veggies, eggies, fancy shmancy gruyere cheeses, and bacon on really good bread. Sorry to bore you with this nonsense but this greasy bundle of joy will always have a special place in my heart.”

This isn’t a huge surprise, considering the company filed for bankruptcy in August. They were trying to sell the business, and had interest from a buyer, but the deal fell through. The breakfast sandwich may be missed, but if you are interested in gourmet, smallish, overpriced sandwiches, there are plenty of ‘wichcraft locations to satisfy your cravings.

There was a time when Midtown was teeming with Blimpies that had Spanish food in the back (there were two.)  Now there are none. The more famous Blimpie sub shop with Spanish food (on 6th btw. 37+38th) closed awhile ago, and the spanish food moved next door into the Indian newsstand. Now the other one (on 35th btw. 7+8th) has also closed, and there is no word on whether the spanish food will be moving to another location.

Coincidentally enough, I received word of a new Blimpie sighting… this one with Sushi! (Will wonders never cease.)

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It’s looking like the new AQ Kafe on Broadway btw. 58th and Central Park won’t be a second location of Marcus Samuelsson’s casual Scandinavian eatery… it will be the only location.  The original AQ Cafe in the Scandinavia House on Park btw. 37+38th is gone, replaced with the more expensive Smorgas Chef.  If the menu from their three other New York City locations (one is in Midtown East on 49th and 2nd Ave.) is any indication, this is not an improvement for Midtown Lunch’ers.  Well, at least we have the new AQ Kafe coming soon… but that is probably little consolation for the swedish meatball lovers in Midtown south.  Thanks to Lunch’er Wayne for passing along the photo.

The Teriyaki Boy location on 46th btw. Lex+3rd has closed, and the owners are converting it into a Japanese restaurant and noodle shop. Not sure if it will be more Cafe Zaiya or Menchanko Tei, but either way it will be at least 3-4 months before it reopens. Teriyaki Boy super fans can still get their fill of cheap (in every sense of the word) teriyaki chicken over rice at the West side location (on 7th Ave. btw. 48+49th), but a quick warning… if you’re used to the much cleaner 46th street location, you may not be so down with the 7th Avenue spot.

Photo by Kristin Shaw

I haven’t been by any of the Midtown locations to see for myself, but if this post on Gothamist is true the Burritoville chain is no more.  There’s no question that the influx of Chipotle and Qdoba couldn’t have helped, but I think the chain (which was not terrible) probably would have done better if they had called themselves “Wrapville”.  It certainly would have been more honest.

Word has come in from an email tipster that House of Pita on 8th Ave. btw. 39+40th is now closed:

Looks like another one bites the dust in that spot. First Mandler’s, now House of Pita. I think that location is jinxed. I walked by quickly and I didn’t see any signs (like the yellow DOH), but there’s paper over all the windows. Doesn’t look too promising.

I got the confirmation from the owner shortly after:

Someone came in and loved the location, service and the food. They made us an offer that was just too hard to refuse. Lots of $$$$, so we sold. The name is not part of the sale. We will take a long vacation and think about our next step.

The recent history of House of Pita has been a long and kind of sad one. 2 year ago they were at the center of the Midtown falafel universe. Their window on 48th btw. 5+6th, nestled inside a hallway filled with jewelers, had become pretty popular- with office workers lining up every day for their Israeli style falafel.

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