Midtown Lunch

Yesterday’s free sandwich giveaway was just a test run… New York’s first outpost of the Earl of Sandwich chain (52nd St between 5th and 6th Ave) is scheduled to open for regular lunch service today at 11am. To celebrate the opening, the descendant of the original inventor of the sandwich, John Mantagu the 11th Earl of Sandwich, will be on hand for the ribbon cutting ceremony, along with pals Kenan Thompson (SNL) and Miss New York USA Amber Collins.

As Times Square promised last year, the Earl of Sandwich is coming to Midtown and Lunch’er David tipped us off to the plywood that is now up on 52nd street, between 5th and 6th ave. He actually thought it might have taken over the Yips space, but thankfully for fans of crappy Chinese food it didn’t- Yips is still open.  Based off of the reader comments (and possible shills), the product here seems to be comparable to, if not better than Quiznos. So for fans of fast food chain sandwiches and lunchers looking for an upgrade over Quiznos, looks like its time to get excited(?) Unless of course Potbelly opens first...

I noticed this large billboard yesterday in Times Square. I’d never heard of Earl of Sandwich before, but apparently it’s a chain of hot  sandwich places started by the actual Earl of Sandwich and Robert Earl, the founder of Planet Hollywood. (Oooooh.  That’s promising!) According to their website there are twelve locations, in such amazing  places as Logan International Airport in Boston, the Downtown Disney Marketplace, and the Port St. Lucie rest stop on the Florida Turnpike. Sounds perfect for Times Square, and sure enough Zagat says they are opening somewhere in Midtown. Has anybody ever eaten at Earl of Sandwich? Is there any reason to be even a little optimistic about this eventual addition to NYC?