Midtown Lunch

Normally we save our Flatiron stuff for the last day of the week, but we forgot to post this little bit of news on Friday…

As excited as I am for the fusiony Asian-Mex of Baorrito, sometimes you want a regular taco. Now we’ve got a place for that in the neighborhood. Choza Taqueria opened up this week, a welcome addition on a pretty dead strip of Madison, near 27th Street. I reported over the summer that Choza Taqueria was coming and watched with interest as Andrea checked out their branch in the Open Air Cafe downtown.

The place looks to still be a work in progress, so I’m going to hold off on a full scale post for a while. In the meantime, check out the menu after the jump.

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Now that Downtown has its very own section of the site, what are we going to post on Fridays? Answer… how about a column devoted to those lunches just south of the ML boundaries. Every week we post about a lunch in Murray Hill south, Gramercy, Flatiron, and everything in between… or to make it easy: Flatiron Lunch.

It’s clearly opening season in the Flatiron Lunch boundaries. Every week it seems like we’ve got another new food option. This week, it’s Michael ‘Bao’ Hyunh’s Asian burrito joint Baorrito, which he transformed the Baoguette on 3rd Avenue into just days ago. We’ve talked a lot about the dream of Mexican and Asian foods brought together for a while now, but for one reason or another it hasn’t quite gotten here in New York. Some have come close (Zach still swears by the original Ssam Bar concept!), but nothing has really approached that holy grail… the Kogi BBQ Truck. If anyone is really going to take it there, it might very well be Bao, the maker of the Banh Mi-palooza winning Vietnamese sandwich.

When I read about the opening on Eater and TONY yesterday afternoon, I knew I couldn’t wait for the next lunch time to give it a try. I headed there right after work to see what it was all about.

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Wow, the hits just keep coming to Flatiron. Eataly, Hill Country Chicken, FoodParc and now, as mentioned last week, a food court at Madison Square Park’s annual marketplace. Dubbed the Mad. Sq. Mark’t by those space saving marketers, the food market draws from some of the better small restaurants around town, both local and a few that came in from Brooklyn.

There’s a lot there and a ton to be excited for except for one thing: The weather. It’s rained pretty much every day this week making for slow business for the vendors, but affording us the chance to get a better look at the various stalls without a crush of hungry shoppers looking for a bite.

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Amazingly, there’s even more food news in the land of Flatiron Lunch. This weekend the Madison Square Park Conservancy is launching its annual Mad. Sq. Mark’t, a fall collection of shops and vendors set up in and around the park. I never really managed to check it out in years past, but having looked at the food vendors that’ll be on hand, I’m not sure I’ll be eating anywhere else for the next few weeks.

Check out the full list from the organizers after the jump.
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It seems like there’s a new, big-deal opening in Flatiron-bounds every week these days. If Eataly and Hill Country Chicken weren’t enough to occupy lunchers for the next several weeks, FoodParc brings another huge selection into our midst. The Jeffrey Chodorow-owned venture in the Eventi Hotel was timed perfectly for the high-end food court trend (something I’ve been hoping for since my trip to San Francisco a few months ago).

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Clearly this is the season for new food in the Flatiron. It seems like every week we’re seeing a new place open its doors. The other day it was Eataly and it sounds like FoodParc is opening next week. This week it’s Hill Country Chicken, the fried chicken spinoff of the Texas barbecue spot that I really wish was priced in ML range. Naturally, the first couple days have been swamped, so as a service to you guys, I braved the crowds so you wouldn’t have to. See what it’s all about after the jump.
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Back in the spring, Luncher ‘Steve” spotted the opening of Tokyo 11 just out of ML bounds (sort of in Flatiron Lunch bounds) on 31st and Lexington. We haven’t checked it out yet, but passing by this week, I noticed that they’re offering 15% off of the whole menu through the end of the month.
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Here’s a few extra bits and pieces for all the Flatiron Lunchers out there…

Italian mega-market, Eataly’s pizza may not be in ML price range, but it is now available to go. Last night Eataly tweeted that the Pizza and Pasta area now has a takeout entrance on 24th Street. Also in the twitterverse, Hill Country Chicken, which we mentioned back in July, is working the hype machine tweeting its mentions in The Times and Time Out New York. Still no official opening date, but when I called, the person on the phone said they expect to open around ‘mid-September.’ That sounds pretty soon to me.

And if Eataly wasn’t enough for you, a recent peek in the door indicates that futuristic fancy food court FoodParc (851 6th Ave) should be opening any day now. The chefs involved all tend to make food well outside of the Midtown Lunch price range, but there’s got to be something in there for us, right?  At the very least it will be open for “Carts in the Parc” the New York City Wine and Food Festival event with Andrew Zimmern, the Biryani Cart, Jamaican Dutchy, Schnitzel & Things and more.  (Tickets are still available here.)

Got any news about deliciousness coming to the area? Email us editor@midtownlunch.com

Now that Downtown has its very own section of the site, what are we going to post on Fridays? Answer… how about a column devoted to those lunches just south of the ML boundaries. Every week we post about a lunch in Murray Hill south, Gramercy, Flatiron, and everything in between… or to make it easy: Flatiron Lunch.

Latin food has been popping up a lot lately, from the higher end options at Leña Latin Grill (full +/- coming soon!) to that random appearance in the 99-cent pizza store, but what about the old fashioned Latin spots? You know, with the shiny furniture and a staff and clientele that speak more Spanish than English? La Taza de Oro is one of my favorites, but a crazy schlep from the office. Then I found Milanes, just down the block from Johny’s Luncheonette. With everything from Tripe soup to chuletas and a decor that looks like Abuela put it together, it certainly fits the bill for authenticity, but how about the food?

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Since most of you will be ditching out of work tomorrow (but not me, thanks boss!), it seemed like a good idea to bump Flatiron Lunch up a day. Enjoy!

You might recall reading about Mario Batali’s new mega-market Eataly here in Flatiron Lunch a month or so back. Or maybe you read about it here or here or maybe you caught Eater’s live-blogging of the opening Tuesday night. I passed through opening night to scout out this Big New Thing, and as you can imagine the place was packed. What I didn’t quite expect was that there would be lines out the door at lunchtime the next day!

Who has time to stand in line just to get into this place, and then meander through the cavernous space trying to figure out if anything’s worthy of being considered a Midtown Lunch? So… I figured I’d do it for you.

Eataly’s Midtown Lunch’ish options (plus a splurge or two) are after the jump.

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