Midtown Lunch

There will probably never be consensus on the best chicken parm sub in Midtown, but the search will continue on. I had a enjoyable one at Tuscany Catering (on 55th btw. 5+6th), but was surprisingly disappointed by Little Italy Pizza (on 46th btw. 5+6th) and Park Italian across the street. The best I’ve had so far is probably at Labeleca on 40th btw. 7+8th (and their sister location La Bellezza on 49th btw. Lex+3rd.) In order to keep up with lunchtime demand, none of these places fries their chicken cutlets to order- and while they’re all fine, none will end the search.

So on Friday after I walked by the still plywooded Washoku Cafe (the new Cafe Zaiya’ish Japanese place that is opening soon on 37th btw. Mad+5th), I decided against my better judgement to check out Mondello’s, a standard take out pizza and subs place right next door. I say “against my better judgement” because I pride myself on my strange sense for good Midtown Lunch’ish food. There is a vibe a place gives off that lets you know it’s going to be good, and this place didn’t have it.  But there were alot of people in there, and sometimes you just feel like a chicken parm.   Read more »

In October of last year it was reported that Obika would be opening one of their Italian mozzarella bars in the atrium on 56th Street and Madison Ave.  Plywood went up, and everyone in the upper right hand corner of Midtown has been waiting for the arrival of what could be a pretty cool place in an otherwise desolate part of Midtown east.  On Monday I stopped by to see if any progress had been made, sticking my camera through one of the holes at the bottom of the plywood.  My strange discovery, after the jump…  Read more »

Last Friday I told you that Papa Perrone’s, the new pizza truck parked on 55th btw. Madison & Park, was going to be serving their special artichoke pie on Monday.  Well I went and checked it out, and it turns out artichoke pie is literally artichoke pie.  Not pizza, but pie- like a quiche (but not as lame.)

As first I was a little disappointed puzzled by the whole thing.  I thought I was getting a slice, and ended up with a little tin foil package.  Of course that didn’t stop me from eating the thing, and after one bite, there was really only one thing to say: “Welcome to the neighborhood!”  Mozzarella, artichokes, and little chunks of pepperoni baked in a pie crust.  For $2.50 it’s a steal.

Pranzo Pizza Truck (the last truck to take on the famous Jiannetto’s Pizza Truck) was such a big disappointment, I had pretty low expectations for Papa Perrone’s- but after trying their artichoke pie and rice balls, I can honestly say I think this little guy is going to make it.  Especially if he starts serving the artichoke pie every day.

A shot of the rice ball after the jump…  Read more »

Big news out of the Midtown pizza front: Lazzara’s, the relatively old school sit down pizza place on 38th btw. 7+8th is getting a second location on 9th Ave. btw. 43+44th. Opened 23 years ago, the original Lazzara’s has been mentioned a few times on this site in the comments, usually when the discussion of best chicken parm is raised. Unlike the original, which is opened Monday through Friday and only until 9 p.m., the new location will be opened 24 hours, and according to Tony Lazzara will be standing room only, delivery and take out.  Slightly out of bounds for Midtown Lunch’ing purposes, the 9th Ave. location will hopefully lighten the lunchtime load on the original, which has some pretty long wait times between Noon and 2pm.  They expect the new place to be up and running in the next 2-3 months.

With so many cheap, order-at-a-counter-and-take-it-to-a-table pizza and chicken parm places in Midtown, Lazzara’s isn’t really a prototypical Midtown Lunch. But with food this fresh and good, and a fairly busy take out business, it’s tough to ignore. Check out what they’ve got, after the jump… Read more »

In the ML comments comes the news that Sugo e Basilico “on 5th closed down.” Opened in the summer of last year, on 5th Ave btw. 44+45th, I actually enjoyed Sugo’s strange brand of “Italian burrito” (my term, not theirs), but just like Momofuku Ssam Bar’s original “Korean Burrito” concept in the East Village (which I also *loved*, and begged them to bring to Midtown), too few people seem to like them enough to make a business.  Is there a lesson in this?  I guess people just don’t want multi cultural versions of Chipotle.  Bummer.

I’m out of town until January 7th, so until then I’m turning over the site to you for the First Annual Midtown Lunch Readers Poll, to determine the best that Midtown lunch’ing has to offer. You can only vote once, so choose wisely. Links to info about most of the nominees can be found on the “Restaurant Index” page. Feel free to write in votes in the comments section. Official winners will be posted to the site on January 9th.

And so the quest to find the best chicken parm sub in Midtown rambles on.  First, there was Tuscany Catering, the little hidden catering place/take out counter on 55th btw. 5+6th.  I was down with it, but my boss (the resident chicken parm expert) wasn‘t impressed- and a few commenters noted that it was just average.  The train moved on to 45th St., where we hit up Little Italy Pizza.  The bread was good, but the chicken was not up to par, unlike across the street at Park Italian- where the chicken is good, but the bread was weak the day we were there (apparently, their 1st string bread is much better than their 2nd string bread, and maybe we got the back up bread?).

Commenter Margot mentioned La Bellezza on 49th btw. Lex+3rd, and since then, I have gotten a few more recommendations over email.  Then, two weeks ago, Profiled Midtown Lunch’er “David” mentioned the Chicken Parm from a La Bellezza on 40th & 7th.  Same place?  Different place?  What is going on here?  I set out to discover some answers… and by that, I mean I used this as an excuse to eat Chicken Parm subs for lunch in one week.

What I discovered, and some chicken parm sub porn- after the jump… Read more »

If imitation is the highest form of flattery, then the new Pranzo Pizza Truck that recently popped up on 55th & Park is a really complementary outfit.  My guess is the Jiannetto’s Pizza Truck doesn’t see it that way.  It’s one thing to build your own truck and serve pizza out of it.  It’s another thing to copy another truck’s entire concept, down to the design of the menu.

On the other hand, you have to admit- it’s pretty ballsy to start a pizza truck 4 blocks away from New York City’s most famous pizza truck.  It must be good, right?  Not entirely trusting their own “Best Grandma Pie” proclamation painted on the front and back of the truck, I decided to try it for myself.  As skeptical as I was, you know I can’t resist food out of a truck!

The pizza pie porn, and +/- after the jump… Read more »

The search for a good Chicken Parm sub in Midtown trucks on.  This week’s stop is Little Italy Pizza on 45th btw. 5+6th.  If you spend any time reading the comments posted to Midtown Lunch, then you know about Little Italy Pizza, and its neighbor across the street, Park Italian.  Both places have their fans, and detractors, serving up what amounts to two pretty mediocre chicken parm subs.

I’m not saying they are inedible.  I’m just saying mediocre.  A Chicken Parm Sub is going to taste good by default.  Any sandwich that consists of fried chicken topped with sauce and cheese is going to have its redeeming qualities.  Sure the sauce may be too sweet, the cheese may be no good, the bread may be soggy, or not toasted- but in the end it’s still a fried chicken sandwich.  It’s going to taste good enough to eat.  That being said, I’m not going to to tell you to go to Little Italy Pizza for the chicken parm.  It’s just ok.  The pizza on the other hand… now that’s a different story!

Awesome pizza porn, and a +/- after the jump… Read more »