Midtown Lunch

According to their website, a 3rd Midtown Qdoba (on 46th btw. Madison & 5th), is coming soon.  I tried the newest one on 53rd St. & 3rd Ave., and I have to say I don’t find it to be that much different then Chipotle (or, as the kids say- “meh”.)  The selection at Qdoba is a little larger, so the chances of finding that one thing you can tolerate is greater- but I ain’t willing to put in that kind of time.  So, if you’re sick of Chipotle, and looking for something new, you’ll probably enjoy Qdoba.  If you hate Chipotle, and are hoping for that burrito savior, I’m guessing this probably won’t be it.  (The Baja Fresh vigil continues…)

While Chipotle expands its Midtown holdings, other Midtown Lunch favorites are branching out.  Five Guys & Sakae news, after the jump… Read more »

Last week, my boss made the trip over to 45th btw. 5+6th to try the newest Goodburger location, and when he returned asked me a pretty good question. 

“Why arent you on Goodburger’s wall of quotes?”. 

Good question wise and all knowing boss.  Why isn’t Midtown Lunch up on that wall?

So I went back and read my original post on Goodburger from a year and a half ago, and realized the problem.  Quotes like “it’s just another fast food place in Midtown- that happens to use quality ingredients” and “once you resign yourself to paying the money it’s a good Midtown Lunch”, aren’t going to get me up on no wall.  I hear you talkin’ Goodburger.  You want something with zazz!

So, in an effort to get up on Goodburger’s quote wall, I realized I needed to come up with something awesome.  A perfect quote, ready made for them to use, and posted on the site.  And after I do that, how could they deny Midtown Lunch burger wall immortality? How’s this…

“Goodburger is the best burger and fries combo meal in the city (if only it was $2 cheaper).”

They can leave out that last part if they want…

This past week saw the grand opening of a entirely new concept in fast food eating right here in Midtown.  From the owners of Zen Palate (a mid-range mini-chain of vegetarian restaurants here in the New York), comes Zen Burger, a vegetarian McDonald’s that they hope will change the face of the fast food business. 

Now, when I say Zen Burger is a vegetarian McDonald’s, I really mean vegetarian McDonald’s.  From the backlit menus behind the counter, to the numbered list of combo meals, this is a fast food joint through and through.  They even have the option to super size.  Those expecting some sort of crunchy, granola bar eating, meat hating, haute cuisine vegetarian concept are going to be sorely disappointed.  Zen Burger is cheap fast food-  and this might surprise you (considering there is no pork anywhere on the menu), but I actually really like it.

Curious what this Zen Burger food looks like?  I do something you never want to do at McDonald’s (take a bite and look inside), after the jump… Read more »

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.

Once again, I’d like to congratulate burger lovers working in the 40s.  You finally have a burger place to call your own.  If you haven’t been to any of the Goodburger locations, and want to read about the food- almost all of what I wrote in November of last year, about the location on Lex., still applies, the one notable exception being that now the combo costs $10.35 instead of $9.95, which means- technically for this to be Midtown Lunch, you will need to forgo fries or a drink.  It’s just not right.

The new location on 45th btw. 5+6th (which opened yesterday) is a lot larger than the location in Midtown East, and has an upstairs seating area. 

An actual goodburger, plus a sign worthy of being put on Suicide Food, after the jump… Read more »

You’ve seen the plywood, the facade, the interior, and the crowd on opening day.  But what about the food?  I have never been to the Chelsea Pop Burger, so this is a new phenomenon for me.  I don’t think ‘Midtown Lunch will never be the same’, but it certainly is an exciting addition.  Why?  Because I love sliders.  If for no other reason than they are fun- and in the end, lunch for me is about one hour of fun in an otherwise busy day at work.

On the other hand, I do see the possible complaints that could arise from the slider situation.  (“Fat man want big burger!”)  Anytime you are asking me to pay more money, for less food, you’ve got to step it up.  Some people do it well (Oms/b), some people- not so much (Yushi).  Pop Burger finds itself somewhere in the middle.

On to the food porn!!! Read more »

Despite sending out Facebook invitations for a “Sneak Preview” Party on Saturday night, it appears as if the preview belongs to the Midtown Lunchers!  Pop Burger threw open their doors at 11am this morning, and is open for business.  Eater is there first with some great photos.

The more and more I hear about this place (i.e. Saturday night facebook PR party), the less and less it seems like a true Midtown Lunch- but I do love me some sliders,  so you know I’ll be there.  If you go today (it’s on 58th btw. Madison & 5th), let everyone know what it’s like in the comments (or post photos to the Midtown Lunch Flickr Photo Group).

Related: Chelsea’s Pop Burger Opening a Massive New Midtown Location

The Midtown burger hits just keep on coming.  Friday morning you got your first look at the inside of Zen Burger.  Now, Grub St. has the first look at the three level Pop Burger opening at the end of the month on 58th btw. 5th+Madison.  Our only hope for a true “Midtown Lunch” will be the “first floor, open from 11 a.m. till 4 a.m. for takeout and dining” and “there will be delivery”. 

Reviews of the downtown Pop Burger are mixed.  According to Grub St., we’ll get our chance to weigh in the week of November 26th, but I can’t imagine it unseating Five Guys and Burger Joint, for lunchtime purposes anyway (both just a few blocks away).  However, it shoudn’t face any competition for the “I’m a typical Midtwon douchebag banker looking for a place to drink and eat burgers after work” crowd… (unless you count Hawaiian Tropic Zone).  I kid Pop Burger, I kid!

Amid rumors of financial problems (the Union Square Zen Palate closed two weeks ago), Zen Burger is scheduled to open the weekend of November 24th on Lexington btw. 45+46th.  Here’s a look at a mock up of the inside:

_{Courtesy of The Angel Group for Branding & Design}

It’s a lot more McDonalds’ish than I expected (down to the photos on the overhead menu, which don’t look like veggie burgers to me).

From the looks of a photo of the entire interior, leaving Zen Burger may require some sort of teleportation (achieving Nirvana perhaps?).  That photo, after the jump… Read more »

“Burger was decent, but no way in hell worth the wait,” seems to be the theme of a Friday that was supposed to be the “Grand Opening” of Five Guys on 55th. btw. 5+6th Ave.  I was on a plane to San Francisco on Friday, and missed out on all the excitement, meaning that my Five Guys experience was limited to Thursday’s surprise opening, where the wait time peaked at around 30 minutes.  Not so on Friday, where burger “Early Adopters” were forced to wait over an hour and a half for what is supposed to be fast food.  Comments flooded in, and even Eater covered the madness.

I was pretty angry to have to wait 30 minutes on Thursday, so I can’t even imagine what Friday’s customers were feeling. 

Over the weekend, I got this email from Sal Rincione, the Executive VP of Operations for Five Guys NYC (and “Manager” who was deserved a “big punch in the puss” according to some of Midtown Lunch’s readers):

Zach,
It was utter madness [Friday]! I would like to go on record saying how much we appreciate the support and the AWESOME turnout.  We humbly apologize for the long wait.

Five Guys normally does call in and faxed orders but due to the high volume [on Friday], we obviously will limit the amount of call in’s and faxed orders we will take [going forward].  Please let everyone know that if you fax in an order, unless you get a VERBAL Confirmation from either myself or my staff, assume we are not preparing the order. Unfortunately, we just dont have enough square footage to handle all of the walk in’s along with the called and faxed orders.

My #1 goal is to make the BEST BURGERS IN NYC! Thanks :)

Sal

What I think of the burgers & fries, plus some meat porn, after the jump… Read more »