Midtown Lunch

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.

When the Souvlaki GR truck took home Rookie of the Year honors at this year’s Vendy Awards, they were still in their infancy, but I was really looking forward to them eventually serving lunch in Midtown. Unfortunately, they seem to be getting very cozy in a regular noon-9pm spot at 21st and 6th. Hopefully, they will still make it to Midtown eventually, but why wait? A few weeks ago, I took a (temporary) break from mourning Midtown’s loss to celebrate Flatiron’s gain (it’s still better than trekking to Astoria, right?). I can now say that wherever they park, Souvlaki GR is a great addition to the NYC food truck scene (and it’s just a few F stops away).

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Before the lunch-pocalypse last Friday, there was a discussion in the forums about an out-of-bounds Mexican cart on 9th ave. btw 58+59th. I’d never heard of this cart before and I’m extremely grateful that I noticed this discussion before it was swallowed by the internet for all eternity. I’m happy to report that the Tacos y Quesadillas Mexico cart is very much in the mold of the excellent El Rey del Sabor carts and is bringing some very good Mexican food (and a wide variety of items) to the far reaches of northwest Midtown.

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Ever since I was a kid, the street festival Italian sausage has been a summer tradition for me. Yes, it’s overpriced, yes the fests all end up being sock-sellers and dorm room poster, but there’s something about a hot Italian sausage with hot and sweet peppers on a crusty bun that takes me back to my New York childhood.

Somehow this summer, I didn’t manage to have one at all and as the last week or so has proven, summer is definitely over. Then I noticed that halal carts all over town have started selling Italian sausages. (Well, maybe they were there all along… but it’s only recently that I noticed the signs!)  I was intrigued. Halal and pork don’t typically mix, but I wouldn’t tell if they wouldn’t.

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I am eagerly anticipating the Midtown debut of the Souvlaki GR truck, this year’s Vendy Rookie of the Year winner. It seems like something truly unique in an increasingly varied Midtown street food scene. As it turns out though, someone is already serving up Greek pork souvlaki right here in Midtown… the old school, new look Uncle Gussy’s (on 51st and Park Ave.) As you know from the letter they sent us last week, Uncle Gussy’s has been in business for 39 years (Nick, the owner, took it over from his uncle- natch), and recently they upgraded to a truck that makes them look more new school.  Gussy’s chicken and lamb over rice failed to distinguish itself in Street Meat Palooza 3 (their first appearance) with a 12th place finish, but what we didn’t realize is they also serve souvlaki comparable to what you can get from the fabled Astoria vendors (his cousin Frank actually runs the famous souvlaki cart on Steinway).

Astoria style souvlaki, on the streets of Midtown?!  This is pretty huge news indeed. Read more »

New Yorkers, our long nightmare is over – it seems like we’re getting our own version of the Kogi BBQ truck. At this point, there’s little that Mr. Zach Brooks can hold sacred to LA, now that we’re about to encroach on the Korean taco truck phenomenon. A phenomenon that already seems to have pervaded our local Midtown lunch venues, like Bann Next Door, Café Duke and Pro Hot Korean, though we have yet to see a legit Korean taco truck operating in Manhattan for weekday lunches.

After first hearing about the Korilla truck a few months ago on Eater and doing some preliminary investigation on their website and Facebook page, I excitedly reached out to the owner to get a little more information on the Korilla truck.

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The Little Morocco cart returned to its spot at 39th and 7th a few weeks ago, but the food didn’t seem the same. Gone were the beans, corn, free french fries and cilantro. The hot sauce was noticeably weaker. This was cause for concern. Would the real Little Morocco ever return? Well, last week, there was talk in the forums that things were back to normal at Little Morocco, and that there was a new item being served (and that the usual operator had returned). Clearly I had to see it for myself.
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A couple of weeks ago, a new cart called Grill & Noodle popped up on 50th btw. 6+7. The cart has an old school no-frills appearance and an odd Chinese/Japanese hybrid menu that ranges from lo mein to teppanyaki. That kind of identity crisis is often a bad sign. I found myself walking by the cart the other day and figured I might as well give a shot, especially when I noticed the mysterious Casanova steak.

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As if I needed more reasons to stalk the ML Twitter Tracker (hopefully it will be fixed soon!), this week it brought me news of several new lunch menu items from the Eggs Travaganza Cart (on 52nd and Park). These are the same folks that brought me that de-freaking-licious Bacon and Chorizo Grilled Cheese sandwich, so naturally I had to check it out.
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A new cart called “Grill & Noodle” has popped up right next to the Daisy May’s BBQ Cart on 50th and 6th Ave. According to Lunch’er “Matt Z” yesterday was their second day parking in that spot and the owner said they would try and park there again today. The menu is a Japanese/Chinese hybrid with lo mein, casanova chicken and steak (whatever the hell that is!) and teppanyaki. Early adopters, let us know how it is in the comments.

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Meru from the Biriyani Cart (on 46th and 6th) should be incredibly flattered this week! A new cart called “My Biryani” has popped up on 44th and 6th selling “Bombay spicy biryani”, and kati rolls.  We can’t imagine it’s better than the Biriyani Cart, but there could be some spillover action?  (The lines on 46th have gotten pretty long.) Early adopters, let us know how it is in the comments.  And thanks to Lunch’er “Adam Prato” for the tip and photos.