Midtown Lunch

The original Pick-a-Pita (on 38th btw. 7+8th), home of the french fry stuffed schwarma/falafel sandwich, has closed for the holidays (Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur) and will not re-open.  Instead the business will shift to their new location on 8th Ave. btw. 39+40th (the former home of House of Pita.)  Originally they said they were going to keep both locations open, but that didn’t make any sense. The sign says they will be opening on October 7th, but the guy inside said it would open after the holidays. Considering that Yom Kippur starts at sundown on October 8th, it would make more sense if they opened on the 10th. I guess we’ll see.

The holidays may also explain why some of your favorite Kosher lunch spots were closed at the beginning of the week.  Most are back open, but expect Kosher Deluxe, Olympic Pita, Moshe’s Falafel and others to be closed on October 9th (and maybe even the 8th) for Yom Kippur.

*********THE PRINCE DELI IS NOW CLOSED*********

I admit it.  This post should have been done a long time ago.  And I don’t have an excuse. I’ve walked by the Prince Deli (on 3rd Ave. btw. 43+44th) so many times in the past two years, and never once have I pulled the trigger.  Admittedly, I usually hate generic Midtown delis like this, but the Prince has two things going for it. 1) 99 Cent Pizza.  How can you not?  And 2) a falafel sandwich that was touted by the New York Daily News as “the best in the neighborhood.”  The article has proudly hung in the storefront for awhile now (although there is no date on it, so lord knows how long ago this was written.)

Anyway, I finally took the plunge last week, testing out their two signature dishes.  Read more »

The Biriyani Cart on 46th btw. 6+7th., which rose to prominence when they added roti rolls in the wake of Kati Roll’s move to 39th Street, unveiled their new cart on Monday.  The menu and prices are much clearer now, with useful descriptions of all their kati rolls.  This is definitely one of my favorite carts in Midtown, and it just seems to be getting better, with the addition of a few new menu items. Their chapli kebab has been offered for a little while now (it can be ordered as a plate or in a kati roll) but today is the debut of the new PWCD Kati Roll which is described on their new flyers as being “egg layered chapati bread with farm fresh scrambled egg and potato.”  Farm fresh?  On a cart?  Get out of town.  I will definitely be trying this soon.  Sadly though 2 kati rolls is now $6 whether you order chicken or lamb.  (Not sure when this price hike occured, but at some point it was 2 for $5 if you ordered chicken- so it is a price hike.)

The old cart is not going away though.  The owner plans on opening a second location with the old cart on Monday.  He is shooting for 43rd & 6th, but I’m a little skeptical that the Trini-Paki Cart will allow that to happen. I’ll keep an eye on the situation for you.

This wasn’t the only unveiling this week on 46th St.  Moshe’s famous falafel cart got a new look as well… Read more »

Well that answers that question.  Pick A Pita, a tiny but righteous falafel and shawarma spot on 38th btw. 7+8th, will be opening a second outpost in the now closed House of Pita space on 8th Ave. btw. 39+40th.  The tiny closet they currently operate will remain open, meaning you will now have two Pick-a-Pita options right around the corner from each other.  HOP fans could do a lot worse; I have a special place in my heart for Pick-a-Pita since it was where I discovered the beauty of french fries in a shawarma sandwich.  They say the new location will be open on October 1st.

Two of the better Indian lunches in Midtown have undergone some changes…  Indus Express (on 48th btw. 5+6th) known for their giant version of the Kati Roll, has gotten rid of their salad bar- the lone holdover from City Market Cafe, the generic deli that originally occupied the space.  They’ve added more seating in that space, plus a small table filled with Indian snacks that are now for sale.

But the real big changes have been happening at Khodiar Express, the vegetarian food inside the former Newsstand on 6th Ave. btw. 37+38th.  See if you can follow this… the Gujarati Indian food, which used to be in the back left hand corner, has moved to the front, right next to Taj Delhi Chat  which opened along the right hand wall two months ago.  The latin food, which moved from the now closed Blimpie next door, to the back right hand corner of the “newsstand”, has also moved to the right hand wall.  And finally, between the two, a Middle Eastern steam table has opened up, serving Israeli style falafel.

Got that all?  If not, there are semi-helpful photos after the jump…  Read more »

When Olympic Pita first came to Midtown in February of last year, I was pretty excited.  The Brooklyn location was pretty well known, and has a lot of fans (plus has been mentioned by at least 4 Profiled Midtown Lunch’ers)- but I couldn’t help but be put off by a few things.  First, the back is a sit down restaurant with most items on the menu costing over $10 (a Midtown Lunch no-no).  They had a take out counter in the front, where you could watch them bake beautiful looking fresh laffa bread, but all of those sandwiches (with the exception of the falafel) were over $10.  You could buy a cheaper sandwich on pita, but why would you want to eat something stuffed in pre-packaged pita, while there’s amazing looking laffa staring you in the face.

At the time, Kosher Deluxe’s shawarma on pita was (barely) under $10, so I was of the opinion that I didn’t need Olympic Pita.  Plus if they were going to charge that much for a sandwich, there were cheaper places to get good falafel and shawarma sandwiches, like Pick a Pita on 38th btw. 7+8th (and they’ll even put fries in your sandwich!)  Since then, Kosher Deluxe has raised their prices (a shawarma on laffa sandwich is now over $10) and so I finally caved in and tried the Olympic Pita falafel on laffa ($6.50), the only item on the menu worthy of a Midtown Lunch distinction… and all I can say is- wow.  What the hell took me so long! ?!  Read more »

*Sigh*  Is it over?  Have I finally given in to the pressures of everyday lunch’ing in Midtown?  When Crisp first hung up their sign on 3rd Ave., I figured there was no way in hell I was going to find something redeeming about a place that calls itself Crisp.  From their saying on the wall (“Fast fresh food that syncs your taste with your conscience“) you automatically knew it was going to expensive, and worse case scenario- it would be expensive salads.  (I think between Just Salads, Chop’t and every single crappy generic deli in Midtown, we’re all set on the salads.)

When they finally opened, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that “crisp” actually referred to falafels, and the place was more like a midtownified pita pocket and hummus bowl kind of place.  Not terrible, but certainly nothing to jump for joy about.  With so many great (and mostly cheap) falafel places to choose from in this area, why do we need a place where the cheapest falafel sandwich is $6.75- thanks but no thanks. 

But then something happened.  I tried it.  And I have to say, despite my brain urging me to show hate and disapproval- there is one sandwich at Crisp that I think I can fully get behind.  Read more »

Normally they give away free topping coupons the day after Hideki Matsui hits a homerun, but why should we be punished because it is the Yankees’ offseason?  Problem solved.  Today is free topping coupon day at Go Go Curry on 38th St. btw. 7+8th. 

The new House of Pita on 8th Ave. btw. 39+40th finally replaced the Mandler’s Sausage sign.  They smartly decided to keep the H.O.P. name, and only add the “Chicken Bar” part to the sign underneath.  I guess they “discovered” that Chicken Bar already exists.

Kashmir Express, the Indian take out place on 8th Ave. btw. 38+39th, has converted to a by the pound buffet.  Looked pretty good, although having to pay for my lunch by the amount it weighs is always a scary proposition.  The $4.99 price tag is not bad, but Indian food can get heavy!  And it forces you to break the #1 rule of eating at buffets by the pound… go easy on the rice and bread.

A shot of the buffet, plus Piece of Chicken’s shocking new menu changes, after the jump… Read more »

House of Pita has become the little falafel stand that could, re-opening their operation on 8th Ave. btw. 39+40th, in the space formerly occupied by Mandler’s Sausage Co.  This comes a little over a month after their 2nd location, on 46th btw. 5+6th closed after 6 months in business.  According to the owner, the 46th St. location was always only going to be a temporary location- they were just forced out a little earlier then they expected.

The new House of Pita on 8th has the same falafel, salads and pickled veggies you loved at the original 48th St. window, but they are now serving meat dishes, most notably- chicken shawarma.  Because House of Pita was always a dairy (no meat served), and the new location will serve meat, the owner felt it would be misleading to keep the original name, so he plans to change it to… Chicken Bar.

Why does that name sound familiar??? 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.