Midtown Lunch

I finally made it down to the brand new Popeyes I reported about on Fat Tuesday.  If you hadn’t heard, Popeyes is back in Midtown with a location on 40th btw. 7th & 8th Ave.  I ate there on Friday, and felt pretty disgusting the rest of the day.  But you know what?  It was worth it.  Sure in retrospect the third piece of chicken and second biscuit may have been overkill… but hindsight is twenty twenty.  Popeyes is awesome. 

Like fried chicken, alot is written about great hamburgers in New York City.  People argue all the time over who makes the best burger in the city.  Shake Shack and Burger Joint are always on the list, and new places seem to open up every week.  Then of course there are the expensive burgers, with truffles and foie gras and the such.  In the end, a $3 Big Mac tastes good, but it’s no competition for a real burger, made with quality beef.

Fried chicken is a whole different ball game.  I don’t care what kind of prejudice you have against fast food places, I’m telling you, Popeyes is frickin good.  If you want delicious fried chicken, you will be hard pressed to find some that tastes better than the spicy chicken at Popeyes.  Sure, your extra money might buy you better side dishes, a fancier atmosphere and organic chickens that were treated very nicely before they were dipped in batter and fried up crispy… but in the end, when you are just talking about taste- Popeyes can hold its own with the best of them.

Pictures and a +/- after the jump… Read more »

Now this is exciting.  The new Popeyes I reported on a few weeks ago (on 40th btw. 7th & 8th) has opened!!! And just in time to celebrate Fat Tuesday. 

For those of us longing to be in New Orleans right now for Mardi Gras, this will be have to be our consolation prize.  (It’s no “Mama’s” Chicken Box, but it will do!)  Spicy Fried Chicken, biscuits (made with lard), and red beans and rice.

Pics of the inside, after the jump… Read more »

There are a lot of reasons I choose to write about a place.  Being “Cheap” is a given… but other than that the first, and most obvious is the food.  A lot of the places I write about do something interesting- something that isn’t available everywhere.  Whether it’s the Indian Burritos at Kati Roll, the rice balls at Oms/b, the various ramen places, or the meat pies at Tuck Shop– these postings are most popular because they are destination lunches- worth walking that extra 5 or 10 minutes if you don’t work right near the place.

I write about carts because there are so many of them, and it’s hard to know which ones are good and bad.  Plus, a lot of people are scared of them… and would rather read about my suffering after eating at a bad cart- then experience it for themselves.  I don’t usually write about the deli/salad bar places, because there is one on every block of Midtown- and they bore me.  I will, however write about one if they are doing something different or interesting… like the Korean Food at Cafe Duke, or the Soups @ Dishes. 

I very very rarely write about fast food- so the next question is obvious… Why the hell would you write about KFC???  Well the answer depends on who’s asking.  If you haven’t heard yet, New York City is considering banning artificial trans fats from all restaurants in the city.  In light of this possible ban, KFC has taken preemptive action, phasing trans fats out of the fried chicken at all their Manhattan restaurants (it’s still in the biscuits) as of the first of this month.  They plan on rolling out the change in all of their restaurants Nationwide by April of next year.

Clearly this is topical.  People need to know if this new KFC, fried in trans-fat’less soybean oil is as good as it used to be!  Right???  I’m doing a service to the community.  How does the new chicken compare to the old chicken.  (The real reason I’m writing about KFC, pictures and a less than helpful +/- after the jump)

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