Midtown Lunch

From a Lunch’er: “The Old Bridge Deli (on 41st & Lex) got SEIZED (big orange stickers out front, doors closed)…. AGAIN.  That’s twice in like a few months. Same exact thing that happened before basically.  Lights on, people literally walking up to the door and yanking on it, only to then lookup and see the big orange sticker with massive “SEIZED” on it.  Didn’t bother reading the fine print on the sticker this time though.” She bounced back once, let’s see if she can do it again.

Thanks to Lunch’er Howard for the photos.

Bento Guy on 50th btw. 6+7th (on a better day) Photo provided by Lunch’er Shauna

In the ML Inbox: “Just to let you know, I saw the 50th st bento guy sitting in back of a police suv and the cops were wheeling around his cart. I wanted to take a snap for your blog, but i didn’t want to risk gettting tazed.” Please tell me somebody got a photo of this.  Email it to zach@midtownlunch.com  Also, somebody may want to go warn the Ecuadorian lady on 46th St.

Always up for challenging my stomach, I decided to hit up Milant yesterday (on 39th btw. Lex+3rd) despite the fact that they’ve been closed for most of the past month or two. Since they were shuttered by the DOH, there has been concern about the freshness and cleanliness of what was once considered Midtown’s finest sandwich place.  All the food in the display case looked fine, although there is a creepy-ness that will probably only go away after multiple visits without incident (i.e. sickness). I went with my standby #13.  Chicken cutlet, fresh mozarella, sundried tomatoes, and pesto. 

Check it out, plus more- after the jump…  Read more »

Passed by the Treats Truck yesterday (on 45th btw. 6+7th) and owner Kim had two helpers, so the line was moving much quicker than normal.  One helper took orders, one packaged the orders up, and Kim took the money. Very nice.  Unfortunately it’s not a permanent thing, because one of the helpers was Kenny Lao, founder and co-owner of the Rickshaw Dumpling Bar, who told me that their planned cart should be ready to go in just a few weeks. Kenny has been shadowing Kim to learn more about what it takes to run a food truck in New York City.  He’s hoping to have a “soft” opening with his cart (i.e. not publicized, so he can ease into things) but I told him Midtown Lunch’ers wouldn’t let that happen. Keep your eye out for the new dumpling cart starting in September.

Thanks to Lunch’er Mike for pointing out this deal.  Burger. Fries. Beer.  $10 at the House of Brews on the SW corner of 51st & 8th Ave.

“With tax and tip, it slightly breaks the ML price cap, but the burger was pretty big and delicious, and the beer was Checker Cab Blond Ale, which is at the very least better than Bud Light.  They sneakily charged another $1.50 for cheese, but it’s still a damn good deal, and they have pepper jack.” 

It’s about 5 feet outside Midtown Lunch range (on 51st just west of 8th), and sit down lunches at pubs aren’t really my thing, but if a place is willing to throw in a beer with lunch, and keep the price at $10, they deserve a mention.  House of Brews has a second location on 46th between 8+9th (but closer to 9th).

Are there any other deals like this?  Feel free to comment below…

Blockbuster news in the Midtown Lunch inbox today.  The famous 53rd St. and 6th avenue chicken and rice cart is expanding their empire to 7th Avenue.  The new cart is parked on the SW corner of 53rd St. & 7th Avenue during the day now starting at 11:30 a.m.  The sister cart on the SE corner of 53rd & 6th, who won the Midtown Lunch Street Meat Palooza is not effected.  Got that?  Let’s see if I can break it down for the uninitiated:

• There is a famous chicken and rice cart that parks every night on the SW corner of 53rd & 6th from around 8 p.m. until 5 a.m.  The line is down the street every night (you may have seen it before.)
• The same guys have a second cart that parks on the SE corner of 53rd & 6th during the day, from Noon until Midnight.  The food is exactly the same as the cart parked across the street at night.
• Now, another cart that serves the same food is parked on the SW corner of 53rd & 7th starting at 11:30 a.m.

The guys at this new cart claimed that this is the very same cart that gets moved over to the SW corner of 53rd & 6th at 7:30 at night- but I’m not positive that is true.  Either way, they’ve got the shirts, the plastic bags, and the awning of the famous cart, and the food looks exactly the same… so I guess in the end it doesn’t really matter. Simply put- Midtown Lunchers now have two places to get the Famous Halal Guys chicken and lamb over rice platter during the day.  SW corner of 53rd & 7th and SE corner of 53rd & 6th.  Very exciting!

Related:
Street Meat Palooza: A 13 Cart Chicken/Lamb Over Rice Showdown
Debunking the Myths of the Most Famous Chicken and Rice Intersection in New York

From a Lunch’er email: “Looks like the critically-panned Empanada Joe’s has setup shop and will be opening soon (on 8th Ave. btw. 43+44th.) Interior looked 80% done, maybe within a month they’ll open?”  According to Eater, there is a location already open in Morningside Heights, where an empanada costs $3.38.  Hmmm.  A “critically panned” $3+ empanada doesn’t sound too promising… but we’ll see what happens when it opens.  Anybody tried Empanada Joe yet?

For those who care- an interior shot of construction after the jump.   Read more »

And for the first time in the history of Midtown street food, a cart/truck has found a spot on Day 1 without any trouble whatsoever. The Dessert Truck parked on Park Ave. btw. 51+52nd and sold delicious desserts for 4+ hours today without any hassles. No trouble from the cops. No trouble from other vendors (despite a Mister Softee Truck being parked two blocks away.) And no trouble finding customers. In fact, co-owner Chris told me that sales today rivaled their regular nighttime business. Who said Midtown Lunchers wouldn’t want to stuff their faces with chocolate bread pudding on a Monday?!?

So, if everything goes as smoothly as it went today, The Dessert Truck will be parked in that same spot Monday-Friday 11:30 am to 4pm forrrrreverrrrrrrrr! Keep your fingers crossed…

Craving steak on Friday I realized that you can’t just jump into a lunch at Tad’s Steaks.  Even on a dare.  Eating at Tad’s requires some training.  Like an Olympic Marathon runner, you can’t just start off by running 26 miles.  You’ve got to slowly build up to the big race.  So, I put my lunch at Tad’s on hold, and decided to slowly work my way into it.  (Yes, I am a wuss- but can you blame me?  It’s Tad’s we’re talking about here.) First stop on the training circuit?  The Steak Truck, to try out their steak and cheese sub, that I first noticed in July.   Read more »