We recently received a tip from Lunch’er “Victor” alerting us to a new sushi place that popped up in the atrium of the Citi Building on 53rd and Lex. But this isn’t just any old neighborhood sushi joint. Here, all orders are placed on iPads! I know what you’re thinking. “Sure, that’s pretty cool, but is the food any good?” Let’s take a look:
Posted by Anna at 9:00 am, January 18th, 2012 under Sushi, Sushi-Teria.
It’s been ages since I got back from my month-long trip to Peru and Argentina, but as I settle into a new area of midtown, I can’t help but think back to all the wonderful foods that I wish was readily available for lunch. Besides being crazy cheap, it was just all so tasty. See what I’ve been craving after the jump..
Posted by ultraclay at 3:15 pm, January 17th, 2012 under Latin.
On Thursday, Steak ‘n Shake opened its doors, and the Midtown masses descended in the rain, first for the free food for a year and then for lunch. Last week’s opening brought lots of media attention, including a New York Times article quoting Danny Meyer on growing up eating Steak ‘n Shake, which is the inspiration for our beloved Shake Shack. It’ll be interesting to see New Yorkers compare the two over time.
Luckily for us, Lunch’er Hightemp was on the scene on opening day, albeit for dinner, and wrote this review of the original double cheese burger (which is the most like Shake Shack), plus one of the dog options.
Since its in my ‘hood I went by for dinner. Waited outside for about 5 minutes around 8pm but I hit them right when the “perfect storm” of kitchen craziness hit so ended up waiting about 40 minutes inside to actually order. I got a free strawberry shake for waiting. The staff was all very friendly.
Got an Original Double Cheese ‘n fries and (since I had waited and felt like I had to justify the wait) a Chili Cheese Steak frank ‘n fries. Everything was good and came out fast. I can see how they get credited as the inspiration for the shake shack. Burger had that same crusty/salty thing going on. Frank was sort of a normal frank but the chili and the onions they put on was a nice touch…could have used more cheese. Fries were really good…thin and crunchy…though 2 orders was excessive even for me. Still I’m very glad to have it in the area.
When I was there, my wait was also longer than expected.
Posted by Rachel Goldner at 9:45 am, January 17th, 2012 under Burger, Steak N Shake.
Thanks to Lunch’er Michelle for tipping us off to two new places about pop up on 44th street between 8th and 9th. The first is a new burger joint called Smokey Burger Organic, which describes themselves as “organic burgers, salads, and sides, all natural shakes and sodas crafted from fresh quality ingredients.” I wish I could tell you more about it (price point, menu items, etc.), but the website they’ve plastered on the signs (smokeyburgerorganic.com) doesn’t appear to be functional yet.
With Five Napkin Burger and Island Burgers & Shakes up 9th avenue, Shake Shack half a block east and Steak ‘n Shake‘s debut yesterday, the burger market’s getting to be a crowded one. Unless they’ve got something cool up their sleeves to entice us over there, I’m not sure if a burger place is what we need more of in Midtown West.
Now, Japanese BBQ? That’s a different story altogether!
Posted by Rachel Goldner at 1:30 pm, January 13th, 2012 under Burger, Gyu Kaku, Smokey Burger Organic.
Imagine it’s “one of those days” at the office. You look up and it’s way past lunchtime, and suddenly you realize that sound you keep hearing is your own tummy grumbling. Now what? Now you can order Korilla delivery. Details are thin at this point, but according to this you can email them after lunchtime rush to order delivery. They did clarify that deliveries are available only in midtown and lower, and that orders should be placed an hour in advance.
Crisp on Wheels has also been tweeting lately about delivery in Midtown, usually around where their truck is parked. Could this be the new model for food trucks in 2012? Only time will tell …
Posted by Rachel Goldner at 2:00 pm, January 11th, 2012 under Delivery, Korean, Korilla BBQ Truck.
Tomorrow morning at 10 a.m., New York’s first Steak ‘n Shake will open its doors on Broadway between 53rd and 54th streets, right next to the Ed Sullivan Theater. The exact time is important, of course, because, as we mentioned earlier this week, the Midwestern chain will give their first 150 customers free Steak ‘n Shake meals for a year! (Public service announcement: Weather Channel currently predicts rain, so be prepared.) So what exactly can Midtown Lunchers expect?
Posted by Rachel Goldner at 8:30 am, January 11th, 2012 under American, Steak N Shake.
You would think that the Korean taco niche has reached capacity by now, but apparently not. Yesterday Lunch’er Harry tipped us off to this new cart on the corner of 56th and Madison, and we had to see if the new kid on the block could hang with the big boys.
Posted by Anna at 9:45 am, January 10th, 2012 under Korean, Yogi BBQ Cart.
To the many Arby’s fans that had cried when the one and only Arby’s in the city closed, happy birthday! Few months ago I had noticed construction work had started in the old Pinnacle Bagel & Deli space (3rd btw 46+47th), which prompted me to start daydreaming about what sort of deliciousness will take over that space. Well thanks to lunch’er Larry B, we finally know what’s taking over the space, Arby’s and Nathan’s!! (Really?! Ugh!)
Or is it…? See what I saw instead only after few hours that photo was taken.
Posted by Donny T. at 3:15 pm, January 9th, 2012 under Fast Food Chains, Pinnacle Bagel & Deli.
Most people hit up Sapporo when in need of a nice, big bowl of hot ramen. In a crowded noodle market, though, Sapporo doesn’t particularly hold up well against the competition (a fact proven again by this year’s reader poll.) Don’t count them out of your lunching rotation, though: The noodle joint also serves up several homey and delicious donburi (meal over rice) that make a trip to west 49th street very worth while.
The inevitable happened: it got cold. When the flimsy Salumè kiosk opened last summer, I wondered what would happen to them come winter. Well, here we are, and now that we’ve had a couple days of frigid weather, they appear to be wondering the same thing, because they’ve gone missing. But let me back up a sec.
On December 24, Salumè tweeted that their kiosk was moving due to the holiday festivities. That makes sense — the other kiosks also moved around a bit, too, as they did during Thanksgiving. But, while everyone else is back in their rightful spots (actually, Snack Box has moved down the block from 47th to 46th street, FYI), Salumè is nowhere to be found…
Posted by Rachel Goldner at 2:34 pm, January 5th, 2012 under Italian, Salume Kiosk, Sandwiches, Times Square.
