Archive for 'Lenny’s'

Buffalo Chicken Wraps: My Search for Midtown’s Best

Let’s face it. Buffalo chicken wraps are great. Back in college, my friends and I would visit the local dive bar for wings at least two nights a week, and ever since, I’ve had a deep appreciation for this thing we call “buffalo chicken.” Created upstate in Buffalo, Wikipedia describes the sauce as cayenne pepper hot sauce plus melted butter or margarine. When mixed with fried, breaded chicken and sharp, blue cheese, deliciousness is bound to ensue! Although not traditional, wraps are a convenient means of buffalo chicken consumption (it’s nice that the whole experience can be folded into a neat, handheld bundle) and they tend to be less messy than their sandwich counterparts. Over the course of the past week, I took it upon myself to try out several different buffalo chicken wraps around Midtown. I was actually a little surprised at how difficult it was to find these things for under $10, but in the end I managed to uncover four decent options.

Read my findings after the jump…

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If You’re Gonna Go to Lenny’s, Get the #5 Jimmy T!

I’ve always been wary of Lenny’s. Despite the fifteen locations listed on their website, in the past eight years that I have lived in NYC, I hadn’t actually been to a single Lenny’s location until last week (30 Rock location, wuzzup)! A couple of things prevented me from stepping inside. One: it’s a chain. Two: It’s probably overpriced.

Aside from the things preventing me from getting to Lenny’s two other things encouraged me to go: for one thing, our man Chris’ post about Toasties made me realize not to necessarily take these sandwich chains for granted and secondly, Urban Daddy ran a promotion for $3 Lenny’s sandwiches (normally priced at $7.99). Take a gamble on $3? Why not!

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Lenny’s Finally Comes to Midtown East

Lenny's

The other day, while I was walking to work, I was surprised to see a Lenny’s and a big “Coming soon” sign on 43rd btw Lex and 3rd Ave. I was surprised because I was expecting another random deli to take over the space that used to be a random deli. This will finally be the first Lenny’s in midtown east (sorry I’m not including the one on 54th and 2nd). I’m curious to see how they will do since they will be located directly behind Potbelly on 44th btw Lex + 3rd. Let the sandwich war begin!

Rock Center Lenny’s Is Now Open: Lunch'er Sarah sends word that the new Lenny's in the Rockefeller Center Concourse is now open.  This is great news for all those lazy Rock Center workers who can't bring themselves to walk directly outside to the Lenny's on 48th btw. 5+6th.

The Best Turkey Sandwiches in Midtown

I will admit, I’m not a big fan of turkey sandwiches- or turkey in general for that matter.  In a lot of ways, Midtown Lunch is completely anti-turkey sandwich.  Every day I post lunch recommendations so you don’t have to go to a place like Cafe Metro for a turkey sandwich.  But there will be no turkey hate this week… and while nobody will want to eat turkey for lunch next week, there are probably a lot of people who can’t wait for Thursday to get their turkey on.  So, here are three turkey sandwiches I can wholeheartedly recommend- if you can’t wait for Thanksgiving Day.

city75

The turkey sandwich at City 75 (on 51st btw. 5+6th). $6.45. Every day this otherwise generic Midtown deli roasts a whole turkey (sometimes 2) and carves it up fresh for turkey sandwiches.  There isn’t any stuffing or gravy or cranberry sauce, but it’s still a big notch above Boar’s Head.

The cranberry sauce and stuffing option is after the jump…

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Crumbs & Lenny’s Both Continue With Their Expansion

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The plywood has officially gone up for the new Crumbs on Broadway btw. 52+53rd that Cupcake Takes the Cake says will open at the end of the year.  They also mention another Crumbs going up on 54th and 3rd Ave.  I honestly can’t see how Midtown can support this crazy cupcake expansion.

And Lenny’s seems to be in the same boat…  Read more »

You Can Never Have Too Many Lenny’s (Wait, actually- can you?): Thanks to Lunch'er Adam for passing along this sandwich chain expansion news: "Lenny's is opening 3 new shops -- one at 30 Rockefeller, one at 34th and 8th, and another out-of-bounds around Columbus Circle I think.  I saw the sign in the window in the store on 48 Street (btw. 5+6th.)  Personally, I'm not a big fan of their overpriced and not-always-so-good sandwiches."

Prediction: Not a single one of these sandwiches will be sold today…


The H1 at Lenny’s.  Fresh oven roasted turkey, with stuffing, cranberry sauce & turkey gravy.

Another sandwich that probably won’t see much action today, after the jump… Read more »

Lenny’s

lennys1The last thing NYC needs is another Deli (especially a chain!) but Lenny’s continues to open up new locations- with one of the newer ones being right in Midtown on 48th between 5th and 6th Avenue.  I feel like eating at a chain deli in NYC is like eating at Taco Bell while you’re in Mexico.  With so many sandwich choices already in midtown, when I walked by the sign the first time, I wondered why anyone would get a sandwich at a seemingly yuppified, over-priced chain like this.

Well, after eating there a few times, the answer is simple… it’s pretty damn good.  As for it not being authentic or home-grown, apparently the chain is an offshoot of a place opened in 1989 on the Upper West Side by Sei Hoon Lenny Chu, possibly the most unlikely named “Lenny” to ever open up a New York style deli in the history of the city.  They’ve recently begun franchising with plans to open 80-100 stores in the Northeast over the next 5 years.

As for the food, I’m sure everyone has their favorite deli to get a sandwich in Midtown- but it’s ok to branch out every once in awhile, and Lenny’s is definetely worthwhile.  The ingredients are fresh, every sandwich is made to order (unlike a lot of the Midtown delis) and the choices are endless.  You can order your ingredients ala carte, or choose one of their TONS of pre designed choices like Lenny’s All Time Favorites, Cold Cut Combos, Grilled Combos, Homestyle Combos and Lite Sandwiches.

The place is not without it’s problems, but alot of those can be solved with a few easy suggestions… more on that, and the +/- after the jump. Read more »