Well, with a recession comes the recession specials… and A.J. Maxwell’s (on 49th btw. 5+6th) has created a take-out-only lunch special for those of us who’d like to enjoy a steak sandwich made with quality steak (or mini burgers, or a chicken sandwich) for just $10.  You get your choice of any one of the three, plus a soup or salad, for $10.

A.J. Maxwell’s is one of those wannabe old school steakhouses that probably wouldn’t exist if the tourist or expense account had never been invented.  I don’t know if their steaks are good, or worth the money, but I’m guessing they’re not bad.  And they must be better than Tad’s or the Steak Truck.  So, I called the number and ordered my $10 lunch specials (I didn’t want to choose… so I just got all three!)

It may look huge in the photo, but the sandwiches are only slightly bigger than a half sandwich, and although the chicken sandwich was fine… we didn’t come here for no chicken!

You get 2 mini burgers for your ten bucks, plus your choice of cheese, and these were definitely tasty.  Good quality meat, nicely cooked medium rare, and really flavorful.  It’s what you would expect a steak house’s burger to taste like.  Far superior to Pop Burger, but also more expensive.  If only they came with french fries!  Can’t decide if this was worth $10 though…

The steak… now here’s what you’re looking for (ok so the photo does not look super appetizing, but trust me. It was good.)  Not a huge sandwich, but a good amount of steak. Perfectly cooked, medium rare.  The bread is a good french roll, cut in half, and perfectly tasty.  But in the end, all that really matters is the steak… and esaentially you’re getting 1/2 of a quality steak with bread and soup (or salad) for $10.  Not bad at all.

Sadly both soups we tried (the pea soup and the cauliflower soup) were watery and just not that great.  The salad was perfectly fine (if you’re into that thing) but the thing that might put the special over the top is the “bread basket”.

Along with our three lunch specials, they gave us a bag of bread and breadsticks… with a massive plastic container full of tasty salted butter.  Niiiiice.  Sure, it’s free when you eat there… but it’s a nice touch to see them include it in the lunch special.  Especially nice if the two mini burgers or the (half) steak sandwich doesn’t end up filling you up (which for some of our bigger eaters, might be a problem.)

All in all, it’s a pretty good lunch… although not as great a “deal” as it sounds.  If you order mini burgers off the bar menu, you get 4 (instead of 2) plus fries and onions rings (preferable to bad soup), all for $20.  So technically, you could order that to go for two people and split it for the same price as two lunch specials.  Sure, you have to share the fries and onion rings, but I didn’t really eat my soup anyway- so it’s win win.   Next time I might try to talk them into giving me fries with the special instead of soup.  (Why didn’t I think of that before damnit!)

THE +

• Quality red meat, in Midtown, for lunch, for $10
• Pefectly cooked mini burgers, and steak for the steak sandwich
• The give you bread, breadsticks and butter!

THE -

• The two soups we tried were pretty bad… and without eating the soup it may not be filling enough for lunch (unless you eat all the breadsticks)
• The sandwiches were more like half sandwiches
• No french fries!  That would put this special over the top…
• Not sure if the burgers are worth the money… they were really good, but there are a lot of good burgers for under $10 in Midtown
• It’s take out only

A.J. Maxwell’s, 57 W. 48th St. (btw. 5+6th), 212-262-6200

Does anybody know what is going on at the McGraw Hill Building at 1221 Ave. of the Americas?  Rumors have been rampant since the closing of the Duane Reade on the 48th St. side of the building last Monday (that’s right, the city is actually *losing* a Duane Reade for once).  I was hoping that it would add to the Midtown Lunch’ing landscape, and there has been talk of some sort of chain restaurant taking over the space, but the only name I’ve actually heard mentioned is Sizzler, the crappy steak and seafood chain (although the space seems way to small for that).

But the real surprise, are the rumors going around about the space on the opposite side of the building…

There has been alot of talk about the clothing store Strawberry, which is located on the 49th St. side of the building (btw. 7+8th).  Rumor has it that their lease has been up for awhile, and the building is about to kick them out in favor of a very large restaurant (although I don’t know if anybody has told the employees at Strawberry yet).  Two of the engineers working outside the building told me it was going to be a seafood restaurant, one saying it would be “high end” another saying “high profile”.  It seems a little suspect, with City Lobster being right across the street, but with the steakhouse Del Frisco’s on one side of the entrance, and a high end seafood place on the other, maybe they’re looking to make 1221 into some sort of super surf and turf building…

Got a tip, suggestion or piece of news?  Email it to zach@midtownlunch.com

Unfortunately, the closest and best known Dean & Deluca is smack dab in the middle of Rock Center (in clear view of the Christmas Tree).  Ah… the wonderful tree.  You find me someone who works in Midtown, that doesn’t hate that tree… and I’ll prove to you that that person doesn’t work in Midtown.  It’s almost like the tree has this magnetic force that only pulls at ”I Love NY” sweatshirts, and really bad fanny packs.  Lucky for me, I found a hidden Dean & Deluca, for those of you who work on the West Side of Midtown, far enough away from the tree to get your Sullivan St. bakery pizza fix in December.

Pics of the pizza, the hidden location and +/- after the jump…

I shouldn’t really call the pizza from Sullivan St. Bakery pizza… it’s more like a small rectangle of flat bread (covered in delicious toppings.)  There’s mushroom, zucchini, plain and my personal favorite- and the one worth traveling for, the potato.  The rest of the slices are just ok (especially for the price)… but the potato one is clearly the stand out of the bunch.  Great Sullivan St. Bakery flat bread, covered in these thin, oily slices of fried potato.  Delicious! 

You can head to Rock Center, or check out the “secret” location on 46th St. btw. 7th & 8th in the Paramount Hotel.  Unfortunately, it arrives at these Dean & Deluca locations before lunch, and sits there all day- so it’s not as fresh as it would be if you got it direct from the bakery.  They offer to heat it up, but they only have a microwave, which destroys the slice.  I do not, I repeat, do NOT recommend putting it in the microwave.  I’d rather eat it cold… or take it back to work and heat it up in a toaster oven (if you work has one of those).  If you’ve got not toaster, and the slice you get is too stale to eat cold- and you must nuke it, do it for as little time as possible.  (You would think Dean & Deluca would be able to invest in a toaster oven!)  

It’s also not cheap… $3.75 a slice in Rock Center, $3.95 in the Paramount Hotel.  And the slices aren’t that big.  Come to think of it, maybe it is worth it to walk to 10th Avenue!  (Not much cheaper, but at least it’s fresh!)

THE +  (What people who like this place would say…)

• Umm… It’s delicious Sullivan St. Bakery Pizza.  In Midtown.
• I don’t mind paying a little extra for food, when the ingredients are top notch, and it’s something you can’t get everywhere.  (This ain’t your average slice!)

THE -  (What someone who doesn’t like this place would say…)

• I’d rather pay $2.00 and have a slice of regular New York cheese pizza (translation:  “I don’t need no fancy pizza!”
• It’s expensive  ($3.75 to $3.95 for a small slice)
• It’s not fresh, and they only have a microwave to warm it up

Dean & Deluca, Multiple Locations in Midtown

• 9 Rockefeller Center (49th St. and btw. 5th & 6th, Above Ground), 212-664-1363
• 235 W. 46th St. (btw. 7th & 8th), 212-869-6890 

There’s no question this place is expensive… not just compared to a snicker’s bar or many other cheaper chocolate options- but even compared to some of the other (some may say better) upscale chocolate shops in Manhattan (the amazing Jacques Torres comes to mind).  But, this is Midtown… and the choices at lunch are a little slimmer- and my wife would rather pay $1.40 for something small, then less for something larger and more fattening.

So with that in mind, we went into La Maison du Chocolat, and she picked out a small round thing with hazlenuts in it.  When we went to pay (cost… $1.41), the cashier offered BOTH OF US free samples from a little platter he had behind the counter… and I didn’t even have to buy anything.

That’s 3 pieces of fancy chocolate- price to us $1.40.  Factoring in the two free pieces of chocolate made the price seem a lot more reasonable.  Now, I can’t guarantee that they do this all the time (and for everyone)- and there’s no question you have to buy something to get the free sample, but it was worth telling the story, just in case they do it all the time.  Let me know if it works for you! Good luck… and don’t tell them I sent you.

La Maison du Chocolat, 30 Rockefeller Center (at 49th St.), 212-265-9404