On the other hand, if I asked a few questions and made a few friends I probably would get some useful information about the place I was writing about.  Here’s a perfect example of how a little friendliness will go a long way.  A few weeks ago I wrote about the fried calamari sandwich at Tuscan Square Marketplace.  I wrote that it was a good sandwich, but a little pricey ($9)- and only available on Tuesdays.  It also could suffer a little bit depending on when you got there- because the sandwich comes pre-packaged and you don’t know how much time has passed from fryer to counter.

The sandwich came recommended to me by Joann, a woman who works with my wife-  but the sandwich I ate, and the sandwich you might have eaten on the Tuesday after I wrote about this, was not the same sandwich she eats.  She gets a special sandwich.  And that sandwich is available any day she wants it.  And I’m pretty sure her sandwich has more calamari.  How does she do it?  She’s nice.  And she made friends with someone who works there.  And here’s the best part… you can have that sandwich too!  The “special” sandwich, and how to get it- after the jump.

I got to partake in this “special” version of the sandwich, last week and it had its advantages.  As you can see, the bread is different and larger- so I’m pretty sure you get more calamari in it.  They were also pre-ordered, and Tuscan Square was told when we would be there, so they were made fresh- and not wrapped in plastic.  Maria, the lady who was in charge of making the sandwiches, came over while we were eating and informed me that *anybody* could have a calamari sandwich on any day of the week- all you have to do is call her, and be willing to order at least 4 of them (I guess that is the number that makes it worth it to fry up a batch of calamari).

In fact Maria said if you call her, she’ll be willing to “make you anything you want!”  Not sure what that means… but it was a very nice offer.  For now, I’ll stick to the calamari sandwich- although it does bring up a new dilemna.  I think I like the original foccacia a little better… but the special slices of bread are larger so you get more calamari.  Quantity or Quality is the question I face every day.  In the end, it just goes to show that being nice pays.  Gather up a few friends, give Maria a call- and ask for some freshly made Fried Calamari Sandwiches on whatever bread you want, served on whatever day you want.  It’s still $9, and you’ll still have to find a way to justify the price to yourself- but it feels good to be special.

Maybe being nice does have its advantages.   (For a full +/- on the sandwich, check out the original post.)

Tuscan Square Marketplace, 16 w. 51 St. btw. 5+6th, 212-977-7777

There are no shortage of expensive sandwiches in Midtown.  Lenny’s, ‘wichcraft & Cosi have designed entire franchises around them, and all the upscale delis have followed suit.  Some use fresh baked bread to trick you into thinking it’s worth it, some use fancy ingredients, and some just jack up the price because it’s Midtown, and quite frankly- where else are we going to go?  It’s half the reason why I don’t even bother writing about most delis (that and the by the lb. buffets, which are always dangerous for us fatties.)

Occasionally though, I will come across one of these expensive sandwiches that deserves mention.  Something so unique or delicious, that maybe- just maybe it is worth that expensive price tag.  The Fried Calamari Sandwich at Tuscan Square just might fall into that category.  It’s actually a very simple concept, but most of my lunchmates couldn’t quite grasp it at first (“fried calamari what?”).  That’s right.  Fried Calamari, between two pieces of bread (hence the term sandwich).  Genius!!! 

A picture of the sandwich, and +/- after the jump…

From a pricing standpoint, Tuscan Square is normally the type of place I will avoid.  In theory it seems awesome,  a fancy sit down Italian Restaurant- with a cheaper take out ”Marketplace” in the basement.  Unfortunately “cheaper” is a relative term, and despite delicious looking food, it ends up being a little out of my price range.  They have hot Italian meals available to go, in addition to pizzas and sandwiches, plus an outrageously priced by the lb. buffet that would end up costing a guy like me $28.  I decided fairly early that price would keep me away from the Tuscan Square Marketplace.

That all came to an end when Joanne (wife’s co-worker/tipster) clued me into one of their specials… a fried calamari sandwich, only served on Tuesdays.  Priced at a whopping $9, it is a fairly generous amount of fried calamari, served on a ciabatta with lettuce, tomato and some sort of flavored mayo. 

I’m not going to lie… the price is definitely a deal breaker.  If the sandwich cost $5 I would declare it the greatest sandwich ever invented, and Tuesdays would forever be fried calamari sandwich day at Midtown Lunch.  For $9, you have to do a little convincing that it is worth it.  Things like “It is a lot of Calamari” and ”If you ordered a plate of fried calamari at a restaurant it would be the same price” will probably work best.  For half of you this will work, for half of you it won’t.  

One of the reasons the convincing won’t work is the sandwich is actually pre-packaged, so the fried calamari is not piping hot.  But I think they are made pretty fresh, because it was still lukewarm, and the sandwich didn’t really seem to suffer as much as you would expect.  The calamari were still fairly crunchy, and the whole sitting process may even make the thing better by giving the oil a chance to seep into the bread (delicious!).  You can find the sandwiches on a wooden counter beneath the blackboard.  Sometimes they run out, and then re-stock with more, but you still want to get there fairly early, because they do end up running out for good before lunch is over.

There are two ways to get to the Tuscan Square “Marketplace”.  From the street, it is located on 51st btw. 5+6th.  Enter into the restaurant and go down the big staircase to the take out section below.  Or, if you work in one of the Rockefeller Center buildings, you can follow the signs from the dining concourse around a winding hallway to enter directly into the Marketplace.  Remember, the sandwich is only available on Tuesdays- although I have heard a rumor that if you are friends with the chef, he’s been know to fire up the deep fat fryer (Tommy Boy style) if you have enough people ordering the sandwich on a non Tuesday (Me like wingy).  But you didn’t hear that from me.  For us normal folk, Fried Calamari sandwiches- Tuesdays only.

THE +

• It’s fried calamari, in sandwich form!
• They give you a decent amount of fried calamari
• The ciabatta is really tasty
• The bread is different, but it’s the closest tasting thing to a po’boy I’ve had in Midtown

THE -

• You can only get it on Tuesdays
• It’s $9
• It’s not huge (especially for $9)
• Strangely enough, it is pre-packaged- so it doesn’t come out hot
• It’s a special, so they do run out
• I don’t care how good it is, no sandwich is worth $9 at lunchtime

Tuscan Square Marketplace, CLOSED

Now, before you email me with “I’m a woman, and I eat at the ‘Man Bar’!!!”, I want to say this- I’m sure a lot of you women eat at the “Man Bar” in City 75- but you also read this blog… and those two things put you in the minority of Midtown Lunching Women (When I say “most women”, I’m talking about your annoying co-workers.  If they are not reading this blog, they clearly have no taste in food).  The simple fact is this… if the “Man Bar” wasn’t there, most men would not set foot into City 75 (it’s way too fancy, and expensive).  And if the rest of the place disappeared, and City 75 was only the “Man Bar”, and nothing else, most Midtown Lunch’ing women wouldn’t eat there.  It’s the perfect blending of the two that makes a nicely dressed business woman (with every intention of eating a salad) willing to eat a steak and cheese sandwich, and a guy like me willing to eat at a place like City 75.

Pics of the food, and a +/- after the jump…

The “Man Bar” has got many items of interest, but there were only two that stood out to me.  The aforementioned Philly Cheesesteak (surprisingly, only $5.95) and the Sirloin Burger.  I ordered the Cheesesteak which comes with peppers and onions, and of course- nacho cheese sauce (or cheese whiz as they like to call it in Philly).  If you are from New England, you may be used to your Cheesesteaks coming with Provolone or some other kind of real cheese melted on top of your sub- but when you see the word “Philly”, it should come with a yellow cheese sauce, and this one fit the bill.

I’m not a huge fan of the cheese sauce, so I was happy there wasn’t a ton of it- but if you are into the cheese sauce, you might be disapointed that the the sub isn’t drenched in it… although I’m sure you can ask for extra sauce.  Other than that fact I would recommend it… a nice size, steak tasted like real meat and it came with onions and peppers.  For $6, in Midtown, it’s a pretty good deal.

My co-worker got the Sirloin Cheeseburger Deluxe (deluxe just means with fries).  The burger was pretty big, and it came with a ton of shoestring fries (my favorite).  I don’t know how it compares to a place like the Burger Joint, Prime Burger, or Goodburger- but for $7.45, it’s big, tasted good, and came with a ton of fries (way to much to eat on your own).  If you work in the Rock Center area, and need a burger fix, but don’t have time to walk 10 minutes to the popular burger places- the City 75 sirloin burger is a pretty good solution.

Now I have to issue a warning to all men reading this who aren’t used to places like City 75, but are going to go because of what I have written.  When you walk in to City 75, the pull of the by the lb. buffet is going to be very strong.  It looks like an all you can eat buffet, and the food looks delicious- so it’s understandable that you would be drawn to it.  The variety, the cute little containers… it’s very distracting.  DO NOT BE FOOLED!  Continue straight to the back left hand corner and order immediately from the “Man Bar”.  Any attempt to get lunch from the buffet will end with you saying “Why the hell did I pay $14 for this!!!”

Yes the food is good.  Yes, it’s fun to eat from a buffet.  But I cannot stress this enough… THEY WEIGH THE FOOD AND CHARGE YOU ACCORDINGLY.  It’s a fat guy trap, and I guarantee that no matter how hard you follow my rules and try to limit yourself, and pick “light” items, it will end up costing you more than you want to spend.  Our friend Marco was fooled, and while we were scarfing down our delicious cheesesteak and burger,  he was going on about how his lunch was “worth the money” ($14) because it was “soooo good”, but you could see it in his eyes that he was trying to convince himself, more than us.

(Dislaimer: If any part of my talk about “typical Midtown Woman” or a ”Man Bar” offends you, than I was totally just kidding!  It’s just stupid stereotypes… can’t you take a joke?  If you relate to what I wrote, than I stand by every word of the post.)

THE +

• $5.95 for a good Philly Cheesesteak (with peppers and onions), at a upscale generic Midtown deli is a great deal!
• Same goes for a cheese burger and fries for $7.50
• I love shoestring fries!!!
• Perfect for the person who wants to eat something gross for lunch, but your co-workers want to eat at a generic deli

THE -

• The cheesesteak doesn’t have enough cheese whiz
• The burger is not as good as other burgers in Midtown
• The shoestring fries were a little dry
• The allure of the by the lb. buffet might end of costing you a ton of money…

City 75, 75 Rockefeller Plaza (51st btw. 5+6th), 212-247-1500