Midtown Lunch

 

I hate over-priced food, but there is a soft spot in my heart for Dean & Deluca.  Probably because I could spend hours roaming the big one in Soho (even though I’ve never actually buy anything), just staring at the meats and cheeses and flavored salts and meats and fruit and bread and cheeses and seafood and meats and cheeses and desserts.  Did I mention the mention the meats & cheeses?

Anyway, Dean & Deluca opened their third spinoff in Midtown yesterday, on 48th btw. 5+6th (on the North side of the street).  Unlike the “Cafes” in the Paramount Hotel, or the one next to the Rock Center skating rink (which is right around corner), this location is pretty spacious and will have a much larger focus on lunch.  The normal array of baked goods and sweets are there, but the prepared foods section is much larger, and they even have a station where you can order a custom made sandwich (the other two only sell pre-made sandwiches).

More Dean & Deluca porn after the jump… Read more »

Ever since the news hit that the Malaysian chain Sakae was bringing conveyor belt sushi to Midtown, I’ve been in the mood for raw fish.  A few weeks ago, I wrote about Kikku, a sit down place on 55th btw. 5+6th that is considered one of the best cheap sushi options in Midtown, and of course there was my trip to Mitsuwa in New Jersey this past weekend.  But the quest for good, but cheap sushi in Midtown continues. 

Logic (and basic economics) tells me that it’s impossible to find good and fresh raw fish, in a 100% takeout setting- that doesn’t cost over $10.  But I refuse to give up.  Kikku and Taki have established themselves as decent and cheap sit down sushi meals, but I want sushi you can grab and go.  Right now that kind of lunch is dominated by Midtown Delis, the last place I want to be eating raw fish from.  Enter Naruto Sushi, a brand new exclusively take out place on 49th btw. Madison and 5th that is hoping to be the solution to my cheap sushi problem.

Why it is, and why it isn’t as part of a gigantic +/- with photos, after the jump… Read more »

No more delays… the Yolato on Park Ave. (btw. 41+42nd), that we’ve been waiting for since July,  is finally opening;  and to celebrate, they are giving away free Yolato all day long (11am to 11pm)!  And while it’s not a Lenny’s/Yolato combo outlet (as one site incorrectly reported yesterday), it will be the biggest Yolato yet (possibly until the one inside the Empire State Building opens in December???).

As for the Lenny’s/Yolato merger that just happened, the first Lenny’s to start serving Yolato will be the one on 9th St. & 6th Ave.  There are no announced plans for the Midtown Lenny’s locations– but once it all gets worked out, there will in fact be Yolato available at all Lenny’s big enough to accomodate it.  Until then, enjoy the new Yolato location outside of Grand Central!  (Did I mention it’s opening tomorrow, and there’s free Yolato all day long?)  God I love free food…

The Midtown burger hits just keep on coming.  Friday morning you got your first look at the inside of Zen Burger.  Now, Grub St. has the first look at the three level Pop Burger opening at the end of the month on 58th btw. 5th+Madison.  Our only hope for a true “Midtown Lunch” will be the “first floor, open from 11 a.m. till 4 a.m. for takeout and dining” and “there will be delivery”. 

Reviews of the downtown Pop Burger are mixed.  According to Grub St., we’ll get our chance to weigh in the week of November 26th, but I can’t imagine it unseating Five Guys and Burger Joint, for lunchtime purposes anyway (both just a few blocks away).  However, it shoudn’t face any competition for the “I’m a typical Midtwon douchebag banker looking for a place to drink and eat burgers after work” crowd… (unless you count Hawaiian Tropic Zone).  I kid Pop Burger, I kid!

Amid rumors of financial problems (the Union Square Zen Palate closed two weeks ago), Zen Burger is scheduled to open the weekend of November 24th on Lexington btw. 45+46th.  Here’s a look at a mock up of the inside:

_{Courtesy of The Angel Group for Branding & Design}

It’s a lot more McDonalds’ish than I expected (down to the photos on the overhead menu, which don’t look like veggie burgers to me).

From the looks of a photo of the entire interior, leaving Zen Burger may require some sort of teleportation (achieving Nirvana perhaps?).  That photo, after the jump… Read more »

The unmistakeable smell has already begun to fill the tunnels beneath Rockefeller Center, as Cinnabon prepares to open for business at 4pm.  In honor of the “grand opening” they will be handing our free coffee (today only) but the guy inside would not confirm (or deny) the possibility of free samples of cinnamon bunly goodness.

The location is not actually in the concourse, but in that underground area between buildings, next to the Dunkin Donuts just outside the Subway turnstiles.  You shouldn’t have any trouble finding it… just follow the intoxicating smell.

Thanks to Lisa C. for the tip.  If you have any news, info or recommendations- email them to zach@midtownlunch.com

In Midtown there is no shortage of fancy Indian all you can eat Buffets.  I’d love to try them, but I can’t justify shelling out $13, $15 or $18 for all you can eat Indian food when there’s Sukhadia for $10.95 and my new favorite Spice Fusion for $9.95 available.  Sure, the quality of the food at some of these super expensive *may* be better (that is not totally confirmed), but it’s just not worth the extra money.

Utsav, a fancy Indian buffet on 47th btw. 6+7th, solves that problem with a little take out section in the bar area of their $17.95 all you can eat buffet.  For $7.95 or $9.95 you get a lunch size sampling of what the fat cats upstairs are shelling out $18 for- and it’s pretty damn good.

What you get, and a +/- after the jump… Read more »

 

“Burger was decent, but no way in hell worth the wait,” seems to be the theme of a Friday that was supposed to be the “Grand Opening” of Five Guys on 55th. btw. 5+6th Ave.  I was on a plane to San Francisco on Friday, and missed out on all the excitement, meaning that my Five Guys experience was limited to Thursday’s surprise opening, where the wait time peaked at around 30 minutes.  Not so on Friday, where burger “Early Adopters” were forced to wait over an hour and a half for what is supposed to be fast food.  Comments flooded in, and even Eater covered the madness.

I was pretty angry to have to wait 30 minutes on Thursday, so I can’t even imagine what Friday’s customers were feeling. 

Over the weekend, I got this email from Sal Rincione, the Executive VP of Operations for Five Guys NYC (and “Manager” who was deserved a “big punch in the puss” according to some of Midtown Lunch’s readers):

Zach,
It was utter madness [Friday]! I would like to go on record saying how much we appreciate the support and the AWESOME turnout.  We humbly apologize for the long wait.

Five Guys normally does call in and faxed orders but due to the high volume [on Friday], we obviously will limit the amount of call in’s and faxed orders we will take [going forward].  Please let everyone know that if you fax in an order, unless you get a VERBAL Confirmation from either myself or my staff, assume we are not preparing the order. Unfortunately, we just dont have enough square footage to handle all of the walk in’s along with the called and faxed orders.

My #1 goal is to make the BEST BURGERS IN NYC! Thanks :)

Sal

What I think of the burgers & fries, plus some meat porn, after the jump… Read more »

***UPDATE: The price of this deal has gone up to $11.95 since this piece was written*** 

This is not a typo people.  You are not seeing things.  This week I made an amazing discovery, that adds Del Frisco’s (the enormous, upscale and extremely expensive steakhouse in the middle of Midtown Manhattan) to the list of official Midtown Lunches.  THE Del Frisco’s.  If you work in Midtown you have been to or know someone who has eaten, or more than likely work for someone who has eaten, at Del Frisco’s.  All on the company dime, of course… after all, nobody pays for Del Frisco’s themselves!

Until today.  Do not mistake this for a drill.  This is real.  I have discovered a loophole in the Del Frisco’s cortex that may stop the space time continuum.  There is a meal…. at Del Frisco’s… that is delicious… and filling… that involves steak… and it is $9.95.  I am not shitting you!  While reading Andre Mika’s review of Del Frisco’s for dinner on his blog “Fork New York” I noticed this little mention:

I’ve been preaching about the filet tips and mashed potatoes on the bar menu for 2 years now (yes, they are still there for $10)…

That can’t be, right?  $10?  The burger there is $13.95.  How could steak, in any form be less?  But sure enough- I went to this place where Onion Rings cost $12.95, and poor men dare to dream, and there it was.  Right there in plain English.  At the top of the bar menu…

Filet tips w/ Chateau Potatoes.  $9.95.  Meaning that if you ignore the tax & tip (which we clearly will), eating at the Bar of Del Frisco’s is now… a Midtown Lunch!

Steak tip porn, after the jump… Read more »

 

Just when you thought the burger-mania couldn’t get any crazier in Midtown…  the Five Guys on 55th btw. 5+6th is opening on Friday , the Goodburger on 45th btw. 5+6th is opening in mid-November, and Pop Burger is on the way.  Now, the good people at Zen Palate have decided to get in on the action, and why not- vegetarians probably feel left out of the NYC lunch’ing fad that just keeps on giving.

Above is the plywood for the first “Zen Burger”- opening soon on Lexington between 45+46th.  They plan on serving a whole menu of “healthy” fast food, all of it meat free. This will include meatless chicken and fish sandwiches, patty melts, hot dogs, chicken tenders, shrimp, and 10 (that’s right- 10) different kinds of burgers- all of which promise to “look, feel and taste of meat without the detrimental effects that meat causes to one’s health and the environment”. 

The interviewing finished up yesterday, interviewing is happening next week, so it should be opening soon… thanks to tipster Rafi for the info- and as always if you have any news, info or recommendations, email them to zach@midtownlunch.com