Midtown Lunch

I was pretty excited when I saw the first reports of Mexicue bringing its Mexican/Barbecue fusion to the northwest edge of Flatiron Lunch bounds. The area, south of Penn Station and around FIT has precious little good or interesting food to draw lunchers so having a solid spot like Mexicue will be huge.

According to Fork in the Road they had their soft opening last night and the first day of lunch service is today starting at 11am!  Last week, they offered a preview of the new shop to friends and family as a test of the ordering system and we snuck in to get you a look.

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Filed under ‘Inevitable, but exciting nonetheless’, there’s good news for the Midtown lunchers located around Penn Station. Flo Fab reports that one of the front runners in the gourmet food truck trend, Mexicue, will be opening a brick and mortar location this summer at 345 7th Ave (between 29th & 30th St). Furthermore, the national chain that everyone loves to hate (but secretly loves), Panera will be opening on the same block, at 330 7th Ave. Looks like after all these years, StreetMeasOnsumer3008 will finally get his wish.  [New York Times; New York Post via Eater]

At Midtown Lunch HQ, we get a lot of press releases on a daily basis. The majority come from chain restaurants pushing deals, such as ‘buy one get one free burritos’, or ridiculous concepts that most Midtown lunchers would never visit. But every once in a while, a reputable restaurant or vendor will give us a heads up on a new menu item or special, such as when Mexicue emailed us with the subject line of “Burnt Ends Chili” special. I would do a disservice to burnt ends trying to describe them and summarily why we got so excited about this email – so check out Serious Eats’ excellent description of this dish and you’ll understand why we dropped everything and hustled over to Mexicue for a try.
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It’s been about 5 months since the launch of Mexicue, and I’ve watched the steady patter of positive and negative commentary since my original assessment, with interest. Noticing they recently came under the good graces of the New York Times, I decided it was time for a re-visit. During my previous write-up, I’d commented that the food doesn’t shy from big flavors, though the portions are restrained and the operations needed a good deal of improvement. As the old saying goes, practice makes perfect, and while these guys still have room for improvement, they’ve certainly come a long way.

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Last week the Mexicue Truck exploded onto the Midtown Lunch scene, causing mayhem on Thursday.  Today?  Much of the same.  They were on 40th and 6th today, and by 12:40 the line was 30 deep.  Total pandemonium.  The Green Taste Truck, parked around the corner (on 6th btw. 39+40th)?  Not so much.  No love for the green-vegetarian option?! I guess vegetarian trucks just aren’t all the rage (or maybe all the vegetarians were trying to taste Mexicue’s awesome looking beet taco.) You’d think at the least they’d at least get a bit of spillover…

We have long dreamed of the day that New York would get their very own KOGI Truck, the infamous Los Angeles based Korean taco vendors that teased us back in June of last year, before pulling the rug out from under us just a month later. Kogi has spawned a host of fusion taco imitators on the West Coast… to the point where it seems like every new truck that hits the street in L.A. has at least some kind of taco option- regardless of what kind of food it is.  Here in NYC, we’re not so lucky…  until now that is!  Enter the Mexicue truck, a scrappy new entrant in the street food scene which, through savvy marketing, has amassed significant buzz. We’ve watched with growing curiosity for the past week as the Mexicue crew zealously tweeted their location and wares to over 650 followers.

Expectations in check, I decided to check it out for myself.

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I think it’s safe to say people are super excited about the new Mexicue Truck… they’re parked on 52nd and Park today and as of 12:10 the line is already 30 people long (and getting longer by the minute.)  I guess a little rain isn’t a deterrent when chili rubbed, pulled pork sliders are involved.

Related:
Mexicue Truck Hits the Street Serving, You Guessed It, Mexican Barbecue