Midtown Lunch

In my book, nothing can replace my favorite Blarney Stone (3rd btw. 44th+45th), but some of my fellow office drones don’t feel the same way I do. “I’ve seen roaches there,” is a normal excuse to not go, despite having some of the best and cheapest burgers around. Meanwhile, Connolly’s was never on my list of lunch spots simply due to past experiences of subpar food at high prices. So when I was passing the 47th and 3rd Connelly’s location and spotted that they had begun $9 Bar Specials, I was hesitant to try it out… but this is exactly what Midtown Lunch is for.

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If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe it was time to introduce a happy hour column to the site. Every week, our Happy Hour Correspondent “Mamacita” will post about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap.

Rudy’s bar has been keeping busy this summer. They’ve given the booths a fresh layer of duct tape, started serving chicken and chili, and began renovations to their backyard. Some might recall last year that the Department of Buildings threatened to shut them down due to fire and safety issues regarding their space. However, The Pig abides and construction is in full gear out back.

Check out the progress and their new drink deal after the jump!

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If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe it was time to introduce a happy hour column to the site. Every week, our Happy Hour Correspondent “Mamacita” will post about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap.

There’s a man in Hell’s Kitchen name Dave. He’s a peculiar person with a flair for entrepreneurship, but you won’t see him on The Apprentice, no, you’ll see him walking 9th Avenue going from bar to bar, his white hair looking months too late for a cut his outfit taking a page from The Dude. You wouldn’t know it, but he’s one of the kings of NY dives. His moniker is in neon over at his first bar “Dave’s” and he seems to have an zest for taxidermy as Dave’s has a mounted wild boar head, his other bar Port 41 sports a one eyed hippopotamus head, and lastly Bull Moose Saloon (on 44th btw. 8+9th) has a majestic big horned moose to tie the trinity together.

Recently Dave decided the Moose needed a face-lift. This worried me. While Bull Moose Saloon might not have the character of his other ventures, I still enjoyed the joint. I mean, if it isn’t broke don’t fix it, right? Needless to say when they closed for renovations I feared the worst. Now many weeks later they have opened their doors and taps to the locals again and I was there to get a first look at the new Moose.

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If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe it was time to introduce a happy hour column to the site. Every week, our Happy Hour Correspondent “Mamacita” will post about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap.

Asian Station was first called out on Midtown Lunch for having too many cuisines on one menu: Japanese, Thai, Malaysian and the inevitable Chinese food. However, it turned out that it was better than we expected. I stopped by recently to see what was new and I am sad to report that the 3 sushi roll lunch for $10 has increased by a buck and you now only get a choice of soup or salad, not both. On the other hand, I was drawn in by their inexpensive Happy Hour.

From 4 to 8pm you can satisfy your thirst with 50% off beer, sake, sake-cocktails, and wine. The décor is what you’d expect: hip and modern. There’s neon blue back lighting to the bar, sushi chefs milling around looking like they can sashimi any fish in the sea, and cute young hostesses that are eager to seat you and offer you a sake-tini. However there was one problem…

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f you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe it was time to introduce a happy hour column to the site. Every week, our Happy Hour Correspondent “Mamacita” will post about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap.

Morton’s, the upscale steakhouse based in Chicago with outposts in Manhattan and Brooklyn, is by no means a Midtown Lunch. The burgers start at $23 and a Double Porterhouse Steak for two is a whopping $108. I would never consider this a happy hour destination but when I saw they had a $6 bar menu I reconsidered. Could it be that an expensive steakhouse might have a ML worthy happy hour deal? It’s not unheard of. Beacon has an amazing burger, fries and double drink special, Del Friscos used to have a hidden steak deal at the bar (until they caught on and raised the price), even City Lobster’s $1 oysters and a beer special is a welcome surprise in the usual corporate expense account joints. Fancy filling feast or a wallet draining disappointment? I put the call out to the contributors, who would man up?!

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If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so every Friday afternoon our Happy Hour Correspondent “Mamacita” will post about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap.

It’s an open argument as to whether there are more Irish bars in midtown then Duane Reades. I noticed another in this clover cluster this week: Jameson’s Pub (on 2nd ave btw. 51st/52nd). Upon seeing that name, my eyes gleamed, my lips smiled, and my liver quivered. Jameson evokes candy colored memories of Irish whiskey and many other caramel tinted elixirs. So like a Pavlovian pup I heeded the sirens call and went in. Damn you marketing gods!

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If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so every Friday afternoon our Happy Hour Correspondent “Mamacita” will post about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap.

Summer time is grilling time, but unfortunately most of us don’t have a back yard Weber. That’s where Gyu-Kaku (3rd ave btw. 49th/50th) comes in, serving up Japanese BBQ to the midtown masses. Yakiniku is a DIY experience without the mess. The procedure is simple. Order plates of meat and then grill them to your own satisfaction. Or as our former president would say: You get to be the ‘decider’ in the extent of ‘grillification’ of your meat products. During lunch Gyu-Kaku has a few semi-worthy options, but their happy hour is a delectable meat fest with 50% off meats, $5 appetizers and drinks starting at $3 bucks.

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Like some of you, I’ve taken off to enjoy the 4th July weekend. However, in some ML Happy Hour news Luncher Adam sent this tip: Darbar Grill, the Indian buffet on 55th btw. Lex+3rd, now has a free appetizer and $4 beer special. Let’s just hope it’s better than Spice Fusion’s.