Midtown Lunch

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.

Blue Ruin turns 1 years old today. Yes, the big one-o has finally come around and Ruin has made it through the beginners trials of establishing a new bar and clientele in Hells Kitchen. It is a great moment for a saloon that was spawned from the dual efforts of Michele Gascoigne and Kal Narvilas, both veteran captains of previous NYC watering holes. The g-strings still hang off the brass lighting fixtures and the bartenders still captivate the patrons with a dominatrix’s touch that includes a hot lipped fire breather. Ruin will be pouring loaded libations all night and claims that anyone who shows up wearing only a diaper gets free drinks on the house.

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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 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.

I thought finding bargain happy hours around Rockefeller would be impossible. Most of the best deals I’ve reviewed are usually on the boundaries of midtown, away from the tourists, corporate offices, and ritzy steakhouses, not smack dab in the heart of the Radio City Spectacular and near the bright lights of Broadway! ML favorites tend to be dive bars with free hotdogs or cheap wings. However, I’ve found $1 oysters at an expensive lobster restaurant and an incredible burger plus cocktail special at a chic bar and grill. Now McCormick & Schmick has reared its delicious head to, again, prove that dives are not our only solace here on ML.

The name McCormick & Schmick sounds like a legal firm not like a seafood restaurant, and you’d also guess by the name that maybe this is a corporate hangout with more suits then a Jacoby and Myers. That may be true, but not only do they have one of the biggest and best bar menus, their specials aren’t for a limited time or anything new. They’ve had this happy hour going on for YEARS! How did they pass under the radar for so long? How could I have not noticed? Excuse me as I hang my head in shame.

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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 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.

When I got a tip that Pazza Notte (on 6th Ave. btw w. 55+56th) had a good 2 for 1 martini happy hour I had to check it out. There are a lot of deals like this around but most of them refer to beers or simple well cocktails. A nice martini is bit swankier, a bit more refined, and the type of deal you can take your girl friends and coworkers too. I headed over to see how superior this special was.

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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.

In my eternal pursuit of the lofty and elusive goal of finding the finest midtown burger and beer happy hour I have encountered many highs and lows. From the juicy goodness of Muldoons to the blackened hockey pucks of Coppersmith’s. I have tasted both the joy of victory and the agony of defeat. I’ve considered price comparisons and budgetary restrictions. The cheaper the better, the bigger the better, and the cheapskate’s fallback: quantity over quality for that is the ML way. Foods that lift you up above the mediocre and pedestrian, meals that make your coworkers jealous, and in my case, drinks that make your coworkers want to stay in Midtown after office hours.

Ladies and gentlemen there is now a new contender in the ring.

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Nothing about Beacon (on 55th btw. 5+6th) says Midtown Lunch, but we do like their burger… and their latest deal is kind of too great to pass up. All day long at the bar (the regular bar, not the burger bar) $19.95 will get you 2 drinks (house cocktail, wine or beer) and a burger or wood oven pizza.  Out of the Midtown Lunch price range?  Sure… but if you’re looking for a liquid lunch, or a kick ass happy hour/dinner deal, you’re not going to do better than that in Midtown. [via Wined and Dined]

Related:
Beacon’s Burger Bar Attempts to Gain Coveted Midtown Lunch Status
NYMag: Beacon Has One of the Best Burgers in NYC

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.

After a recent trip to the Famous Halal Guys (formerly Shendy’s) on 52nd btw. 6+7th I ended up doing a little walking around and noticed Whiskey Trader on 55th Street. I peaked in and saw a dimly lit bar sunken a good five or more steps down into the bottom floor of the tall building. Similarly, the guys crowded at the bar were deeply down into their 5th drink. I hesitated, but went with my first instinct and shyly took a seat and feigned interest in the soccer game being shown on many flat screens. Then unexpectedly, the Sex Pistols blasted out the speakers, the conversations grew louder and things got way more interesting.

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“First we drank some whiskey
then we had some gin
then we had tequila that’s what did me in”
-Boat Train by Shane MacGowan

A midweek St. Patrick’s Day can be a dubious proposition. Think about it, you can go balls out and join the parade and the eventual debauchery that ensues, and let’s not even mention the green beer society that ends up being the green puke society. You can opt to stay a little off the beaten path but most likely you’ll still heed the siren’s call of Paddy’s day specials and free corned beef. Come the next work day it’s all bloodshot eyes, trembling hands and throbbing temples. Your only hope is that your coworkers will be too busy nursing their own hangovers to notice yours.

Here some local bars to help in your travels and may the luck of the Irish preserve you!

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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.

I’ve been pushing Zach to let me do an out of bounds happy hour at one of my favorite bars, Live Bait, for months now. Yeah, I know it’s all the way over on 23rd Street, but the N,R trains are practically next door and some things like great food deals and a lively, fun atmosphere are worth going out of your way for. Its reputation as an excellent neighborhood bar has recently infected the forums and LB has started to come up as a possible commenter happy hour location. With this as my leverage I asked again this week if I could do a review and finally broke the poor man down (women have a way of doing that.) With the green light to go forth and imbibe I grabbed my date and headed over to take advantage of their sweet down-south happy hour.

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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.

My quest to find the best burger and beer deal started the when I finally tried Blarney Stone’s mighty burger and fries with cheap draft beer. How I waited so long to try something ML had been writing about for over a year, I don’t know. However, it sparked a fever and the only prescription for it was more burger and beer! I tried Coppersmith’s but they turned out to be a dud. So the search continued with little hope. Then I saw Muldoons sign advertising a burger and Bud for $10. I usually never drink Budweiser, but with food I suppose it couldn’t be worse then a tall glass of water, right?

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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.

I was tipped off on this happy hour from our resident commenter Adam Prato. It turns out City Lobster is having an early bird special that pretty much puts the smack down on any food and drink special I’ve seen this early in the day. From 12pm to 5pm City Lobster offers appetizers and seafood specials that just meet the $10 ML price point. It’s a little early for Happy Hour purposes, but your lunchtime hour just got a whole lot happier! (Or you can just use it as an excuse to skip out of work early…) Plus, if you’re lucky, you might get a ginger haired bartender that moonlights as a Mary Kay consultant to man your helm and give you skin care advice.

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