Midtown Lunch

Wow.   Now that’s a FAT tuesday.

Let’s face it. This is Midtown Lunch… a site for cheap fat bastards who, instead of slaving away in a small cubicle desperately gripping to their red stapler, would rather be wallowing in an orgy of fatted calf and white sauce. And our Midtown Lunch Happy Hours are all about the visceral need for primal revelry in the intoxicating ocean of food and drink. Only a few yearly events come to mind where the ML Happy Hour mentality is in full swing.

• St Paddy’s Day: Green beer, green puke, and the killer of all comfort food: corned beef, mashed potatoes, bangers, shepherd’s pies, and fish and chips. Plus all those true Irishmen turn jolly and red faced just like Mario Batali.
• Cinco de Mayo: Carnitas, Coronas, piñatas and drunken belligerence followed by, “I love you mans.”
• 4th of July: BBQ’s, beer, pyrotechnics, burn ointment.
• Halloween: The holiday when any occupation preceded by “Slutty ___” becomes a costume (oh yeah and copious amounts of liquor)
• New Years Eve: Has anyone been able to piece that night back together so far? I seem to recall singing “Party at ground zero”

And finally, Mardi Gras!!! New Orleans and that wild bacchanalia that we call Mardi Gras is loved by many New Yorkers. We don’t let a few hundred measly miles get between us and the debauchery that is Fat Tuesday. Hell, ML is all about FAT. Zach was married there and even blogged the food at Jazzfest. So let’s celebrate… and here’s where to do it.

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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.

Anyone following the ML forums can see the natives are restless for some happy hour refreshments. Some bars mentioned I may have stopped in at once long ago or already covered. I thought this would be an excellent opportunity to refresh my memory and also give you all a quick glace at the possibilities. One of the bars that caught my eye was Snafu on the Eastside. I decided to do some undercover recon work to scope out the place. I know it’s a thirsty job, but someone has to do it.

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My Happy Hour review is coming up at 3, but I thought I’d mention this interesting news for those of you who can’t wait.  Black Shack Burger (on Lex btw. 37+38th) has now added beer to their libation list of shakes, sodas, tea and lemonade. Current brews available are Corona, Sly Fox Phx. Pale Ale, Sly Fox Pike Pilsner and Heineken. This officially enters them in to the pantheon of post work places to head to for a burger and beer. And what do you know, it’s Friday already. Eastside lushes engage!

In related news… Blondie sent me word that the ‘wichcraft in Rock Center has also added beer.

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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.

It seems you can’t chuck an empty bottle of Jameson in Midtown without hitting an Irish pub. In the shamrock showdowns between these bars few come out as real winners, but then again this is Midtown so we are forced to grade on the curve as it were. Sometimes around here we just need a quiet lunchtime hideaway or a convenient local bar to share drinks with coworkers and friends. That’s when Blaggards Pub steps in to smile its Irish eyes at you. Conventional in most ways, Blaggards does shine with its comfort food and, most importantly, its various happy hour specials.

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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.

Time has passed since Hallo Berlin Express opened in 2008 extending the sausage empire created by the dearly departed Rolf Babiel. Though HBE lacks space and the Biergarten atmosphere of its predecessor on 10th Avenue it still offers a full selection of juicy, plump wursts and German draft beers. You might think, “Well big deal, I can go to the midtown cart for my sausage fix, why should I head over to the Express?” HBE offers more selection like schnitzel, spaetzle, peirogis and herring plus the main event: German Beer!

Their happy hour deal is perfect for those cold days when you need a sit down meal and a swig of ale. Additionally, the special runs all day. So if you’re a carnivore and you like a cold one to help diffuse the Hallo Berlin’s grease bomb then this is right up your alley.

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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 love Greek food and I especially crave lamb, unfortunately most Greek restaurants in Manhattan are much too expensive to include in your regular lunch or dinner rotation (I’m looking at you Anthos!) There are the Halal-style ground lamb gyros, but that’s a far cry from Greek food- plus white sauce is not a substitute for delicious, tangy tzatziki! Last week I happened upon a sign outside Uncle Nick’s Ouzaria advertising a lamb, pork, veggie, or chicken sandwich with a draft beer for $7. I was incredulous. Really? A lamb pita with a full pint of beer for only $7 –and for dinner!? There has to be a catch right? Ouzaria’s sandwiches are usually $9 with fries, but I’ll gladly pay $2 less and trade out the spuds for some suds. Needless to say I made my way there yesterday.

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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.

It’s well documented that Zach and many of us Midtown Lunchers love to go hog wild on an all you can eat buffet. Likewise, once the clock reads quitting time the happy hour ideal consists of gorging ourselves on free appetizers with a good drink to lull us into the night. We all know Spice Fusion has been an ML Indian buffet mainstay, but I was surprised to find they also have an all night happy hour with free veggie or meat hors d’oeuvres. This might be the only Indian food happy hour I’ve ever heard of, so my curiosity and appetite were piqued!

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It’s time for the 3rd Annual Midtown Lunch Readers’ Poll. Your nominations are in, and between now and the end of the year I’ll be asking all of you to vote for the best Midtown Lunches in a whole range of categories. You can only vote once per category (so choose wisely), and official results will be posted after the new year.

With a full year of Midtown Happy Hour posts under her belt, we thought it was time to give our correspondent “Mamacita” her own award. Clearly she is all about 9th Ave. (and Rudy’s is like the unofficial ML Happy Hour meetup spot), but still managed to find some other amazing spots in every corner of Midtown. Which one is your fave? Here are the nominees…

• Blue Ruin (9th btw. 39+40th)
• Holland Bar (9th btw. 39+40th)
• Jimmy’s Corner (44th btw. B’way+6th)
• Judge Roy Bean (56th btw. 5+6th)
• Rudy’s (9th btw. 44+45th)
• Subway Inn (60th btw. Lex+3rd)
• Wharf Bar (3rd btw. 38+39th)

Vote for your favorite after the jump…

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From our Happy Hour Correspondent ‘Mamacita’: “Midtown lunchers we are sad to report that we have once again been burned by a false and misleading deal! When I first heard of The Palm’s Prime Bites menu at the bar for just $3.50 I was stoked, in fact I called up my friends and planned a happy hour for the next night. Then the day of the happy hour I found out the special didn’t include any midtown locations. Rejected and disappointed (after all we are talking 3.50 calamari and crab cakes!) I gave up all hope and let it rest. Recently we found out that the Prime Bite’s were extended to the Midtown West location (on 50th btw. B’way+8th) and hope sprung anew. Alas, I guess we have bad luck on these things because once I got there in time for happy hour it turned out the midtown branch didn’t offer the deal until after 9pm, as opposed to its other locations which offer it from 5-7pm, and also after 9pm. So this is a sad account of woe, heartbreak, and hunger. A cautionary tale proving that you can never completely trust these PR stunts!”

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.

As a kid, my mom used to bake empanadas filled with cajeta de guayaba as a small treat. Years later my love for this simple and humble tapa in all its cultural versions has not diminished. I can’t pass up a crispy fried pastelito from a street cart in Brooklyn, or the flakey pastry surrounding a spicy Jamaican patty, and Chilean empanadas have now been in my rotation in the rare instances I can find them. Recently I heard about Havana Central’s happy hour and $1 empanada Tuesdays. Now considering Havana’s proximity to Times Square and its Vegas like neon sign flashing “Havana” it is the perfect tourist eye candy and something I try an avoid in general. Yet, the lure of dirt-cheap empanadas and maybe a mojito to wash it down was too strong for this girl. I took the bait (pfft, like you wouldn’t have?)

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