Midtown Lunch

Cirrosis, the final frontier. These are the voyages of the Starship Happy Hour. Her ongoing mission: to explore strange old dives, to seek out sweet deals and new venues, to boldly go where no tourist has gone before!!

I’m Mamacita, your captain on this voyage and I’m looking for a first mate. No, not that type of mate you filthy pervs. We’re looking for someone to join this beer brigade as an additional HHR correspondent. Someone willing to storm those sudsy shores and report back with the best happy hours in Midtown. It won’t be easy, this is no job for the lily-livered, but I know one of you daring drunkards can man-up to the challenge.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:

• Go to Bars!
• Drink (and maybe eat?)
• Take Blurry Photos
• Write a review that can give our readers a contact buzz

Interested in contributing to Midtown Lunch? Email editor@midtownlunch.com with why you think it should be you.

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so 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. Mamacita is taking this week off, so Clay has stepped up to the plate.

When drinking in Midtown, I tend to pay a little (and sometimes a lot) extra for luxuries like outdoor seating, a quality selection or great food. Still, when I come across a proper bargain, I get pretty excited. So when I stumbled on a sign advertising $5 glasses of wine at L’ybane, a French Mediterranean restaurant on 8th Avenue, I knew I had to investigate.

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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.

A few months after I wrote that McCormick’s was one of the best food happy hours, our long time commenter Adam posted that:

“I went here tonight with a friend. The burger was fantastic for $3.95 (NOTE: Yes, it seems that they raised the price a buck, but it was still damn good). Best $4 burger I’ve ever had, and for $4 I will be back again. The burger was a perfect medium-rare, big, and juicy, and did I mention $4? This could easily become a bad habit. “

There is nothing wrong with a $4 burger, even Blarney Stone can’t beat that. I figured enough time had passed by that I should follow up on McCormick’s burger at the bar special and see what other changes had been made.

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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 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.

For the lunchers who’ve ever experienced the wait for table during lunch at Social Eatz, there’s good news. Angelo Sosa’s quirky new eatery with an award winning burger opened their new back patio yesterday, adding 16 additional seats to the restaurant. They have also rolled out some seasonal drinks for summer time happy hours, including sangria and beer pitcher specials. This comes just in time for the long 4th of July weekend. To sweeten the deal, they’ll be giving away a free cocktail for anyone that orders dinner from 9-11pm, for the next 6 weeks. Viva la summer! And while we’re at it, huzzah to Independence Day!

Here’s a round-up of some more al fresco places to celebrate your independence this weekend, and we even give a nod to our hockey luvin pals to the north as today is also Canada Day!

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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 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. Mamacita is taking this week off, so Clay has stepped up to the plate.

This week’s midtown happy hour breaks some rules. First, it’s pretty clearly not in Midtown and firmly in my Flatiron Lunch coverage area, secondly, it’s not really a bargain. What it is is awesome and worth a little rule breaking to try out. When La Birreria, the new rooftop beergarden and brewery at Italian megamarket, Eataly, opened a few weeks ago, I knew I had to check it out. Beer, pork and more 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 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.

Father’s Day is a time to give righteous props to the guy that got lucky with your mom and how better to celebrate your dad then in the way it probably all started -over a drink. Now we all have our family traditions; some like a serene family dinner, some a picnic with the relatives and uncles, others, well others might like to take pops’ away from it all and remind him of his bygone youth. Yes, friends, I’ll start off these father’s day suggestions with this year’s winner: Rick’s Cabaret, just tell mum you went to the MET.

Rick’s Cabaret has 2 for 1 Sunday’s: Bottles and appetizers are buy one get one free (4pm-4am) and admission is gratis till 7pm. Of course, if that’s too rich for your blood or your dad has a bad heart maybe Hooters is a better choice?

Looking for something that won’t get you disowned? Check out some other local picks and some great old man bars 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 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. Mamacita is taking this week off, so Blondie has stepped up to the plate.

It’s hard to imagine that after all these years, and all of Mamacita’s Happy Hour posts, we’ve never visited Tequilaville (Vanderbilt btw 42nd+43rd). It has become an old standby, especially for those going through Grand Central Terminal with it’s florescent curtains and colorful faux Mexican interior. And it has some pretty decent happy hour specials. With Brownie in tow, I stopped by to final give Tequilaville the write-up it deserves.

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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 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. Mamacita is taking this week off, so Clay has stepped up to the plate.

Steakhouses don’t often make the pages of Midtown Lunch. There are plenty of them in the area, but few are ever what you’d call a bargain – unless you count Tad’s Steak, which I don’t. (Sorry Zach!) But, when Mamacita told me she’d be out of town and needed a sub for this week’s column, she mentioned that she heard Keen’s gave out freebies during happy hour that might be worth investigating. I was skeptical – not because I didn’t want an excuse to go to Keen’s, but because I’ve never thought of it as a place for a bargain. Still, I’m not one to turn down a chance to freeload, so I stopped in yesterday to take a look.

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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 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. Mamacita is taking this week off, so Clay has stepped up to the plate.

As you may have noticed by now, I’m an unapologetic booster of eating and drinking outdoors. That’s probably because I’m from Brooklyn, where backyards, gardens, patios and any patch of land big enough to fit two tables outside is enjoyed from the moment the mercury breaks 60 degrees. So, clearly, I was excited about BeerParc, the new beer garden in the back of FoodParc in the Eventi Hotel.

Given the soggy weather, its opening enjoyed much less fanfare than they’d hoped, I’m sure, but that doesn’t mean that some of us weren’t there right away to check it out. See what it’s all about 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 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.  Mamacita is taking this week off, so Clay has stepped up to the plate.

Ok, I’ve had enough of this rain. I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to go outside and have a drink. It’s May already, I need some fresh air, sunshine and beer, preferably all at the same time. Lacking that, I went for two out of three and have taken a little time to check out roof bars of late. Earlier this week, I stopped in at Me Bar and last night after work, I decided to check out the often overlooked Metro Grill roof bar.

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