Midtown Lunch

Photo courtesy of Lunch’er Tom

And so it has officially begun… I went to El Rey Del Sabor (the Mexican cart on 60th and 3rd Ave.) or Monday for the first official payoff of the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge.  It’s called the “Alambre” on the sign advertising this new $6.50 sandwich- but I prefer to think of it as a “spicy Mexican cheesesteak.”  You may remember reading about this off-the-menu treat a few months back, when they served it to me as a plate lunch.  Thankfully they took my suggestion a turned it into a full fledged sandwich… and just in time to introduce it as their entry in the sandwich challenge.

Check it out after the jump…

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So far I have managed to avoid FreeFoods NYC, the expensive, mostly organic, new deli with an emphasis on raw and vegetarian foods (they do have meat though). I’ve got nothing against their food… just the price, which can get pretty expensive, pretty quick. Luckily for those who were interested Kathy YL Chan, from A Passion for Food, was willing to sacrifice herself by eating through their menu, and posting about it here on Midtown Lunch.

Well FreeFoods NYC has outsmarted me by deciding to take on the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge, which was announced last week; ensuring that I will have to go in and at least try the sandwich they have created. Their entry? A free range duck reuben featuring brown sugar-cured duck pastrami, sauerkraut, swiss, and a red chili Russian dressing (on toasted rye). It’s a pricey $9.99 (most of their sandwiches cost about that), but actually sounds kind of good. Alright FreeFoods… you’ve won this round. Let’s see how good your sandwich is.

Alright… so the time has come.  I know it seems coincidental that this would happen so close to the Walgreens sandwich dare, but this idea was actually inspired more by the amazing entries for the Murray’s Salami Sandwich Challenge. The sandwich ideas you came up with were ten times better than most of the boring sandwich offerings in Midtown. And that’s when it dawned on me.  We CAN do better!  That’s right.  In these economically trying times, lunchers are demanding more for their money, and I think it is time for the restaurants of Midtown to step up to the plate with something inspiring.  The days of coasting on turkey and swiss is over!  So here is what I’m proposing:

A challenge… to every single restaurant in Midtown to come up with a new sandwich.  A bold sandwich. A sandwich that pushes the boundaries of what human beings were meant to ingest.  And you shall call it the “Midtown Lunch Special”.  Add this special sandwich to your menu (temporarily or permanently) and we will post about it on Midtown Lunch.  That’s it. You get free publicity, and more business… we get better sandwiches. Easy enough, right?

Ideas, how you the Midtown Lunch’er can help make this dream a reality, and all your other questions are answered after the jump…

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