Midtown Lunch

I’ve only heard about this magical truck, but had never seen it until this afternoon… the “Time Warner Cable” $1 ice cream truck is parked on 40th btw. 5+6th right now selling $1 ice cream cones (all proceeds benefit charity.) It’s Mr. Softee style cones (chocolate, vanilla, or swirl), with your choice of chocolate or rainbow sprinkles. They’ll be parked in that spot until 9pm tonight (8/3). Enjoy!

Speaking of street vendor wars, two ML commenters pointed me towards these two articles.  Last week AMNY posted this story about how Mister Softee is trying to crack down on all the imitators (trucks with names like “Mister Soft, Mister Soft Freeze and Mr. Softee”.)  And for those who thought vendors were only limited to those selling unhealthy snacks, NYT’s City Room Blog has this report about two feuding fruit stands in Hell’s Kitchen. And from the sounds of it, they have more than each other to contend with.  The Food Emporium they are parked in front of wants both of them gone.

I try my best not to be too negative on this site, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to vent. Every once in awhile I’ll share some of the more angry useful emails I get in a post called “Airing of Grievances”. (If the Eater Complaints Dept. would like royalties, I’ll be happy to pay up…)

Photo of a Random Mr. Softee Vendor (Not the one being complained about)

Here’s a particularly bad email I got yesterday from a guy who was ripped off by a Mr. Softee truck yesterday, and on his birthday of all days!

“So yeah, the guy at 36th and 7th in the Mister Softee truck is a monster prick. I went up to him, asked him for a small cup. He hands it to me and I thought to myself “wow, that’s a huge small” – he didn’t tell me how much it was, but I gave him a 20. When he handed me $13 back, I said “$7? For a small?”

He claimed that he showed me the large cup and I said that’s what I wanted (that NEVER happened). I said “well, do you have a small cup?” and he showed me the smaller (presumably much cheaper) cup. I said “that’s what I wanted. I asked for a small cup.”

He then proceeded to get in my face about it…”

Read more »

Got this pretty funny photo and email from Lunch’er Harry on Friday.  Spotted on the West side of 55th and 6th: “There was was one Mr. Softee truck on EACH corner and another one pulled up into the intersection.  I think he was looking for a spot too.”

You know how you can tell that Winter is officially over? The Mister
Softee Trucks are out in full force. (I hope this doesn’t jinx it.)