Midtown Lunch

When Roll and Go (38th and 8th) opened a few months ago, it seemed like the kind of place I usually avoid. I’m of the opinion that if you’re serving shawarma and pizza alongside made-to-order sushi rolls, chances are none of it is all that good. Jack of a few trades, master of none. And if adding $1 pizza to your menu months after you open is an indication that business isn’t going so great, than clearly I’m not the only one who isn’t interested in $5.45 tuna rolls. In a move clearly meant to poach business from compete with the 2 Bros. across the street, Roll and Go has by started selling $1 slices of pizza. Can they make a dent in the $1 pizza empire’s business? Only time will tell (we doubt it).

Related:
Pizza Price Wars Heat Up As Ray’s Intros 75 Cent Slice

The downstairs Times Restaurant (8th Ave btw. 39+40) has endured near constant change over the last few years: name changes, wildly fluctuating buffet prices, DOH imposed downtime. Through all of that, Times has been some kind of Indian restaurant, much like the upstairs Kashmir Grill it used to share a name with. But now Times Restaurant is offering “traditional Mexican and Tex-Mex food.” It looks like it’s still a sit-down place, but there are a few ML friendly lunch items, like tacos and sandwiches. Perhaps more exciting is the fact that it may also be some sort of Mexican Hooters…
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It’s been a little while since we’ve caught our Flatiron Lunch readers up on the news and openings in the area. With spring approaching and announcements of Schnipper’s bringing the burger wars directly to the original Shake Shack, you know we’ve got some interesting things coming soon. See what’s in store after the jump.

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All those complaining about the size of Kyochon’s wings, take note! The space age Korean Fried Chicken joint is celebrating their one year anniversary with a wing eating contest. According to Fork in the Road the competition is open to the public, there will be five rounds, and both hot and sweet wings are being served- so the competition will not only test speed but spice tolerance. The event will take place on Sunday, March 13th and the winner will get a $250 gift card, a mention in an Epoch Times editorial and (most importantly?) the title of King Kyochon. I guess they aren’t expecting the ladies to compete? First and second runners up get $100 and $50 gift cards, respectively.  According to the Kyochon Facebook Page the first 20 people who fill out this registration form and return it to the store  on 32nd and 5th will be entered for free (and as of Monday they still had spaces left.)  Good luck!

It looks like Izakaya Moku has joined Arang in giving up on the lunch crowd. I passed by yesterday afternoon and noticed the curtains closed on the upstairs Japanese restaurant. I went in to check it out and found no one inside. The door was open, so I peeked in and it was a ghost town. Following up on the website, they now list their hours as opening at 5pm daily. I can’t say I’d been back since checking it out in the spring, but I still mourn the loss of any lunch service in the area… except maybe the Pizzacones.

I noticed this large billboard yesterday in Times Square. I’d never heard of Earl of Sandwich before, but apparently it’s a chain of hot  sandwich places started by the actual Earl of Sandwich and Robert Earl, the founder of Planet Hollywood. (Oooooh.  That’s promising!) According to their website there are twelve locations, in such amazing  places as Logan International Airport in Boston, the Downtown Disney Marketplace, and the Port St. Lucie rest stop on the Florida Turnpike. Sounds perfect for Times Square, and sure enough Zagat says they are opening somewhere in Midtown. Has anybody ever eaten at Earl of Sandwich? Is there any reason to be even a little optimistic about this eventual addition to NYC?

On a very somber note, ML has some sad news to report… the commenter we all knew as Rudy McBagel passed away suddenly after a massive stroke on August 26th. Many of you knew him from his frequent humorous postings, quick wit and undeniably British manner. Rudy was one of the first Midtown Lunch readers, and his jokes set the tone of the comments from the very beginning. He will be sorely missed.

Photo courtesy of Lunch’er Adam

I noticed a couple of things while walking down 46th street btw. 5+6th the other day… the first is Cafe Jia, a new place opening soon right next to Nino’s. Sadly it looks like another generic deli, but it does say tex-mex bar, a teppanyaki (think hibachi) bar and a gourmet coffee bar (I’ll believe that when I see it). You never know, this place could be good. (We’re not keeping our hopes up.) Regardless, it’s supposed to be open 24 hours, so they’ve got that going for them.

Remember Michelle’s on the same block?

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Today’s Flatiron Lunch is going to be a little different than usual. There’s been a lot of news on the food scene in the area lately and I wanted to catch us all up on the new and upcoming food options.

Upcoming Thai food, Barbecue, Classic Brooklyn Pizza, free desserts and more after the jump.

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Paris Baguette, a huge worldwide Korean bakery chain, will be opening their first Manhattan branch on 32nd btw. B’way+5th. They do serve sandwiches, but the big deal appears to be about the breads and pastries. The first branches to open in the states were in California (of course), where it got raves from yelpers, chowhounders and bloggers alike.

I had never heard of it until seeing the sign, but it turns out that there is one branch in Queens and two in New Jersey. Anyone been to any of the local branches? What are we in for?