Lunch’er Jeremy checks in with some interesting news.  Less than six months after changing owners, Baraca (on 38th btw. 5+6th) has reverted back to Olympic Pita. Not a huge deal considering I always thought the take out lunch food tasted the same (even under the new owners), but Jeremy goes on to drop this bombshell:  “They also told me starting next week they will be will having lunch specials (if I heard her correctly, $9.95 for schwarma pita and a soup.)”  Now that’s a deal!  We’ll keep an eye on this one as it develops.

Related:
Thank You Baraca For Not Changing Too Much About Olympic Pita
Olympic Pita Wins Me Over With Laffa & French Fries

It’s never a shock when a bad restaurant resorts to something crazy to help boost business.  You’ll see name changes, expensive redecorating, crazy specials, and yes, even sushi being added to a Kosher falafel and kebab place.  But Olympic Pita (on 38th btw. 5+6th) was not a bad restaurant!  Home to my favorite falafel in Midtown (you may say the secret ingredient is their fresh baked laffa bread) Olympic Pita shouldn’t have to resort to this nonsense.  And yet there it was, last week their new sign, with their new name (Baraca), promoting their new menu item (sushi?!?)  Oh, and of course there was the gussied up interior.  Why Olympic Pita?  Why?

The name change is not just for show, according to an employee Baraca is no longer owned by the same people who own the original Olympic Pita in Brooklyn (not good.)  Thankfully, the take out area in the front looked like it hadn’t changed- so yesterday I stopped by to survey the situation.

Apparently they added sushi long before the name change, but I had no idea.  Admittedly I’ve never eaten in the sit down portion of Olympic Pita.  Almost everything on the menu is outside the $10 Midtown Lunch price range, and once you add tax and tip it’s waaaay outside.  So, it’s always been take out for me from the front counter; and always falafel (the rest of the sandwiches are over $10).  A sandwich on pita is cheaper, but their laffa is worth the extra money, which you can see being fresh baked in the front window brick oven. The oven is still there, and it’s still churning out fresh baked bread.  So far so good.

Next stop, the pickled salad bar.  $7.50 is a lot for a falafel sandwich, but it’s completely worth it at Olympic Pita (sorry, I mean) Baraca.  Not only do you get to stuff whatever you like into your sandwich, but you also get a small plastic container to fill up with assorted cabbage slaws and pickles from the salad bar. 

You’re only limited to however much you can stuff into the container, and still close the lid.  (Your threshold for embarrassment will also have an effect.)  The salad bar is now smaller by a few items, but still mostly intact.  But what about the free french fries *in* the sandwich…

Bingo!  They’re still willing to stuff french fries in your sandwich… for free.  Man, I love this place!  Hot sauce + their famous spicy and savory mango sauce (known as amba) and we’re in business.

You don’t want to walk too far with this thing, because the fresh baked laffa gets a little chewy wrapped in the tin foil.  And while I don’t normally advocate buying one lunch and sharing it (fat guy no like sharing) once you add the container from the salad bar, this lunch could easily be split.  It could also just as easily be devoured solo (which is what I did yesterday.)  I could get into the finer taste points re: the falafel  (whether or not it is slightly drier than Crisp or slightly less flavorful than Azuri Cafe.)  but why bother?  With the fresh baked bread, the salad bar, and the french fries, you will not hear a single complaint from me about this sandwich.

Baraca… I will probably never eat your sushi (sorry!), but I wish you good luck in your attempt to expand dinner time business (I can only assume that is why you’ve done what you’ve done.)  Midtown Lunch’ers, however, will continue to enjoy the take out area in the front… and on behalf of all of them, I’d like to thank you for not messing with a good thing!

No +/- today. It’s pretty much exactly the same as the one I posted in my original write up of Olympic Pita.

Baraca (formerly Olympic Pita), 58 W. 38th St. (btw. 5+6th), 212-869-PITA

I think I speak for everyone when I say Noooooooooooooooooo! The rumor is true, Olympic Pita (on 38th btw 5+6th) has become Baraca. I’m not going to panic just yet… from the look of the inside I’m guessing the lunchtime food will be exactly the same. But it’s just sad that my favorite place for falafel in Midtown thinks they have to resort to this ridiculousness to survive in the current economic climate.

I guess we’ll find out for sure about the food when they reopen on Monday (after Shavuot.)

At the time, Kosher Deluxe’s shawarma on pita was (barely) under $10, so I was of the opinion that I didn’t need Olympic Pita.  Plus if they were going to charge that much for a sandwich, there were cheaper places to get good falafel and shawarma sandwiches, like Pick a Pita on 38th btw. 7+8th (and they’ll even put fries in your sandwich!)  Since then, Kosher Deluxe has raised their prices (a shawarma on laffa sandwich is now over $10) and so I finally caved in and tried the Olympic Pita falafel on laffa ($6.50), the only item on the menu worthy of a Midtown Lunch distinction… and all I can say is- wow.  What the hell took me so long! ?! 

$7 is expensive for a falafel sandwich.  There is no shortage of cheap falafel sandwiches available in Midtown, but that being said, there are a few reasons why this could be the best one of them all- even at the price.

1.  The bread.  The fresh baked laffa at Olympic Pita could possibly the best bread in Midtown.  There’s a reason they put the oven in the window.  It looks amazing, it tastes amazing.  This alone could be the deal breaker… leaving the other plusses of this sandwich as just icing on the cake.

2.  The salad bar. You can load up on the salad/pickle bar both in a separate container *and* on your sandwich.  I seem to remember Kosher Deluxe requiring you to do one or the other- but I’m not positive.  Either way, the salad bar at these Kosher places is a huge plus, and helps to justify paying the higher prices when you could get $4-5 falafel sandwiches at multiple carts in the area.

3.  French fries on the sandwich are free!  Oh, you heard me right.  The magical “french fries on the sandwich” that Pick-a-Pita charges for, and Moshe’s Falafel refuses to do (even though they sell fries on their cart) is FREE at Olympic Pita.  When they told me, I almost didn’t believe it.  I asked two different guys, plus the lady at the cash register, at least 5 times, “It’s free right?  Totally free?  Really? French Fries?  Are you sure?” and pretty much didn’t believe it until the fries were on the sandwich, and I was walking out the door.  At this point, I almost didn’t even care what the thing tasted like- I was sold.  You give me the best bread in Midtown, let me load up my sandwich PLUS a separate container with stuff from the salad bar, AND you’ll add french fries to my falafel sandwich for free?  Olympic Pita- you are the greatest place in the history of forever.

4.  Oh yeah.  And the sandwich is huge.

What more do you need to know?  Oh… right.  The thing tasted good too.  Real good.   And between the salad bar, and the giant sandwich, it could even be split between two lesser sized people.  Midtown Lunch’er DDR has mentioned the mango sauce a few times as well, but unfortunately they were out because they had been closed the week before for Shavuot- so I didn’t get to try it… but be sure to ask for some if that kind of thing interests you.

There are a few downsides to the place… I wish one of their shawarma sandwiches on laffa were available for under $10, and I wish the tables in the main part of the restaurant weren’t only for waiter service but those issues are easy to ignore when free french fries are involved.

THE +

• The bread
• Free french fries in your sandwich
• Free salad/pickle bar in your sandwich, and in a little container on the side
• Did I mention the bread?

THE -

• There are no seats for you to eat your food, unless you sit down and order from a waiter
• The price

Olympic Pita, 58 W. 38th St. (btw. 5+6th), 212-869-PITA