Midtown Lunch

I can only imagine the crowds will be insane. Today is the first officialy day of The Pennsy, the new food court just above Penn Station. Gothamist has a look with photos of the offerings, including a sandwich stall from Pat LaFrieda, an Italian spot by Mario Batali and Mary Giuliani, a place for lobster rolls and other shellfish by Marc Forgione, a new location of The Little Beet, and perhaps most notably, the return of The Cinnamon Snail in their first brick-and-mortat venture. Bring on the crowds and the vegan donuts.

We’ll have a closer look at the food in the coming week or so, but early adopters, leave your comments below.

The Pennsy, 2 Penn Plaza (at Seventh Ave and 33rd St)

Photo Courtesy of @thepennsy

It must be a Christmas miracle! Luncher joer alerted us in the comments to the fact that Penn Station will be getting a new legitimate food court early next year. It was reported in the New York Post and on Eater. This is not an Urban Space run venture – it’s overseen by caterer Mary Giuliani – so you can expect a refreshing set of new and familiar food options. Most exciting for us is that this will be a permanent location for the much-missed Cinnamon Snail. Also expect The Lobster Press from Marc Forgione, a second location of healthy The Little Beet, and a soup and sandwich spot by Mario Batali called Mario by Mary.

It will open in the former Borders location facing 7th Avenue and there will be plenty of seating (about 300) and a bar, but the whole venture will have the unfortunate name of the Pennsy. Either way, we’ll take it.

Island Dine is now closed in the great clearing-out of restaurants in this space. RIP jerk chicken in Midtown ;_;

The LIRR section of Penn: you will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy that isn’t Port Authority Bus Terminal. While there are a few standouts (I can only think of Chickpea in the Amtrak concourse and Soup Spot up on street level) there are also plenty of Tim Horton’s that would love to sell you awful food. However, in the Gibsonian brightly-lit commuter hell of the LIRR alleyway, there’s good Jamaican food to be had. With the sudden departure of Jamaican Dutchy (we can only hope it was passed to the left hand side) and the only other nearby option being the upworld Jamaican Kitchen (I won’t even deign to mention Golden Krust) it’s always good to have an option – but is it irie or should you not even bother?
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I love a good deal as much as anyone else, but it’s been years since I’ve found any great pleasure surfing the dollar menu anywhere. That said, when I saw the sign for $1 burgers and dogs at Pop’s in last week’s Links, I knew I’d have to investigate. Lunchtime Monday afternoon, I went over to 7th Avenue to check it out.

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Thanks to Lunch’er Evan for letting us know about this one… Bruce’s Burgers, the mediocre burger spot that shared space in 1 Penn Plaza with the Caribbean Kitchen, has closed.  It was recently replaced by Taste of India, which used to share space with a random deli on 33rd and 1 Penn that became a Lenny’s awhile back. Around Penn Station it’s pretty difficult to find good Indian food, let alone any Indian food so it’s good news that they’re back.  They have lunch specials around $7 or $8 depending on whether you get vegetarian or meat options. Any fans?  Let us know how it is in the comments…

El Camioncito, the truck that popped up on the radar this spring when it added tacos and later tamales to it’s otherwise typical food cart menu, has returned to Midtown South. After weeks of disappointing many a taco hunter, the truck is back at its just out of bounds location on 31st Street and 7th Avenue. I stopped by yesterday to take a look at what’s new.

The menu’s Latin section has continued to expand, adding a number of tasty-looking options. See what’s on it and one of the new snacks after the jump.

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Pork Tamales from El Camioncito. Photo courtesy of Lunch’er “nomnomnyc”.

Once again, Lunch’er “nomnomnyc” comes through in the forums with intel on El Camioncito (on 31st and 7th Avenue), the Ecuadorian Truck that added tacos to its menu last month. They have now expanded the Mexican portion of the menu to include tamales filled with your choice of pork or chicken. His initial report isn’t stellar, noting that the pork is a bit dry, but it is a new addition. Given the limited Mexican options nearby, all we can do is hope that it improves over time.

Related:
El Camioncito Truck Slings Tacos in Midtown South

I love tacos. The more interesting the fillings the better, from tender lengua to crunchy oreja, I’ll eat it. Yet working near the Empire State Building, the options are pathetic. Short of Chipotle, we’ve got nothing. So, when I read nonnomnyc’s post in the forums last week about a new Taco Truck near Penn Station, I knew I’d be making the trip in short order. Yesterday, I stopped by El Comioncito’s to give it a try. The truck, run by Ecuadorans, offers all varieties of street meat, but that’s not what I was there for. The Mexican menu is small and you might miss it at first. There are only four types of tacos available, but I’ll take what I can get.

See the tacos after the jump.
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Photos courtesy of Lunch’er “nomnomnyc”

Thanks to Luncher “nomnomnyc” for posting in the forums about this new taco truck that has shown up near Penn Station (on the corner of 31st and 7th Avenue.) It’s just out of ML bounds and the selection seems to be limited, but given how woefully under-served the area is for Tacos, I’m willing to go the extra block for some carnitas that don’t come from Chipotle.

More photos, the menu, and a brief report is after the jump.

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