Midtown Lunch

Still worth it for $10? I say yes.

A few weeks ago I did a post detailing how, despite all the hype and PR, none of the new school vendors are really making any money. Need proof? Well, here it is. After an insane week that included winning the Rookie of the Year Vendy Award, followed by countless media appearances (including this one on CNBC), the Schnitzel & Things Truck has some very sad news to report. From the owner Oleg:

This is a letter to all of our loyal fans and customers. We are raising the prices of our schnitzel platters and sandwiches by $1. We understand how important our customers are to us, and feel that you deserve an explanation as to why this is necessary. Our main goal is to consistently provide the best quality product, and with the increased demand, we’ve had to incur some new expenses, such as a full commercial kitchen as well as new staff. Our menu is diverse and includes a wide variety of options, which are prepared fresh daily, and that requires a large amount of preparation, even down to the condiments we serve. Since we did hire new staff, it is our personal belief that they deserve a living wage, which in the restaurant business is rarely seen.

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Photo Courtesy of “Masto” on Flickr

Thanks to Lunch’er “Masto” for sending along this photo of the new Schnitzel Burger introduced today by the Schnitzel & Things Truck…

I work on 48th, but a bunch of us couldn’t resist and headed down to get the schnitz burger. Just in time, apparently.. shortly after we ordered, there was a huge line. Then the guy came out from the truck and took the burger sign down (around 12:30). That was fast.

He declared it awesome, and sent along another photo of the innards. Check it out after the jump…

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Hot of their mention in the $25 and under column in the NYT, the Schnitzel & Things Truck will introduce their new “Schnitzel Burger” today, and it sounds completely out of control: “A half pound of good quality beef dipped in panko and fried. $7 burger comes with cheese, cukes and scallion relish, mmmm. Or you can always do burger deluxe for $9, and that includes 2 sides. Wowsers.” Wowsers indeed. They were supposed to be interviewed by CBS yesterday (presumably for the Vendy Award thing happening on Friday morning) but that was postponed until today, which is a good thing because according to this blog they got into a fight with Eisenberg’s Sandwich Shop over their Flatiron parking space yesterday. Today they’ll be parked on Park Ave. btw. 26+27th.

Plenty has been written about the new Schnitzel & Things Truck here on Midtown Lunch since they first hit the scene a few months ago. We watched their twitter feed for the first month, tracking them all around the city- serving up their Austrian style fried cutlets to every part of the city but ours. Other blogs weighed in while we had to watch from afar waiting for them to finally make it to Midtown. It’s hard to fault the Schnitzel & Things truck though… Midtown is a tough slog, and you’ve got to be prepared. Working out all the kinks in your operation *before* attempting to serve your food to the hordes of hungry Midtown Lunchers is a sound strategy.

When they finally hit Midtown a few weeks ago, they faced the same issues all vendors face: finding a legal spot to vend where they wouldn’t be accosted by cops, businesses and other vendors. It took a little bit of time, but it seems like everything has been worked out and they’re settling into Midtown on Mondays at 52nd btw. 6+7th and Tuesdays at 48th btw. Lex+Park (although this week they have a special Tuesday spot for a Vendy Award CBS segment.)

I finally made it out last week to sample their fried cutlet goodness…

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According to a comment posted yesterday by Lunch’er “Multisync”, the Schnitzel & Things Truck didn’t have the wiener schnitzel they had promised on Twitter yesterday– but there’s a pretty good explanation for it. I got this message yesterday from the truck’s owner Oleg:

“We were very excited to finally bring Wiener Schnitzel for the rest of the week. But when we got our delivery of veal right before lunch service, we decided against serving it because it just wasn’t up to standard. We only want to serve meat that we can be proud of, and unfortunately that wasn’t the case this morning. The butcher has already apologized profusely, and will try to get us a fresh batch of veal for the rest of the week. We’re sorry but it wasn’t in our control. What was in our control, was the decision to serve it or not, and we decided against it! We promise to have it as soon as we can. We hope that ML’ers will understand!”

Related:
Schnitzel Truck is Considering Serving Veal!
Schnitzel & Things Truck Makes Good First Impression on Midtown

It seems that every time I advise the new crop of trucks to find… how should I put it… less threatening corners of Midtown to park in, a common theme pops up among those who disagree: Natural Selection.  Survival of the fittest baby!  Let the carts all park where they want, and fight it out for ultimate supremacy.  The good ones will thrive, the bad ones will die. It’s the capitalist way.  Hell, it’s the American way.  And quite frankly, we all would gladly trade 20 dirty water dog carts for 1 schnitzel truck.

There’s only one problem.  Allowing that argument to play itself out in the streets of Midtown might actually undermine the survival of all carts (the good and the bad.)

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Apparently the Schnitzel & Things Truck didn’t like what I had to say this morning about the issues they had yesterday on 43rd & 6th Ave:

“Just saw your little piece on ML. To be quite honest I don’t really care who you side with. It doesn’t matter to us one bit. But one thing you should know is that our business DOES in fact rely on heavy foot traffic! And because I am on Twitter, it doesn’t give me the right to park where we feel we will get the most customers?

You side with the “old school” but your solution for us, to go find a quiet street isn’t actually a solution that works at all. Instead of siding maybe you should realize that it’s not our fault! There is a conflict situation at hand and I understand the other point of view just as much as you, but I have a business to run and I need to hit my targets on a daily basis to stay profitable. And if it means that I have to stand my ground and get threats from an ice cream guy, so be it.”

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By the time I walked up to the Schnitzel & Things Truck around 1:30pm yesterday, most of the action had already ended.  But  I was just in time to catch a Mister Softee truck driver berating the owners of the Schnitzel truck.  Explaining to them that his truck had been parked on this corner for years, and that they couldn’t park here, and that they were ruining it for everybody.  “”There are a million corners to park in New York City! This one is mine.” Both trucks had been kicked out of their spots by the cops, who claimed that they had been receiving “complaints.”   And even though the Schnitzel Truck had twittered earlier about trouble from a halal guy, it’s more likely the complaints came from the businesses in the area (possibly the Verizon store on that corner.)

Once the news broke, Schnitzel fans everywhere lashed out at the cops, the halal guy, and the Mister Softee truck vendor- who I watched threaten the owners of the Schnitzel Truck.  And while I don’t believe in vendors threatening other vendors, and I really want schnitzel to be available in Midtown as often as possible, I have to side with the Mister Softee truck on this one.  And it’s not too difficult to understand why.

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