Midtown Lunch

Last Monday morning, while brainstorming potential lunchtime meals, I was hit with a sudden, intense craving for a calzone (pizza’s oft-forgotten, heavier sibling). This was no ordinary craving, either – it was the kind of craving that can haunt a person for days on end. For whatever reason, I knew that absolutely nothing would satisfy my lunchtime desires except for a calzone. The problem, of course, was that I had never ordered a calzone in midtown. It’s hard enough to find decent pizza in the neighborhood, so how the hell am I supposed to find a respectable calzone?

Naturally, I turned to our archives for help and stumbled upon this gem of a post from 2010. “Perfect,” I thought. Now I had five delectable options to choose from, each with a detailed description and photographic summary. Something was wrong, though… this was too easy. What kind of Midtown Lunch’er am I if I just stick to what’s already been explored? So, I made the difficult decision to forge ahead on a different path and test some new waters. Why should Midtown Lunch readers have to settle for just five calzones? We should familiarize ourselves with all of the calzones! And so began my weeklong quest to find the most worthwhile calzone in midtown.

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In honor of 4/20, Two Boots is giving away free samples of their most stoner-ific pizza, according to their Facebook page. The Dude, inspired by Jeff Bridges character in The Big Lebowski, is a Cajun bacon cheeseburger pizza topped with tasso ham, andouille sausage, ground beef, cheddar, and mozzarella. The free grub is available at all Two Boots locations (including the two in Midtown at Grand Central and 9th Avenue and 44th) from 4:20pm to 6:00pm. Be aware the samples are just half slices, but if you truly have the munchies, I’m sure you could visit all locations within the 100 minutes of the giveaway.

Hard to believe, but Two Boots’ outpost in Grand Central has been around for 10 years-far outlasting the one in Rock Center. For their anniversary celebration they debuted the No. 6 last week, which includes pecorino, provolone, capicola, sopressata, peperoncini and roasted peppers, and I can vouch that it’s got a spicy kick to it. But that’s not all! They also launched some ‘Fat Tuesday’ specials last week: the Swampwich pizza (yes, alligator sausage is involved), the Stromolaya (or a jambalaya stuffed stromboli), 2-for-1 Hurricanes (how Mamacita and I will pre-game before tomorrow’s happy hour), and copious amounts of no flashing required Mardi Gras beads. Maybe all this will make up for how bad their muffuletta is.

Related:
Two Boots (stands for what???)

The new, just out of bounds, Two Boots on 9th Ave (btw. 44+45th) is now open, which is great news for all the folks in Midtown West who really miss the now shuttered Rock Center Location. Even though they are already open, the official “Grand Opening” party is tomorrow night (6/18), with music and free pizza from 6-8pm.

Related:
First Look: Lebowski’s Two Boots is 2-3 Weeks Away

Wow… today has not been good for the Midtown Lunch’ing news.  This just in from Lunch’er Jill: “Two Boots under Rockefeller Center is closing!  Today is their last day. They are opening a new place at 9th and 45th.” And confirmed on the Two Boots website:

And it was one year ago this month you guys voted this best slice in Midtown. The end of an era… and a big loss to the lazy lunchers of 30 Rock who hate leaving their building.

I love New Orleans and it seems to come up a fair amount here on MidtownLunch.com.  My wife and I were married there, I’ve written about it a few times, and 3 of our Profiled: Midtown Lunch’ers mentioned it as a place they’d rather be (Liz, Elizabeth  and Nick).  But for some reason, it didn’t sink in- until recently- that Two Boots was part Cajun.  That’s right.  The NY pizza chain with the strange decor and the weird, slightly overpriced slices of pie is actually half Italian, half Cajun… hence “Two Boots” (Italy & Louisiana).

Now, I’m sure some of you “smart” “observant” people, who don’t walk around with your “head up your ass” might be saying to yourself- “Gee Zach… what are you an idiot?”  And to that I say, “Yes.  Yes I am.”  Alright, so I’m not that quick.  I’ve gotten pizza from many of the various Two Boots locations around the city, and in all that time I never really noticed the Po’Boys or Jambalaya on the menu painted on the wall… just the pizzas in the glass case.

I’m not sure who clued me into the whole “Two Boots” thing, or the fact that they have things other than pizza… but as someone who is constantly on the lookout for quality New Orleans style food, I figured it was time to give the non pizza boot a try.

What I ordered, a run down of the pizzas and the +/- after the jump…

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