Midtown Lunch

Just got word that Urban Lobster Shack, our favorite cheap lobster roll spot in a basement food court, is now serving a lobster BLT! For those of you keeping score at home, that’s lobster, lettuce, tomato and a giant slice of bacon.  It’s $18 for dinner or delivery, but at lunch time you can score this bad boy for just $14.  I know it’s a little bit above our price range, but considering that there are bacon-less lobster rolls in Midtown that are more expensive, we had to let you know about it.

Urban Lobster Shack, 805 3rd Ave. (btw. 49+50th) in the Basement. 212-888-4242

A random visit to Urban Lobster Shack’s website reveals that they are planning to open a 2nd Midtown location (3rd overall), called Urban Lobster Shack 3. From what I was able to find out, the location will be near MSG (Penn Station would make a lot of sense for their setup), but there’s no opening date yet because of issues with the lease. Here’s hoping they get everything worked out soon. More lobster rolls in Midtown is always a good thing!

I was in Midtown on Friday getting “caught up” on all the lunches I’ve missed out on since moving to L.A., and between an amazing souvlaki on a stick (with lemon juice and salt) from Uncle Gussy’s (on 51st and Park) and out of control good bowl of tonkotsu ramen from Hide Chan I couldn’t help but notice this little sign posted in Urban Lobster Shack (in the basement food court on 3rd Ave. and 52nd).  I’m already a fan of their $10 lobster roll, and this one is clearly above the ML price limit, but I couldn’t resist seeing exactly what it was that extra $2 gets you.

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Every once in a while twitter presents some interesting lunching options. The other day, Urban Lobster Shack (in the basement food court on 3rd btw. 49+50th) was shouting out some of their daily specials and a couple things caught my eye: the Chef’s Special, a lobster roll served on garlic bread (!?) drizzled w/scampi sauce with a side salad and cole slaw and the personal deep dish shrimp pizza served w/small soup and side salad. Only problem was both lunches were $11. Could they be worth the extra buck?

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I guess there is something about today’s gorgeous weather that screams lobster roll! (Well, that and the fact that it’s Lent.)  Both Cer Te (on 55th btw. 5+6th) and the Urban Lobster Shack (in the basement food court on 3rd btw. 49+50th) are reporting (via twitter) a larger than normal number of advance orders this morning.  In other words, if you want a lobster roll today you might want to get on it now…

Related:
Other Lenten Lunch Options on Midtown Lunch
Urban Lobster Shack’s $10 Lobster Roll Is Worth the $$

On the Left, My Lobster Roll; On the Right, the Twittered Lobster Roll

Shame on Urban Lobster Shack! I enjoyed my under $10 lobster roll at the newly opened Urban Lobster Shack inside the basement food court on 3rd Ave. btw. 49+50th. But I was a little surprised by the lobster roll photo they tweeted last week. I didn’t really notice any significant amounts of claw meat in my sandwich, but check out their bad ass claw filled lobster salad sandwich.  Not quite lobster-gate, but whoever got the sandwich in that photo was a lucky lunch’er if you ask me!

Related:
Urban Lobster Shack’s $10 Lobster Roll Is Worth the $$ (But More Importantly, the Price is Permanent)

Photo courtesy of @UrbanLobster

The Urban Lobster Shack’s Twitter account has been pretty active since they opened their new Midtown location. Just before New Year’s they took over the little take out space in the basement food court on 3rd Ave. btw. 49+50th, that used to be occupied by Yorganic, and since then they’ve been sending out messages about mascots, shrimp & mussels lunch specials, and of course the $10 lobster roll. In this world you always get you pay for, but the under $10 lobster roll has a special place in my heart. I wrote about the one at Fairway for Serious Eats, and always dreamed that eventually Midtown would get its own.

Did I expect beautiful big lumps of lobster meat, no filler, and a fully intact claw adorning the top? Of course not. I’d settle for a decent size sandwich, that tastes somewhat like lobster. (What can I say… for $10 you have to lower your standards.) Thankfully Urban Lobster Shack doesn’t disappoint.

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Got word last week that Urban Lobster Shack has opened a new location in the downstairs food court on 3rd Ave. btw. 49+50th (the one with Sophie’s Cuban and Pampano Taqueria.) Our original Downtown Lunch man Daniel Krieger wrote about their downtown location, where at one time $15 got you a lobster roll, soup, chips, cole slaw, crackers, and a water (although from the looks of their website the combo has gone up to $18.)  $18 is way above the ML price range, but we’re talking about lobster rolls here.  (The one at the very excellent Grand Central Oyster Bar takeout window is $27!)   According to Lunch’er “Andrew”, they were doing a $10 special last week (lobster roll, caesar salad, and cole slaw) but not sure if that’s still going on.  Early adopters, feel free to give us some info in the comments.

Related:
Downtown Lunch: Urban Lobster Shack