Midtown Lunch » Zagat

Wafels & Dinges and Street Sweets Tops in New Zagat

Amy Cao — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 18:00:57 +0000

The 2011 Michelin and Zagat guides hit news stands today… and while neither are particularly Midtown Lunch friendly, the 2011 Zagat guide has included food trucks for the first time ever this year! According to the survey, 26% of people who filled in the quiz reported eating from gourmet food trucks at least occasionally, while 9% say they would never. (What? Who are these people!?) 11% of surveyors reported they follow food trucks on social networking sites like Twitter. (I wonder if that includes the ML Twitter Tracker!) So… who made it into the book?

Drum roll please…

Wafels & Dinges

Food	Decor	Service	Cost
24	11	20	$8

Street Sweets

Food	Decor	Service	Cost
24	15	22	$10

Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Truck

Food	Decor	Service	Cost
23	11	19	$7

Treats Truck

Food	Decor	Service	Cost
22	13	23	$6

NYC Cravings

Food	Decor	Service	Cost
22	8	22	$10

Schnitzel & Things

Food	Decor	Service	Cost
20	7	15	$13

Cupcake Stop

Food	Decor	Service	Cost
19	8	19	$6

Rickshaw Dumpling Truck

Food	Decor	Service	Cost
19	8	19	$11

Maybe a bit heavy on the dessert side. And I do wonder if Street Sweets’ parking spot one block away from the Zagat office may have skewed the sampling… but that’s just speculation! You can click on the individual names to read the comments about each truck on the Zagat website.

Zagat’s Best Burger is in Midtown

Zach Brooks — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:30:59 +0000

Zagat’s 2010 Guide is out today, and according to Grub Street the Burger Joint at the Parker Meridien (on 56th btw. 6+7th) bested the Shake Shack and last year’s winner, DuMont, for the best burger in New York City honors. Kind of surprising, but we’ll take it! [Grub Street]

Zagat Names Burger Joint Best Midtown Lunch

Zach Brooks — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 13:27:38 +0000

The 2008 Zagat guide arrived in stores this week, and once again the Burger Joint in the Parker Meridien Hotel has received the highest score of any Midtown Lunch that appears in the guide (a 24). Ess a Bagel, who I wrote about this week, was a close runner up with a 23. If you expand the Midtown Lunch boundaries a little bit, the Azuri Cafe (on 51st btw. 9+10th), is actually the big winner, receiving a deserving 25 (up from 24 last year) for what I consider to be the best Falafel in the city. Not much has changed since from what I wrote about the 2007 guide but there are a few things worth mentioning.

Best Korean, whose scores went up and down, and the most ridiculous Midtown Lunch quote in the book- after the jump…

Last year, I wrote that I was surprised Lenny’s wasn’t in the guide. This year they appear with a 19. Other new Midtown Lunch entries include Tuscan Square, which got a 16 (but more for the restaurant upstairs- not the Marketplace), and Yushi- which wins the “Best Quote” award.

It’s too new to get a rating, but the Yushi blurb starts off this way:

Be prepared to wait in line…

I walked by Yushi on Wednesday during lunchtime rush and there was no line. How does this place get mentioned (it’s too new to have garnered any reall number of votes) while FIKA, Oms/B, Bayan Cafe, Margon, Sapporo, & Men Kui Tei are still ignored. It’s just not right.

In the “Down from Last Year” category, Kati Roll & AQ Cafe both drop from a 22 to a 20, ‘wichcraft goes from 21 to 20 and Burritoville drops one number to 16. Mandoo Bar in Koreatown and Menchanko Tei both went up one point from 19 to 20.

I was most pleased to see Spice Fusion (8th Ave. btw. 47+48th), my new favorite Inidan Buffet, get a mention in the guide, although they were too new to get a proper score. Best Korean in Midtown goes to Gahm Mi Oak (32nd btw. B’way & 5th) with a 22.

And finally, ESPN Zone retains the top spot of Worst Restaurant in Midtown, repeating as last year’s winner with a lowly score of 12. Keep at it guys. It’s going to be tough to hold off The Hard Rock Cafe (13) and the Heartland Brewery (14)… but we know you can do it!