Midtown Lunch

There are a few diners downtown, but not many make me want to go inside. Every time I’ve walked by the Roxy Coffee Shop on John St. (btw. Nassau & Broadway) I’ve wanted to eat there. Its red retro sign would beckon to me, and the small space just looked interesting. And then it got a makeover recently, which is sometimes the kiss of death for any restaurant, diner or otherwise. Besides, aren’t diners and coffee shops supposed to be slightly frayed around the edges? Well, since I didn’t eat there before the renovation I can’t report on if the food quality or prices have changed. What I can report is that it’s like stepping into a small town where the proprietor, a very chatty guy, will sit down at your table and talk to you like he did with the ladies in the booth next to mine. And the daily special that I tried was freaking awesome.  Read more »

Some days when I’m deciding what to have for lunch, I want something specific like a plain slice of pizza. The day I went to Nu Sushi on Pearl St. (btw. Hanover & Broad) was not one of those days. I wanted a little bit of a few things, so in my mind the obvious choice was a bento box. Downtown lunch’er boomshanka had recommended the reastaurant’s bento in the forums as one of his go-to lunches. Nu Sushi is located in a strip of pricey restaurants near Hanover Square that barely offer anything under $10, but all of their bentos fall into that category. The only catch is that you have to get it to go, because if you eat in, the price goes up to $14.50 for some reason. So, let’s see what was inside this box, shall we? Read more »

As is customary here on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we’ll profile a different lunch’er and get their recommendations for places to eat in Downtown NYC. This week, we have Corie, who calls herself “a pretty boring eater,” and ain’t afraid of  no carbs.

Name: Corie Russell

Occupation: Freelance writer/proofreader

Where you work: Wall and William streets

Age: 26

Favorite Kinds of Food?: Italian: pasta with vodka sauce, cheese slice. Hummus = yummy. Seafood, with crab, shrimp and salmon at the top of the list.

Least Favorite Foods?: Indian, anything spicy. Also, chicken = gross.

Favorite Lunches Downtown?: Zeytuna (Maiden Lane btw. Nassau & William) for their tuna sandwich. Au Bon Pain (Multiple Locations) for the soup and tomato and cheese snack. Cosi (Multiple Locations) for the tuna sandwich and pizzas.

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Zeytuna, because it’s easy with the buffet style. And it’s fast and cheap, if you don’t order a million things. Wall Street Burger Shoppe (Water St. btw. Broad & Coenties Alley), various street meat carts.

Place you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch?: Sam’s Falafel Cart (Liberty Plaza, btw. Liberty & Cedar)

Dream job location, purely for lunch purposes, and why: Brooklyn – anywhere near El Jalapeno…greatest Mexican food ever.

Anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers?: Good hummus places? (I love Hummus Kitchen but am looking for others, too.)

Well, my favorite hummus place is sadly located in Brooklyn (Mimi’s Hummus), although they should totally open a branch somewhere below Houston St. (hint, hint). I don’t even know of any hummus chains located downtown. Anybody have some hidden source of non-packaged hummus for Corie? Also, if you like Sam’s Falafel, maybe you should check out Alan’s Falafel cart across the street.And as always, if you would like to be next week’s Profiled Lunch’er (or know somebody you’d like to nominate), email us at downtownnyc@midtownlunch.com.

If there’s one thing downtown is lacking in, it is gross (and I mean that in the best possible way) mash ups in sandwich form. The last place I expected to find such a thing was at Baba Ghanouge on Church St. (btw. Chambers & Reade), where their tagline is “Eat Healthy Live Longer.” Even the healthiest people like to put crappy food in their bodies sometimes, and for that purpose there is the chicken beiruti sandwich. It contains a secret ingredient that elevates this sandwich a few notches and almost makes you forget you’re eating in a place that’s trying to make you healthy. Read more »

It might look delicious, but looks can be deceiving, courtesy of Serious Eats NY

• The “painfully sugary” Cookies & Cream cupcake from Tribeca Treats fulfills the stereotype that all of these tiny cakes suck. [Serious Eats NY]
• Shake Shack may open a location in Battery Park City, although the Union Square Hospitality Group is playing coy and denying things that weren’t even asked about. [Grub Street]
• Battery Park City is getting even more food lovin’ from another non-terrible chain, Le Pain Quotidien. [Eater NY]
• An egg and potato hero from Torrisi Italian Specialties makes fast food breakfast sandwiches look weak and sickly. [Fork In The Road]