Midtown Lunch

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 Chloe who is in search of “love”-filled Mexican food and is wondering, like we all are, what happened to a certain BBQ truck.

Name: Chloe Knox

Occupation: Energy underwriting

Where you work: On Water St., close to Hanover Sq.

Age: 26

Favorite Kinds of Food: Sushi, falafel, churrasco with a ton of chimichurri & cebollitas, anything with garlic, dumplings, and most importantly – any and all authentic Mexican food: chilaquiles, tortas, carnitas tacos, etc.

Least Favorite Foods: Liver

Favorite Lunches Downtown: I gotta shout out Sam’s Falafel cart on Cedar (nr. Broadway) and the Gatehouse on S. End Ave. (at Albany) for sushi – you got me through those tough years in the World Financial Center dead zone.  Niko Niko on Pearl (btw. Wall & Pine) is great to grab right after the gym (I usually go for salmon sashimi & edamame), and Zaitzeff on Nassau St. (at John) is great for a killer burger with a bunch of their hot mustard & mixed fries.

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: The place I certainly eat too often is Cabana at the South Street Seaport (on South nr. Fulton)…they are overpriced for the good ol’ tourists but I just can’t get enough of their hot sauce! Maybe I should just buy it?  We also go to Pound & Pence on Liberty (at Nassau) a ton – great food, but again, overpriced.

Places downtown you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch: Oh my, where to begin: Wafels & Dinges cart on Front St. (nr. Water)– spekuloos and strawberry all the way, Veronica’s Kitchen on Front (at Pine) for oxtail, if it’s not sold out by the time I get there, Adel’s for spicy rice and great tasting meat, Rickshaw Dumplings, Mexicue (haven’t tried yet but will soon), Qba Cuban Kitchen Truck for lechon, Banh Mi Cart on Pearl (at Hanover), Five Guys on Fulton St. (at Dutch) – Oh yeah, so I could obsess about the grand opening for a month, thanks. And the place I wish I never heard of: Picnick Smoked.

Dream job location, purely for lunch purposes, and why: I’m pretty happy with my new digs on Water St. since there are so many more choices (and happening scenes) than the WFC area.  But if I was going to be honest, I gotta say the place I grew up – East LA.  Fifty cent tacos, food cooked with love (aka lard), and by generations of families? – How could you go wrong? My second choice is Midtown for sure, whoop whoop!  Brother Jimmy’s, Daisy May’s BBQ Cart, and more Mexican food choices would be the reasoning…

Anything you’d like to ask the downtown Midtown Lunch readers?: Did anyone ever solve the case of the missing Picnick Smoked truck?  I am sooo sad that I never got to try them and it seems like no one else had any luck – did they offer any statements?  How is Texas Rotisserie & Grill?  Also, has anyone tried Choza?  Let me know what you thought.  It is a bit of a trek for me but there are not many authentic options down where I’m at.

Don’t even get me started on Picnick Smoked…I think they just wanted to die a quiet death that involved not responding to e-mails. I reviewed both Texas Rotisserie & Grill (found here), and Choza (found here) and both were OK. The tacos from Choza were definitely the best option I’ve found down here, especially for the price. 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.