Midtown Lunch

I don’t know about you guys, but whenever I’m trying to decide what’s going in my belly for lunch I rarely crave chicken specifically. But when the combo Ranch 1 & The Original Soupman opened on Pearl St. and Hanover Square. I had to go check it out because after all, it is Zach approved. I happened to go on the day of the monsoon last week and broke two umbrellas in pursuit of my chicken lunch, but I would have to say it was kind of worth it.

The ordering process here is a little confusing as you have to order the Soupman and Ranch 1 items separately. I was a little overwhelmed by the many options at my disposal and for simplicity I ended up ordering perhaps the lamest sandwich on the menu.

I got the Ranch 1 classic combo ($6.75), which was a gamble and maybe a loss. The chicken fajita looked appealing but I kind of wanted a sandwich and not something that would have been like a wrap.

You can kind of see it in this picture that there was a crapload of lettuce on this sandwich. Yep, it was a lettuce and grilled chicken sandwich. Just lettuce and chicken. I wanted some sort of sauce on it, but there was none, not even on the side. What confuses me about this is that the lettuce and chicken sandwich had more calories listed than the chicken and cheese sandwich below it. I will have to agree with Zach that this grilled chicken was top notch in that it didn’t taste like it was assembled from several different birds.

This is actually a pretty good option for those of you who work in the lower part of the Financial District that is lacking in cheap and decent lunches.

THE + (What somebody who likes this place would say)

• I can get chicken and soup all in one convenient location.
• It fills a void in the lower FiDi.
• The grilled chicken actually tastes like chicken.

THE — (What somebody who doesn’t like this place would say)

• This place creeps me out with its chicken mascot.
• It’s still a fast food place.

Ranch 1 Chicken, 110 Pearl St. (at Hanover Square), (212) 232-0003