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 Jake who eats at his desk a lot but still manages to not eat salad or other boring lunches every day.

Name: Jake S.

Occupation: Trader

Where you work: 140 Broadway

Age: 23

Favorite Kinds of Food: I’m not a picky eater; I like most everything. I’m a sucker for soup and other foods that make me warm (especially in this weather). Pizza is my biggest weakness and it’s a daily struggle to turn away from the pizza shop at lunchtime. Other likes: Chicken liver, Israeli food, Mexican food, Jewish food, Indian food (especially Palak dishes), mozz. sticks.

Least Favorite Foods: Tuna (from a can), cucumbers.

Favorite Lunches Downtown: I’ve only been working down here since about mid-October, and my office orders in a lot, so I’ve been able to try a new place almost every day. Truth be told, I’m not loving anything so far, but I’ve been to only a handful of places more than once, making them, I guess, my de facto favorites: Chipotle (Multiple Locations), Sushi by Bento Nouveau (Multiple Locations)  for location convenience and an OK udon soup; Zigolini’s on Pearl (at Coenties Slip), Ruben’s Empanadas (Multiple Locations) – spent some time in Argentina and elsewhere in South America and their tuna empanada brings me back there..if only they were better!; Sale and Pepe on Wall St. (at Exchange Plaza), burgers at Zaitzeff on Nassau (at John) – amazing fries; Diwan E Khaas (Multiple Locations) –  it’s also very close, decent and cheap, but greasy Indian food. I am clearly shopping for new places, so some help would be appreciated lunch’ers!

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: As traders we eat at our desks..also lots of people keep kosher here. Options are tres limited.

Places downtown you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch: When I stumble upon a place, before trying it, I check to see if it was written up in ML. I then only try it if the review was favorable.  I found most of the places listed above that way. I tried both new Mexican places last week that I had read about on ML and was pretty disappointed – going to stick with Chipotle for now. I can say that, if not for ML, I would never have tried any of the food carts/trucks, so thanks for that!

Dream job location, purely for lunch purposes, and why: My Momma’s kitchen? I enjoyed the lunch options in East Midtown during my previous job. I had Asian Station, Dishes, and Toasties on a pretty regular rotation. Outside of NYC, I’ve spent time in Israel and think they have the best food anywhere. Would love to work in downtown and be able to get a nice pita sandwich filled with goodies every day.

Anything you’d like to ask the downtown Midtown Lunch readers?: Where can I find an awesome slice? Why don’t they have Dishes, Toasties, or Crisp down here? What’s the best takeout Indian place around my office, so I can stop going to Diwan E Khaas once a week? Basically, I need a Downtown Midtown Lunch makeover. Any takers?

I have good news for you Jake – there’s a place called Toasties on John St. (btw. Broadway & Nassau), and although I’m not sure if it’s the same as the midtown locations, it’s pretty good. Want some more good news? There’s a location of Crisp opening on Fulton & William streets in the near future. Does anyone have any good Indian suggestions for Jake? 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.