Midtown Lunch

I’m not quite sure why there are so many Mexican places opening in the Financial District all of a sudden, but we’ll take it! A chainy-looking place called Caliente Mexican Grill has opened on the corner of Trinity Place and Thames, where there used to be an Original Soupman outpost. A sign touting their grand opening said they serve burritos, tacos, etc. Anybody eaten here? If so give us your take on the food in the comments.

It’s that time of year when there are days (like yesterday) that you just want to hunker down for lunch with a hot steaming bowl of soup. The recently-opened Nicky’s Vietnamese Sandwiches on Nassau St. (at Ann) said they would be serving pho and have delivered on that promise. This is the only place I’m aware of in the Financial District that you can get the Vietnamese noodle soup, and it’s nice to not have to hop on a train up to Chinatown when the craving hits. Read more »

A walk past the former Swich space on Maiden Lane (btw. Gold & William) during the monsoon yesterday showed that it’s quickly being turned into a location of midtown “Mexican Bistro” Toloache. This is major news not only because their food is tasty, but because we’re definitely starved for good Mexican down here. It looks like it will be a downscale taqueria version of the other location, but it’s hard to get a read when the windows are papered over.

Midtown is getting its Asian Chipotle and we have been waiting for our Indian version on Maiden Lane for a while now. Hot Clay Oven has been delayed so many times that I’ve lost count and I thought we might get a taste this week after a September and November opening dates came and went. Well, the owner says that due to the Thanksgiving holiday the opening is pushed back once again and it’s looking like Dec. 8 at the earliest. So I guess we’ll all just have to wait a little longer to taste this Indian fusion food…or you can just go to the actual Chipotle across the street and pretend.

One of the most hotly anticipated food truck launches in recent memory happened yesterday, with Taim Mobile rolling out its un-shiny new wheels. They parked on Hudson St. on the western edge of Soho, away from the heavy foot traffic a couple of blocks away in either direction (probably on purpose), but still drew a long line despite the rainy conditions. My wait time from ordering to food in hand was about 30 minutes, but I blame that on the sheer number of orders because they actually seemed to have a good system going and plenty of people working in the truck. And man, was the wait worth it. Read more »