Midtown Lunch

Imagine this on a street in Tribeca.

It’s hard work sitting around all day waiting for some guy under house arrest to…leave the house? When I took this photo Dominique Strauss-Kahn and his crowd of reporters were camped out at 71 Broadway in the Financial District. And then he decided that wasn’t good enough and moved into some swank townhouse Wednesday night on Franklin btw. Varick & Hudson in Tribeca. While DSK himself likely wouldn’t consult ML Downtown for where to get lunch, I bet those reporters will get bored and hungry pretty quickly. And even the French reporters could probably use a good fried chicken suggestion.

I’m sure DSK himself will be ordering in from Nobu or The Harrison, or somewhere that serves a lot of expensive meat. He seems like a guy who enjoys a big steak or, you know, has a personal chef.

For those lower on the food chain, my first suggestion is the $10 lunch special at Barzinho on W. Broadway (btw. Franklin & White). The food here is hearty and meaty and will make a nap sound good which will help pass the time.

The weather’s nice, and there’s nothing better than sitting outside behind police barricades and eating some fried chicken. Might I suggest Cornerstone Grill on Greenwich (at Duane)? Their chicken is cheap as hell for Tribeca, and really good. Just don’t get grease on your camera/notepad.

Continuing on the theme of value and fried foods, another option is Sea World. Don’t think too hard about this one, just know that for $7 you can eat as much fried/Chinese items as you want and the construction workers dining there won’t judge you.

I realize that many of the reporters are French and likely struggling with the lack of classy, affordable lunch options in lower Manhattan. For you I have Birdbath Bakery on Church St. (at Thomas). You can’t really go wrong with most things here but I’m partial to the cilantro chicken sandwich. Throw in a cookie, too.

There are others I could mention, like the West Side Coffee Shop on Church (at Canal) where you can get enough food in one meal to feed five people, Clementine (formerly Columbine) on W. Broadway & White for soups, sandwiches and salads, or Grandaisy Bakery on W. Broadway (at 6th Ave.) for some of their pizza-like items. Really, there are a lot of decent lunch options nearby and you’ll be fine with most of them. Based on the neighborhood’s reaction, don’t expect any cookies or lemonade as a welcome.