Midtown Lunch

It’s hard to believe, but Midtown Lunch has been spreading the word about good (and bad) lunches for five years and that calls for a celebration. Tickets go on sale today (find them here) for an event on June 11 from noon to 3 p.m. at City Winery in SoHo that features some of the site’s favorite restaurants and vendors, and proceeds are all going to the Street Vendor Project. If you buy a $55 advance ticket ($65 at the door) you’ll get unlimited food, beer from Brooklyn Brewery, soda from GuS and Kelvin Slush. A full list of food options is still in the works, but we know it’s going to include midtown’s Biryani Cart, Kwik Meal, and Wafels & Dinges, the Rolling Cones, and Kelvin Slush trucks. In all there will be 10 to 12 vendors chosen by Zach and the ML contributors. More information is coming in the next few weeks so stay tuned, and in the meantime buy your ticket before they’re all gone!

The new kiosk venture from Tortilleria Nixtamal, Nixtamalito, opened late last week where Choza Taqueria used to be. They opened so quickly, in fact, that the signs for Choza are still up as well as a menu from something that was there selling breakfast sandwiches before that. I really liked the tacos at Choza and was sad to hear that they closed. When I heard that Nixtamalito was coming from the people making some of the best corn tortillas out there, I really wanted to run over and get a tamale, but alas President Obama was in lower Manhattan that day, and large crowds of people plus barricades meant no tamales for me. The following day I was determined to eat there, and so were a lot of other people judging by the line that stretched long even after 1 p.m.

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Falafel: Not too photogenic, but it sure is cheap! Courtesy of Lunch Studio.

• Ba’al Cafe has a dirt cheap falafel platter. [Lunch Studio]
• Did you know Battery Place Market has a fabulous prepared food section? [Serious Eats NY]
• A roundup of more new food trucks fighting for precious parking spots. [Urban Daddy]
• When Rhong Tiam opens in the FiDi you can be a VIP! [Grub St.]
• Meet the man behind Tribeca’s Jr Sushi. [Tribeca Citizen]

Looks like that Tortilleria Nixtamal kiosk by City Hall, apparently named Nixtamalito, opened yesterday as planned serving tacos and such out of what used to be Choza Taqueria right next to 1 Centre St., on the side by the Brooklyn Bridge. I intended to go check it out but was thwarted by barricades for the president’s visit, and a large crowd of protesters, so if anyone actually ate there let us know how it is. It also looks like a grilled cheese stand called Center Melts is opening in one of the kiosks on the other side of the building along with a bunch of other vendors including one selling Hawaiian shaved ice!? Once again, I wish I had more than one stomach…

The stars aligned yesterday as I was trying to decide what I wanted for lunch, and my brain randomly replied “burrito.” The nearest source of decent burritos to my office is Toloache Taqueria on Maiden Lane (btw. William & Gold) and it was a good excuse to go back there since I’d already tried their tacos and pozole. When I got there I saw the above sign in the window advertising $5 burritos on Cinco de Mayo which just happens to be today. What will you get for that small amount of money? on this day of excessive drinking? Photos and analysis straight ahead.

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