Midtown Lunch

It’s that time of year when everything smells like hot garbage and cold lunches start to sound good. Yesterday was a scorcher and at first I was thinking a sandwich sounded good for lunch. But then I remembered that a new location of Xi’an Famous Foods had opened on Bayard St. (btw. Mott & Elizabeth) and that they had a few cold noodle dishes. This immediately sounded like a way better idea than a sandwich so I made my way to the J train for the first time in a long time and headed up to Chinatown.

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When the Jamaican Dutchy cart migrated down to the Financial District from midtown I was a little surprised because this neighborhood used to be a lunch dead zone. That’s changed and we now can boast three Caribbean carts serving roti and various meats over rice and peas. And judging by the lines, those working in the land of chain lunch spots are happy to have another cart option. I stopped by to try their jerk chicken, which I think is a good measure of any Jamaican cart. Read more »

Are you guys overwhelmed by all of the new places popping up in the Financial District lately? No? Is it just me? Anyway…this post is about the Tacos Mexicanos truck spotted Tuesday on Maiden Lane at Water St. They serve tacos (natch) and some sandwiches on top of empanadas, salchipapas, tamales and some Ecuadorian fare. A quick Web search shows there’s a truck of the same name that parks in Woodside, Queens so it might just be legit (I’d already had two lunches so there was no more room in the Downtown Lunch stomach). One of the guys on the truck said they’d either be back at the same spot today or on Water near Fulton.

Ever since the Frying Dutchmen truck launched selling one item (fries) I’ve been waiting for them to come downtown so I could see if this was really something you could call lunch. They were parked on Water St. & John today so I wandered over in the heat to have something of a second lunch.

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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 Kyle who treks to Little Italy and Chinatown for lunch, but also has a fall-back generic deli.

Name: Kyle Lazarus

Occupation: Social media coordinator/project manager

Where you work: The Barbarian Group on Beach St. & Varick

Age: 24

Favorite Kinds of Food: Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Italian (in that order), banh mi. Fusion is always nice, when done well.

Least Favorite Foods: I haven’t come across any yet.

Favorite Lunches Downtown: The Jalapeno Truck for chorizo and bistec tacos; Nice Green Bo on Bayard (btw. Mott & Elizabeth) for soup dumplings, sauteed green beans, beef chow fun, and roast pork lo mein; Tataki on Lispenard (btw. Church & W. Broadway) for the lunch special only! Too pricey otherwise. Usual suspects with the sushi (spicy tuna, salmon, eel); Alleva Dairy on Grand (at Mulberry) for the best meatball sub in NYC. Their Italian special sandwich is amazing too; Korilla BBQ Truck for the bacon kimchi fried rice. If you get anything else you’ve wasted a trip; Num Pang Sandwich Shop on E. 12th St. (btw. University Pl. & 5th Ave.) for the classic banh mi – no reason to deviate. When I am in the area, Sammy’s Halal cart is a must stop. The original location is the corner of E. 4th and Broadway and the newer and larger (24-7) location is at W. 4th and 6th Ave.

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