Midtown Lunch

I would guess about 99% percent of people who eat lunch at Bennie’s Thai Cafe on Fulton St. (at Gold) get something off the cheap menu where the food is dished up off a steam table with a scoop of rice. But what if it’s hot outside and the thought of eating a hot plate of Thai food doesn’t sound appealing? That’s when I turn to their salad menu because they’re the only affordable Thai place down here doing authentic dishes like larb and selling it at ML-friendly prices. And if you don’t like traditional salads that try to trick you into eating vegetables, this may be for you.

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If you don’t eat meat and work in the Financial District, it’s likely you’ve been to Little Lad’s Basket in the basement of the 120 Broadway building. Lunch’er Marco wrote in to tip me off to a note on their Web site saying the cheap-ass buffet spot is closing this week (the site says Aug. 5, but apparently there’s a note on the door saying they’ll shutter on Aug. 12). But fear not! According to the note on their site, it looks like the restaurant may be looking into relocating. Click through to see what the health food gurus have to say. Read more »

So happy I never ingested this. Courtesy of Fork in the Road.

• There’s a truck selling organic lunch behind City Winery?! [NY Nearsay]
• Roll and Go is called out on the awfulness of its teriyaki slice. [Fork in the Road]
• Soul Daddy mastermind blames burrito chain for its brief life. [Eater NY]
• Soho Park usually has a decent burger. [Lunch Studio]
• Tribeca’s Barzinho has closed, taking its $10 lunch specials with it. [Tribeca Citizen]
• Some tips for ordering banh mi at Paris Sandwich. [Serious Eats NY]

After an accident on the W. Side Highway basically blew up the Frites N Meats truck back in April they’ve been on hiatus. They announced that they’ll return to the streets Monday, and to celebrate will be parking in several locations giving out “100+” free frites. The exact spots haven’t been determined (check out the Twitter Tracker for details) but according to their blog will include the Financial District and Soho.