Midtown Lunch

I think we can all get behind a truck that not only brings empanadas to us, but continuously bakes them throughout lunch service so they’re not sitting around getting all soggy or stale. Nuchas first came up on the Midtown Lunch radar when they opened a kiosk in Times Square and then they quietly launched a truck which has been stopping at some of the food truck lots downtown in the last couple of weeks. The truck parked in the Financial District last week and since it didn’t involve taking the subway, I was there.

The empanadas are oddly priced at $2.76 apiece, which is $3 after tax is added…so they’re $3. That means you can get three and still stay within the limits this site tries to uphold, or you can add a can of soda or bottle of water for an even $10.

Luckily, there wasn’t much of a line when I got there but a massive one soon formed. I’d have to give the truck workers props for being organized and I really didn’t mind the three minute wait for a batch of the Argentinian empanadas to come out of the oven. That one (above left) contains ground beef, onion, red pepper and bits of olive, and I also got a spicy chicken and a curry vegetable (above right) which is vegan and has turmeric in the crust.

My two favorites were the beef and the curry vegetable which were both juicier than the chicken. In fact, the beef version was so juicy that when I bit into it there was a big mess all over my desk. Do not eat this unless you have a giant stack of napkins nearby.

Some may also complain about the value/price ratio. While the three empanadas made a tasty lunch, I was hungry again a couple of hours later. Each one is larger than a MetroCard, but not as large as a standard pen and not overly stuffed. This is a good lunch option if you’re a light eater or not that hungry.

These are definitely a better option than say, Ruben’s Empanadas, so let’s hope they keep us Downtown Lunch’ers in mind when they figure out the truck’s weekly schedule..

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