Midtown Lunch

The second location of P.J. Clarke’s quick service burger offshoot, Clarke’s Standard, is opening Wednesday Monday at Maiden Lane and Pearl St. The storefront was originally Goodburger which was extensively damaged in hurricane Sandy. Clarke’s Standard took over the space and had to do a lot of renovations before opening.

What can you expect? Details straight ahead!  Read more »

Quick service vegetarian restaurants seem to go one of two ways selling falafel or sandwiches and wraps stuffed with roughage and fake meats. Terri on Pearl St. (at Maiden Lane) took the latter route with its vegan and kosher menu, also offering juices and baked goods. I’m all for these places if the food is good and not overpriced as it so often is. One good example, and a similar concept to Terri, is ‘sNice which has an outpost in Soho. I’d had a pretty good meatless Thanksgiving sandwich there, and I was curious how the version at Terri was despite my slight aversion to Tofurkey.  Read more »

Behold the halal banh mi. Via SENY.

• A look at Hummus & Pita Co.’s falafel. [Tribeca Citizen]
• There are many ways to hack a banh mi. [SENY]
• We’re getting dual 7-Elevens this summer. [DNAinfo]

Just in time for the cold weather to be over (maybe), Hale & Hearty has reopened at Maiden Lane and Pearl St. after being heavily damaged by hurricane Sandy five months ago. This is the last lunch spot in the area to reopen, and from the amount of people seen eating there yesterday you were all happy to have your dependable source of soup, sandwiches and salads back.

We wrote about the Homemade Cart long ago, with its owner who makes lamb meatballs and will give you a scoop of red beans with your rice platter if you ask nicely. The two gentlemen you see above had quite a system going so even though there was a line when I got there, it wasn’t long before I was giving my order of a falafel platter $5) which had been recommended. After eating my lunch, I couldn’t help but think that perhaps the lamb or chicken are the way to go here.

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Sometimes it seems like the only places opening in Downtown Lunch territory are of the “build your own…” variety involving some sort of flatbread or bowl option. Maybe I’m exagerating, but when word came that the second NYC branch of The Hummus & Pita Co. was opening on Chambers St. (btw. Broadway & Church) where Carl’s Steaks used to be, I wasn’t exactly rushing out to review it. But, the menu looked promising and so I trekked over on a brisk day for lunch. One food coma later, I was happy I made the trip.  Read more »

Some possible good news for all of you fans of Caribbean food: R. Retha’s Cart is reportedly back at its spot on Beaver St. at S. William. We got word from reader “Broadway luncher” yesterday that the cart, which was formerly the Jamaican Dutchy transplanted from Midtown – was spotted back in its old spot after an extended absence starting in the summer of 2012, and temporary replacement by a random street meat cart. I’d noticed the spot was completely empty a couple of weeks ago, so it’s good to hear R. Retha’s came back to claim it.