Midtown Lunch

The newest location of Francois Payard Bakery opened in the Goldman Sachs building at Murray St. & N. End Ave.  (or across from Shake Shack, if that’s how you navigate) and early reports said they had two sandwiches that were only offered there and not at the mother ship on W. Houston St. Word was that they had barbeque chicken and French dip sandwiches on the menu, plus it was a  rare excuse to wander over to Battery Park City.

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The arsenal of decent lunch spots in the World Financial Center keeps growing, and the latest addition is Casa Masa, a kiosk outside by the marina next to Fatty Snack, Ed’s Lobster Bar and Quality Burger. Despite being a side venture from the people behind burrito chain Blockheads, the menu is restricted almost entirely to tacos and when I stopped by during prime lunch time the other day there was no line. A clump of guys was waiting to mark down what tacos you wanted on a little checklist sheet that you give to the cashier and within about two minutes I had my three tacos and was on my way. But how were they?

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The World Financial Center (and Battery Park City in general) is short on good, cheap lunch options so I’m sure many of you got excited when word got around that Caravelli’s Pizzeria was opening in the food court area. Anticipation built as word got around that one of the owners was Ed McFarland of Ed’s Lobster Bar fame who has a kiosk selling lobster rolls outside. Sure, pizza and seafood are pretty different foods, but how hard can it be to screw up bread, cheese, sauce and the occasional topping? Read more »

As pointed out in the forums and on various blogs yesterday, Caravelli’s Pizzeria has finally opened at 3 World Financial Center. It sounds like the pizza is OK but nothing you can’t find at other pizza places downtown, while only some of the sandwiches are worth spending money on. Full report coming soon, but if you’ve eaten there feel free to give your impressions in the comments.

I knew before heading out to the new Shake Shack on Murray St. (btw. West & N. End Ave.) in Battery Park City that I would be in for a wait. As I walked up I could see the mass of people waiting from a block away and steeled myself. Although I did have to wait in line for 30 minutes, and then wait a bit longer for food, I’d have to say they were ready for the crowds. And I rewarded myself for my wait by ordering one of the downtown-themed concretes. Read more »

I don’t know what’s in the water, but twice in two days on this site we’ve endorsed paying more than $10 for a lunch that may still leave you hungry. Have we gone insane? No, but every once in a while you just have to pay up to eat something good. That’s what you’re going to do at Fatty Snack, the new kiosk joining Ed’s Lobster Bar and Quality Burger by the marina outside the World Financial Center. All of the main items on the menu hover around the $10 mark and since you’re probably going to want a side and/or drink it’s going to get expensive. But judging by the items I tried it’s totally worth it. Read more »