Midtown Lunch

That leaf of lettuce makes this salad healthy, right? Right. Courtesy of Serious Eats NY.

• The spicy beef salad at Viet Cafe sounds like a ML kind of deal, with only one leaf of lettuce involved. [Serious Eats]
• A meatless sandwich at the almost out of bounds Francois Payard Bakery is so good it almost makes you forget you’re eating like a hippie. [Fork In The Road]
• Sadly, the residents of the LES have lost their liquid nitrogen ice cream shop. [Eat This NY]
• The meatball sandwich at Banh Mi Saigon is only “meh.” [Lunch With Front Studio]
• The Taco Bell has closed on Chambers St., probably because it wasn’t combined with a Pizza Hut or KFC. [Tribeca Citizen]

This pizza was had by wading through tourists. Courtesy of Always Hungry.

• The Feast of San Gennaro sounds like it’s delicious this year, and full of meat and bread products. [Always Hungry NY]
• The stationary Tacombi taco truck isn’t getting such great reviews for their $4 tacos. [Eater NY]
• In case you were wondering, there are good places to eat near the “Ground Zero Mosque” once you’re done protesting.  [Fork In the Road]
• Big Wing Wong makes a mean-looking roast duck noodle soup. [Lunch with Front Studio]
• Drool over the pictures of the out-of-boundish Francois Payard Bakery. Or I guess you could go there. [Grub St.]

You can soon get this taco from an immobile VW bus, possibly from a hippie. Courtesy of NY Mag

• There’s a taco truck opening next week that will be permanently parked in a garage. Sadly that garage is not in the FiDi. [NY Mag]
• A dumpling shop fought the man (OK, a church) after being evicted, and is now reopened. Heartwarming! [Eater NY]
• Torrisi Italian Specialties is making the Feast of San Gennaro less crappy with its Italian/Chinese food booth. [NY Times]
• The sandwiches at Katz’s are still all that, despite what you may have heard. [Bionic Bites]
• Chinatown’s Mei Li Wah makes a ridiculously cheap pork bun that’s neither fatty or syrupy. [Fork In The Road]

This is better than a wonton, courtesy of Me So Hungry

• Contrary to logic, the wontons are not the best thing on the menu at East Corner Wonton. [Me So Hungry]
• This sandwich from Grandaisy Bakery sounds tasty despite its lack of meat product. [Fork In The Road]
• A sandwich with roast duck and duck sauce, you say? [Serious Eats NY]
• Never fear, Hoomoos Asli has redeemed itself after a bout of mediocrity. [Lunch with Front Studio]

This looks like pasta, but it isn’t. Courtesy of Food In Mouth

• A new cart in Chinatown is doing some magical things with sugar that makes cotton candy look lame. [Food In Mouth]
• There is apparently a record store in Chinatown that also sells banh mi. This trumps the jewelry store that sidelines in Vietnamese sandwiches. [Ozersky TV]
• A creamery from NJ is opening a brick and mortar shop in Soho, so you can get some fancy sandwiches with fancy cheese, probably at fancy prices. [Grub St.]
• You might want to stay away from Pomodoro and their “soft and almost squishy” spaghetti. [Lunch with Front Studio]
• I don’t know if I could eat three of the same vegetarian sandwich in two days, but some people can. [Serious Eats NY]

I have eaten you, and you are good. Courtesy of Always Hungry NY

• Cheeky Sandwiches gets another seal of approval, and it should be noted their “ben-yays” look a lot like Dunkin’ Donuts’ munchkins. [Always Hungry]
• The guy behind Baoguette is opening a fusiony taqueria on the Lower East Side in October. Tacos are so the new cupcakes. [Metromix]
• At least three restaurants in Chinatown were closed by the health department recently, but roaches will not keep me away from dirt cheap food. [Grub St.]
• Fancy Italian sandwich shop Salume makes the list of 10 overpriced dishes, and then drops its prices. [Eater NY]
• A craving for bresaola can be satisfied at Grandaisy Bakery, but you have to go elsewhere for soup. [Lunch With Front Studio]

Mmm…fat. Courtesy of Lunch with Front Studio

• If wanting to take a train to go eat this hot dog and french fries at Soho Park is wrong, then I don’t want to be right. [Lunch with Front Studio]
• A new restaurant called Bun & Co. is opening in the old Kampuchea space this weekend. I will take a tongue sandwich topped with rum bacon, please. [Grub St.]
• One of the last locations of Andrews Coffee Shop is no more, with the shuttering of the FiDi location. I will remember them for their free WiFi. [Jeremiah’s Vanishing NY]
• Luzzo’s Pizza is opening its third branch on Church St. in Tribeca in the next three months. [Crain’s]
• The caprese panino at Farinella is tasty, but will run you nearly a 10 spot if you want a real lunch. [Serious Eats NY]