Midtown Lunch

A string of restaurants on the bottom part of Maiden Lane between Gold St. and Water St. remain closed after being flooded more than a month ago during the hurricane. When I walked down the strip yesterday, little had changed from a week ago except that Chipotle had reopened and was absolutely packed. There was work being done behind papered up windows at Potbelly, but otherwise, your favorite lunch spots remained dark with no signs of renovation.

Hot Clay Oven also remains shuttered due to massive flood damage, and a lack of power and gas, but there’s word about when they’ll reopen. You’ll also find some updates on other places that are now open or truck’s that have relocated, after the jump. Read more »

The Financial District is a strange place these days. Swaths of the neighborhood are still more full of generators and disaster recovery teams that functional buildings due to flood damage, but the areas on higher ground are business as usual. Fulton St. is one of those areas, with several new places set to open. Find out what and where two of these new spots are after the jump! Read more »

I think we all know that the words “healthy” and “pizza” should set off alarm bells for anyone who enjoys food. I enjoy pizza of all stripes and quality levels from fancy Neopolitan to trashily delicious Totino’s Party Pizza, but what I encountered at the newly-opened Stamina Grill on Nassau St. (btw. John & Fulton) made me utter the words “Oh, noooo.” out loud as I opened the box of my personal pie.

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Is it just me or did Thanksgiving sneak up on anyone else? I saw on Twitter that GRK on Fulton St. (btw. Nassau & William) was serving turkey gyro with cranberry tzatziki as a pre-Thanksgiving special and then I realized the holiday is next week. On my first day back to work in the Financial District since hurricane Sandy mucked things up, I headed over to see what happens when you put turkey on a rotating spit and pair it with cranberry-spiked Greek yogurt. (It turns out that magical, crispy things happen).

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Note: I wrote this before hurricane Sandy messed up the Financial District and its lunch options. And because I’ve been unable to work at my office due to lack of phone or Internet service I haven’t been able to confirm if this truck has continued to park in its usual spot. If nothing else, you get to read about a pork sandwich.

After a couple of failed attempts at catching Tacos El Idolo in its spot off of Whitehall St., (usually on Pearl St. but I think they’ve been on Bridge too), I finally caught up with them late last week after spotting a crowd of be-suited guys waiting on the sidewalk. The menu is similar to the Tacos Morelos truck that parks at Wall & Water everyday, but if you work at the bottommost reaches of the Financial District, Tacos El Idolo is the closer option. While I was tempted by the tacos (as I always am), instead I ordered a cemita and was not disappointed with what I got. Read more »

If you’re familiar with the menus of places like Energy Kitchen, Muscle Maker Grill and Dig Inn, then you probably know what lunch options you’ll find at Stamina Grill that just opened on Nassau St. (btw. John & Fulton). Think lean meats in sandwiches, salads, wraps, quesadillas, and on pizza. There are also smoothies, a juice bar and all-day breakfast if that’s your thing. Click through for a partial look at the expansive, muscle-building menu.

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Several of the carts downtown remained in their spots during Hurricane Sandy providing food, coffee and conversation to neighborhoods without electricity or operational restaurants. Alan’s Vegetarian Delights cart (which you may know as Alan’s Falafel) was out in its spot on Broadway (btw. Liberty & Cedar) on Wednesday just as the icy snow started falling. In addition to the new name, Alan’s has an expanded vegetarian menu including Italian classics with fake meat.

They had been unable to make it into the city since the Friday before Hurricane Sandy hit, which was 12 days away from the city and seven days of lost business, as one of the workers told me. The cart’s workers were happy to be back and have people to feed, and I’m happy to report that they have a veggie burger and fries that’s a delicious value.

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