Midtown Lunch

There are a lot of places over by the South St. Seaport that I forget about until someone reminds me, and Meade’s Bar is one of those places. It’s on an obscure corner that’s currently blocked by construction, and on the same block as a bunch of other cafes and a delightfully divey bar with equally cheap lunches and decoration consisting of bras. Last week Lunch’er Robyn mentioned her love of Meade’s burger with blue cheese, and a look at the bar’s menu showed a few of the sandwiches could be had for less than $10, including fries, salad or rice. That’s a bargain not often found in or near the Financial District. Read more »

This winter hasn’t really been a nasty one, and so it is that at the beginning of March when it’s 60 degrees out, I think nothing of heading to an outdoor kiosk for lunch. Snac’Meal is next to Centre Melts on the northeast side of the 1 Centre St. building and has a hodgepodge of a menu for both breakfast and lunch that includes sandwiches, soup, falafel, shish kebab, pita pizza and curly fries. It was the “Spanish torta” sandwich that caught my attention, partly for the lunchtime price of $3.95 ($3.50 before 11 a.m.) and the fact that you could pair it with curly fries for an extra $1.50.

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If you’ve been in the prime shopping area of Soho, you’ve probably walked past SoHo Park without even noticing it (or stopped at Hampton Chutney Co. before getting to it). It’s on Prince St. (at Lafayette) and is one of the cheaper lunch spots you’re going to find in the neighborhood, especially if you want a burger. It just so happened that all last week I was intensely craving a burger and fries, but I felt like this site has reviewed many of the options that are $10 or less, of which there aren’t that many. I thought about heading for Brinkley’s for the massive $14 burger that Serious Eats so loved, but instead decided SoHo Park was more in the ML budget and deserving of a look.

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It’s the time of year when grabbing lunch from a cart or truck sounds less appealing, and sitting somewhere with plentiful seating starts to sound better and better. The problem with that is you can easily top $10 once you factor in tip and maybe a drink (or two). When I saw that The Growler Bites & Brews – the latest alcoholic addition to Stone St. – was now serving food I rounded up a friend and headed over. If you’re looking for a fancy hot dog or sausage served to you by some chatty bartenders, then this is a good lunch spot.

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A couple of weeks ago The Pump chain changed its name to Dig Inn and changed its menu after bringing a winner of Iron Chef America on board as its new chef. I had mentioned that I would go check out the new version if you lunchers wanted me to and after a couple of endorsements I decided to head over to the store on Pine (at Pearl) to see if healthy, protein-filled food could also be a Downtown Lunch.

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If you haven’t walked past tiny Backyard Chicken on Pearl St. (at John) in a while you should be aware that they have branched out from selling rotisserie chicken, changed the set up a little and got a new awning with a giant digital scrolling sign above it. This hole-in-the-wall is still that, but a nicer looking one. What drew me there was the promise on that digital sign of ribs (and pizza!?). But the question is: Can you trust a place specializing in chicken with your ribs?

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There are the fancy parts of Tribeca, and then there are the parts on both the extreme lower and upper reaches of the neighborhood that are a little dirty and contain some eating and drinking gems. Located on the corner of Lispenard and 6th Ave., Nancy Whiskey Pub is one of those places and while based on the crowd there during the noon hour on a weekday many people are here for alcohol, they also serve a menu where basically everything is less than $10. Or you can splurge and get a large pizza for $12.50.

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