Midtown Lunch

The novelty of grilled cheese from a mobile unit isn’t relegated to one truck, but now there are three of these things roaming the streets. Gorilla Cheese hit downtown back in May, drawing both lines and outrage at how much their small sandwiches cost. A while ago, Milk Truck started parking at Wall and William streets on Tuesdays and Fridays and in Soho one day a week. There’s also the Morris Grilled Cheese truck which parks in Brooklyn and other parts of Manhattan. If you’re not tired of reading about the multiple kinds of fancy grilled cheese yet, click through for a look at the sandwich I tried that involves the words “champagne pickled” and “Wisconsin gruyere.”

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If you were one of the people who got sad when the original Ray’s Pizza (no, really) closed on Prince St. btw. Mott & Elizabeth never fear because the replacement is not too shabby. The straightforwardly-named Prince St. Pizza opened just last week and specializes in square slices and rice balls. An inquisitive neighbor peppered the counter guy with questions while I was in there and I learned that they’re not messing around with anything healthy like salad. The lightest option you’re going to find is a thin-crust slice.

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It’s been face-numbingly cold this week and as a result, foods that will help unfreeze said face sound really good all. I hadn’t checked back in with OBAO down on Water (at Hanover Sq.) since the Thai and Vietnamese food purveyor opened back in October. The menu has two noodle soups on it for $9 and I decided it was a good time to try the pho (the other option is a tom yum with shrimp). I’ll go into more detail after the jump, but it’s probably worth your time to walk up to Nicky’s Vietnamese Sandwiches at Nassau & Ann for your pho fix, or order online from Chinatown. Read more »

I’m not really sure why I’m on such a sandwich kick this week, but bear with me! It seems like many of the new trucks and shops opening downtown seem to involve meats (or cheese) crammed between two pieces of bread. The Our Heros truck materialized on Wall St. in late December selling Italian-American sandwiches, salads and soup. It doesn’t sound too exciting on paper, but an endorsement from Midtown contributor Brian piqued my interest and when I heard the distinctly New York accent coming from the guy working at the truck I felt safe in my lunch choice.

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Forgive me lunchers, for I have eaten at a generic deli. I felt a little dirty walking into Stir Cafe at the bottom of Broadway (btw. Whitehall & Exchange Pl.), as most of my lunches come from carts, trucks or places that don’t have a make-your-own salad station. My reason for being here was that a friend tipped me off that Stir has legit roast pork sandwiches (or a platter if you want to spend $10), and since most generic delis only serve a pathetic attempt at a Cubano, I decided to check it out. Fatty pork on pork action straight ahead.

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I haven’t been into Hot Clay Oven, the healthy Indian fast food place on Maiden Lane (btw. Gold & Pearl) but I noticed the other day that in addition to chai tea they also sell a bunch of soups. The offerings include an Indian chicken chili and sweet potato shorba and since it’s a block closer to my office than the nearest Hale & Hearty I might be trying this on a cold day when I’m feeling lazy.

The world can always use another good sandwich shop, and if that shop also sells churros then I think we can all get behind that. La Churreria, next door to parent restaurant Socarrat Paella Bar on Mulberry (btw. Prince & Houston), opened on Monday after some delays, and I happened to get there about an hour after they unlocked the door. There are three different kinds of sandwiches: Breakfast varieties on a roll ($6), bikinis which are toasted on regular bread and comes in four triangular sections ($6), and the larger bocatas ($9.50) on baguette which was the category I ordered from.

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