Midtown Lunch

I kind of love it when new trucks pop up without a hype machine (or even a Twitter account) behind them, so that you have no idea what they’re even serving until you physically go check it out. That was the case with the Marrakech Chefs truck last week, with a lunch’er tipping me off that some new truck was parked way down in the Financial District selling burgers. While this was true, once you see the non-burger items on the menu you’re probably not going to be ordering a burger. Pictures straight ahead! Read more »

About the same time that Souvlaki GR opened its brick and mortar on the Lower East Side, Pita Press quietly did the same in the FiDi on Cedar St. It kind of flew under the radar until they put up that bright blue sign that’s noticeable from William St. Lunch’er Jonathan wrote in yesterday and had this to say:

You guys should check out Pita Press on Cedar St. between Pearl St. and William St. I believe this spot used to be occupied by Koyzina Bar and Grill but they shuttered down and it’s replaced by this bright blue “Pita Press” sign. Attached is a photo of the sliced chicken with lettuce, lemon potatoes and real yogurt white sauce. I’ve tried their pork and lamb before and everything tastes great. I want to say this is one of the best Mediterranean style dishes here in FiDi with Zeytuna coming in 2nd.

Jonathan sent along a photo of his lunch, so click through to see it and find out what else is on the menu. Read more »

A lunch’er tipped me off that there was a new burger truck parked down on Water St. & Old Slip yesterday and that didn’t really get me excited. I mean how many fancy burger trucks do we need roaming the streets? But then I spotted the Marrakech Chefs truck (looking like it was engulfed in flames) and found  that the burgers were the least exciting items on the menu. Check it out after the jump.

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It’s not a hard-and-fast rule, but a good cheap lunch is not often found on a cobblestone street surrounded by designer clothing shops. Yet this is where Kelley & Ping is on Greene St. (btw. Prince & W. Houston), on a block that you probably wouldn’t walk down unless you were looking to spend a paycheck. Lunch’er Alexandra tipped me off to it and a look at the menu was a little shocking because most of the dishes were less than $10. Not since finding the lunch special at Peep have I been happy to head somewhere other than Chinatown for some Asian food.

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In between the spam and invitations to things only loosely-related to food sometimes I do get worthwhile e-mails. I recently got one from a downtown lunch’er that opened my eyes to how much it must suck to keep kosher in the Financial District and try to find a good meal. The person was asking where to go for a kosher lunch in the bottom part of the FiDi. I was stumped because while there’s the Kosher Luncheonette (and Milk St. Cafe coming to Wall St.) there really aren’t many options at all (that I’m aware of), especially if you want to actually sit there and eat. Pita Express on Ann St. (btw. Nassau & Park Row) was one of the places I came across, and the mix of Israeli and Middle Eastern food sounded good. Plus all of their sandwiches are under $10, and so I figured I would find out if this place was any good.

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If you’ve ever shopped at the Whole Foods in Tribeca you may have noticed the street cart parked out in front serving everything that the grocery store does not. That is: Meat and non-organic vegetables from questionable sources packaged in styrofoam and plastic bags. The Tribeca Halal cart, parked on the corner of Greenwich & Warren, serves the trinity of falafel, lamb and chicken but also some oddities like a fried chicken cutlet hero, Philly cheese steak, french fries and chicken teriyaki. When I spotted that last item on one of the bright yellow circles dotting the front of the cart I knew I must try it. Plus, at the low, low price of $6, if it was too terrible I could just head into Whole Foods.

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This week I became the taco hunter. This role isn’t as exciting as it sounds, and mostly involved trying to catch the Tribeca Taco Truck parked in its spot on Broadway (btw. Prince & Spring) in SoHo. The problem is that the truck isn’t always out and two other times I went up there my mobile source of Mexican was nowhere to be found. Then I saw a Twitter post from the truck and knew that my quest was over.

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