Archive for 'Lane Cafe & Deli'

Lane Cafe Reopens After Fire

At the beginning of June, Lane Cafe & Deli on Maiden Lane (nr. William) was closed by a fire and it looks like they’re back open for business. I know a lot of people are fans of this place, or at least the hot food counter in the back, so hopefully everything is as it was.

Lane Cafe & Deli Closed By Fire

If you’re a regular at the Lane Cafe on Maiden Lane (nr. William) then you are going to have to find a new lunch spot for a while. The secret source of pernil had a fire sometime recently and according to the sign out front they’ll be closed until some point later this month. I peaked inside and it looked like tables and everything were stacked up front but the inside didn’t look destroyed. I’d have to say this is the first time I’ve ever seen a restaurant put a giant sign on the sidewalk telling everyone they were closed due to “Fire!” in red letters.

Battle Of The FiDi Pernil: Sophie’s Cuban Vs. Lane Cafe

A couple of weeks ago while alerting you all that Sophie’s Cuban was now selling its legendary green sauce I realized something shameful: I have never eaten at Sophie’s. Sure, I’ve had roast pork from other downtown spots like the West Side Coffee Shop on the fringe of Tribeca, and at the Roxy, but Sophie’s eluded me. I’d also been meaning to try the pernil at Lane Cafe that I stumbled upon a while back. And so on two different artery-clogging days I got pernil plates from each place to see which one was better. That’s right, it’s a roast pork battle the likes of which the Financial District has never seen. Read more »

A Steak Sandwich Makes Me Ask: Can There Actually Be A Good Generic Deli?

We here at Midtown Lunch like to harsh on generic delis a lot, especially if they are of the chain variety. Usually when I see that a place serves the holy trinity of paninis, create your own salads and steam table pasta I run the other way (or at least turn and walk out the door). A while back, though, I got an e-mail from lunch’er Lou asking if I’d tried Lane Cafe & Deli on Maiden Lane (btw. William & Gold). I’d walked by a thousand times and dismissed it as the weird deli that had fake hot dogs and boxes of crackers in its window, and served an interesting lunch special. Here’s his argument for the place:

Have you tried Lane Deli and Catering? Actual homemade food, usually have 3-4 meats, a few pastas, and some veggies/rices. That’s in the back. They also have a typical deli/panini counter, but the back section has the best selection in the place. I usually get flank steak over vegetables with a sweet potato. 10 bucks might be a little steep for an every day meal, but I’d rather have food made in the back of the house than the paninis shipped in from a production shop. Let me know if you get a chance to review it, interested to see what you think.

Lou also talked up the roast chicken and plantains. Wait, plantains? You can’t find that at Europa!  Read more »