Midtown Lunch

As is customary here on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we’ll profile a different lunch’er and get their recommendations for places to eat in Downtown NYC. This week, we have Clare who asks for extra hot sauce and eats at Pret way too often.

Name: Clare

Occupation: Non-profit management

Where you work: On Wall Street at Broad – right in the heart of the Financial District

Age: 33

Favorite Kind of Food: In no particular order: Mexican; Italian; BBQ; pretty much anything involving pork; hot dogs; condiments. I’m a big sandwich eater, particularly at lunchtime.

Least Favorite Food: I’m not a big fan of offal and I don’t eat burgers.

Favorite Lunches Downtown: Falafel sandwich with extra hot sauce from Alfanoose on Maiden Lane (btw. Broadway & Nassau); chicken enchiladas from Tajin on Greenwich (btw. Edgar & Rector); the Financier sandwich (chicken, artichokes, tomato, goat cheese) at Financier (Multiple Locations); the Milanesa de pollo with rice and maduros (and extra green sauce) from Sophie’s Cuban on New Street (btw. Beaver & Exchange Pl.); spicy chicken, spicy tofu, corn, or mushroom empanadas (and extra hot sauce) from Ruben’s Empanadas (Multiple Locations).

When I’m feeling particularly indulgent (or hungover) on a Friday, I get the messy and delicious pulled pork sandwich with cajun fries (Friday special) at Burger Burger on Pearl Street (nr. Coenties Alley). This is actually a doubly indulgent lunch: It is 1) mounds of pork, topped with cheese, with a side of fries (extra ketchup); but also it is 2) the only lunch I eat with any regularity that exceeds the $10 rule of thumb.

On nice days, I like to go to Samantha’s over on South End Ave. (btw. Albany & Rector Pl.) and get the #26 (roasted eggplant, fresh mozzarella, roasted peppers, EVOO on focaccia) and eat in Rector Park.

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Pret – it’s way too easy. You’re in and out in 3 minutes, the sandwiches (particularly the chicken mozzarella) are decent, and (most significantly) there are two within 2 blocks of my office. Pretty much every Tuesday, I go to The Grotto on New Street (btw. Beaver & Exchange Pl.) for their Tuesday lunch special: 2 plain slices and a soda for $4.75.

Place you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch: A bunch of places I never get to try because I don’t go north of Chambers Street.

Dream job location, purely for lunch purposes, and why: Northeast Chinatown. I had a friend who used to work over there and she had so many amazing lunch options. Obviously, there’s all that Chinatown has to offer: cheap dumplings, noodle shops, pork buns (mmmm), Vietnamese bun; but it’s also close to the Lower East Side, so there’s Tiny’s and everything in Essex Market, and, you know, a million other things right there.

Anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers: Now that it’s warm enough to eat outside regularly, what are the best street carts downtown?

I would say the best collection of standard street meat carts is at Liberty Plaza, and I’m also a fan of the chicken over rice from the XPL on the corner of Maiden Lane & William St. Where does everyone else think Clare should go for some outdoor dining action?  And as always, if you would like to be next week’s Profiled Lunch’er (or know somebody you’d like to nominate), email us at downtownnyc@midtownlunch.com.

As is customary here on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we’ll profile a different lunch’er and get their recommendations for places to eat in Downtown NYC. This week, we have Lorelei who is not very particular about what she eats.

Name: Lorelei DeMesa

Occupation: Kitty Feeder, Executive Assistant and Some of The Girls Founder

Where do you work?: NYU

Age: 33 (soon to be 34) – don’t you know that you’re not supposed to ask women that question? :)

Favorite Kind of Food?: Edible

Least Favorite Food?: Anything slimy or from the insect kingdom Read more »

As is customary here on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we’ll profile a different lunch’er and get their recommendations for places to eat in Downtown NYC. But this Tuesday, it’s not just any lunch’er, it’s Andrea, who will be taking the reins here on the Downtown NYC site as Chris and I move on to other, less delicious things.

Name: Andrea

Occupation: Financial Journalist (of sorts)

Where you work: Maiden Lane and Broadway

Age: 29

Favorite Kind of Food: Anything spicy and/or Asian, sausages, seafood, churros sold on the street/subway platform, tacos.

Least Favorite Food: Yellow or stinky cheeses, Filipino food, black olives.

Favorite Lunches Downtown: Catfish sandwich (spicy) from Baoguette on John Street, food carts at Liberty Plaza (especially Sam’s Falafel), randomly put together lunch from the basement of Zeytuna at Nassau and Maiden Lane, Japanese curry from Niko Niko at Pearl and Wall, sandwiches from Jou Jou Cafe at Nassau and John. Read more »

As is customary here on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we’ll profile a different lunch’er and get their recommendations for places to eat in Downtown NYC. This week, our fellow Downtown bloggers Plantains and Kimchi, aka Reynaldo and Sonya, get in on the fun! Let’s here what the competition, I mean, our colleagues have to say…

Name: Reynaldo and Sonya, a.k.a., Plantains and Kimchi

Occupation: Paralegal and Attorney

Where you work: Downtown (him: FiDi, her: Tribeca)

Age: 32 + 30

Favorite Kind of Food: We go through phases, but they always seem to revolve around Asian food. We’ve been eating a lot of Sichuan lately, in all its spicy and oily glory.

Least Favorite Food: He hasn’t yet found anything he doesn’t like. They call him “The Pit,” for a reason. She doesn’t like anything that tastes gamey (luckily, the lamb noodles at Xi’an Famous Foods (88 East Broadway)are too cuminy to taste gamey). Read more »

As is customary here on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we’ll profile a different lunch’er and get their recommendations for places to eat in Downtown NYC. This week, Valerie picks out all the celery.

Name: Valerie

Occupation: JP Morgan Operations/IT

Where you work: Financial District

Age: 25

Favorite Kind of Food: Pasta. Spicy foods. Olives.

Least Favorite Food: Celery and anything with raisins in it.

Favorite Lunches Downtown: Schnitzel & Things. The Burger Shoppe. Banh Mi Cart. The Country Café for a falafel sandwich. Adrienne’s. Hot Soup Cart.

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: The Sandwich House for pasta or sandwiches. Underground Pizza. Good Burger. Chipotle. Water Street Deli. Sophie’s. Read more »

As is customary here on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we’ll profile a different lunch’er and get their recommendations for places to eat in Downtown NYC. This week, Dan is looking for a new lunch spot to escape his “boring” daytime existence and fantasizes about a life of tapas and siestas…

Name: Dan

Age: The big 3-0

Occupation: Boring banking account administrator

Where do you work?: Barclay and Greenwich

Favorite Kind of Food: Pizza.  Sushi.  Filet mignon.  BBQ.  Street food.  Anything with bacon and/or garlic.  Things I can eat with my hands/fingers, or off a skewer.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Processed foods, fast food.

Favorite Lunch(es) Downtown: Portobello’s Pizza (83 Murray St.), Sophie’s Cuban (for the cheap empanadas, at 96 Chambers St.), a couple sushi places around. Read more »

As is customary here on Midtown Lunch, every Tuesday we’ll profile a different lunch’er and get their recommendations for places to eat in Downtown NYC. This week, Lunch’er Julian longs for the grub near his old apartment in Billyburg and searches for a decent taco near City Hall…

Name: Julian

Occupation: Public Health Advisor

Where you work: City Hall – William St. and Ann St.

Age: 24

Favorite Kind of Food: Neopolitan Pizza, Bahn Mi, Tacos… Also Egg Cream, Bacon-Wrapped Dates, Affogato (espresso+gelato).

Least Favorite Food: Tuna Salad

Favorite Lunches Downtown: Grilled Salmon Sandwich at Terrace Fish and Chips, Chicken Nicoise Salad or Chicken Dill Sandwich at Sandwich House, Ham and Swiss at Blue Spoon Coffee Co, Grilled Pork Papaya Salad at Doyers Vietnamese, Lunch Buffet at Taj Tribeca (formerly Indian Express), Caprese Panini and Afogatto at Zibetto, Soy Wings at Bon Chon.

Read more »