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 Yury who is looking for the perfect Indian burrito (my terminology, not his).

Name: Yury

Occupation: Fraud investigator

Where you work: Broadway & Cedar

Age: 24

Favorite kinds of food: I generally love food and love trying new things, but the three things that I can never go wrong with are burgers, sushi and kati rolls.

Least favorite foods: I can’t stand olives, but other than that I will eat almost anything (within reason).

Favorite lunches downtown: There are a bunch of places downtown that I tend to rotate among. These include: Pita Press on Cedar (btw. William & Pearl) for chicken and lamb platters; Water St. Deli on Water (btw. Broad & Moore) for great udon noodles and a fantastic specialty sandwich selection; Flavors (Multiple Locations) has a nice salad bar; Zeytuna on Maiden Lane (btw. Nassau & William) for their large selection of pretty much everything you can imagine, and it’s also a great place during the summer since they have outdoor seating; Suspenders on Broadway (btw. Pine & Thames), Goodburger on Maiden Lane (at Pearl) and Five Guys on Fulton (at Dutch) all have good burgers. Also, the other day I discovered that there is a Shake Shack over on Murray St. by the World Financial Center, so they will definitely be seeing a lot of me in the coming weeks!

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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 Eric who works ever so slightly out of bounds, but I know many of you working in Soho often trek up to the W. Village for lunch.

Name: Eric

Occupation: HR & financial analyst and food blogger

Where you work: Hudson and W. Houston

Age: 26

Favorite kinds of food: Pizza, Chinese, Thai, bacon cheeseburgers, anything with melty goodness.

Least favorite foods: Tofu, Indian

Favorite lunches downtown: For (American) Chinese, it would be Suzie’s on Bleecker (btw. Thompson & Sullivan). Their lunch special tops out at $8, which includes soup (wonton soup – awesome), two chicken wings/veggie roll, your dish and rice.  The sesame chicken is on point, as is anything with broccoli.  Pizza, I gotta go Bleecker Street Pizza on 7th Ave. S. (at Bleecker) and get either the grilled chicken or Nonna Maria slice.  The “secret” Chick-Fil-A at NYU is another favorite.  Of course with all the food trucks around, Schnitzel & Things and Crisp on Wheels are frequented, too.

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: “The Kapeteria” aka the cafeteria in my office building.

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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 Casey who has thus far not gotten any lunch recs from this site (sad!), but at least discovered the deals at Peep.

Name: Casey

Title: Associate Director – Fashion + Beauty Practice

Where you work: Varick & Vandam

Age: 26

Favorite kinds of food: Indian, sushi, Korean

Least favorite foods: Ethiopian

Favorite lunches downtown: Peep on Prince (btw. Thompson & Sullivan) for their lunch special which has great basil noodles

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Pret a Manger (Multiple Locations), Hale & Hearty (Multiple Locations), and the local deli.

Places downtown you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch: Downtown? [Ed. note: Casey unfortunately said she hasn’t made any discoveries from this site! Clearly I must get up to that area of Soho more often].

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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 Drew who often strays up to Greenwich Village for lunch, and needs your help finding a certain kind of sandwich.

Name: Drew

Title: Consumer and lifestyle social media associate

Where you work: Attention at Varick and Charlton

Age: 24

Favorite kinds of food: Italian, Mexican and dessert

Least favorite foods: Anything with goat cheese.

Favorite lunches downtown: The smash at the Meatball Shop (Multiple Locations); chicken burritos at Dos Toros (Multiple Locations); Michigan Sandwich #9 (Turkey, brie, raspberry mustard, green apples) from Grey Dog on Mulberry (btw. Spring & Prince).

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: The Meatball Shop.

Places downtown you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch: Downtown? Energy Kitchen on Nassau (btw. John & Fulton).

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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 Robyn who is sure to win hearts on this site for her food like/dislike list, and her making of contraband sandwiches in the office.

Name: Robyn G.

Occupation: Legal assistant/ day dreamer

Where you work: Water and Maiden Lane

Age: Ageless

Favorite kinds of food: Delicious kinds (steak, ice cream, lobster, crab legs, cheesy delights, anything that pairs well with booze).

Least favorite foods: Healthy kinds (beans and broccoli disgust me).

Favorite lunches downtown: A rare bleu cheese burger with fries at Meade’s on Peck Slip (btw. Water & Pearl), the grilled chicken sandwich with extra EXTRA green sauce at Sophie’s Cuban (Multiple Locations), the croque madame at Financier Patisserie (Multiple Locations), the falafel platter with extra white sauce and yellow rice from the cart (Adel’s) on Maiden Lane and Front Street, truffles from Maison du Chocolat on Wall St. or FIKA Swedish Espresso Bar on Pearl (at Coenties Slip), mussels with cream and bacon at Les Halles on John St. (btw. Broadway & Nassau), tortas from Toloache Taqueria on Maiden Lane (btw. William & Gold), falafel from Taim Mobile, and most importantly sandwiches from my contraband snackmaster in the office.

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: The cafeteria in my building which has so many awful, unsatisfying options but is convenient.

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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 Laura who you’re not likely to find at a street meat cart, but who heads to surrounding neighborhoods for noodles on Fridays.

Name: Laura

Title: Client services manager

Where you work: Varick & Vandam

Age: 27

Favorite kinds of food: Considering lunch is usually my biggest meal of the day, I’m always craving something more hearty than a simple salad — sandwiches, burgers, and any type of pasta are usually my go-to. Comfort food will always be king to me.

Least favorite foods: You’ll never catch me craving falafel or Indian food. Sorry, just not gonna happen.

Favorite lunches downtown: A hole-in-the-wall catering place off of W. Houston on Varick called Deb’s Catering, is always good for their creamy mac & cheese. My team’s been known to seek out new food places on Fridays and recent trips include the sushi conveyor belt at Taka Taka on W. Broadway (btw. Canal & Grand) and the BBQ pork & crispy vegetable wontons from Noodle Bar on Carmine St.

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Easily, it’s Alidoro on Sullivan (btw. Spring & Prince). These Italian sandwiches will literally change your life with their freshness and amazing flavor. My favorite is the Alyssa. Even though we try to justify turning one huge sandwich into two meals…it usually turns into “second lunch” a few hours later.

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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 Roman who works in the World Financial Center and is rightfully excited about the recent food truck love over that way.

Name:  Roman Urbanowicz

Occupation: IT project manager

Where you work: 1 World Financial Center (West & Liberty streets)

Age: 39

Favorite kinds of food: BBQ, fleur de sel caramels, sugary kid’s cereals.

Least favorite foods: Brussels sprouts, tripe, head cheese.

Favorite lunches downtown: Tajin on Greenwich (at Rector) for enchiladas mole; Taim Mobile for a falafel sandwich (loaded) & ginger mint lemonade; Fatty Snack kiosk outside the WFC for heritage pork ribs, black eye pea salad & lemongrass ginger iced tea.

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Shake Shack  on Murray St. (btw. West & N. End Ave.). Damn you double Shack burger & black and white shake.

Places downtown you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch: Downtown: The beloved arrival of the World Financial Center food truck court!

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