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 Connie who isn’t afraid of a little fat in her lunch, and looking for help finding a certain dessert.

Name: Connie

Occupation: City planner

Where you work: The Equitable Building, 120 Broadway

Age: Of age

Favorite Kinds of Food: My likes have been described as “full-flavored, full-fatted” foods. Notably: Cheese, Korean food, ice cream, summer fruits, real Mexican food (not burritos) and also pretty much anything in a corn tortilla covered with cheese & hot sauce.

Least Favorite Foods: Wraps, “fusion” Japanese food (for example – any time a sushi roll has a name like “spider” or “dragon”) and Subway sandwiches, mostly because of that smell – you know the one.

Favorite Lunches Downtown: Toloache Taqueria on Maiden Lane (btw. Gold & William) for fish tacos or a pork torta; Sophie’s Cuban (Multiple Locations) for goat or oxtail and that killer green sauce; FIKA Swedish Espresso Bar on Pearl (at Coenties Slip) for the shrimp salad sandwich; Takahachi Bakery on Murray (at Church) for the pork sandwich and some pastries. The Korilla BBQ Truck is a new favorite when it’s downtown.

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, we have Jessica who gets grossed out by overly-meaty lunches, so it’s a wonder she reads this blog!

Name: Jessica Thurston

Occupation: Policy analyst and food blogger at Crust: Baking for Sustaining

Where you work: 26 Federal Plaza, Tribeca

Age: 23

Favorite Kinds of Food: Thai, Cuban and French

Least Favorite Foods: I’m a vegetarian, so anything meat-centric or extremely heavy and fattening isn’t too appealing to me.

Favorite Lunches Downtown: The chilled avocado sandwich at Pecan Fine Foods on Franlin (at W. Broadway), especially when a warm walk in the sun is a needed distraction during the day; Wasabi-crusted tofu and a pear ginger muffin from Birdbath Bakery on Church St. (at Thomas); A mix of grain salads and roasted vegetables from the food bar at Zeytuna on Maiden Lane (at William) in the Financial District when I can’t make up my mind. And if I have time for a long lunch with co-workers, I can’t resist the blood orange margarita at Red at the South St. Seaport.

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: Avocado rolls (sensing a theme?) at the Sun Cafe on Reade (btw. Broadway & Church) followed by whoopie pies from Tribeca Treats on Reade (btw. W. Broadway & Church).

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, we have Kyle who treks to Little Italy and Chinatown for lunch, but also has a fall-back generic deli.

Name: Kyle Lazarus

Occupation: Social media coordinator/project manager

Where you work: The Barbarian Group on Beach St. & Varick

Age: 24

Favorite Kinds of Food: Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Italian (in that order), banh mi. Fusion is always nice, when done well.

Least Favorite Foods: I haven’t come across any yet.

Favorite Lunches Downtown: The Jalapeno Truck for chorizo and bistec tacos; Nice Green Bo on Bayard (btw. Mott & Elizabeth) for soup dumplings, sauteed green beans, beef chow fun, and roast pork lo mein; Tataki on Lispenard (btw. Church & W. Broadway) for the lunch special only! Too pricey otherwise. Usual suspects with the sushi (spicy tuna, salmon, eel); Alleva Dairy on Grand (at Mulberry) for the best meatball sub in NYC. Their Italian special sandwich is amazing too; Korilla BBQ Truck for the bacon kimchi fried rice. If you get anything else you’ve wasted a trip; Num Pang Sandwich Shop on E. 12th St. (btw. University Pl. & 5th Ave.) for the classic banh mi – no reason to deviate. When I am in the area, Sammy’s Halal cart is a must stop. The original location is the corner of E. 4th and Broadway and the newer and larger (24-7) location is at W. 4th and 6th Ave.

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, we have Phillip who unfortunately works in the World Financial Center, but fortunately that area is getting more respectable lunch options.

Name: Phillip

Occupation: Marketing manager

Where you work: World Financial Center

Age: 25

Favorite Kinds of Food: Chinese, Indian, Vietnamese, anything with a dipping sauce.

Least Favorite Foods: Shredded coconut, any kind of meat served with bones in it.

Favorite Lunches Downtown: Sophie’s Cuban (Multiple Locations) seems to be the go-to place for when I venture out of the WFC, but I also like The Bigger Place on Warren St. (at W. Broadway) for fresh Mexican.  Ho Yip on Liberty (btw. Greenwich & Trinity Pl.) is also a great option – I usually stick to the pay-by-the-pound buffet, but think they do an exceptional job on variety and quality for such a place.  I also like Mangez Avec Moi on W. Broadway (btw. Murray & Warren) and Nicky’s Vietnamese Sandwiches on Nassau (btw. Fulton & Ann) for banh mi cravings.

The “go-to” lunch place you and your co-workers eat at too often: We have a company cafeteria that unfortunately becomes the default location for any lunch, even though the offerings are exceptionally mediocre.  The 2(!) Devon & Blakely locations in the WFC are convenient for grab-and-go lunches and I love their pasta primavera and channa salads – plus we never have to set foot outside to get to either one.

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, we have Jonathan who has strong opinions on his burger options and also wants Schnitzel & Things to come back to the FiDi.

Name: Jonathan Ku

Occupation: Information technology

Where you work: 80 Pine St

Age: 29

Favorite Kinds of Food: Anything from a food truck. Red meat, no veggies: Cows eat grass, I eat the cow, the Circle of Life is complete.

Least Favorite Foods: Chain fast food restaurants

Favorite Lunches Downtown: Sophie’s Cuban (Multiple Locations) for the pernil with rice – instant food coma for the rest of the day. Zeytuna on Nassau (btw. Maiden Lane & John), although I always go there, look at the other stations and in the end I always order the same thing: Chicken adana over rice from the grill. Pita Press on Cedar (btw. William & Pearl) is something I recently discovered and submitted a tip for. I might’ve eaten here almost every day when they first opened. I especially like their sliced chicken and pork with lemon potatoes. Wall St. Burger Shoppe on Water (btw. Broad & Coenties Slip) and Five Guys on Fulton (at Dutch) are my go-to burger joints. Don’t get me started on Goodburger, although that $1 Wednesday happy hour makes them bearable for now. The Bian Dang truck is like Christmas to me when they show up on Wednesday. Schnitzel & Things truck please come back! I haven’t seen you in a while since you opened your brick and mortar, don’t leave me hanging bro. Koyzina Cafe for the pasta made right in front of you, the chef when done flipping your pasta always gives you the sprinkle sign, you give him the thumbs up, and he sprinkles some parmesan on it like it’s a controlled substance. And what Midtown (Ed.- and Downtown!) Lunch would be complete without your favorite street meat cart? For me it would be the Xpress Power Lunch cart on Wall St. (at Pearl) for chicken and rice, and Michael’s on Wall (at South) for when I want some charcoal grilled lamb over green rice – order the house hot sauce and get a fist bump.

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, we have Chitra who works in the WFC but makes it over to the FiDi on occasion for some vegan food or falafel.

Name: Chitra Agrawal

Occupation: Marketing at American Express and food blogger at The ABCD’s of Cooking

Where you work: World Financial Center

Age: 31

Favorite Kinds of Food: Vegetarian, preferably spicy – Indian is my favorite, Mexican, Italian, Middle Eastern, Thai, Japanese and I love nachos!

Least Favorite Foods: Fast food chains, chocolate and orange together, raw broccoli, fake meat

Favorite Lunches Downtown: Little Lad’s Basket on Broadway (at Cedar) is kind of a bizarre place but I love it.  The owner is a Seventh-Day Adventist and a huge advocate of vegan eating.  It’s a dimly lit dining room at the bottom of a random office building, but it is the cheapest lunch downtown – $5.43 for whatever you can fit on a plate or in a bowl from their vegan buffet of fresh salads, soups, Asian noodles, quiche, pastas etc., and they also serve herbed popcorn there randomly.  The place attracts a cross section of people and most of them don’t seem to be vegan.  Falafel from Sam’s Falafel cart on Cedar (btw. Broadway & Trinity) with the eggplant, hummus and hot sauce is so cheap and amazing but you do have to wait in line for it.  He is there later, though, so if you go after the lunch rush, you don’t have to wait on line as long.  I order the tofu bahn mi at Mangez Avec Moi on W. Broadway (btw. Murray & Warren) and usually eat there because I really like their muraled walls and the casual feel of the restaurant, but they also have a to-go counter next door. At Pakistan Tea House on Church (btw. Duane & Reade), I like to order the naan with their cabbage curry, saag and dal or a potato curry. The naan is one of the cheapest around and is made fresh by Amjad Mizra whose been working there for over 10 years and is the sweetest guy.  I love the Sicilian slice at Columbus Bakery in the World Financial Center on Liberty (at West). It’s kind of pricey and the people who work there are mean but it is worth it and I do like to get their salad combos sometimes (avocado & tomato, falafel with veg. and feta, etc.) but their sandwiches are not so good.

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, we have Matthew who works about as far down in Manhattan as you can get and has a trio of favorite lunch places.

Name: Matthew Bruckner

Occupation: Law clerk to the Hon. Allan L. Gropper

Where you work: The Bankruptcy Court, which is located at the very south end of Manhattan Island.

Age: 32

Favorite Kinds of Food: Spicy, bold flavors.  Lots of Asian foods, and particularly Thai, Vietnamese and Korean.  I also eat a lot of foods from the American South, such as grits, BBQ, etc. Ethiopian is also a favorite.  Ramen on a cold wintery day (or after a trip to the baths) is usually where it’s at.  And what would I do without pork? Oh, and salt, which is almost a food group itself.

Least Favorite Foods: The bland and the boring. Cold cut sandwiches, chain restaurants, well-done anything, bland, American-ized ethnic foods.

Favorite Lunches Downtown: Trinidad & Tobago cart on Whitehall St. (btw. Bridge & Pearl). I’ve never had anything bad from them, but particularly like that they expose me to lesser-eaten proteins, such as goat and oxtail.  I’d say that the goat curry is probably my go-to T&T dish; Sophie’s Cuban (Multiple Locations), although not as good as Margon in midtown, is a standard lunch option. Oxtail, goat stew, pork chops and pernil are my favorites from Sophie’s.  Their cuban sandwich, though, just isn’t pressed long enough.  It lacks the crispiness that it should have.  Maybe it’s the bread too.  In any case, I don’t get their sandwiches, although I love a good, hot sandwich; Bian Dang (formerly NYC Cravings) truck on Wednesdays when they are in the Financial District.  I usually get the porken, but sometimes I’m feeling more poultry or porky and go solely with the one protein.  I always make a mix of the sriracha & thick “Beijing” sauce to add though.

Read more »