Midtown Lunch

Most of our ramen options downtown fall into two categories: More than $10, or from a deli. It’s a pretty sad situation, really, especially compared with most other parts of Manhattan. Long ago I saw an ad on another site advertising $10 ramen on Mondays at the Japanese spot Zutto on Hudson St. (btw. Jay & Harrison). That’s about the only time I’ve seen restaurant ramen offered at that price within the Downtown Lunch boundaries, so I had to check it out.  Read more »

When you walk into the Imperial Coffee House, you feel like you’re stepping into a Norman Rockwell painting, but then the men behind the counter start their schtick and you’re back in NYC. This is perhaps the least fancy place to eat lunch in Tribeca, and the prices are also some of the cheapest downtown with the menu topping out at $8. This is the place to go for a no-frills meal of greasy food.  Read more »

When The Hummus & Pita Co. opened its second NYC location downtown I wondered what their crowning glory would be. I had an enjoyable chicken shawarma sandwich where the meat was almost outshined by the vegetables stuffed in alongside. Based on the strength of that meal, I decided to stop into the shop on Chambers St. (btw. Broadway & Church) for round 2. Once again, I was seduced by a spinning cylinder of meat.  Read more »

Earlier this year, an unconventional veggie burger caught my eye. This city has a lot of crappy versions of them, but when Birdbath Bakery‘s earned the top nod among the city’s non-meat burgers I took notice. After all there is a location in Tribeca at Church & Thomas streets, and I can’t often get to my favorite source. The other day I stopped in to see if they had the burgers (I was told they don’t have them until close to 1 p.m.) and a pile of them greeted me behind the glass divider.

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I was in the upper part of Tribeca recently on the hunt for lunch. When I passed by Los Americanos at Church & Walker streets (where Pane Panelle once was), I took a look at the menu and saw they had one sandwich and a few other items for $10 or less. Those other items included tacos, pupusas, empanadas and arepas. How could I pass up an arepa in Tribeca?

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Is it good or bad when you swear out loud due to the size of the lunch served to you? This was the question I asked myself after unwrapping my sandwich from the Fried Chicken & More cart.

I’d first tried the cart’s namesake fried chicken after they started serving food at Park Place & W. Broadway in January. The chicken was reasonably good, and most of all, dirt cheap. Since that first taste, the cart has expanded its offerings by leaps and bounds with several kinds of fried chicken products (nuggets, popcorn, wings) on the menu alongside cheeseburgers, a fish sandwich, falafel, pizza rolls, biscuits and fries. Unless you only order a single piece of chicken, you are not likely to go away hungry here.

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At this point, there are few Japanese spots we have not checked out in Downtown Lunch territory, save the ones that don’t have lunch specials below the $10 mark. One that I had walked by many times but not tried was Akimoto Sushi on Church St. (btw. Duane & Reade streets). A look at the lunch menu showed the usual bento boxes, donburi, noodles, fried rice and noodle dishes as well as maki rolls. On a warm day, sushi sounded good, but in the end I was a little disappointed.

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