Midtown Lunch

At first, this sign outside the Lane Cafe on Maiden Lane (btw. Gold & William) looked like any other outside a generic deli, but on closer inspection (see second line) revealed a unique lunch special. Mostly, I was just angry that I had already eaten and couldn’t be taken back to my childhood of processed food from a box.

There’s a list on the NY Mag site today of the top 101 sandwiches in the city, and the downtown area did not come up short. Sadly, I’ve only reviewed two of the top sandwiches: the sesame pancake with beef from Vanessa’s Dumpling House in Chinatown came in at No. 99, and the oyster po’boy from Cheeky Sandwiches was ranked No. 73. Sandwiches from other places I’ve been meaning to check out like Farinella Italian Bakery in Tribeca,  Despana in Soho and Chinatown’s Banh Mi Saigon were also included. The sloppy bao from Baoguette made an appearance, but the highest ranking sandwich downtown was from Alidoro in Soho. I guess my stomach has some eating to do.

A sign of the apocalypse, courtesy of Eater

• Many, many cheap people took advantage of the $5 pre-opening deal at Chipotle. [Eater]
• The banh beo makes for a “wonderful mouthful” at Chinatown’s New Tu Do. [Fork in the Road]
• There is messy, spicy lamb gyro to be had on Spring Street. [Lunch with Front Studio]
• Craving fancified tacos? There are a couple of places downtown worth checking out. [MetromixNY]

Eater reports that Nicky’s Vietnamese Sandwiches is opening a new location “on Nassau and Ann Streets.” I wanted to be the first to bring you pictures of the new location, so I trotted right over to find me some plywood.

I found some alright. More than I knew what to do with. Just within one block of that intersection, I found fourteen available retail spaces. A few are clearly not restaurant spaces, but most could work for a downtown outpost for a city stalwart like Nicky’s. You hear that restaurateurs? The FiDi is ripe for annexation. We’re here and we’re hungry, so get down here pronto.

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We’re looking for a few good Lunch’ers to help Midtown Lunch cover the downtown NYC scene. Work south of Houston street? Like to write? Love to eat? Then you could be the next Downtown NYC correspondent for Midtown Lunch. Interested? Drop us a line at downtown@midtownlunch.com and tell us where you work, what you like to eat, and why you think you’re the right Lunch’er for the job.

As it 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, Gigi

Name: Gigi

Age: 28 years young

Occupation: Director of a non-profit

Where do you work?: Broadway and Pine (same office building as Kevin)

Favorite Kind of Food: Chinese, of course.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Don’t really have one; it’s more about my mood dictating my preference…

Favorite Lunch(es) Downtown: Well, I’d have to go with Chinatown…

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Rickshaw Dumpling is selling their new Szechuan dumplings down in Hanover Square, and the Schnitzel & Things Truck has got goat cheese spaetzle (wha!?!?) on Water and Broad.  When are these guys back in Midtown again?!