It never made sense to me that most of the Greek restaurants in Midtown are ultra expensive and cater to the expense accounts or splurging tourists. We’ve certainly not been lacking for souvlakis and gyros from trucks and carts (Uncle Gussy’s, Carnegie John’s, Lil Zeus Lunch Box, just to name a few). But sometimes it’s nice to sit down with your tzatziki.
A few weeks ago, we told you that Biryani Cart owner Meru Sikder re-launched his fried rice cart Vooter-Adda. Now things have changed once again. The Chinese-Indian fusion cart didn’t work out so well, so instead, Meru has put a second Biryani Cart on 46th Street across the street from the original one.
The menus are exactly the same so if the line is too long on the west side of the street, you can cross over Sixth Avenue and get the same affordable kati rolls and biryani dishes on the NE corner. Now that most of the food trucks have been kicked out of this block, it’s nice to know we have one more option on this side of Sixth.
One of the most popular streets for trendy mobile food vendors is 50th Street between 6th and 7th. The good news is that since this block is mostly populated by food carts (as opposed to trucks), the danger of the police shutting it down is lower. So if you work near 50th Street, you won’t have to worry about going hungry anytime soon.
And that’s espeically since this street seems to be the most popular for new food carts trying things out in Midtown. We have Swami, Tuk Tuk Boy, Li-Sal’s, Lil Zeus Lunch Box, and Hyderabad just to name a few.
In case you live under a rock, Chick Fil A finally opened up their first ‘real’ NYC location at 37th and 6th Avenue. Lines have been crazy long but well-organized based on some things I’ve seen on my Facebook feed, so I imagine the protesters and controversy surrounding the chain hasn’t really done much to dampen the enthusiasm for fried chicken sandwiches.
There was a crazy opening ceremony that included their giving away “Chicken For A Year” to 100 lucky winners, which is described in explicit detail over at Gawker. Be warned – that’s a super long story that is entertaining and fun to read, but the bottom line is: that Gawker reporter is a genius for masking his (her?) Maker’s Mark as sweet tea by using lots of ice, but that Gawker reporter is also a complete moron for ruining his/her $4000 Macbook by waiting in the rain to be a part of the contest and winning what amounts to roughly $400 of fast food fried chicken sandwiches.
In any case, any early adopters out there? Let us know in comments what you think about Chick Fil A, or where we can find really delicious fried chicken sandwiches elsewhere in midtown that are under the $10 mark… and I will eat them all.
Chick Fil A, 1000 Avenue of the Americas (and 6th Avenue), New York, NY 10018
Phone: (212) 704-9920
On my Midtown wanderings yesterday, I passed by Clarke’s Standard and was greeted by this horrifying sight! You guys may remember me battling it out with y’all for what really is in the spirit of ML – calling you complainers and whiners, and mocking you when my lunch went over the $10 limit by 7c.
The best thing about food blogging is you get to straight-face talk about some really awesome stuff to the normies. It’s awesome to be able to kvell about Serbian kebabs back when Cevap Truck was still around, and even though we’ve reached Peak Korean Fusion, there’s few things better than describing Korilla or Kimchi Taco to non-Manhattanites. Now we get to throw another fun thing in: Venezuelan sandwiches. Cachapas on Wheels premiered in Manhattan earlier this week and they are making their way to Midtown. We’ve got the skinny on these super-dense sandwich bombs – check out below the jump for more.
We’ve been through this before on this site, but it bears repeating. Mobile food vendors in this city face a major hardship because the city has set a cap on the number of permits available. This, of course, has created a black market and forced many hard working food entrepreneurs to pay upwards of $25,000 to find a permit or in many cases, not operate at all. This is why we sadly lost The Cinnamon Snail earlier this year.
Last week there was a rally at City Hall, organized by Street Vendor Project, to push for a bill that would eliminate this cap. Our friends over at One Minute Meals documented the situation and the event in their newest video “You Can’t Feed City Hall.” Check out the video by clicking this link. As advertised, it’s just one minute but packed with important information.
1 Minute Meal: “You Can’t Feed City Hall” from James Boo on Vimeo.
Posted by brianhoffman at 9:23 am, September 30th, 2015 under Street Vendor Issues, Videos.
Where To Go Today For Your Free Panda Express Orange Chicken: Just a reminder, we'll be hanging out with Panda Express in Midtown today giving out free orange chicken samples along with a bunch of gear and gift certificates. From Noon to 1pm the truck will be on 40th btw. B'way + 6th. And then from 4-5pm they'll be somewhere around 5th Ave. and 24th St. Tag @midtownlunch on social with the hashtag #orangechickenlove and then come find Zach and he'll hook you up.
Posted at 8:31 am, September 28th, 2015 | 2 Comments
It might have taken years, but Panda Express has finally listened to my plea! This week the New York Times reported that Panda Express is coming to NYC. They have plans to open up locations on the Upper East Side (69th and 1st) followed by the Bronx, and then potentially Midtown next year (on 8th Ave. and 31st). My love of Chinese steam tables is well documented, and here in Los Angeles Panda Express is hands down the best there is (see: orange chicken burrito). Some are skeptical (I’m looking at you Chang + Sietsema) and I admit that Panda will probably not replace your favorite egg roll/pork fried rice/general tso’s delivery spot. But they’ve perfected the Chinese food fast food point-to-what-you-want model, specifically the orange chicken/chow mein combo that so few steam tables manage to get right.
Anyway, when I saw that they’d be bringing a food truck to Midtown to hand out free orange chicken in my favorite neighborhood in the country I begged them to take me with… and they agreed! (What can I say. I miss you guys… and if shilling for my favorite fast food place in L.A. gets me a trip to hang with you, I’ll take it.)
Posted by Zach Brooks at 11:09 am, September 24th, 2015 under Free Stuff, Panda Express.
Pret A Manger Freebie Alert: Pret A Manger is opening its 42nd location in New York on Friday at 52nd and 7th, and to celebrate they're giving away free breakfast or lunch (or both). Stop by the newest location today from 8am to 10am and get a voucher for free breakfast and between 12 pm and 2pm to receive a voucher for free lunch (while supplies last). The shop itself doesn't actually open until Friday. Freeloaders, engage! Pret A Manger, 787 7th Avenue, between 51st and 52nd Streets
Posted at 7:15 am, September 24th, 2015 | 7 Comments
