Midtown Lunch

• Paulo’s has taco pizza and “fry mega” pizza [Philly Phoodie]
• For something less complicated, Hawk enjoys the tomato pie at Varalli’s [Serious Eats]
• A new French cafe opens today [Foobooz]
• A tea and ramen spot is in the works for Chinatown [The Insider]

Today, Luncher Molly is going veg at Philly’s newest hot spot for meatless meals.

I’d been hearing about the new HipCityVeg for quite some time; owner Nicole Marquis was the manager at the former Horizons, which I loved, and her new fast-casual restaurant at 18th and Sansom is just a few blocks from my studio. I spent quite a few years on the vegan train, and although I’ve been back in ovo-lacto-pesce land since 2006, I appreciate a healthy, plant-based option.

I had an afternoon meeting in Center City and needed a small meal to fuel my creativity, so I headed to HipCity. I found the interior to be light and the décor spare, which I dig – it’s all part of their sustainability mission, which includes salvaged building materials, compostable packaging, local sourcing, and bike delivery. The menu is equally simple, consisting of eight sandwiches, five salads and a few sides. I’ve been mourning for years the demise of North Carolina’s Crazie Mae’s, which had the best vegan fried chicken sandwich ever, so I went for the Crispy HipCity Ranch.

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This week I was invited back by The Capital Grille to try out their new summer additions to their $18 plates menu.

I am always so happy when The Capital Grille invites me back to try out their seasonal plates. The “plates” deal is always the same, $18 for an appetizer, entree, and a side dish. Every few months new seasonal menu items are added.  The perfect truffle fries and lobster roll are still on the “plates” menu and as hard as they were to forgo, I wanted to try the new items.

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• At lunch time (11:45am)  Tria Rittenhouse is having a $10 special reserve (Nikolaihof Steiner Hund Riesling Reserve) wine tasting with summer bruschetta
• Then, the  Food Trust’s 6th Night Market is going down at 9th and Washington from 6-10pm with plenty of our favorite food trucks and local restaurants

As we try to do at Philly Lunch, every Tuesday we turn over the site to a different lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Philadelphia. This week it’s Allison who is looking for the true holy grail of Midtown Lunch- the $5 and under lunch.

Name: Allison

Age: 24

Occupation: Community Manager

Where in Philly do you Work?: TicketLeap, in Rittenhouse Square.

Favorite Kind of Food: Asian of any variety. Also, anything I can grill.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Heavy fried “bar food.” Don’t like to be weighed down when I’m trying to get my drink on!

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Philly: Small spicy falafel sandwich on white at Mama’s Vegetarian (20th and Chestnut), the three roll special at Vic’s (20th and Sansom), veggie chili and a fresh roll at Le Bus (18th and Walnut).
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I was unaware, but Sammy Chon opened a truck on Temple’s campus in April. The menu is an abbreviated version of their other locations, including appetizers, Korean burritos, Korean tacos, and Korean hoagies. I figured since I was on a college campus, I might as well get real college with it and order the fully loaded meaty, cheese fries.

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I have noticed there has been a lack of good restaurant Groupons recently, but for some reason, there are TON this week. Here are my pics:

$15 for lunch for 2 at Nina’s Trattoria

$15 for $30 at Makiman

$12 for $25 at Erawan

$20 for $40 at Salento

Eat up!