A Complete Look Back at 2007 in Midtown Lunch’ing (The More Than Just Food Porn Edition)

Yesterday, I gave you the food porn look back at 2007 in Midtown Lunch’ing. Today it’s links to some of my favorite stories of the year. A lot of places came and went this year, and if I had to sum it all up, I think I would say it was the Year of the Bulgogi.  (Oh yeah… and a few burger places opened up too.  Could 2008 be the year of the Bulgogi burger?)

We used to have to trek all the way down to 32nd street for our Korean fix, but now there is tons of take out Korean food being sold in the back of delis, out of carts, and even out of a converted bagel place. The day that Korean deli owners realized that people wanted to eat their home cooking, was a great day for Midtown Lunch’ing. Here’s to that trend continuing in 2008!

But in the end, as much as things changed, they mostly they stayed the same. We finally got our Banh Mi, but at a substantial Midtown sandwich mark-up. There are more burgers, but we lost our only take out Thai place when Yum Thai got the DOH. My hope for 2008 is the same as 2007. More cheap Thai food. More cheap Vietnamese food. But enough about the future… let’s take a look back at the year that was:

1.18.07 – The Bulgogi Cart on 49th btw. 5+6th makes its first appearance, and then promptly disappeared. (It resurfaced again on the 22nd, and has been there ever since.)

2.5.07 – I discovered fried chicken and waffles in Midtown at Ressie May’s Soul to Go on 8th Ave.btw. 39+40th.

2.14.07 – Midtown Lunch is accused of being a sexist blog after the Valentine’s day post recommends that guys take their girlfriends to Oms/b and women take their men to Hawaiian Tropic Zone.

2.20.07 – Popeyes returns to Midtown just before Fat Tuesday . You know my feeling on most chains, but Popeyes may serve the best fried chicken in Midtown.

3.5.07 – Cheap sushi favorite Kiroii Hana on 56th btw. 5+6th closes .

3.7.07 – The Midtown Lunch Guide to Beating the All You Can Eat Chinese Buffet gets posted to the site. Representing almost 30 years of careful Chinese buffet study, it is a personal manifesto- and my gift to the world.

The rest of 2007, after the jump…

3.14.07 – Sophie’s Cuban opens their new location on 56th btw. 5+6th, serves free food during lunch. Midtown Lunch is on the scene live (for the free food of course).

3.22.07 – Construction forces a showdown between two Indian food carts on the East Side of Midtown

4.3.07 – Mandler’s Sausage Company opens on 8th Ave. btw. 38+39th

4.13.07 – The sign goes up for a new Sohpie’s Cuban on 40th btw. 7+8th. Over 8 months later, and it still hasn’t opened.

4.23.07 – The Jamaican Dutchy appears for the first time on 51st & 7th Ave. The next day, the line was unbearable.

4.26.07 – Midtown Lunch hits the road to liveblog the food from Jazzfest in New Orleans.

5.7.07 – Go Go Curry opens on 38th btw. 7+8th. Tons of people line up for 55 cent portions of curry covered pork cutlets. First place ever to combine baseball, Japanese Katsu and a giant gorilla.

5.9.07 – Kushi Q brings fast food Yakitori (and some crazy futuristic machinery) to Midtown

5.13.07 – Banh Mi finally arrives in Midtown! Delicious, but ridiculously expensive.

5.30.07 – Brilliantly foreshadowing Kati Roll’s eventual move, the cart on 46th & 6th introduces their own version of the Kati Roll.

6.6.07 – Midtown Lunch celebrates it’s 1 year anniversary. I make a stupid list of highlights from Year One.

6.12.07 – 4 months after opening, Ressie May’s closes. I go into mourning.

6.14.07 – The Treats Truck makes its first appearance in Midtown. On the same day, House of Pita opens their stand alone store on 46th btw. 5+6th, 2 blocks away from their famous falafel window on 48th.

6.20.07 – New York Magazine publishes their list of the best carts in NYC. It wreaks havoc at Kwik Meal, Kim’s Aunt Kitchen Cart, the Jamaican Dutchy & Hallo Berlin.

7.2.07 – Simpsons fans rejoice as 7-11 turns into a Kwik e Mart on 42nd St.

7.17.07 – My one year Chipotle ban comes to an end. The next day, I unleash my theory of why Chipotle sucks.

7.27.07 – Midtown Lunch gets mentioned in Gawker’s User Guide to Midtown East.

8.16.07 – Menchanko-Tei gets an unwelcome visit from the Department of Health

8.21.07 – Esca Chef David Pasternack becomes the first celebrity Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er

8.23.07 – In conjunction with the Street Vendor Project, Midtown Lunchers get a glimpse into a “Day in the Life” of Kwik Meal vendor Muhammed Rahman .

8.30.07 – The Steak Truck appears on Park Ave. & 47th St.

9.18.07 – Matt Kenney (formerly of Pure Food & Wine) opens Free Foods NYC on 45th btw. 5+6th

10.1.07 – Kwik Meal wins People’s Choice at the 3rd Annual Vendy Awards

10.2.07 – Mandler’s Sausage Company closes.

10.11.07 – The big announcement hits… Malaysian conveyor belt sushi chain, Sakae Sushi is opening its first stateside branch in Midtown, on 43rd btw. Lex+3rd

10.26.07 – The Bon Appetit Supper Club opens for a week on 5th btw. 6+7th. Food from famous Chefs, in a generic Midtown deli setting…

10.31.07 – The original window location of House of Pita on 48th btw. 5+6th closes

11.1.07 – D.C. Five Guys Burgers and Fries opens on 55th btw. 5+6th. Pandemonium ensues.

11.14.07 – The Grand Opening of a new Yolato promises free Yolato, delivers free samples.

11.15.05 – A Midtown Lunch expose debunks the myths of the Chicken & Rice carts on 53rd & 6th (A hint…. look for the yellow bags.)

11.26.07 – 5 months after Ressie May’s closes, Chicken & Waffles returns to Midtown at Piece of Chicken, on 45th btw. 8+9th

12.5.07 – The new location of House of Pita, on 46th btw. 5+6th, closes.

12.7.07 – Pop Burger opens on 58th btw. Madison & Park

12.13.07 – The new location of Goodburger, on 45th btw. 5+6th, opens

R.I.P.

11 Comments

  • That personal manifesto line about the Chinese Buffet entry made me laugh. It’s been a good year! Keep it coming.

  • I’m sad we lost House of Pita. Hopefully 2008 brings Thai and a full-time Peruvian lunch place (though I suppose a Fridays-only place is decent for now). Happy – and somewhat healthy – 2008 to Zach and fellow readers. Though not to Rudy.

  • mmmm.. bulgogi cart.

    what’s up with all the chinese characters from the first comment? all i see is jordan, kobe, iverson, tmac, yaoming, and yi jianlian. uh… what?

  • Thai from a truck in Midtown? *Foodgasm*

  • haha! I just read the V-day post from 2007.
    Zack you are a total sexist, now go fetch me some pretty rice balls
    :-)

    (and a drink with an umbrella in it!)

  • Nice year’s work, Zach. Your blog has been a significant factor in my surviving a year in a cubicle…

    And re Yum Thai, it wasn’t great or anything, and it may have been pretty grotty in there, but I miss it. Their food was OK and the people there were really, really nice. And their ground red chili powder was smoky and delicious.

  • Is Sakae Sushi going to open already, or am I going to have to move to Singapore?

    –Annie from Annie’s New York Eats

  • I’m here all year, from thursday(next).

  • LOL, I love the chicken and waffles! ;-)

  • Happy New Year, Zach!

  • Zach, great recap of a year of excellence on your most awesome site. Your professionalism, dedication and humor make Midtown Lunch special.

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