Archive for October 2009

Midtown Links (The “This Site is Why We Are All Fat” Edition)


Wafels & Dinges Owner Thomas enjoying his own ‘This is Why You’re Fat’ Creation

  • Halloween sweets have arrived at the Treats Truck [Blondie and Brownie]
  • The lunch box is the best thing about Boi Sandwich [Donuts 4 Dinner]
  • Front Studio also loves the sul long tang at Gahm Mi Oak [Lunch Studio]
  • A coffee lover’s look at the Ecco now being served at Joe The Art of Coffee [SENY]
  • The new NYT Restaurant critic loves Five Guys [Diner’s Journal]
  • Xie Xie’s fish sandwich beats out Num Pang’s fish sandwich [Fork in the Road]
  • Bring a lot of napkins if you get the hot dog kolache at Kolache Mama [Pink Pig]

I Know You Are Dying For the Answers: to the Midtown Mascots Halloween Challenge, so here they are: A) Subway, B) Taam Tov, C) Ranch 1, D) Tim Hortons, E) Bubba Gump's, F) Cafe Metro, G) Cafe Amande, H) Go Go Curry, I) Sophie's Cuban

Mamacita’s Midtown Halloween Happy Hour Guide

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe it was time to introduce a happy hour column to the site. Every week, our Happy Hour Correspondent “Mamacita” posts about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap.  Because it’s Halloween on Saturday, Mamacita figured she would give you a list of all the Happy Hours and Halloween parties going on tonight and tomorrow night.

halloween-pub-crawl

All Hallows’ Eve may rival St Paddy’s for the most lubricated holiday of the year, that is, unless you spend Christmas with the in-laws. There’s a parade, revelers dressed in ghoulish costumes, and drunken masses hitting the bars. To top it all off this year it lands on a weekend. Who could ask for anything more? Here is the round up of local haunts for tonight and Halloween:

NYC’s biggest drunken stumble of them all starts tonight with a three-day bar crawl engulfing many a Midtown staple. More than 100 New York City bars are participating. Your ticket includes cover charges and drink specials at each and every bar on the trip. The official “Midtown bar crawl” is tonight, October 30th and continues to November 1st. Tickets are $15 for a single night of crawling, or $30 for all three nights, although you can get discounted tickets here .

Registration begins at TG Whitneys (on 53rd btw. 2+3rd), and lasts from 5-10pm. There will be drink specials including $2 Bud Light, 2-for-1 Pumpkin Ales and 2-for-1 Halloween Cocktails (Drink Specials May Vary at Each Bar.) For more info, and a list of participating venues go to Halloween Now.

But wait, there’s more…

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Kwik Gourmet Offers Discounted Street Meat

CIMG0011

I’m pretty sure that this sign isn’t brand new, but thanks to Lunch’er Daniel for bringing it to our attention.  Did you know that Kwik Gourmet (on 47th and Park) has cut prices by 50 cents on most of their items?  (I think the chicken mini roll is the only one that has stayed the same price.) That means if you are willing to walk a bit farther you can get Kwik Meal food, at a slight discount.  I’ve never done a side by side comparison of all the Kwik Meal carts (there are 3 in total,not including the pasta cart) but in theory they all serve the same food- and for 50 cents less, I might be inclined to take a chance.  (What can I say?  I’m a cheap bastard.)

The Midtown Mascots Halloween Challenge

If there’s one thing I see a ton of walking around Midtown every day at lunch, it’s people dressed up in ridiculous costumes handing out fliers to people. It’s hilarious to see some of the outfits that restaurants force their employees to squeeze into, so for Halloween this year I decided to forgo our standard “scariest lunches in Midtown” post in favor of a First Annual Midtown Mascots Halloween Challenge!

How well do you know your Midtown Mascots?

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Blarney Stone Now Doing Pulled Pork Sliders

Last month we reported that the Blarney Stone (on 3rd Ave. btw. 45+46th) had added sliders to their menu-which already has a pretty decent full sized burger.  Today, Blondie and Brownie bring the news that they’ve said “purists be damned” and have started selling pulled pork “sliders” as well. $6 gets you three of these bad boys, plus fries, onion rings, or rice and beans.

Free Cupcake Reminder: Don't forget that Kyotofu (the Japanese bakery on 9th Ave. btw. 48+49th) will be giving out free cupcake sampler packs all day today to celebrate their new fall bakery items.  They open at Noon. [ML Forums]

Yes, That Was The Schnitzel Truck You Saw On TV Last Night

Nothing like a T-Mobile ad during the World Series (or the Office, or Top Chef) to raise your profile. The Schnitzel Truck is everywhere thanks to a brand new TV ad that seems to be everywhere.  The truck is only on for a few seconds, and I’m not exactly sure what a priest who text messages has to do with schnitzel, but whatever.  It’s still kind of cool. (Oh, and a quick reminder– they’re on 26th and Park today instead of Dumbo because of the Vendr.TV switcheroo.)

Thanks to Lunch’er “Robert” for sending a link to the video. Check it out, after the jump…

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Vendors Protest Over Perceived Uptick in Criminal Summonses: It was all fun and games earlier today at many of Midtown's street carts, but on Tuesday there was an organized protest on the steps of City Hall by street vendors who feel an increase in hostility from powers that be. "The top spokesman for the Police Department, said that no broad crackdown was going on" but unofficially it sure seems like there have been a lot of issues lately. [via Grub St.]

DeBragga Anonymously Takes it to LaFrieda, Bill’s & The Shack

This comment by “challahbackgirl” (cute!) was posted to yesterday’s news about the brand new Frites N Meats Truck (which uses meat from well known butcher DeBragga & Spitler).  Notice anything odd about this supposedly unbiased comment from a totally random user?

Here’s a tip to all you businesses out there who think “guerilla marketing” should involve pretending to be a regular commenter on food blogs… if you’re going to insult the competition, you might not want to do it from a company computer.  Especially if your company mail server has the company name in the URL. (It’s kind of a dead giveaway.)  For those who aren’t technically inclined, here’s a layman’s explanation: I love your meat DeBragga, but you’re busted.

UPDATE: Somebody posted an interesting comment that I’d like to respond to…

From Lunch’er “Beast”:

“Zach, I expected better from you. This isn’t a “shill”, but you’ve spun it that way. Either that or you have very poor reading comprehension skills. She’s only lamenting that everyone in the five boroughs and beyond has been on their knees in front of Pat LaFreida lately. She didn’t “shill” for Debragga (never even mentions them) and she doesn’t even say the frites burgers are good. She only “bets” that they are better than Bill’s. I hardly think this is a shill, despite her place of employment.”

My response is after the jump…

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