Midtown Lunch

So, the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge keeps rolling along- but as of now it just seems like the Cer Te show. You guys said you wanted it to keep going, so Cer Te (on 55th btw. 5+6th) keeps pumping out the sandwiches.  (Maybe yesterdays coverage will encourage other Midtown businesses to get on board!  What are you waiting for people?  A challenge has been issued!)

The June offering from Cer Te is a soft shelled crab sandwich, and I stopped by yesterday to try it for myself.

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I try my best not to be too negative on this site, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be able to vent. Every once in awhile I’ll share some of the more angry useful emails I get in a post called “Airing of Grievances”. (If the Eater Complaints Dept. would like royalties, I’ll be happy to pay up…)

Ambrosia’s Bi Bim Bap circa August 2007. Back when it was called “the best in Midtown”.

There’s only so many complaints you can get before something has to be done. When Ambrosia, the generic Midtown deli on 45th btw. 5+6th, launched their Korean food station I thought it might be the best Bi Bim Bap in all of Midtown. They gave you a ton of banchan (the little Korean side dishes), it was $7 and it was delicious. Since then it has slowly deteriorated and after this email yesterday, I think we might have to take away its “Midtown Lunch” status.

“I realize that your post on Ambrosia being the best Bi Bim Bap in midtown was quite some time ago, but let me tell you I had a very sad experience. The item costs $11.89 now with tax, and it is just beef and lettuce…with 2 mushrooms and 2 strips of red peppers.”

But wait… there’s more.

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This was not a good week for Mom and Pop, old school Midtown Lunch spots.  Following the sad report that Fashion Soup (on 41st btw. B’way+5th) is now closed, and unloading all of their equipment- comes this expected, but still hard to take, news.  “This morning there are two for rent signs on the front of Milant with numbers. All over for the place. -Lunch’er Andrew”.  The owner is looking for a new space, but it’s still a terrible blow to lose a place (even temporarily) that was once considered the best sandwich spot in all of Midtown. And right before summer too!  Where are we going to go for gazpacho now? The ML flag will fly at half mast today.

Seeing all the coverage of the President’s trip to Five Guys in DC this week (and reading about how much the First Lady likes cheeseburgers) I can’t help but wonder if he really did hit up the Burger Joint when he stayed at the Parker Meridien hotel during the campaign (obviously the photo is doctored, but the tip about him being there was 100% true.) They’re both good, but I’m partial to the free grilled onions and fresh cut french fries you get at Five Guys (Midtown location on 55th btw. 5+6th.) What are your thoughts Mr. President?

Related:
Barack Obama Spotted at the Parker Meridien
Five Guys is NYC’s Closest Thing to In N Out Burger
Burger Joint at the Parker Meridien (Original Post 8/21/06)

In what shouldn’t be a surprise to anybody, the map part of this morning’s New York Times article about Midtown Lunching meant big business for some of our favorite carts today. The famous Halal Cart (on the SE corner of 53rd and 6th) had a longer line than I’ve ever seen (maybe to try their new kofta kebab?), there were reports of longer than normal lines at the Biryani Cart, and the Jamaican Dutchy ran out of jerk chicken before Noon. (Apparently there are a few people in Midtown who read the New York Times?) Anybody go to XPL, or one of the other spots on the list? Reports are welcome in the comments…

Yes, as reported in the NYT this morning I will cover the “arrival of a new Chipotle” (ideally because they’re giving away free burritos!) But clearly they didn’t read “The Midtown Lunch Ultimate Burrito Theory (and how it relates to Chipotle sucking)” or the Midtown Lunch post that exposed Chipotle’s posted “calorie ranges” for the sham they are! (Spoiler alert: That burrito bowl you’re eating is not 130 or calories.)

It’s never a shock when a bad restaurant resorts to something crazy to help boost business.  You’ll see name changes, expensive redecorating, crazy specials, and yes, even sushi being added to a Kosher falafel and kebab place.  But Olympic Pita (on 38th btw. 5+6th) was not a bad restaurant!  Home to my favorite falafel in Midtown (you may say the secret ingredient is their fresh baked laffa bread) Olympic Pita shouldn’t have to resort to this nonsense.  And yet there it was, last week their new sign, with their new name (Baraca), promoting their new menu item (sushi?!?)  Oh, and of course there was the gussied up interior.  Why Olympic Pita?  Why?

The name change is not just for show, according to an employee Baraca is no longer owned by the same people who own the original Olympic Pita in Brooklyn (not good.)  Thankfully, the take out area in the front looked like it hadn’t changed- so yesterday I stopped by to survey the situation.

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From Midtown Lunch’er “Ariel”: “Pampano Taqueria’s been close since last Thursday due to “Emergency Plumbing Issues”. I was there yesterday and it was still not open. Do you have any idea if it is open today or could you start a new thread where someone will comment when it does reopen?” A call to the restaurant confirms that not only is the Taqueria closed, but also its upstairs fancy restaurant, Pampano. The issue has been fixed, but they are still waiting for the city to come back and say they are clear to reopen. (Sounds like a DOH thing, but the restaurant completely denies that.) The city told them they’d be out on Monday, but as of 11am this morning they haven’t shown up.