Midtown Lunch

It’s been almost three years since Macchiato Espresso Bar opened on 44th btw. Lex+3rd, selling their line of Italian coffee, sandwiches, salads, and pastries.  When it first opened, I posted my first impression (meh) which drew the ire of the owner because I hadn’t actually eaten any of the food or tries the coffee.  At the time I just wasn’t interested in trying another turkey and swiss sandwich for $9.  So sue me.  Well, it’s taken me almost three years… but I’ve finally gotten enough positive emails to warrant actually trying Macchiato Espresso Bar.  Well not me, but our resident coffee and baked goods expert Kathy YL Chan (from A Passion For Food).  I thought this place would be right up her alley, and asked her to check it out and report back.  Here’s what she found…

Welcome to Macchiato Espresso Bar on 44th Street, the last thing you’d expect to discover in discover in midtown. Coming in from 3rd Avenue, the bright blue entrance looks like some sort of strange oasis. The Bar exudes a Euro-trash meets midtown business vibe. Music is energetic, and the counter service is knowledgeable, efficient. Prices are high, though quality justifies to a certain extent.

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Got this email from the founder of HB Burger (on 43rd btw. B’way+6th) on Friday:

Zach, I want to thank you for making the special combo promotion available to your readers. I was concerned about our ability to manage the flow to maintain the quality of our guests’ experience. Now that I know that we can do that and accommodate Midtown Lunch readers, I’d be happy to make this same promotion available to your readers only, through Labor Day. Of course, this is completely your call, but I am making it available.

Done and done, right? Any objections from the gallery? [Assumed sound of crickets.] Very good. We accept. (FYI, Labor Day is September 7th.)

Related:
HB Burger Offers Up Midtown Lunch Special
HB Burger May Not be a “Midtown Lunch” But It’s a Damn Good Burger

Whoever does marketing for Cer te deserves a gold star.  Since we launched the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge Cer Te, on 55th btw. 5+6th, has used it as their own personal promotional machine- which of course was ok with us because we were getting amazing sandwiches.  There was the Thanksgiving Dip (which I believe is still available on Thursdays), the Bayou, the Primavera, the Mexican torta, and the soft shelled crab.  And of course that whole lobster roll thing, which was kind of an honorary entry.

The slightly upscale deli took the month of July off, but they plan on coming back with a bang in September and want you to help pick the sandwich of the month.  Every Monday and Tuesday, today through the end of August, they will be serving 5 (yes, five) special Midtown Lunch sandwiches and asking you to vote for the best one.  Shameless promotion designed to get Midtown Lunch’ers to come in and eat five sandwiches?  Of course. But once you see some of these sandwiches, maybe you won’t mind as much.

Check out the list after the jump…

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Three generations enjoying lunch at Hop Won yesterday

• Don’t bother with Busan (on 53rd btw. 2+3rd).  Just go to Koreatown. [Mindy’s Recipe for Disaster]
• The Bon Appetit Supper Club is opening early this year [Life Vicarious]
• Angelo Sosa, from Xie Xie, tells Sietsema that his sandwiches aren’t trendy (?) [Fork in the Road]
• Maui Tacos gives you amazing salsa to put on that terrible burrito [BLD Project]
• The Soho based Lunch Studio come to Midtown for some Fresco by Scotto action [Lunch Studio]
• Whole Foods Columbus Circle is a great place to take the parents after work [Amateur Gourmet]

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” will post 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.

Apparently today is National Tequila Day (who knew!?!), but that’s not what brought me to Ta Cocina (on 9th Ave. btw. 48+49th) this week. I went there because my ideal happy hour in the summertime is sipping on a tangy margarita and rounding that out with a big bowl of salty tortilla chips and salsa. So when commenter Wayne mentioned that T.C. looked like they had a good happy hour I thought it was about time for my first frozen margarita of the summer.

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Yesterday, Grub Street pointed out a really interesting essay about a Hot Dog Vendor in Midtown. It’s part of a new anthology of New York Stories from the website Mr. Beller’s Neighborhood, and a hot dog vendor parked on 34th street who spends the day charging different prices to different people.  It’s like I’ve always said, the price of things at carts (especially drinks) is always negotiable. (I’ve had vendors try to charge me $2+ for water, and $3+ for Snapple.) This is especially the case in Midtown, if a vendor suspects you are tourist.  Of course when you hear the vendor talk about how hard the streets have made him, with daily harassment from the cops that result in $250-$300 tickets, it kind of makes me want to pay the $3. (Although I still probably won’t.)  [Uncle Ayman’s Hot Dog Stand via Grub Street]

Photo courtesy of AntyDiluvian