Midtown Lunch

I was always hoping the “Connections” section of the Midtown Lunch forums would work this way… Ladies of Midtown Lunch, were any of you at the Tim Hortons on 50th & 7th Ave. yesterday morning?  There’s a guy who might be looking for you in the forums:

I was in Tim Horton’s this morning —the 50th and 7th location — and was surprised by the very long line. Fortunately, I met a really cool girl in line and we had a laugh about how we were both “office designees” picking up donuts and other items for our colleagues. Stupidly, I did not ask for her number, so if she’s reading this…may I have another chance?

Oh, and speaking of Tim Hortons, I finally got my iced cappuccino yesterday afternoon!

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Sad news in the New York Times yesterday: Harry Edelstein, owner of Cafe Edison (on 47th btw. B’way+8th), passed away on Monday at the age of 91.  The ML fave for matzoh ball soup, borscht, blintzes, and potato pancakes was closed yesterday for his funeral (and will be closed during lunch today for a movie shoot.) Today, we’ll pour out a little of our Dr. Brown’s cream soda in his honor…

Related:
Celebrate the New Year at Cafe Edison

Gyro II (on 7th Ave. btw. 33+34th)

You all know that Midtown Lunch has a love affair with the gyro, whether being served chopped up as the “lamb” portion of a halal platter, or patiently cooked and sliced correctly to be served in a real gyro (like they do at the Famous Chicken Place or at Uncle Nick’s on 9th Ave.)  But ever wonder about the origin of this mystery meat on a spit?  If you answered yes, than you have to read the gyro article in this morning’s food section of the New York Times. It traces the first mass produced gyro to a Jewish (?!?) owned business in Chicago, and even has a video of the gyro making process, which “starts with boxes of raw beef and lamb trimmings, and ends with what looks like oversized Popsicles the shade of a Band-Aid.”  I even recognized Gyro II (on 7th Ave. btw. 33+34th) as the footage they used at the very beginning of the video! (Although if you are a little squeamish when it comes to raw meat, I would skip the video.  It’s not the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen.)  Check it out>>

Related:
Is Gyro II The Best Gyro Midtown Has to Offer?
Uncle Nick’s and Poseidon Bakery Make 9th Ave the Ultimate Greek Lunch Spot

It turns out the Trini Paki Boys cart (on 43rd and 6th) is not serving their biriyani every single day. This week it’s been a bit more sporadic. Luckily tomorrow is Thursday and you can always count on the biriyani on Thursdays…

Related:
The Hidden Delicious Mysteries of the Trini-Paki Boys Cart
Trini Paki Boys Cart May Serve Biryani Every Day This Week

I fully admit that my Midtown Lunch pricing rules have always been a little vague. Under $10 is the rule, but does that mean with or without tax? Does it have to include a drink? And how much food do you have to get for your $10? The answer to all those questions is… uh… maybe? The truth is, it’s all about feel. You could easily spend over $10 at many of the places that are written about on this site, and there are places I refuse to write about that have items under $10. Sometimes it just comes down to instinct.

My original instinct about HB Burger, the newish Heartland Brewery owned burger spot on 43rd btw. B’way+6th, was thumbs down. Even though their burgers are well under $10 (in fact, they boast that everything on their menu is less than $9), it is a sit down restaurant where a burger *and* fries will cost you well over $10. I will occasionally write about sit down restaurants on ML, but the bar is much higher for those places, and the ideal Midtown Lunch spot is a place where take out is the norm or they have a free seating area for once you get your food at a counter. Heartland Brewery (and by transitive property HB Burger) is not one of those places. In fact, it’s the kind of place this blog was created to combat: the slightly-overpriced-for-what-you-get, tourist magnet, that might also appeal to the type of Midtown worker who doesn’t want to walk the extra few blocks for something more interesting.

But in the end taste and price can go along way to help me ignore a bunch of tourists, so when HB Burger decided to offer that $9.95 Midtown Lunch special for one this week only– I figured it couldn’t hurt to give it a try. It’s only fair.

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Here we go again! Remember when Yushi (on 47th btw. Park+Lex) first launched their lunchtime conveyor belt, and gave away free lunch to a few lucky Midtown Lunchers? Well now that they’ve reconfigured their conveyor belt to be completely refrigerated they want to give free food away to ten more Midtown Lunch’ers. To win, all you have to do is comment below with the reasons why you should be chosen. 10 winners will be randomly selected in a drawing this Friday (7/17) at 3pm, and will get to have lunch at Yushi’s new conveyor belt one day next week with a friend. (Each winner and their guest will get a free drink and any four plates off the conveyor belt- probably because the previous winners pigged out too much!) Good luck! (No matter how many times you comment, your name will only be entered once in the drawing.)