Midtown Lunch

Time Out New York’s Cheap Eats issue hits the newsstands today, and in case you weren’t sure that it’s meant to compete with the New York Magazine cheap eats issue it kicks off with this message from the Editor: “A certain other Cheap Eats issue this week features the foods of New York, but comes with a punch line: “all* for under $25.” And then at the asterisk: “*Okay, almost all.” $25? Cheap? Last time we checked, a $16 sandwich from Le Cirque (“as God intended, with a fine glass of the best Meursault”) is not cheap.” (I love how everyone is picking on the sandwich from Le Cirque.) Just like Midtown Lunch, everything in the Time Out NY issue is under $10, and unlike NYMag they’ve listed a decent number of Midtown Lunch options.

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If you’re not sick of the whole Tim Horton’s thing yet, read on! (If you are than clearly you haven’t tried their iced cappuccino, which I probably should have explained is more like a frappe or icy milkshake than a straight up coffee drink.)  Unscientific polls were conducted all over Midtown yesterday, pitting timbits (Tim Hortons’ version of the doughnut hole) against Dunkin Donuts’ munchkins- and the results were mixed.  The New York Daily News scored it 5 to 4 in favor of Tim Hortons, while TONY’s feed blog had it 11 to 5 (!) in favor of the almighty munchkin.  Gothamist decided against polling, and just declared the timbit the winner.

So that solves the “timbit” mystery, but what’s all this about “double double”?

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Speaking of street vendor wars, two ML commenters pointed me towards these two articles.  Last week AMNY posted this story about how Mister Softee is trying to crack down on all the imitators (trucks with names like “Mister Soft, Mister Soft Freeze and Mr. Softee”.)  And for those who thought vendors were only limited to those selling unhealthy snacks, NYT’s City Room Blog has this report about two feuding fruit stands in Hell’s Kitchen. And from the sounds of it, they have more than each other to contend with.  The Food Emporium they are parked in front of wants both of them gone.

Every Tuesday I turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Jessica, a Midtown sales/marketing lunch’er who can cook a meal on the streets of NYC for under $12.

Name: Jessica Hartley

Age: 26

Occupation: Sales Development/Marketing (I also have a blog called Hartley Confections, and I’ll be starring in a webisode called the $12 Challenge on Food Network’s new blog, Food 2 in the next few months. Essentially its a cooking and dating show where you compete to win a date with a foodie by using your culinary skills to prepare a fabulous meal given $12, two hours and the new york city streets as your kitchen.)

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Midtown East

Favorite Kind of Food: Hamburgers, Lasagna, & Mexican Food

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Korean

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Gourmet 53 (on 53rd & 3rd) for their salad assortments. You get a salad, homemade pita chips, & a cookie for $5.50. I also like Zarela’s for special occassions. It’s my favorite Mexican restaurant in the city! Plus Asian Station (on 52nd btw. Lex+3rd), PJ Clarke’s (on 3rd & 55th), Thai 51 (on 51st btw. 2+3rd), and Yama 49 (on 49th & 2nd.)

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Ever since the Famous Halal Guys (on 53rd and 6th) opened a third cart (on the SW corner of 53rd & 7th) it has always been the Midtown Lunch position that the food was exactly the same.  Well Lunch’er “Sadia” says that is not the case anymore:

“I used to visit the guys on 53rd and 7th a lot because their food was actually the same as the real famous guys’ food. I like to be believe I am a connoisseur when it comes to halal carts around the city, so I do believe I can tell the famous guys from non famous ones, similar packaging or not. The last two times that I went however there seems to be a different person serving the food and it does not taste the same.”

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I don’t know about you guys, but one of my favorite parts of that “Turf War at the Hot Dog Cart” article in the New York Times a few weeks back (the one about the infighting between street vendors) was the super cool Elwood Smith cartoon of all the fighting carts. I feel like it sums up so much of what’s going on in the Midtown Lunch world of street carts… but in a fun way that I thought would look awesome on my wall. In fact, I emailed the artist to see if he was selling prints, and he is! For just $50 you can actually own your own copy of the piece (it’s 12.25 x 9″).

Elwood is a really well known humorous illustrator, whose work you might recognize from Time, Newsweek, the New York Times, and Wall Street Journal. You can read more about the cartoon on his blog at Dawger.  And for information on how to purchase a print email  info@elwoodsmith.com (I think I’m going to put mine in my kid‘s room.  Is that wrong?)

Related:
NYT Cartoon Begs the Question: Is There a “Clam Roll” Cart in NYC?
New York Times Turns Giant Eye Towards the Street Vendor Issue