PROFILE: Midtown Lunch’er “Eric”

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 Eric, a financial analyst who loves Mexican food and is looking for a decent Philly cheesesteak.

Name: Eric

Age: 33

Occupation: Financial Analyst

Where in Midtown do you Work?: 52nd & Lex, where I do my best to make spreadsheets look pretty.

Favorite Kind of Food: Raw tuna, the super amazing cheese used on the tortas at El Rey del Sabor, and Mexican/Latin food in general. That being said, I’ll eat pretty much anything.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Blue cheese, cinnamon, dessert. Why would I waste room on dessert when I can have more meat?

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: El Rey del Sabor for their amazing tortas (spicy pork is my fave). Hallo Berlin (on 54th and 5th) – the cart is great but ever so slow, so I usually bite the bullet and get delivery. Try the Brat Burger! Barros Luco (on 52nd & 2nd) for the baked empanada. The BL Ace is definitely a top choice as well. Sophie’s Cuban, for roast pork/steak/grilled chicken platters, and La Bellezza for the grilled chicken parm, are both staples. You just can’t argue with getting nearly 2 lbs. of food for under $10. Halal – I LOVE the lamb over rice at Kwik Meal (on 45th and 6th). Other regular spots include Uncle Gussy on 51st and Park (good white sauce) and XPL on Park and 48th (best quality generic gyro meat). And I’ve been digging the lobster rolls over at Urban Lobster shack (in the basement food court on 3rd btw. 49+50th), although I have to take my time with those or they are gone in 2 bites.

“Go-To” Lunch Place You and Your Coworkers Eat at Too Often? El Rey del Sabor and Barros Luco are our most common lunches these days, but lack of time will often take us up the block to Asian Station for reasonably priced sushi and XPL for decent halal. I used to go to Rafiqi’s all the time before I learned about the glory that is Kwik Meal (thanks MT Lunch!)

Place(s) you discovered thanks to Midtown Lunch? Pretty much all of my lunching options are from Midtown Lunch …I first discovered El Rey on 60th and I have been addicted ever since. I need to discover more happy hours as the place(s) we tend to go to are way too high brow for me.

If you could work anywhere (just because of the lunch) where would it be and why? I would go with southern California, not so much LA, maybe San Diego. I love tuna and Mexican food – I could literally eat either for every meal.

Is there anything you’d like to ask the Midtown Lunch readers? I used to love 99 Miles to Philly’s cheesesteaks; its demise has put me in the pits. Does anyone know of a good cheesesteak spot in Midtown?

Carl’s (on 3rd and 35th) is the most obvious spot, but that’s a bit far for you. Since you love El Rey del Sabor so much, have you tried their “Mexican Cheesesteak”. I don’t think it’s on the menu anymore, but I’m sure they’ll make it for you if you ask!

Got a recommendation for Eric? Put it in the comments. And as always, if you would like to be next week’s Profiled: Midtown Lunch’er (or know somebody you’d like to nominate), email editor@midtownlunch.com.

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