Midtown Lunch

Schnitzel & Things potato salad would be perfect this wknd. Photo by PhudeNYC

• Want to make Schnitel & Things’ potato salad? Here’s a recipe [Vendr.TV]
• L.A.’s Grill ‘Em All Truck will be the Flatiron on Saturday [Noise Creep via AHT]
• As the weather gets hotter, chaat gets more appealing [Bionic Bites]
• The broth is the best part about Boi Noodles [Ramen & Friends]
• Your first look at Totto Ramen [Feed Blog]
• Surprise!  There are a ton of calories in Five Guys [Feast NY]
• Writer discovers the awesomeness of haloumi at Macchiato Espresso Bar [SENY]
• Last chance for early bird Vendy Tix is this weekend [Vendys via CCG]
• For those who are inexplicably interested in BK’s new ribs… [Fork in the Road]
• R.I.P. Bare Elegance [Grub Street]

This just in… the 2 Bros. on 46th btw. 5+6th opened last night.  What a better way to kick off Memorial Day Weekend than with a couple slices of $1 pizza- right?

Now that Downtown has its very own section of the site, what are we going to post on Fridays at 10am? Answer… how about a new column devoted to those lunches just south of the ML boundaries. Every week we’ll post about a lunch in Murray Hill south, Gramercy, Flatiron, and everything in between… or as we’ll call it from now on: Flatiron Lunch.

I must have passed Sagaponack dozens of times while bouncing around the camera shops and photo labs of the Flatiron District, but I never really considered it for lunch. It certainly doesn’t immediately seem like a Midtown Lunch. I mean, look at it… there’s a chandelier. It’s fancy. I’m a longtime fan of Pearl Oyster Bar for a downtown seafood splurge and BLT Fish is just a couple blocks away- in other words, I have fancy seafood covered.

I grabbed a menu anyway, just to see what they’ve got and was pleasantly surprised. Turns out that there are more ML priced options than you’d expect. Even better, those options go beyond the seafood rolls, offering an interesting selection of tacos, including a Korean Barbecue taco. Um, what??

Yes, really. Read about it after the jump.

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• “Whopper Bar” coming soon to Midtown [Midtown Eating]
• How do you get rid of gyro stains? [Eating in Other Areas of NYC]
• Sounds like the Soup Nazi will be back within a month [Midtown Eating]
• Business lunch ideas for people who don’t want to bankrupt the company they work for [Midtown Eating]
• Two chickens, one cup is very upsetting [Midtown Eating]

This Hot Dog Crawl by Jets Tight End Dustin Keller caught our eye recently. It started with a terrible snap-less wiener at a “hot dog stand on the corner of 39th and 8th called Sabrett” before moving on to Nathan’s and then Hallo Berlin (?) which is strange since they’ve been M.I.A. for months.  Excited by the report we rushed over to 54th and 5th today, but no Hallo Berlin.  Maybe this food tour was done last year?   Who knows… but we’re still holding out hope that the famous sausage cart is not gone forever.

Related:
Is the Hallo Berlin Cart Returning This Fall?

If I say 5th Avenue Empire Cafe… you say… wha?! Exactly. Where is that? You could walk up and down fifth avenue and never see this restaurant. They have a banner outside on the sidewalk but it fails to mention the name. What’s more strange and awesome about this place (and certainly has contributed to its anonymity) is that it’s in a place where most Midtown Lunchers would never visit… a touristy souvenir shop. Beneath the shadows of the Empire State Building on 5th Ave btw. 33+34th, sits a little souvenir store that would be like any other… except they have a restaurant on the second floor. Of course, it’s a Chinese restaurant. With bubble tea! And General Tso’s chicken…

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