Midtown Lunch

Last week, perennial ML favorites, Tri Tip grill (in the Rock Center concourse), introduced a new burrito menu item. A chicken burrito will cost you $7.99, but for an additional dollar one can substitute tri-tip steak. Personally I’m a big fan of the tri-tip steak sandwiches, and the transition to Tex Mex is a welcome menu addendum. However, given the format of the burrito, it’s impossible not to draw parallels to that other chain burrito joint… the restaurant that shall not be named… the ‘C-word’. So how does the Tri-Tip burrito stack up?

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Thanks to everyone who tipped us off to this one (including this post in the forums.)  Chiyoda Sushi, the upscale portion of the Japanese holy trinity on 41st btw. Mad+5th (along with Cafe Zaiya & Yagura), has closed.  As of Friday there were some serious renovations going on, and a letter posted on the door said that the restaurant will reopen as Mai Cuisine on September 2nd, “providing all-natural sushi and Japanese cuisine, with the highest quality ingredients.” Uh… sounds a lot like Chiyoda if you ask us!

Find out what’s not on the sign after the jump.

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Dutch ovens are always a good sign. Photo courtesy of Grub Street.

• “Peter’s Since 1969” will serve rotisserie chicken, slow cooked pork, short ribs, and stew on 9th Ave. starting this weekend. Out of bounds, but could be good… [Grub Street]
• Our dream for a $10 Anthos lamb burger comes to an end [Eater]
• Flatiron Lunchers should be looking forward to Eataly! [Eater;SE;Gothamist;Feed Blog]
• This blogger found the pork and lamb burgers at 4Food to be moist and tasty… [High Low Food Drink]
• … this one?  Not so much. [Wandering Eater]

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so 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.

Ever heard of a bar called Hickey’s? No? It’s not a seedy pick up joint for promiscuous playboys, quite the opposite in fact. Hickey’s happens to be a 43 year old pub that has managed to be one of the few dive bars in midtown that has yet to be overtaken with hipsters and pretentious martini sippers looking for an ironic new hangout. Hickey’s has no “scene” and is not the place to take a group of friends to party… most come here to forget. It is a hide away and a distraction. The walls are lined with portraits of pugilists, baseball players and Rangers hockey memorabilia. Hickey’s is a haven from the bright bustling crowds of Broadway for the cirrhosis addled looking for a drink.

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The two Midtown locations of Junior’s have decided to shake up their quietly reliable existences by recently adding cupcakes to the menu (apparently getting you fat off their cheesecake was not enough!) The five different flavors-chocolate/chocolate, chocolate with cream center, red velvet, peanut butter cup, and vanilla/vanilla-in honor of their 60th Anniversary, are all just under $4, and available in the Grand Central Terminal and on 44th btw. B’way+8th. I hit up the Grand Central locale when four of the five were available, decided on the Reese’s Peanut Butter one ($3.95) and found the cake quite enjoyable.  It was fresh and moist, but a bit sweet on the frosting (then again, what brand-name bakery doesn’t add too much sugar?!) For the GCT cupcake loving commuters Junior’s might actually be more worthy of your money than the other cupcake places… although we still don’t quite understand why they’re not doing a cheesecake cupcake!

BLTs are in season at ‘wichcraft, but as the heirloom tomatoes begin disappearing from the green markets, so to will these sandwiches disappear from the ‘wichcraft menu. My partner in crime, Blondie, is a huge fan of the ‘wichcraft BLT–in fact she’s the one who reminded me that they were available–but despite her tummy rumble inducing post about them from two summers ago, I haven’t had a chance to try their BLT until this year. Could ‘wichcraft’s sandwich possibly stand up to expectations?

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