Midtown Lunch

In what may ultimately prove to be one of the tastiest shark-jumping moments in the high-end street food trend, fancy Italian restaurant Mia Dona (on 58th St btw. 2+3rd) has entered the fray. As reported last week, “Donatella’s Meatball Wagon” opened for business on Friday, and will be serving lunch Monday through Friday from a shiny red cart in front of the restaurant from Noon to 2pm.

Fad or not, meatballs are God’s food and I had to have it, even if it meant delving into the snootiest corner of midtown to get them. Details and photos after the jump.

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Chorillana from Valparaiso. I wonder what the Barros Luco version looks like.

More great news for Chilean food fans!  Barros Luco (on 52nd and 2nd) has started serving chorillana, a Valparaiso specialty featuring french fries topped with steak, grilled onions, and a fried egg.  Even in Chile it’s meant to be shared, so it’s only fitting that they offer the dish for 2 ($9.89) or for 4 ($14.99). You can also get it as a sandwich, with the fries on the side, for $8.50.  Now all they need is to offer mote con huesillos and Midtown will have everything I asked for back in 2008.  UPDATE: Big time fail.  Barros Luco just contacted us to say that the chorillana is only available for dinner, after 5pm.  Let me be the first to say- THAT BLOWS.

Related:
Chilean Lunch: Chorrillana, Completos, Empanadas, & Seafood From My Vacation Last Week

Chicago based Argo Tea (aka the Starbucks of tea), will soon open in Columbus Circle! (On Broadway btw. 58+59th) Their first NY location opened some months ago in the Flatiron building and, I have to admit, I’ve been sneaking out of Midtown on occasion to freeload on wifi while nursing chai tea there. If you hate coffee/love tea there is a wide variety…  hot and iced tea, loose tea, tea pots, plus prepared foods like sandwiches, salads, and pastries. A lot of people won’t like the idea of another beverage chain taking over NYC street corners, but I can’t help but love them. Anyway, Grom is opening soon too right next door. And what better way to wash down delicious gelato than some delicious tea?

Remember how we told you that Metro Marche in Port Authority was going to become a Heartland Brewery? Well, it’s finally open! I know what you’re thinking: “Isn’t there a Heartland Brewery in Times Square… just two blocks away?” Yes, there is. But that one is for people who like drinking middling beer and eating overpriced pub food with tourists. This location is for those who like suburbanites, homeless people, and exhaust fumes! Get an inside look at the new space, and their menu here.

Photo Courtesy of Ramen & Friends

• Onya has a springtime plum udon special [Ramen & Friends]
• Is it possible K! Pizzacone could be getting better? [I Dream of Pizza]
• The menu for Shake Shack Midtown is up, and we’re getting a pretzel concrete! [Eater]
• Interesting interview with the owner of Five Guys [Inc.]
• Another look at the newly opened Tri Tip Grill [Feast]
• People who live in NYC actually eat at the ESPN Zone? Life With Food and Drink]

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

Blue Ruin turns 1 years old today. Yes, the big one-o has finally come around and Ruin has made it through the beginners trials of establishing a new bar and clientele in Hells Kitchen. It is a great moment for a saloon that was spawned from the dual efforts of Michele Gascoigne and Kal Narvilas, both veteran captains of previous NYC watering holes. The g-strings still hang off the brass lighting fixtures and the bartenders still captivate the patrons with a dominatrix’s touch that includes a hot lipped fire breather. Ruin will be pouring loaded libations all night and claims that anyone who shows up wearing only a diaper gets free drinks on the house.

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