Midtown Lunch

New places love having soft openings over holiday weekends, but I swung by the new Shake Shack (on 8th Ave. and 44th) this morning, and there’s nothing to indicate they’re opening today. The same signs about training and the menu with “two weeks.” Not much going on inside either. There were some guys working on the lights in the signs, they had no idea when it was opening. We’ll keep watching…

After two months in a row of serving their soft crab shell crab sandwich, Cer Te (on 55th btw. 5+6th) is going back to brand new for their July sandwich of the month.  Meet the Uncle Sammie: Pulled BBQ Freebird Chicken, Grilled Local Corn, Thinly Sliced Farmers Green Beans and Penn-Dutch Bacon-Potato Purée ($8.95). Sounds pretty good… and there’s a twist!  It will also be available by the slice ($3.25) at Pizza by Cer Te (on 56th btw. Park+Lex).  You can try both starting today, and early adopters- let us know how it is in the comments.

Paris Baguette, a huge worldwide Korean bakery chain, will be opening their first Manhattan branch on 32nd btw. B’way+5th. They do serve sandwiches, but the big deal appears to be about the breads and pastries. The first branches to open in the states were in California (of course), where it got raves from yelpers, chowhounders and bloggers alike.

I had never heard of it until seeing the sign, but it turns out that there is one branch in Queens and two in New Jersey. Anyone been to any of the local branches? What are we in for?

If this doesn’t put you in the mood for the 4th, nothing will. Photo by FiM

• F&W’s Dana Cowin lunches at the bookstore outlet of Cafe Zaiya [Grub Street]
• ‘wichcraft’s breakfast sandwich is just aiight [SENY]
• Top 7 Cabbie Eats include some ML classics [Taxi Gourmet]
• Fay Da’s “red bean ice” is meh [Food in Mouth]
• There is something about holiday weekends that new restaurants love… Shake Shack might open on Tuesday [Eater]

A winner has been chosen in the contest to name Miss Softee’s new ice cream truck, and allow us to be the firsts to say… AMAZING.   Congrats to Lunch’er “Ender” for coming up with that one, for his trouble he wins a whole month of free soft serve.  (If you entered, there is no shame is losing to that name.)  There are consolation prizes though… whoever came up with “Penelope” “Frozen Franny”  “The Miss Adventurer” and “Dolly” will get free ice cream for a week starting on Monday.

Like some of you, I’ve taken off to enjoy the 4th July weekend. However, in some ML Happy Hour news Luncher Adam sent this tip: Darbar Grill, the Indian buffet on 55th btw. Lex+3rd, now has a free appetizer and $4 beer special. Let’s just hope it’s better than Spice Fusion’s.

In April, we mentioned that Hello Pasta, the self-professed “Starbucks of pasta” wannabe, would be opening this summer. Well, the day has come! Next Wednesday, the first of ten planned storefronts will open on Lex btw. 54+55th while the others will open over the next four months. Sure, we’re all a little skeptical of empire builders (especially those involving weird new fast food concepts), but even we’ll be hard pressed to resist the 8coupons deal on Thursday that gets you any pasta with any sauce for just 88 cents!

I’m not sure if any Midtown Lunch’ers still eat at Variety Cafe, the big generic deli on 48th (btw. 5th and 6th), considering its rather odious presence on this site over the years. On my way to lunch yesterday, however, I noticed that they are celebrating their 5th Anniversary by slashing the price on their hot and cold buffet from $7.49/lb to $5.99/lb (Monday-Friday). Unfortunately, it doesn’t apply to their “salad bar for fat people,” and you know, there’s the whole DOH thing to worry about. I stopped in just to see what they had to offer, and besides the usual stuff all these delis have, there were some shrimp stuffed mushrooms. Proceed, if you must, but do so with caution.