Midtown Lunch

Friday, March 25 marks International Wafel Day and once again Wafels & Dinges will offer a FREE WAFEL to customers “fully dressed in our Belgian tri-color on Friday, March 25.” That’s black, yellow, and red. This is seriously upping the ante from last year when you only needed to wear yellow. No word on if a black, yellow and red post it note tie will cut it (though I’m guessing not with the “fully dressed” requirement.) Freeloaders, check your closets!

Yesterday, Schnitzel & Things finally became a bonafide brick-and-mortar (3rd btw 45th+46th), and the line was out the door. The new space allows for a larger menu, a much faster line, and cookies! Though I wasn’t there as early as the third customer, Donny, I did make it over before the lunch rush to get my schnitz on.

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When Roll and Go (38th and 8th) opened a few months ago, it seemed like the kind of place I usually avoid. I’m of the opinion that if you’re serving shawarma and pizza alongside made-to-order sushi rolls, chances are none of it is all that good. Jack of a few trades, master of none. And if adding $1 pizza to your menu months after you open is an indication that business isn’t going so great, than clearly I’m not the only one who isn’t interested in $5.45 tuna rolls. In a move clearly meant to poach business from compete with the 2 Bros. across the street, Roll and Go has by started selling $1 slices of pizza. Can they make a dent in the $1 pizza empire’s business? Only time will tell (we doubt it).

Related:
Pizza Price Wars Heat Up As Ray’s Intros 75 Cent Slice

• You should still be able to score the $20 tri tip tuesday deal [Midtown Eating]
• The newly opened CoCo bubble tea place is “nifty” [Midtown Eating]
• Anybody heard of Cafe Today? Opening on 53rd btw. Park+Mad [Midtown Eating]
• Tonic is a great place for a March Madness lunch [Midtown Eating]

The grass is always greener? Earlier today Schnitzel & Things, the super popular schnitzel mobile that spends a lot of time in Midtown, became the latest food truck to open a brick and mortar storefront (on 3rd Ave. btw. 45+46th). But the trend is going in the opposite direction as well… we just got word that Crisp, the unique falafel chain with two locations in Midtown (and one Downtown), will be launching its very own food truck next month. “Crisp on Wheels” will offer falafel “handbag” sandwiches, hummus bowls and Amanzi teas, and plans to hit the streets on April 4th. The plan is too soft open in areas like Soho and the Upper East Side, before trying to hit up the mean streets of Midtown (always a good plan) and, naturally, you can track their progress via Twitter and Facebook. Unlike schnitzel or Korean tacos, there isn’t really a shortage of good falafel sandwiches in New York City, but the move from brick and mortar to food truck seems to have worked for Taim…

Related:
Crisp: Abomination… Or One of the Best Falafel in the City

Every Tuesday we 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 Patrick, an eggplant loving improv teacher who wishes he were in Sicily.

Name: Patrick

Age: 27

Occupation: Comedian and improv teacher at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre. (And check me out in the webseries Cooking for One.)

Where in Midtown do you Work?: All over midtown, but usually in the 30s around 7th and 8th Aves.

Favorite Kind of Food: I get really excited for just about every kind of cuisine. Eggplant is probably my favorite trans-cuisinental ingredient. Baingan bartha, baba ghanoush, roasted in olive oil with a little salt and pepper, doused in miso paste, or hidden under a blanket of melted cheese and tomato sauce–I love it all. Oh, and I love pickles and coincidentally play a pickler in the latest episode of Cooking for One at cookingforone.tv which you should check out.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Anything with too much cilantro, raw onion or garlic. What are you trying to hide? Moderation, please! Also, inedible garnish confuses me.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: There’s a magnet in my stomach that is drawn to Mooncake Foods (the one on 30th between 7th and 8th). I’ve tried and enjoyed just about everything on the menu, but I go back to their buckwheat noodle salad with chicken 4 times out of 5. The ginger cilantro pesto is…well just trying to think of the right adjective made my stomach gurgle. I also eat at Schnipper’s (on 41st and 8th) like it’s a part time job. For a while they had a fish sandwich special that I hope they bring back. The mac & joe is another favorite dish and not nearly as gas-inducing as you’d expect. The Schnipper’s Mish Mosh shames the chopped salads you get at generic delis. Everyone who works there is so lovely and the people watching is great.

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Third schnitz off the line! Featuring the all new sweet potato fries (!) and cranberry compote condiment

On the ML Twitter Tracker today… Frites N Meats is on 55th btw. Lex+3rd, Papa Perrone is on 55th btw. Mad+Park, Mexicue is on 45th and 6th, Rickshaw is on 52nd and Lex and 40th and 8th, Wafels & Dinges is on 52nd btw. Lex+3rd, and the Schnitzel and Things Truck is off the street today because their storefront (on 3rd Ave. btw. 45+46th) is finally opening!  A big hearty congrats to Oleg and the Crew…