Midtown Lunch

So it looks like Eliana, the $1 hot dog lady on the NW corner of 43rd and 6th, has survived the onslaught. You might remember that she was part of the crew of carts that got kicked out of that spot by the cops awhile back for parking on a sidewalk that was supposedly too narrow to be a legal vending spot for carts. She even had her cart confiscated, despite the fact that later measurements clearly showed that the sidewalk was the proper width. The other two carts (which included the 3rd El Rey del Sabor cart) decided to cut their losses and set up on the NE corner of 43rd and 6th. Eliana tried that for a bit but, after working the opposite corner for many years without issue, she was eager to return. Thankfully the Street Vendor Project (which hosts the Vendy Awards every year) stepped in and not only helped her get her cart back but also helped deflect any other obstacles to her returning to her original corner.

It looks like she’s there for good again (on the NW corner of 43rd and 6th), and last week I decided to swing by and actually try one of these $1 hot dogs.

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I fully admit that my Midtown Lunch pricing rules have always been a little vague. Under $10 is the rule, but does that mean with or without tax? Does it have to include a drink? And how much food do you have to get for your $10? The answer to all those questions is… uh… maybe? The truth is, it’s all about feel. You could easily spend over $10 at many of the places that are written about on this site, and there are places I refuse to write about that have items under $10. Sometimes it just comes down to instinct.

My original instinct about HB Burger, the newish Heartland Brewery owned burger spot on 43rd btw. B’way+6th, was thumbs down. Even though their burgers are well under $10 (in fact, they boast that everything on their menu is less than $9), it is a sit down restaurant where a burger *and* fries will cost you well over $10. I will occasionally write about sit down restaurants on ML, but the bar is much higher for those places, and the ideal Midtown Lunch spot is a place where take out is the norm or they have a free seating area for once you get your food at a counter. Heartland Brewery (and by transitive property HB Burger) is not one of those places. In fact, it’s the kind of place this blog was created to combat: the slightly-overpriced-for-what-you-get, tourist magnet, that might also appeal to the type of Midtown worker who doesn’t want to walk the extra few blocks for something more interesting.

But in the end taste and price can go along way to help me ignore a bunch of tourists, so when HB Burger decided to offer that $9.95 Midtown Lunch special for one this week only– I figured it couldn’t hurt to give it a try. It’s only fair.

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Both Grub Street and TONY’s Feed Blog give you a first look at the newly opened HB Burger (on 43rd btw. B’way+6th) in the old Spanky’s BBQ space.  The owner brags that “nothing on the menu tops $9″ (good, I guess), and they have sauteed onions (for free), tator tots, homemade sodas, and milkshakes with liquor in them (also good).  But I just can’t get excited about a burger place that is owned by the Heartland Brewery. Is that wrong?  (Admittedly I’m still mad about the onion ring incident.) Plus, items individually may cost under $9, but a burger, fries, and a drink will altogether cost you quite a bit more.  Any ML early adopters willing to take one for the team, and let us know how this place is?  Either that, or we’ll just wait for A Hamburger Today to weigh in. (I’m pretty sure they are legally obligated to go to all of these places…)

HB Burger, 127 W 43rd St. (btw. B’way+6th), 212-575-5848