Midtown Lunch

• Grand Central Oyster Bar disappoints someone from New Orleans.  Big Surprise.  [Andre Mika]
• Free Starbucks Day turns ugly for one guy with a Camera [Gridskipper]
• Deathwatch: Russian Tea Room [Eater]
• A new Midtown Moroccan Oasis [Rare Daily]
• No Shamrock shakes for Midtown… or anywhere in NYC for that matter [Daily News]

That’s it for this week… next week, a new Indian Cart (right next to the old Indian Cart), more Bulgogi Cart news, a Chinese place that makes you feel like you’re eating in a Foreign Country, and (hopefully) sausage w/ zucchini fries!  Have a nice weekend…

A new Mandler’s location (hopefully) opening next week March 19th on 8th Ave. btw. 39th & 40th.  Posted to the Midtown Lunch Flickr Photo Group by joshbousel

MIDTOWN LINKS:

• Two of the best PB&J’s are in Midtown [NYMag]
• More ABP’s closed in Midtown [Eater]
• Another fancy Greek place opens in Midtown [Restaurant Girl]
• Italian & Japanese together at last (?!?!)… in Midtown [TONY]

Next week on MidtownLunch…. free food at the new Sophie’s Cuban (56th btw. 5+6th) on Wednesday, free coffee at Starbucks on Thursday, and more!  Have a good weekend…

Every week I call, and the opening date for the new Sophie’s Cuban on 56th btw. 5+6th changes… so yesterday I went down to the actual location.

Looks like they are ready to go.  The tables for the seating area in the back are supposedly getting in today.  PLUS I was told the “Official” opening date is going to be Wednesday, March 14th AND there will be free food!!!  That’s right.  Mark it on your calendars.  All the food is free at the Sophie’s Cuban grand opening, a week from Wednesday.

I love free food days in Midtown.  You get to see just how long people in suits (who probably make six figures a year) are willing to wait for a free $8 lunch.  Fun fun! 

Acqua Pazza closes, Rats in an ABP, Steak in a strip club, and Fatburger opening in Midtown (is Baja Fresh Next???).  All that and more after the jump… Read more »

Yesterday I decided to bring my lunch to work.  (Oh, the horror!)  I know, I’m a traitor… but I’ve gotta do it.  A few days a week, I attempt to eat healthier and save a little money by bringing food from home.  Usually it’s a salami sandwich, or peanut butter and jelly (cute, right?)… yesterday, it was some leftover lamb stew that I had made for dinner on Tuesday night.  But you can’t eat stew without bread, so before I nuked that sucker, I went across the street to the Hidden Cosi to get a piece of their delcious, freshly baked bread.

Figuring it would cost a buck, I was shocked when I went to pay, and I was charged $2 (plus tax!!!)  For a piece of bread.  I figured it would cost a buck.  That makes sense, right?  No meat.  No cheese, or veggies.  Just a plain piece of bread.  The difference between $1 and $2 is not the end of the world- but I expected to pay a dollar. 

Now, there are a lot of reasons I shouldn’t mind paying Cosi $2 for a piece of bread… 

1. Their bread is awesome
2. It’s fresh out of the oven
3. It’s New York City.  Shit is expensive.  Deal with it.

But I’ve got one reason Cosi shoudn’t charge me $2 whole bucks for a plain piece of bread:

That’s right.  They give it away for free while you wait online!!!  Granted it’s only a piece, but imagine how much bread they give away every minute they’re open.  Everyone on line takes a piece (it’s part of the fun of eating at Cosi).  Then of course there’s that lady who is real slow in line so she can finish the first piece she took quick enough to take a second piece before the bowl is behind her.  And my favorite- the guy who takes a piece AFTER he’s already eaten his sandwich and is on the way out (classy!). 

But my real point is this…  don’t be greedy Cosi.  You could afford to charge just $1 for a piece of bread…  Why not let your customers feel like their getting a bargain.

And then I realized it…  they don’t want you to buy a piece of bread.  Not for a buck.  Not for $2.  If they could charge $5, they probably would.  They want you to buy their $8 sandwiches.  This is their worst nightmare:

Sell bread for a buck, and you’ll have guys like me- buying the bread and taking it back to their desk to enjoy with something they brought from home.  The best part of Cosi, without having to pay $8 for a whole sandwich.  Hell, I could even buy the bread, and build my own sandwich at my desk with turkey I bring from home.  Now that’s a brilliant idea.  I’m onto you Cosi… consider yourself warned (I don’t even know what that means.)

The best Midtown Soups, free food at work, the loss of two fancy Midtown spots & a preview of next week’s posts- after the jump… Read more »

I don’t usually go West of 8th Ave. (for Midtown Lunch purposes), but there was some pretty nice looking food porn from 9th Ave. posted to the Midtown Lunch Flickr Photo Group this week…

Chicken Parm from Manganaro’s Hero Boy (9th Ave. btw. 37+38th).  Photo courtesy of joshbousel.  I tend to think the old school Managanaro’s is better than the newer “Hero Boy” next door, but this sandwich looks pretty tasty.Josh also hit up the Market Cafe on the same block (9th Ave. btw. 37+38th), and posted these tasty shots:

I’ve never been for lunch, but Market Cafe is definitely one of the better dinner values in the neighborhood.  Moving a little farther south, wendalicious gave us this awesome looking shot of goodies from the by the lb. buffet @ Woorijip, a fast food Korean grocery type place on 32nd (btw. B’way+5th)

Finally, with a week as cold as this, I gotta give you at least one shot of soup…

This one is a Lentil Soup from Digby’s on 52nd (btw. 5+6th), and is courtesy of 52projects.  Post your own lunch pictures (or check out other people’s pics) at the Midtown Lunch Flickr Photo Group.

Links to a Sukhadia Podcast, Ted’s Montana Grill gets compared to Bennigan’s, more Korean and Japanese madness, PLUS a sneak peak into next week’s posts… after the jump. Read more »

Got this great tip yesterday from Midtown Lunch’er “Sara” 

This space on 3rd Ave btw 45th and 46th is being made into some asian grill type restaurant called Kushi-Q.  The website, http://www.kushi-q.com/ has really nothing on it at all except a box… Some internet digging brought up the following:

“The fast-food seller of meat and vegetable skewers took space for its first New York location and inked a 15-year lease with a reported asking rent of $200 per square foot. The tenant, which uses a patented grilling system, operates stores throughout Asia and is expected to open as many as five new locations throughout Manhattan in the coming year. Locations being targeted include Midtown, Greenwich Village near NYU, and Times Square.”

I like meat!  I like vegetables!  I like meat and vegetables on sticks!

My response:

“Omg.  You must keep me updated.  Will you email when it opens?  So exciting.” 

Yes it’s true…  Meat on a stick makes me type like a 13 year old girl.  I went and snapped some pics… looks like it’s going to be fast food Yakitori.  More on this one as it develops.

A few more tidbits of info arrived via email this week:

According to Midtown Lunch’er “John M.”, Chiyoda Sushi has raised their prices: 

The avocado and salmon tartare used to be the hottest deal in midtown. Now it’s like $5.75, a pretty big hike that seems to be spread to most of their other wares as well. Protest! Protest! Looks like Yagura is going to start hopping a bit more.

That’s a bummer… although sushi may be one of those things that you don’t want to be TOO cheap.  I don’t know if Yagura is quite the replacement.  I think I might stick with Cafe Zaiya.

SOPHIE’S CUBAN UPDATE #47:  Phone call yesterday… The new 56th St. location is opening “at the end of February”.  **Sigh**

And finally… I got this email from Lunch’er “Larry A.” in reference to the buttery biscuit comment on my Popeye’s Post:

The main ingredient in the biscuit is lard.

Eh-  I’ll still eat ’em…

Koreatown, Ressie May’s, WNBC, Chipotle, Olympic Pita and more after the jump…

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Keep your comments and emails coming… they are the lifeblood of the site, and the way I find out about changes and additions to what’s going on with Midtown Lunch’ing. Sure I wander around aimlessly like a loser during lunchtime looking for my own stuff, but the emails and comments are huge in helping me cover more ground.  Here is some news to report based on some recent comments.  None of it has been confirmed with my own eyes, so if you have any corrections or additions feel free to comment:

According to Peggy on Tuesday, the Indian Fast Food Cart on 53rd & Park is back!  It had been missing for awhile… so if it is indeed back, we are happy to hear it.

This one comes third hand, but I got this comment from Janethepain about the Arang Korean/Sushi buffet on 32nd St. btw. B’way & 5th.

According to a friend of mine who was shut out last Friday, Arang no longer does buffet. It does, however, do 50% off hand rolls now. But if the sushi is anything like that at the buffet, it’s probably not worth a trip here. Sighh another cheap option gone for us fatsos.

A blow for us fatsos indeed!  Hopefully this one isn’t true… at $10, this was easily my favorite buffet in Midtown.

News about Bulgogi sandwiches, Sophie’s Cuban, Midtown Links about stuff you want to know about, and the end of week wrap up (which includes a hint about Monday’s bombshell post!!!!)… ALL AFTER THE JUMP-

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Apparently today is Australia Day (whatever the hell that means), so if you want to whoop it up Aussie style, the guys at Tuck Shop (on 49th btw. B’way & 8th) will be partying all day long from 12:30 to 8pm! (Despite what the sign above says, on my walk to work this morning I saw a new sign saying they won’t be opening until 12:30pm) They’ll be serving Australian beers (Coopers & Boags) and their delicious meat pies and sausage rolls, but the real treat appears to be the “Lammos”.  Short for Lammingtons, Lammos are an Aussie sponge cake, dipped in chocolate and covered in coconut.  Holy mackerel! Maybe today will be Aussie day for me too!

They’ll also have highlights from the Ashes on all day long.  For those who don’t know what that is (which I’m guessing is everyone born in this country), it’s a cricket tournament held every other year between Australia and England.  This year Australia destroyed England (they won all 5 test matches), so if you would like to re-live that event, the Tuck Shop is the place to be today!  You can go for lunch, or for after work beers and meat pies… they’ll be partying until 8pm.

More Midtown Info (in the form of links), plus the end of the week wrap up, and a preview of my new favorite Midtown burger, after the jump…

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Well, I know it’s only been a day- but I’m really disappointed no one has found my mysterious disappearing $1 Bulgogi Sandwich cart.  Please keep a look out for it.  I really do need to find this cart.  One thing yesterday’s post did do is get everyone into reporting about carts.  Here was one comment about a new French Cart from “Teen Wolf”:

“Parked at the SE corner of 54th St and Broadway is a large truck selling French food for cheap! $4 gets you a croque monsieur and a soda. You get your choice of turkey or ham pressed with melted cheese. For a dollar more you can get it with a fried egg on top (croque madame). I didn’t get a chance to try it myself, but the guy in the truck said this was his 3rd day and he plans on staying there. He mentioned that the parking laws were a little problematic though.”

(If you are interested in knowing what one of those things looks like, follow the links above to pics from roboppy, who spent the past three months in France.)  Definitely going to check that cart out.  There was also comments about two popular carts that have been missing for weeks.

On January 5th, Jim asked this question:

Does anyone know what happened to the Indian Fast Food cart? For the past two days I’ve looked for it at its usual Park and 53rd location, but it wasn’t there. Please tell me this is just a temporary absence.

But apparently it’s not temporary because yesterday Peggy posted this:

It’s been almost two weeks now and still no cart. I’m getting worried. 

I’m worried too. That cart wasn’t the best Indian food in Midtown, but it was certainly the cheapest.

According to chathamsq the Teriyaki Cart on 50th St. has disappeared as well:

Anyone have a post-mortem on Happy Teriyaki BBQ Cart (50th btw 6 & 7)? Their presence was spotty in late Nov & early Dec; haven’t seen them at all since mid-Dec. Was hoping they’d relocated but haven’t seen them anywhere.

If anybody has any info about either of these missing carts, email zach@midtownlunch.com or post it as a comment.

Midtown Links about stuff you definitely want to know about, PLUS a preview of next week- after the jump.

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Seems like New Years is the time for turnover.  Just before the start of 2007, Aron’s & Rangole closed, followed immediately by the Citarella at the base of Rockefeller Center. 

They wasted no time in blacking out the windows.  Looks like there was never anything there.  No word on what happened or what will be moving in.  I’m not keeping my hopes up for anything good.  My money is on a boring chain… (Hopefully another Starbucks!!!  30 Rock only has two as of now…)

Closings are sort of exciting… it’s always great when new places open up in Midtown.  Aron’s has already been replaced by Taki Sushi… but some places have been closed awhile with no sign of being replaced.  45th st. seems especially dire, with empty windows at closed branches of Yoshinoya and Wu Kong (which has been closed for 6 months).  No word on what is going on with the space formerlly occupied by Rangole either.

Speaking of 45th St., I got a comment saying that Ho Yip had changed ownership, and was now called Sun Yip.  I went to check it out, and found the same old Ho Yip (except it was jammed packed like I’d never seen it before… and it wasn’t even after 2pm- when the buffet by the pound drops in price).

They must have been talking about the Ho Yip in Downtown.  If you have any tips about Lunch’ing in Midtown, including any openings or closings to report, please email me at zach@midtownlunch.com, post them as comments below, or post your own pictures to the Midtown Lunch Flickr Photo Group.  (Especially on the East side… it’s freaking cold out- and I’m not walking around randomly looking for places that have closed!) 

Midtown Links and the end of the week wrap up after the jump…

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