Midtown Lunch

Every Friday we go south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

When a friend suggested Spreads for a breakfast meeting, I didn’t hesitate. Spreads has amazing lunch options, so I figured the breakfast would be pretty good too. Related-note: Spreads has randomly come up in conversation multiple times recently, and I have yet to talk to someone who doesn’t love it. Anyone out there had a bad experience?

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Every Friday we go south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

Zach Brooks has taught me to keep my eyes open for hidden restaurants (El Sabroso, I’m looking at you.) So I noticed the Taste of Persia counter hanging out in a non-descript pizza place on West 18th Street. But Zach Brooks has also taught me to be very alert to prices. With only a soup (and a vegetarian soup at that!) below $10, I had decided that Taste of Persia wasn’t for ML. And then a friend who lives in the area and who has good taste in food told me she loves the soup. She encouraged me to go back. And she, and her fiancé, assured me it was very filling. It is also hard to argue with a glowing NYTimes write up (which is proudly mounted on posters all over the space.)

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Every Friday we go south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

Over the summer (or at least that is when I noticed it), New York Style truck started parking on the corner of 21th Street and 6th Avenue. I probably would have noticed a truck with mac and cheese and cheesesteak sandwiches, but the fact that they have been blasting rock music from their speakers made sure I noticed them. It took me a while to get around to trying their food and the opening of Mad. Sq. Eats delayed this post, but it was inevitable that I would get around to writing about a place called New York Style Mac and Cheesesteak. (You see what they did there with the name…)

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Every Friday we go south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

I might have been too hard of Mad. Sq. Eats recently. It is all about knowing where to go and where not to go. And paying a little extra for the atmosphere. With only one week left, I wanted to revisit Mad. Sq. Eats. There are still booths to try and a some reliable go-tos that never let me down.

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Every Friday we go south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

I remember fondly the days when I used to gorge at Mad. Sq Eats. Now, at least in terms of ML appropriateness, I go in with a healthy amount of skepticism.

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Every Friday we go south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

You might have noticed that Ilili is missing from Mad. Sq. Eats this fall. Thankfully, this doesn’t mean that you have to spend $25 for a 2-course lunch at the restaurant up Fifth Avenue. Instead, Ilili has opened Ilili Box (subtitle: Mediterranean takeaway), a shipping container converted into a take-out window located in the Flatiron public plaza diagonally south from Mad. Sq. Eats.

Since I have seen no indication of how permanent or the time-frame for this pop-up, I made the executive decision to skip the first look and start eating.

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Every Friday we go south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

We have come another half-year to the time when we head outdoors to Worth Square at the corner of 5th Avenue and Broadway from 24th to 25th to eat, drink, be merry and complain about the prices.

While I am not as excited for Mad Sq Eats as previous years (see above article about prices), I always try to withhold some judgment until I try the newcomers. This year, we have Slide, a Bleecker Street restaurant that specializes in sliders with international flavors. Also, Doughnuttery will be in attendance. When I have tried their mini donuts from Chelsea Market, they are best when still warm. Madison Square Park neighbor, SD26, the East 26th Street spin off restaurant of the fabled San Domenico, is also new. Considering their regular Prix Fixe Menu Two Course Lunch costs $28, I would be shocked if they will be ML friendly. They might have been brought in to replace Ilili, which will not be participating, because they just opened Box by Ilili in the pedestrian space south of 24th Street. (Spoiler alert: I have been. It is great. Stay tuned next week for more details.)

There’s also good news for BBQ fans…

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Every Friday we go south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

When I first took over as Flatiron contributor, I met the former contributor, Ultra Clay, and ML contributor Brian Hoffman. When I asked if they had any restaurants recommendations for FL, they both said I should make a return visit to Beecher’s. It had just opened, and both of them liked the food…and the free samples.

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Here’s a bit of Flatiron Lunch news before we lay this week’s review on you…

Flatiron Lunch goes (almost) meta with a Flatiron Lunch News post about this life-sized installation of people at a diner IN the ground floor of the Flatiron Building. The installation is an ad is to promote an Edward Hopper drawings exhibition at the Whitney Museum which closes on October 6. Granted the scene is from the painting Nighthawks, which is on loan from the Art Institute of Chicago, so they are not technically “Lunch’ing”. But I love it anyway. Zach, do we need a “Midtown Nighthawking” section for late night bites and diners?

Every Friday we go south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

Rodeo Bar has always intrigued me, with live music and honky tonk decor. But, the fear of it being like Brother Jimmy’s kept me away all these years…until recently.

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