Midtown Lunch

While most typical fast food places (McD’s, BK, Wendy’s) are not considered for this site, there are a few chains that would be welcomed with open arms into the canon of acceptable Midtown Lunches if they were to decide to grace us with a franchise.  In N Out Burger, Baja Fresh, and Panda Express would be my personal dreams come true, and I know for a fact that there are alot of you who feel the same way about Chick Fil A.  As many commenters have mentioned, there is one in the NYU dining hall, but “technically” you need to be a student to check it out.

Last year, to steal business compete with Chick-Fil-A, McDonald’s introduced the “Southern Style Chicken Sandwich” to their menu, which stealsis supposed to replicate the Chick-Fil-A experience.  Well, after months of trying the sandwich out in various markets, Midtown Lunch’er Andre Mika (who writes one of my favorite blogs- www.forkny.com) has brought to our attention that the sandwich has arrived in New York City.  I haven’t had Chick-Fil-A in over 20 years (and I freaking hate McDonald’s), so to investigate this one, I’ve turned the case over to Andre, who is not only from the south (Louisiana), he is also a huge Chick-Fil-A fan.   Here is what he discovered…

The premise was too good to be true. McDonald’s, king of the “clone and sell a billion” fast food culture had introduced their new “Southern Style” chicken sandwich. To those of us who understand the McDonald’s mentality, it meant one thing. They had knocked off the famous Chick-Fil-A sandwich.

So let’s cut to the chase… Read more »

In the ML comments comes the news that Sugo e Basilico “on 5th closed down.” Opened in the summer of last year, on 5th Ave btw. 44+45th, I actually enjoyed Sugo’s strange brand of “Italian burrito” (my term, not theirs), but just like Momofuku Ssam Bar’s original “Korean Burrito” concept in the East Village (which I also *loved*, and begged them to bring to Midtown), too few people seem to like them enough to make a business.  Is there a lesson in this?  I guess people just don’t want multi cultural versions of Chipotle.  Bummer.

The New Food Court Sophie’s on 3rd Ave. btw. 49+50th

This just in courtesy of Midtown Lunch’er “Margot”… the food court that houses Pampano Taqueria (and Pump Energy Kitchen) on 3rd Ave. btw. 49+50th will be welcoming a new Sophie’s Cuban into its fold today at 11am.  And as always, Grand Opening day at Sophie’s means free food (from the opening at 11am until 2pm).  For those who are uninitiated, the food court is in the basement of 805 3rd Ave., and free food day at Sophie’s is always exciting!  Check out the last one on 41st btw. 7+8th.

Sophie’s Cuban, 805 Third Ave (Lower Level) btw. 49+50th, 212-308-1024

Update: 1:30 PM  They have officially run out of food… the location will open officially tomorrow (Weds) at 10am.  As a side note, because the location is so small, they won’t do any of the cooking on site.  All the food will be brought over from another Sophie’s locations in waves throughout the day, and it will only be open from 10am to 5pm.

It’s been over a year a half since I originally visited Cafe Cello (46th btw. 5+6th), and wrote about their roast pork.  (I loved it so much, the photo of my lunch became the official Midtown Lunch photo.)  From the outside, you’d never guess that this generic looking deli would serve the best roast pork in Midtown, but it’s the truth (you may say the secret ingredient is crispy pork fat).  I returned last week to check out the scene, and I’m pleased to report that pretty much nothing has changed.  They still serve up a delicious plate of pork, and they still top it with the all important hunk of crispy pork skin.  If you are a lover of pork fat, it really can’t be beat.

But as good as the pork is, it may not be Cafe Cello’s best dish.  That title may have to be reserved for their surprisingly delicious fried chicken…  Read more »

Occasionally I’ll get questions that I can’t answer alone. When I do, I post them for the Midtown Lunch readers to weigh in. Got your own question? Email it to zach@midtownlunch.com

“Zach,

I’m sure like me, you may already be struggling with Passover. Such a nice holiday, such a non-foodie holiday. Got any suggestions for where to eat well this week?”

-Matt

Uh… yes.  Er… struggling.  Sorry to let you down Matt, but my first night of Passover was spent at Kefi, where I’m pretty sure I consumed bread with every single course of the meal (their pita bread is delicious).  Now before you think I’m a total heathen, I did celebrate the 2nd night of Passover with my family… at a Chinese food restaurant.  It’s shameful, and I’m pretty sure I’m the worst Jew of all time. 

For those who don’t know, Pesach began this weekend (see how I did that, using the Hebrew term in a weak attempt at redemption?), starting an 8 day period where Jews abstain from eating any kind of bread to commemorate their Exodus from Egypt.  The story goes that the people were in such a rush, when God freed them from slavery, that they didn’t allow time for their bread to rise (hence, we don’t eat bread, or anything with yeast in it, or anything that “rises”???).  If you want to stay strictly Kashrut (Kosher for Passover) for lunch this week, you’re in pretty big trouble, because bread is the least of the things you can’t eat.  According to this site, you can’t eat anything with soy, corn, beans of any kind, or rice (which I never understood, but whatever).  And to top it off, most of the Kosher restaurants in Midtown are closed, since it would be too expensive to rid themselves of all of these products for the entire week.  (This includes the Diamond Dairy, Kosher Deluxe, Moshe’s Falafel Cart, and even the 2nd Ave. Deli, which I don’t even think is officially Kosher.)

Kosher-NY has a list of a few Kosher places that are still open this week, including Dougie’s BBQ on 47th btw. 5+6th, in the same building as El Rincon del Sabor.  For those who don’t need to be “crazy” Kosher, non-Kosher Jewish delis, like Sarge’s on the East, and the Cafe Edison on the West, are still open (despite the 2nd Ave. Deli anomaly), and both have matzah brie (fried matzah) and matzah ball soup.  The Edison will also be serving matzah meal pancakes at breakfast and lunchtime all week long.

Anybody got another suggestion for Matt (besides peanut butter and jelly on Matzah)?  Feel free to post in the comments below…

Midtown Lunch’ing favorite, the Homefront Deli is up for sale after 15 great years at 41st St. between Madison & Park.  The Epoch Times has the story, starting from Owner Wanda Kassimis’ dream of leaving her Midtown desk job, and opening a deli.  The article says that the space is up for sale, and that “after almost two decades in her current location, [Wanda] is ready to make a fresh start in a new location, but real estate is competitive in Manhattan. ‘It’s been hard to find a buyer’, she confesses.”  The article doesn’t give any indication of when it will close, where she is going to move, or what the reason is for the sale, and curiously, no mention is made of her husband (and co-owner) Jimmy, who I got the full story from this morning, while he worked the breakfast line. Read more »

Pad Si Ew, Posted by NYCBlondieandBrownie to the Midtown Lunch Flickr Pool

While Yum Thai (44th btw. 6+7th) was certainly not the best Thai food in Midtown, it had one thing going for it- it was a true Midtown Lunch. Counter for ordering, tables and chairs for sitting, or you could take it to go. No waiters, no tipping, quick, cheap and easy. Now that it’s been shuttered for almost 6 months, and nobody is stepping in to fill the void, lunch’ers have been forced to turn to sit down Thai restaurants for their fix.

This week, NYC Food Guy (aka Lawrence, aka “Superman”) has a Drunken Noodles showdown, with the Out of Bounds: Pam Real Thai Encore (47th btw. 9+10th) losing to Topaz on 56th btw. 6+7th, while Brownie from Blondie & Brownie re-discovers her love of Pongsri Thai (48th btw. B’way+8th), the sit down Theater District favorite, right next to Aoki, and Saigon 48.

Anybody have any other suggestions? Post them in the comments below, or email me at zach@midtownlunch.com

• Midtown Drunken Noodle Showdown: Topaz vs Pam Real Thai Encore [NYC Food Guy]
• Pongsri Thai, Revisiting an Old Midtown Fav [Blondie & Brownie]

Margon, the Cuban lunch “counter” on 46th btw. 6+7th has always transported me back to my hometown of Miami.  Readers’ Choice for Best Cuban 2008, you can always count on their delicious roast pork, roast chicken, their famous octopus salad, the fried chicken wing version of “chicharones” (a word also used to describe crispy fried pork skin), rice, beans, plantains and of course the cuban sandwich.  Their version is made with salami, a preparation favored by many Dominicans, as well as the Cubans who live in Tampa, who added it to the sandwich to appeal to the large Italian population they lived side by side with.

There was only one thing missing at Margon… until now.  The Media Noche, a very popular pressed sandwich with pretty much the same ingredients as a cuban (pork, ham, mustard, pickles and cheese) but instead of French style cuban bread, it’s pressed inside a slightly sweet egg bread.  Delicious!

For $4, I couldn’t resist, and picked one up the other day.  Check it out after the jump… Read more »

It’s easy to forget about the TONY Eat Out Awards when you’re being featured on NYC TV!  Besides showing off all of the amazing treats they have to offer, the owner Kim reveals that the Treats Truck peanut butter sandwich cookie is actually gluten free.  This is amazing news for anybody who has celiac disease, an allergy to a certain gluten protein found in anything made with wheat.   She also told me today that not only does she plan on introducing more gluten free treats very soon, but she will also have flourless treats, for Passover, starting on Friday.  The Treats Truck will be on 38th & 5th tomorrow (Thursday) from Noon to 4pm.  For more details go to www.treatstruck.com or call 212-691-5226.