Midtown Lunch

On Friday, I got word from the owners of Abitino’s (a generic take out pizza place with multiple locations in Midtown) that City Burger, their newest venture (on 39th just east of Broadway) will finally open today. As I reported in Feburary, the menu and prices are on par with GoodBurger, with the addition of pizza parlor staples like chicken wings and mozzarella sticks. Their meat will come from Pat LaFrieda, the same place the Shake Shack gets the meat for their burgers- so a comparison may be in order. Best case scenario: we finally get a shake shack burger in Midtown. Worst case scenario: another over-priced burger place crowds the the Midtown market (although they seem to have found a little hole in the Midtown landscape that is not serviced by GoodBurger, Five Guys, or The Burger Joint). Most likely middle ground: Midtown now has a fast food burger place where you can also get chicken wings. Very exciting.

I’m actually in Miami until tomorrow, so I’ll be missing out on the Grand Opening, but if you go tell us what you think in the comments. I’ll probably check it out tomorrow, and decide if the $13.50 Burger, Fries, Soda & 5 Chicken Wings combo will put an end to the $10 Midtown Lunch rule!

Related: New City Burger Will Get Meat From the Same Place As The Shake Shack

**UPDATE** 10:45 am – According to commenter DDR, the new Qdoba on 46th btw. Madison + 5th is opening up today as well.

If you have been reading this blog from the beginning than you know that I am a big fan of New Orleans.  It may seem like a natural connection (fat guy like fried seafood sandwiches, dressed with tons of mayo), but there is a little more to it than that.  My wife went to law school in New Orleans, we were married there, and I’ve gained many pounds eating my way across the city (um… ok, I guess it is a case of “fat guy likes fried seafood sandwiches”).  I live blogged the food at last year’s Jazzfest, wrote about how disappointing the New York City Jacques Imo’s was (not surprisingly, it’s closed now), and we’ve had more than one profiled Midtown Lunch’er from the Crescent City.

So, you can imagine how blown away I was when I got this email last week from Blake Killian, author of the great New Orleans food blog Blake Makes, (and part time PR dude):

I’ve been a fan and a reader for a long time. I have a random request, and wanted to know if you’d be interested. One of my clients is a big fan of yours, and he is going to be in NYC March 25-27. He’s wondering if you would be available to go to lunch on one of those days to talk about his new cookbook.

You’d be meeting with Ralph Brennan about his first cookbook.  The Brennans are a very old…

Uh- you can stop right there.  Are you kidding?  The Brennans?  As in Brennan’s, the restaurant in the French Quarter- Brennans?  As in, Commander’s Palace, home of the greatest dessert ever made in the history of the universe, the Brennan’s? (It’s the bread pudding souffle, by the way).  Yeah, I think I’ve heard of them.  The weird thing is, how the hell did this guy hear about Midtown Lunch?  And a “big fan”?  It’s a mystery, and I was afraid to ask “Why?” or “Really?”, too many times, for fear he would realize he had the wrong guy!  And while I’d much prefer having lunch with the dude in his city (NYC is great, but it can’t really hold a candle to lunch in New Orleans), I guess I can play host.

But here’s where I need your help…  Ralph has challenged me to take him out for the best sandwich in Midtown- a task made all the more difficult by the fact that he is visiting from arguably the greatest sandwich city in the country.  So I’m turning the decision over to you guys.  Post in the comments where you think I should take him, and whatever you guys decide- that’s where we’ll go.  Plus- everyone who posts a comment will be entered to win a copy of his new cookbook, “Ralph Brennan’s New Orleans Seafood Cookbook”.

My initial ideas, after the jump… Read more »

You didn’t think a little rain would keep us cheapos away, did you? It’s 12:01 and the line is already stretched down the block at the newly opened Sophie’s Cuban on 40th btw. 7+8th… but it moves quickly. And they even have oxtails.The inside crowd, what I got, plus the ultimate Sophie’s surprise (for anybody who didn’t take their food to go), after the jump…

Read more »

According to the Citysearch Blog there will be:

free haggis “hot dogs” from a temporary street cart near Times Square [as part of] Scotland Week… at the corner of 52nd Street and Broadway (near the Continental Airlines billboard), April 4th and 5th, 11am to 5pm.

Mark it on your calendars kids… stuffed intestines = good.  Free stuffed intestines = Midtown Lunch pandemonium!  [Scotland Week via Citysearch Blog]

 

What is it with the trend of restaurants raising their prices after getting high praise from powerful reviewers!?!  Following in Fiamma’s footsteps (they raised their price fixe menu from $75 to $95 after a 3 star review from the New York Times), Spice Fusion on 8th Ave. btw. 47+48th has raised the price of their all you can eat buffet from $9.99 to $10.99 within months of receiving a glowing Midtown Lunch review and being declared Best Indian Buffet in the 2008 Midtown Lunch readers poll!

While incredibly disappointing, it’s not exactly surprising. I recently voiced my fear that Spice Fusion would follow in the footsteps of Curry Dream & Al Baraka (now Kanaat), two buffets who have both raised their prices from $9.99 to $10.99 since the new year. 

I have managed to resist going into an all out panic, despite reading how the cost of flour was sending pizza prices through the roof , and the article in Saturday’s New York Times about how all food stuffs have seen price increases over the past year.  But now that it is clearly having an effect on all you can eat buffets, I’m paying attention!  (You didn’t really think they raised prices because of Midtown Lunch, did you?)  

The real question is what kind of a world do we live in when you can’t stuff your face with unlimited amounts of food, for under $10. 

With the stroke of a pen, and the resulting blog coverage, Fiamma ended up reconsidering their price hike.  Will you not help us, Mr. Bruni? 

If you’re looking for a St. Patty’s Day Midtown Lunch, there really is only place to recommend…  The Blarney Stone on 3rd Ave. btw. 44+45th.  An Irish Bar, to be sure, but not one of those typical Midtown pubs, where the food is mediocre, overpriced and served to you by a waiter.  It’s a dive in the best sense of the word, with a bar on the left, steam table/grille on the right, free for all wooden tables in the back, and some of the cheapest, most delicious lunch food in Midtown- no menus required.

When I first wrote about the Blarney Stone in January of last year, it was for the burger.  1/2 a lb. of fresh grilled meat, on a gigantic roll for only $4 is easily the best burger deal in Midtown ($6, gets you the works + fries or onion rings), but with the influx of Five Guys, the new Goodburger location , Pop Burger, and standbys like the Burger Joint, I feel like the Blarney Stone is still largely under the radar when it comes to burgers (although you wouldn’t be able to tell from the long lines between Noon and 2pm every day).  The burger is still great, and amazingly they haven’t really raised the prices yet.  But on St. Patty’s Day, a burger may not be exactly what you’re looking for…

Corned Beef porn, and the best onion rings in Midtown, after the jump.  Read more »

At the beginning of the year, a bunch of my co-workers decided it would be fun to form a lunch club.  Its purpose… to enjoy lunch, with your friends from work, under the constraints of a theme!  Very exciting.  I’m all for anything that gets people going to lunch more often, so I thought it would be fun to profile some of these lunch clubs on the site (I know there’s alot of you out there!)…

Name:  Fantastic Fast Food Fridays

Workplace: Sirius Satellite Radio (49th & 6th)

Established:  January 2008  

Members: Approx. 10-12

Frequency: Once a week, on Fridays

Credo: The purpose of Fantastic Fast Food Fridays is to get together for lunch at the end of the week and have fun going somewhere different. We mostly all try to eat healthy during the week (except for Zach, obviously), so this is the one cheat meal where we can enjoy a little greasy food. We also enjoy discussing our meal… the highs and low points, and of course- what may “happen” as a result of our decision to eat at this establishment (think Taco Bell or White Castle). We have a strict rule of only “fast food”, which means you have to walk in and give your order at a counter, and it must be a chain (deli’s don’t count). The big coup is finding the fast food combo stores (i.e KFC/Taco Bell/Pizza Hut under one roof) because then everyone can choose a different place if they want.

Places Visited: Wendy’s, Burger King, Arby’s (RIP), White Castle (8th Ave. btw. 36+37th), Taco Bell (3rd Ave. btw. 44+45th or 8th Ave. btw. 36+37th), KFC, Nathan’s, Roy Rogers

Places we Plan on Visiting: McDonalds, Popeye’s Chicken and Biscuits, Chick-fil-A (there is supposedly one on the NYU campus), Goodburger, Subway

I attended the trip to White Castle (yes, there is one in Midtown on 8th Ave. btw. 35+36th).  Some fast food porn, after the jump… Read more »

 

The new location of Golden Krust on 8th Ave. btw. 39+40th. has finally opened.  The Caribbean chain (which has multiple locations in NYC) will be offering a special grand opening lunch special price of $5.99 for fried chicken, stewed chicken or curry chicken served with rice & vegetables.  They have 3 other locations in Midtown…

• 33rd St. btw. 5th+Mad
• 3rd Ave. btw. 43+44th
• A kiosk in Grand Central Terminal food court 

Golden Krust too much of a trek from your office?  Or maybe you’re just feeling lazy, but still want some jerk chicken?  The Jamaican Dutchy cart on 51st & 7th now offers delivery.  It’s a $15 minimum order, so you’ll need to get at least one other person in on the plan before calling (646-287-5004 or 347-213-2851).  Actually an afternoon office Jamaican beef patty party doesn’t sound like a bad idea.

Cupcake question, and El Sabroso hits the blogs, after the jump… Read more »

 

Got this posted in the comments by “Vishal” on Monday:

I have some great news- the Latin Food that used to be at this Blimpie has now moved next door to the Convenience store that serves Vegetarian Indian Food!

That is indeed great news.  I guess that is the benefit of being a latin food place inside the back of a Blimpie.  When the crappy sub place closes, just move your business one door down, hermit crab style.  I’m a big fan of latin food in strange places, and luckily their new shell is almost as weird as the Blimpie, protecting their all important hipness cache; the Midtown newsstandwith the Gujarati Indian steamtable on 6th Ave. btw. 37+38th. 

A photo of the vegetarian Indian food place, living side by side with the pork-a-licious latin food, after the jump… Read more »

Gotta take it easy at lunch today so I’m in tip top shape for the Choice Eats Festival tonight at the Puck Bldg (advance tickets are sold out, but there will be limited $35 tickets at the door starting at 5:30pm- more details here).  So, I headed over to one of the few generic Midtown delis I can stomach (Cafe Duke on 51st btw. 6+7th) for some sushi (that’s about as light as it gets for me).  I could do without the california roll, but any place that gives me eel, spicy tuna and one other raw fish/avocado roll together in one sushi box is alright in my book (even if it’s $8.95, and the rolls are half the size of a normal sushi roll).

Of course, I can’t leave Cafe Duke without some of their delicious fake shrimp.  With $1.05 left in my budget, I can handle two “shrimps”… Read more »