Midtown Lunch

At first glance, the allure of Maoz Vegetarian is the top notch salad bar with which you can construct a pretty substantial falafel sandwich. Although I wouldn’t count their falafel as best in Midtown (in my opinion, that accolade belongs to Taim, even though it came in second in the 2011 reader’s poll), the endless toppings are a big (and messy!) draw. But, the reason I go to Maoz? The Belgian fries.

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If you like Maoz, and don’t mind downloading a free app onto your iPhone, Android or Blackberry, you’ll want to pay attention to this one. Daily Gobble, a new app that gives you cash back from meals at participating restaurants all over NYC, wants to give you a free falafel from Maoz. All you have to do is download their app onto your iPhone, Android or Blackberry. Go eat at Maoz. Upload a photo of your receipt within 24 hours, and they’ll give you up to $6 cash back, within an hour, via Paypal. The deal is available starting today tomorrow (7/27), and goes through August 3rd. Limit one redemption per person. Cannot redeem at multiple locations. Cash redeemed cannot exceed purchase amount, and it cannot be combined with any other offers.

Oh, and while we’re on the subject of Maoz… did you know their new location on 8th Ave. is open?

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That didn’t take long… Roma Pizza, the pizza place that took over from Empanada Joe’s last year (on 8th Ave. btw. 43+44th) has closed, and will be replaced by a new branch of Maoz Vegetarian. It’s pretty close to Midtown’s other Maoz (on 7th Ave. and 40th) but if there’s anybody who can be successful turning this seemingly cursed space into a success we’d put our money on the falafel chain. No word yet on when it’s going to be opening. Thanks to Lunch’er Marissa for the tip.

Related:
Maoz Tastes Good, But Proves That The Best Falafel Pita is Built By Professionals

Falafel fans near Times Square have reason to be happy today… the Maoz Vegetarian on 40th and 7th (which was closed because of an electrical fire last week) reopened yesterday. Enjoy!

Related:
Maoz Tastes Good, But Proves That The Best Falafel Pita is Built By Professionals
Maoz Closed By Electrical Fire

Thanks to discskyer for passing along this photo of the Maoz on 40th and 7th Ave.  It’s quite a coincidence that this happens the same week that the DOH is giving out letter grades… but we’ll take them at their word (their last inspection would have gotten them an A).  As for lunch, if you’re looking for some replacement falafel in the area you’ll have to make due with this, this, or this.

Following yesterday’s post about Jamie excellent falafel building technique at Maoz, Lunch’er “Chunk” chimed in with this comment:

“I haven’t been able to go back to Maoz since I observed the following a couple of weeks ago. As I was waiting for my bowl of balls, I noticed that a guy who seemed to be an off-duty employee, or at least a friend of the employees, was engaged in some major double dipping. I mean, he would take a bite and then go back to the bar, get more fixins, and then use the tongs to tamp them down on the just munched part of his pita. The on-duty employee definitely noticed.”

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When Maoz opened their first Midtown location last year (on 40th and 7th) I completely admitted by failings as a master falafel sandwich builder. I guess I should have been taking lessons from Jamie over on Midtown Lunch: Philadelphia.  She just visited the Maoz in Philly, and completely schooled me with her massive sandwich.  I still can’t believe how much she managed to stuff all that stuff in there.  Check it out for yourself>>

Maoz Vegetarian, the European build your own falafel chain with branches in Union Square, NYU, and the UWS, opened their very first Midtown location a few weeks ago (on 7th Ave. and 40th Street). There is no shortage of falafel options in Midtown, but I have always been intrigued by Maoz- especially since Serious Eats: New York named it the best falafel in Union Square. So last week I headed over to give this new addition to the Midtown Lunch scene a try.

If you’ve already been to Maoz, I’m guessing this is no different than any of the other locations. Like any chain, the operation seems pretty streamlined and I’m guessing it’s the same from place to place. I had no basis for comparison, so on this visit was just a fat guy wondering if this was going to replace any of my other go to falafel places in Midtown. I like the idea of building my own sandwich, because layering is incredibly important to me- and so many places just don’t do it right. I was kind of excited to get to give the sandwich building a go.

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