Midtown Lunch

All the Vendy Award nominees are now in. Yesterday, the Street Vendor Project announced the nominees for Vendy Cup (FiDi’s Biryani House, the burger truck Hard Times Sundaes, Cantonese steamed rice noodle cart Guandong Cheong Fun, Astoria’s Souvlaki Lady, and last year’s Rookie of the Year winner Snowday).

They also announced an exciting new category which is Best Street Drink. You’ll be able to try drinks as diverse as coconut smoothies, unqiue lemonades, morir soñando, and champurrado (a hot Mexican chocolate drink).

As for the previous announced categories, we are fortunate to have many Midtown vendors represented, so over the next few weeks we’ll be showcasing them in video form. And no doubt, the videos will make you eager to attend the big event on September 12. Tickets are still on sale here.

To start with, check out this mouthwatering video on Rookie of the Year nominee Lil Zeus Lunch Box, who parks on 50th and 6th Avenue every day and grills up some mighty tasty gyros and souvlaki.

Lil Zeus Lunch Box Video>>

The Vendy Awards are less than a week away. If you have not purchased your tickets, now is the time because they will sell out. Too late!  They’re gone…

After three weeks of street meat, sandwich, and spicy tours, we are dedicating our last offical week of the Lunch Rush Tours to current Vendy nominees and previous winners. Each day you will get to sample three tastings from honored carts and trucks, hear their stories, and learn all about the Vendy Awards and the Street Vendor Project (who get a proceeds of the ticket purchases).

Today’s tour is around 6th Avenue in the 40’s, Tuesday is on Park Avenue in the 40’s and 50’s, and Wednesday is in the Financial District. All tours start at 1pm and run just under an hour, so there’s plenty time to get back to the office.

This is a great way to whet your appetite for the Vendy’s 10th anniversary celebration on Saturday and a fun way to spend your lunch hour. While this week is the last official week of tours, we will be offering them in the future for private office groups. It’s an awesome team building event or just a fun way to get out of your usual lunch routine. Tickets for this week and more information on future customizable tours can be found at the Turnstile Tours website.

Week three of our special food cart tours gets under way today with some spicy food. After Eat Street Meat and Sandwich Days, this week we will focus on high scoville levels from three different mobile food vehicles each day. Today, we’re going to Bring the Heat along Park Avenue (high 40’s/low 50’s), tomorrow focuses on fiery food options on 6th Avenue (40’s/50’s), and Thursday we’ll be in the Financial District. Expect Mexican, Korean, Jamaican, and Egyptian food that will scorch your tastebuds. We do incude a bottle of water, but I’m afraid a glass of milk is not included.

Tickets are available until 30 minutes before each tour at the Turnstile Tours website. Each tour starts at 1pm and runs just under an hour (wuth enough time to get back to your office before your boss realizes you’re gone). Percentage of the ticket sales are donated to the Street Vendor Project. So breathe fire for a good cause!

Thanks to all those who celebrated street meat with us on our inaugural week of hour-long Lunch Rush Tours around Midtown and the Financial District.

The feasts continue this week as we turn our attention to the humble little sandwich. On each tour, expect lots of meat and cheese between bread as we visit three different carts or trucks preparing their own take on the universal dish. There will be Asian, Mexican, American, and Italian sandwiches. Today, we’ll be touring along Park Avenue (in the high 40’s/low 50’s), Tuesday will be in the Financial District, and on Thursday we’ll be hanging out on Sixth Avenue (in the 40’s).

This is the perfect thing to do for those bored with their usual lunch routine. Tickets can be purchased at the Turnstile Tours website here and a percentage of the ticket sales are donated to the Street Vendor Project. Each tour runs about an hour (or under) and begins at 1pm. So it’ll be easy enough to sandwich it into your lunch break.

A few weeks ago, we told you about a unique and exciting new way to get lunch for the next month. We’ve teamed up with Turnstile Tours (who have been running food cart tours for close to 5 years) to offer one hour tours along Park and Sixth Avenue to three different food trucks and carts based around a specific theme. For $29, you receive three generous tastings, learn stories and context about the food cart industry, and help support the Street Vendor Project.

Our first tours begin on Monday and the theme is Street Meat, which we know just a little something about. Monday will be along Park Avenue (in the 50’s), Tuesday will be along Sixth Avenue (in the 40’s), and Wednesday will be in the Financial District. Both Midtown tours will include previous Street Meat Palooza winners and finalists, in addition to some unexpected twists on the usual chicken/lamb over rice (not all the tastings feature these two meats). This is just the first week of tours and the following three weeks will feature different themes and tastings. You could buy a Crash Course to experience them all, which is 4 tours of your choosing, for $89.

All tours start at 1pm and run one hour. Tickets are available until the morning of the tour at turnstiletours.com.

Photo by Jennifer Strader

Here’s some exciting news for fans of street food, and walking tours, and food tours involving walking and lots of street food.  Starting on August 18, Midtown Lunch will be partnering with Turnstile Tours to offer hour long food cart tours. Turnstile Tours has been running weekly food cart tours for the last 4 1/2 years (featuring guides like me!) and have had a nice mix of locals and tourists. But since it runs a full two hours, it’s always been tough for the office crowd to join. This new tour changes all that; it’s a great option for ML-ers with a tight schedule looking to expand their list of lunch options, or for a quick and fun office group outing.

Last week a little food fight broke out over on Gothamist between two Midtown street food tours, one that is launching this summer and Urban Oyster, a company that has been running a tour for awhile now. One thing you may not know?  The Urban Oyster Tour is run by Midtown Lunch’s newest contributor (and former Profiled Lunch’er) Brian Hoffman!  You can get more info about his tour here.