Midtown Lunch

After having been missing in action for the past five months, the Salume Kiosk has reappeared in Times Square in the pedestrian walkway on 46th and Broadway, moving Snack Box back to their spot across the street. They’re not open yet, and I’m sure Times Square tourists will shell out $11 for a panini, but I’m interested to see if their return also brings an updated (more ML friendly) menu …

When winter arrived and temperatures dropped a bit, the Times Square Salume kiosk went missing. I just assumed that Snack Box went the same route, since the shipping container has been closed with no signs of activity (or explanation, for that matter!) for the past few weeks. I was wrong. Turns out they were shuttered by DOH on January 30 for 66 violation points! There were signs of life this morning, though, which is how I caught a glimpse of their yellow DOH sign that is posted in the window of their display case, not on the outside of the container. Sneaky move!

When they opened in November, Nuchas was offering empanadas for $3.00 each. So, in order to stay in the Midtown Lunch budget, you could get only three. Lately, you can get four! Nuchas has started offering two empanadas, two breakfast pastries or one of each for $5.00 as a daily special. Since the promotion seems to be working for them, it’s been making a somewhat regular appearance. While we can’t guarantee it’ll always be there, I did see it Monday and they were offering it again yesterday. But wait, there’s more.

Read more »

The inevitable happened: it got cold. When the flimsy Salumè kiosk opened last summer, I wondered what would happen to them come winter. Well, here we are, and now that we’ve had a couple days of frigid weather, they appear to be wondering the same thing, because they’ve gone missing. But let me back up a sec.

On December 24, Salumè tweeted that their kiosk was moving due to the holiday festivities. That makes sense — the other kiosks also moved around a bit, too, as they did during Thanksgiving. But, while everyone else is back in their rightful spots (actually, Snack Box has moved down the block from 47th to 46th street, FYI), Salumè is nowhere to be found…

Read more »

The finishing touches for the Rickshaw Dumpling kiosk in Times Square are happening now, but they are open for business! The menu should be pretty familiar to Midtown Lunch’ers, offering four regular dumpling options: the three varieties that the trucks have for $6.00 (classic pork, chicken & Thai basil and vegetarian edamame), plus Peking duck dumplings ($6.50). Standard sides are $3.00 each (chili sesame noodle salad, miso mini soup, crunchy Asian salad and chillin edamame). After they’ve mastered dumplings at the kiosk, they plan to start offering steamed buns as well.

The kiosk will open for lunch everyday at 11 a.m., but interestingly, an employee I spoke with said they’re also considering breakfast bun options in the future. Now that’s something I can truly get behind!

Rickshaw Dumplings, Broadway btwn 42nd-43rd Streets in Times Square

Rickshaw Dumplings tweeted last week that they were opening in Times Square today, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. Their  shipping container kiosk got delivered to Times Square today, but as of a few minutes ago they were still on the roof of the thing pouring gas/fuel into something and there are unpacked boxes inside.  The last of the kiosks sits in the pedestrian mall between 42nd and 43rd streets in Times Square, closer to 43rd. We’ll keep checking in to see when they actually open!

Since the Nuchas kiosk joined Snack Box and Salume in Times Square in November, we are 75% of the way there with the four Times Square Alliance kiosks. Last on the list? Rickshaw Dumplings. We know what we’re in for with Rickshaw food, making it a little less exciting than others- but Rickshaw fans are probably excited to have a stationary dumpling location, immune to the whims of the food truck hating cops. There isn’t an exact date set for the opening, but they let us know via twitter that it is happening this month. I guess that means we can look forward to celebrating the holidays with some dumplings!