Midtown Lunch

For the first time ever, the Vendys are bringing back some previous winners to compete in a special category called Masters. Five previous Vendy Cup winners will be present to see who reigns supreme and to celebrate the awards’ tenth anniversary. This is a game-changer if you ask me.

The Daily News released the nominees over the weekend. And they include the very first Vendy winner ever and veteran Midtown vendor Hallo Berlin, our local favorite Freddy King of Falafel (who will be featured on today’s Street Meat tour), along with Solber Pupusas, Calexico, and NY Dosa Guy. It’s going to be a good year. If you haven’t already purchased tickets, I can’t imagine them lasting too much longer. Buy them today by clicking here.

It’s that time we at Midtown Lunch anticipate every year: Vendy season!! And while no famous celebrity did a live reading of the nominees (that’s how they do it at the Oscars), the Street Vendor Project revealed the lucky nominees in three of the five categories yesterday.

Rookie of the Year includes a few vendors that visit Midtown on a regular basis, like Dub Pies, Shanghai Sogo, and Big D’s new Khao Cart. The category is rounded out by GoGo Grill, a cart in Bowling Green that specializes in gourmet falafels and burgers, and Snowday, a food truck that employs fomrerly incarcerated young people and serves maple syrup-inspired dishes.

The nominees for Dessert of the Year are Craffles, Alchemy Creamery, Ricas Botanas Mexican (churros), Ice & Vice, and a huge favorite of the ML staff, Dough. In the Market Vendor category, the nominees are Bolivian Llama Party, Zha Pan Asian, Ssam BBQ, Chickpea & Olive, and the infamous Ramen Burger (I hope they don’t bring their line with them to the Vendys).

The nominees for the remaining two categories will be announced a little closer to the event on September 13. As always, there’s promise of lots of amazing food and the ability to support the important advocacy work of the Street Vendor Project. So, do not delay and buy your tickets now. Both General Admission and VIP Tickets are on sale here.

The date for the 10th annual Vendy Awards have been announced and now is the time to purchase tickets and nominate your favorite food vendor. This year the event will be on Saturday, September 13 and will return to Governor’s Island, which is always a beautiful setting to enjoy the best street food in the city.

Nominees are chosen by the public’s write-ins so now is your chance to make sure your favorite street meat cart (or gourmet fusion taco truck) gets nominated. Vote for your favorite at the website here.

General Admission, VIP, and Early Bird tickets are available for purchase by clicking here. The tickets always sell out and while the price is a bit more than a typical Midtown Lunch, there is always more than enough food to go around and all the proceeds go to the Street Vendor Project, who continually fight for the rights of NYC’s street vendors.

Sunset Park’s Industry City hosted the ninth annual Vendy Awards this past Saturday. Twenty-eight vendors converged to battle over seven different categories, and of course various members of your ML crew were there recuperating from Street Meat Palooza with more street meat.

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With a little over two weeks until the Oscars of Street Food, this year’s Vendy Cup finalists have been announced! A few Midtown favorites along with outer borough hopefuls will be vying for the grand prize on Saturday, September 7th in Sunset Park’s Industry City. And the finalists are….

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The 2013 Vendy season is upon us and this morning the finalists for Dessert, (the new category never mind, this is its second year) Market, New Jersey and Rookie were announced. Onto the finalists!

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Gothamist posted some big news this morning for us street food obsessives. The ninth annual Vendy Awards (a fundraiser for the Street Vendor Project, one of our favorite organizations) are happening on Saturday, September 7 in a brand new location in Industry City in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. So this year we won’t have to take a ferry to get to the event, but it won’t be too far from the waterfront if you do happen to own a private yacht.

More pressing, tickets are now on sale and if the last few years’ ticket sales are any indictaion they will be going fast! Early Bird tickets are now available for $80 $85, but those will sell out soon and the price will go up to $95. Click here to purchase them now. You’ll be glad you did!

And this also means it’s time to nominate your favorite vendor for an award. This year has the most categories we’ve ever seen, bringing back some favorites, like Dessert of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Market Vendor, NJ Vendor, and Heroic Vendor, which means more food then ever. Nominations will be open at the Street Vendor Project website through July 25.

Our friends at the Vendy Awards have their hand’s full this year. In addition to the 9th annual awards in New York on September 7 and celebrations in Los Angeles and Philadelphia, this year they will add three new cities to the roster. New Orleans will be first on March 13, followed by Boston and Chicago. We may like to claim street food as iconically New York, but the industry is growing across the country and the Vendy Awards will be there to celebrate the best in street vending. At this rate, we may soon see a time when there is a Vendy Award in a different city every single week. Can I be the first to sign up to be a groupie?