Midtown Lunch

Every time I see a clump of people heading down Maiden Lane with one of those Just Salad plastic bowls in their hand, I shake my head and wonder why they’ve chosen that fate as their lunch. Well, I can only be a little judgmental because some days when I need some vegetables in my body and/or when it’s hot out, my mind sometimes turns salad which my brain turns in “You should go to Cosi because they have delicious bread. Oh, and you should get a salad while you’re there, too.” And that, my fellow Downtown Lunch’ers is why I’m writing about Cosi (located at Broad & Exchange and in the WFC) today, because their flatbread is awesome.

I know Zach has written about Cosi and was as conflicted about eating a salad and liking a chain as much as I am. Yes, you can use the flatbread as a base for pizza there, or get a sandwich made with it, but I’ve found it’s too thin to use as sandwich bread and I’d rather go get a slice from Underground Pizza a couple of blocks away.

While I was tempted by the seasonal Caribbean chicken salad, I’ve been burned by chains attempting to approximate the flavors of the islands before, and decided to instead go with the Shanghai chicken salad ($7.79), if only because I also love crispy noodles among my salad greens. The chicken in here scares me in how processed and squishy it is, but it can’t be any worse than gyro meat from a cart, right?

I went with the whole grain flatbread but really both that and the regular white variety are great and if you go during prime lunch time you’re bound to get a rectangle fresh out of the oven. There’s also the bonus bowl of end crusts sitting on the counter by the oven free for the taking, and I witnessed a gray-haired, suited businessman take the last piece out, and then when more were dumped in a moment later, scoop them all up and throw them into his bag. Classy!

I don’t eat at Cosi more than once every six months, and when I do I always hope no one I know sees me indulging my bread and salad habit. If loving this buttery, salt-topped bread is wrong, though, then I don’t want to be right.

Cosi, 55 Broad St. (btw. Exchange Pl. & Beaver), (212) 344-5000; 200 Vesey (in WFC), (212) 571-2001