Midtown Lunch

If you’ve never been to Suspenders on Broadway (at Thames), or didn’t even know it existed, it’s because you have to walk down some stairs from street level, past a Subway sandwich shop and notice it before you get to an actual subway entrance. The bar and restaurant has no windows, but what it does have is a giant screen showing sports and Greek and Mediterranean food for less than $10.

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In a continuation of my quest to tell you about some delicious food that I haven’t gotten around to sharing with you on Downtown Lunch yet, today’s installment comes from Fanelli Cafe on Prince St. (at Mercer). I’ve never eaten anything at Fanelli’s other than the burger and vegetable burger, and I really don’t think there’s much else worth ordering except alcohol. This bar is one of my favorite old-timey spots in the city and is one of the few non-pretentious places to get a beer and some decent food after dealing with the hordes of tourists in the area. But back to this veggie burger. I think it’s the sum of its parts that make it great, or perhaps the fact that it doesn’t fall apart into a pile of mush when you bit into it. And dare I say it tastes a little meaty?

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There are a lot of places over by the South St. Seaport that I forget about until someone reminds me, and Meade’s Bar is one of those places. It’s on an obscure corner that’s currently blocked by construction, and on the same block as a bunch of other cafes and a delightfully divey bar with equally cheap lunches and decoration consisting of bras. Last week Lunch’er Robyn mentioned her love of Meade’s burger with blue cheese, and a look at the bar’s menu showed a few of the sandwiches could be had for less than $10, including fries, salad or rice. That’s a bargain not often found in or near the Financial District. Read more »

It’s the time of year when grabbing lunch from a cart or truck sounds less appealing, and sitting somewhere with plentiful seating starts to sound better and better. The problem with that is you can easily top $10 once you factor in tip and maybe a drink (or two). When I saw that The Growler Bites & Brews – the latest alcoholic addition to Stone St. – was now serving food I rounded up a friend and headed over. If you’re looking for a fancy hot dog or sausage served to you by some chatty bartenders, then this is a good lunch spot.

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There are the fancy parts of Tribeca, and then there are the parts on both the extreme lower and upper reaches of the neighborhood that are a little dirty and contain some eating and drinking gems. Located on the corner of Lispenard and 6th Ave., Nancy Whiskey Pub is one of those places and while based on the crowd there during the noon hour on a weekday many people are here for alcohol, they also serve a menu where basically everything is less than $10. Or you can splurge and get a large pizza for $12.50.

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I was a little surprised at how much interest my post about the $8 lunch special at The Copper Barrel on Murray (btw. Broadway & Church) got from all of you lunch’ers. Then it was pointed out that there’s not much in that area for lunch, either good or bad, although if you go up to Chambers St. there are at least a few options. Most of those are fast food, though, and sometimes you just don’t want to order your meal by number. The sign outside gives no clue as to what the lunch special is, so I decided to step inside yet another dark bar in the middle of the day to find out.

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Usually when you pick a lunch spot it’s because they have something particularly delicious to check out or a pleasant eating environment. Or the food is dirt cheap. Jeremy’s Ale House on Front St. (btw. Peck Slip & Dover) has only a small fraction of those things, and really my co-lunch’er and I ended up there out of sheer curiousity of what kinds of people would be eating lunch here on a spring-like day. And what would the interior look like with sunlight shining in? The answer to those questions, plus a picture of the tasteful decor after the jump. Read more »