Midtown Lunch

I don’t know about you, but Cheesesteaks and Crepes aren’t the most obvious combination to me. In fact, it seems a little weird. To be honest, when Brian reported on the new Steak & Crepes cart hitting midtown a little while back, it seemed a little goofy.Then the cart showed up in front of my office on 46th Street last week and curiosity got the better of me.

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We’re not exactly fans of Just Salad, although I will admit to kind of liking their Thai chicken crunch wrap in one of my weaker moments a few years back. That being said, if you’re going to eat a salad it might as well be a free salad. Today a new location of Just Salad opens on 49th btw. 8+9th in World Wide Plaza, and to celebrate they’re offering buy one get one free wraps and salads (when you bring a friend) from 11am to 3pm, plus free Hint Water with any purchase of a wrap or salad. I guess it is possible to win friends with salad?  Freeloaders… find a friend, and prepare to engage.

Just Salad, 321 West 49th Street (btw. 8+9th)

Pie Face is celebrating their first anniversary in the US with #PiePalooza, a four-day celebration at both their Murray Hill and Midtown West locations. Today is National Pie Day, which means they’ll be passing out free samples of Pie Face’s savory selections in areas around their shops. If you actually go to the stores, you can try your luck with their prize wheel as well, which includes a chance to win free coffee, pies and desserts. Freeloaders, engage!

Pie Face, Multiple Locations

• 3rd Ave. & 34th, Murray Hill
• B’way & 53rd, Times Square

Korean tacos, once a novelty, are now available from a number of trucks that frequent Midtown. It can’t be easy for truck owners to differentiate themselves from the pack, but the Kimchi Taco Truck is doing just that by introducing some new menu items, including Korean fried chicken tacos. The updated menu includes burritos as well, but I went straight for the new tacos, ordering two Korean fried chicken tacos and one new fish taco. Usually the truck’s combination deal means three tacos cost $7 and four tacos are $9. However, if you want one of the new specialty tacos, which I obviously did, each taco will cost one dollar extra, which brought my combo to exactly $10. Pretty steep for a taco trio, but was it worth the price?

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We’ve always been a fan of Crisp and their unique brand of falafel, first from their original store on 3rd Ave. to their 40th street expansion and then finally at their food truck.  But all is not well in the Crisp empire. We got a tip from Lunch’er sparmethecensor that the Koreatown location of Crisp on 32nd Street between B’way and 6th, which opened barely a year ago, is now closed.  Maybe they should have tried serving a kimchi topped falafel?

But the real shocker came in in the form of an email to everybody on Crisp’s mailing list…

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Schmackary’s didn’t do so hot in the 2012 Readers’ Poll for desserts, which was disappointing to me, because it’s at the top of my list for cookies around Times Square. In addition to fulfilling your cookie fix, though, there are plenty other options in their arsenal of sweets, including “Schmackaroons,” or coconut macaroons with the Schmackary’s twist. Usually $3 each, and without discounts when bought in bulk, the Schmackaroons don’t come cheap. But, on Tuesdays Schmackary’s treats Schmackaroons like cookies. Instead of $3, they are the price of cookies (pricing structure in this post), and if you buy more than one, the price per Schmackaroon is reduced. So, I purchased a cookie and a Schmackaroon and forked over $5, the price of two cookies.
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Mooncake Foods has been a great Midtown Lunch option for two years, now, and has become my go-to order spot when my days get so busy that I can’t leave my desk. I can confidently order just about anything on the menu and never feel bored or ho-hum about my lunch. The pork sandwich is a winner, and the spicy tofu bahn mi is a vegetarian treat, but what about a bahn mi-like smoked white fish salad hero?
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A whole year in the making, Smokey Burger Organic finally opened on 45th btw 8+9th at the top of the year. I stopped by to check out the menu and was a little shocked that it is nothing like anything in the area, when it comes to burgers. Not even close. Craving an elk burger or perhaps ostrich? Smokey Burger Organic has you covered … but it’s going to cost you. This is no Midtown Lunch.
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Photo courtesy of Tasty Eating

• Phil’s makes the philly cheesesteak we’ve all been hoping for [Tasty Eating]
• The bun is one of the best parts about Schnipper’s cheeseburger [Pink Pig]
• Starbucks vs. Midtown Coffee Cart [Reddit via Eater]
• The al pastor cemita at Tulcingo del Valle is a great lunch [SENY]
• Check out B&B’s street food book cover! [Blondie & Brownie]
• Rize is a coffee oasis in the heart of Midtown [Ramen & Friends]
• Spring is suing the landlord of his building for scaffolding intimidation [DNAinfo]
• Barclay Rex tobacco shop is being turned into a burger joint [Jeremiah’s Vanishing NY]