Midtown Lunch

Choice Streets, the food truck version of Village Voice’s Choice Eats happened on Pier 86 just below the Intrepid last night and I was happily there to check out all the goods.

Usually at these food truck affairs, it’s always the same trucks over and over again. But I was pleased to see some new offerings aside the expected Wafels & Dinges, Frites ‘n’ Meats, and Red Hook Lobster Truck. Quite a few vendors who very rarely make the trip to Midtown proper showed face. Solber Pupusas and Souvlaki GR served up their Vendy Award winning deliciousness.
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• Midtown Lunch made it onto Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory! [Miscellaneous]
• At Blue Flowers Cafe the bagels are great, but the service is terrible [Midtown Eating]
• The Fishing Shrimp truck parks in the Flatiron on Thursdays [Midtown Eating]
• Troy Turkish grill makes a great doner kebab [Midtown Eating]

Every Tuesday we turn over the site to a different Midtown Lunch’er for his or her recommendations for the best lunch in Midtown. This week it’s Ross, a finance guy by day/DJ by night who’s still looking for a mind blowing breakfast in Midtown West.

Name: Ross

Age: 26

Occupation: Finance (day) / DJ (night)

Where in Midtown do you work? Markit, 40th & 8th Avenue, in the NY Times Building

Favorite Kind of Food: Mexican

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Cheap sushi

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Shorty’s (on 9th btw. 41+42nd) for their classic and Mozzarella Triangles, Potbelly’s wreck, Italian, and chicken Salad, Tabata Noodle (on 9th btw. 39+40th) for their shuo and miso ramen (spicy ramen is amazing as well), and Totto Ramen (on 52nd btw. 8+9th) for the Totto spicy Ramen and Totto miso ramen.

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As you may know by now, the Street Vendor Project has been working on passing two bills that will lower the price of tickets for food vendors. The tickets can now cost up to $1000 per violation . And the violations might be as minor as setting up a foot too close to an intersection. If a vendor gets a few of these tickets, it can easily put them out of business.

There will be a hearing at City Hall today starting at 10am to get these bill passed. All who are available to come out and show their support are encouraged. I will be there representing Midtown Lunch and fighting to save our vendors from being shut down due to exorbitant fines.

You can read the composed testimony I will be giving and watch a short documentary about the campaign after the jump.

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I feel like every week we devote a news post to another Potbelly opening in Midtown. And it’s true because they keep on coming. Thanks to Luncher Daniel who noticed that a fifth Midtown location of the Chicago based sandwich shop will open in the old Dig Inn Sensebowl space on 52nd between Lex and 3rd. No word on the exact opening day, but at the rate this company’s been moving in these parts, I’m betting it’s pretty soon.

We just got breaking news that the most affordable lobster roll in Midtown will now be available on wheels. Urban Lobster Shack will be launching a truck this week (either tomorrow or Wednesday, depending on the weather). With a $13 lobster roll ($14 for their speciality lobster rolls), they will be giving the other two lobster trucks on the street a serious run for their money. Starting next week, they’ll be introducing a fried shrimp roll, fried clam roll, and fresh Maine blueberry juice served from a fountain. They’ll be parking in Midtown this week with exact locations to be announced. They’ve been added to the ML Twitter Tracker, but you can also follow them for yourself on Twitter: @urbanlobster.

Check out their menu after the jump…

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Let me start by saying I love a good burger. But deciding where to go for said burger has become so overwhelming with the abundance of really good options in Midtown, that it’s almost easier to opt for something else. I hadn’t been to Schnipper’s Quality Kitchen (where they do a really nice burger) since their opening, but the other day, I stopped to read their menu and realized they’ve been offering a wider menu than I remembered from three years ago.

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I never got to try Diamond Dairy, the hidden gem of a kosher dairy restaurant that closed back in 2009. Zach loved their potato pancakes and there were rumors in the forum last summer of a new restaurant finally opening upstairs in the back of National Jewelers Exchange on 47th. Well, word leaked last week on Lost City that a new dairy restaurant has finally taken its place.

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Dan Dan Noodles from Mapo Tofu. Photo courtesy of Feisty Foodie

• Was this disappointing lunch at Mapo Tofu just an anomaly? [Feisty Foodie]
• Good News/Bad News on the super expensive new Midtown restaurant Hakkasan [Eater]
• Part two of Zach’s worktime lunching podcast is now out! [The Sporkful]
• Chandni on 29th was shut down by the DOH this week [DNAinfo]
• It looks like The Knave in the Parker Meridien will be closed for awhile, thanks to runaway concrete [DNAinfo]