Midtown Lunch

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe it was time to introduce a happy hour column to the site. Every week, our Happy Hour Correspondent posts about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap.

Last week, while drinking on Lucy’s rooftop and taking in the scenery that is TGI Friday’s, my friend Nina noticed an obnoxiously large ad on top of Roastown Coffee for Beer Town. A sports bar located on the second floor of a “healthy food bar?” Sounded like Midtown Lunch material to me!

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In honor of 4/20, Two Boots is giving away free samples of their most stoner-ific pizza, according to their Facebook page. The Dude, inspired by Jeff Bridges character in The Big Lebowski, is a Cajun bacon cheeseburger pizza topped with tasso ham, andouille sausage, ground beef, cheddar, and mozzarella. The free grub is available at all Two Boots locations (including the two in Midtown at Grand Central and 9th Avenue and 44th) from 4:20pm to 6:00pm. Be aware the samples are just half slices, but if you truly have the munchies, I’m sure you could visit all locations within the 100 minutes of the giveaway.

Vendy’s fans rejoice, 2008 Vendy’s finalist Fauzia’s Heavenly Delights will be making an appearance in midtown today, April 20th (and tomorrow, April 21st) for the Earth Day Fair at Grand Central Terminal. Fauzia has been vending from a spot outside the Bronx District Attorney’s office since 1994. Having tried her food at the Vendy’s, I can tell you that this one-time midtown appearance is worth getting excited about. Check out this sneak peak of the menu from Fauzia herself. Read more »

Every Friday we go south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

Since it seems like every other Profiled ML’er says they wish they worked in Chinatown for the lunch, this post is for those people. On the other hand, Di Di Dumpling is not as good as some in Chinatown… a sad reminder that we work in Midtown and not Chinatown. Then again, Di Di is on a corner with a cluster of Asian restaurants (KalBQ and Coco Fresh) so maybe we can  just pretend.

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• Blue Flowers Cafe is back open after a short DOH scare [Midtown Eating]
• Looking for halal in the SW corner of Midtown [Midtown Eating]
• Snack Box raised the price of their doughnuts!? [Midtown Eating]
• Halal carts that don’t post their prices suck. [Midtown Eating]

Upstate NY fro-yo chain, Off The Wall, is making its NYC debut on 2nd Ave between 55th and 56th. On first glance it appears to be a 16 Handles-esque DIY concept, and their website shows a huge variety of flavors and toppings. They have also posted a coupon for 10% off valid until May 31st (unfortunately we missed their Grand Opening free yogurt day on Sunday). Early adopters, let us know what you think!

Back in December, I posted about a LivingSocial deal at Calista Superfoods. Since I hadn’t been yet, I bought it, and promptly forgot about it. Well, I rediscovered my expired deal the other day, and since after they expire you can still redeem them for the amount paid, I headed over to see what I’ve been missing out on. The menu is reminiscent of Energy Kitchen, and consists of ‘healthy’ wraps, burgers, salads, etc. Based on my own experiences and what’s been written on the downtown site about that place, I went in with extremely low expectations and was actually pleasantly surprised.

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I’m no expert on the Sabich, that wondrous vegetarian sandwich that is rich and greasy enough to make even meat lovers rejoice. Taim has certainly gotten the most press for their stand-out version both at their falafel joint downtown and at the ML favorite food truck. And it’s the only version I’ve ever tried.  So I was eager to taste the sabich at SoomSoom, which now has two locations in Midtown and has gotten high marks from Anna for their falafel sandwiches. The sabich at SoomSoom is a little cheaper than the one at Taim and includes unlimited toppings from their salad bar. So it’s obviously a better value, but what about taste?

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This should make the Pie Face coffee lovers from the forums very happy: I saw this sign advertising dollar coffee with any morning purchase on my way to work this morning. Pie Face is also advertising $5 for an espresso and any pastry, if that’s more your style. Either way, these deals are great for the area — nearby morning coffee competition includes Europa, Cosi, Caffe Bene and about a zillion Starbucks, all of which are pretty pricey options and frankly not so amazing.

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Do you wonder what the ML contributors do when they’re not eating lunch in Midtown? (We’re actually pretty easy to stalk!)

Fried Egg and Flatbread cooked and photographed by Donny.

Donny made flatbreads and eggs, Brian filmed a video in the basement brewery of 508 Gastrobrewery, Rachel had taquitos at Sushi Samba, Blondie made hazelnut pancakes at home, Brownie explored the dessert options at Beiler’s Bakery in Philly’s Reading Terminal Market and I reminisced about eating guinea pig in Peru.

Elsewhere in the ML universe… Zach explores the menu at Spice Table in Los Angeles, Jamie’s hot dog adventures bring her to a Mexican Hot Dog in Philly and Andrea gets the scoop on Bian Dang’s new pork bun cart, which is starting out downtown.