Midtown Lunch

If you’ve followed our coverage of Food Gallery 32, it’s been a story of trial and error, but for the most part, a successful one. Bian Dang’s 3rd floor off-shoot, Crêpe Monster, has followed a similar trajectory of small oversights, but this story ends on a happy note as well. You may recall Crêpe Monster’s preview, which was plagued by long lines and a shapeless menu, but I paid them a visit recently, and was quite pleased with what I saw and tasted.
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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 Gabriella, a tourism professional who wishes she could send herself to Rome.

Name: Gabriella (aka The Explorateur)

Age: 35

Occupation: Tourism sales, marketing & public relations

Where in Midtown do you Work?: Northern New Jersey

Favorite Kind of Food: Thai & Italian

Least Favorite Kind of Food: French

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown:Main Noodle House (6th btw 37th & 38th) for mixed dumplings and Wonton/roast duck soup, Chai Home Kitchen (on 8th btw 55th & 56th ) for duck spring rolls & green curry chicken, Naya Express (on 3rd btw. 43+44th) for hummus and chicken shawarma, (3rd ave & 44th) and I follow all manner of food trucks to see if my meeting patterns fit in with their daily roaming.

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Ask the simple question, “Where’s the best Mexican food in New York City?” and you’ll likely be met with exasperated sighs, an eye roll, and the fierce proclamation that New York Mexican cuisine could never in a million years rival that of California’s (at least until California is swallowed by the Pacific). Part of me agrees. I’ve had the pleasure of eating at the clapped out taco trucks in random parking lots around Salinas and Fresno, CA – gleefully shoveling down $1.50 tacos meant for the local day laborers, now being elbowed out by DSLR toting hipsters.

But we shouldn’t be so self depreciating, for there’s perfectly acceptable Mexican to be had at Tehuitzingo Deli and Grocery (10th Avenue between 47th & 48th st) – well out of reach of Midtown, but accessible for the lucky lunchers that work on the western edge of Midtown, or those with very lax lunch breaks (they also deliver as far east as 6th ave).

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Ever since I first heard about the Kimchi Taco Truck, I’ve kept this truck on my radar. There were some false starts (they were originally going to hit the streets in the fall, then in January), this weekend on Twitter I saw a very promising tweet (their first since January 30th):

FINALLY..!!! Thxs for being patient everyone; rain or shine Monday (2/28th) -Court Square, Long Island City (45th Ave & Jackson) @11:30 a.m.

I immediately tweeted back asking when they’re planning on coming to midtown (LIC’s nice and all, but doesn’t help my lunch!) and they tweeted back “Hope to be there midweek.”

Check out their menu after the jump. Read more »

When it rains it pours, eh?! Sad news from the forums courtesy of Lunch’er whiskeyfrisky: “Teriyaki Boy on 7th bet 48th and 49th is closing its doors for good due to high rent. I’m sure going to miss their chicken curry soba.” And I will miss their $3.99 lunch special. Big loss for Lunchers in the notoriously overpriced greater Times Square area. Most importantly what is Stanley T. going to do? The closest other Teriyaki Boy is their just out of bounds location on 9th btw 57th and 58th.

Well, it looks like our days of defending Manganaro’s, and the two crazy sisters who run the place, are numbered.  According to the Wall Street Journal, the building that houses the 100+ year old Italian grocery store and restaurant is being sold, and once the deal goes through Manganaro’s will be no more.  We can take a little solace in knowing that Manganaro’s Hero Boy isn’t going anywhere, but anybody who has been to both knows there is little consolation in that.  Say what you want about the sisters, Manganaro’s is irreplaceable and will be missed. [via Eater]

At Midtown Lunch HQ, we get a lot of press releases on a daily basis. The majority come from chain restaurants pushing deals, such as ‘buy one get one free burritos’, or ridiculous concepts that most Midtown lunchers would never visit. But every once in a while, a reputable restaurant or vendor will give us a heads up on a new menu item or special, such as when Mexicue emailed us with the subject line of “Burnt Ends Chili” special. I would do a disservice to burnt ends trying to describe them and summarily why we got so excited about this email – so check out Serious Eats’ excellent description of this dish and you’ll understand why we dropped everything and hustled over to Mexicue for a try.
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