Pizza Price Wars Heat Up As Ray’s Intros 75 Cent Slice

Remember the 99 Fresh Pizza location that opened a few months ago on Broadway?  Well, it looks like they’re already wreaking havoc on the area slice shops.  From Lunch’er Jesse:

Ray’s between 54th and 55th street on Broadway must be feeling the heat from the recently opened 99 cent pizza shop across the street. They’ve unveiled 75 cent slices and a 99 cent menu. It’s for a limited time only (naturally).

Check out the full “temporary” 99 cent menu after the jump…

Read more »

Cucina & Co at 4:59pm is For Dummies!: We've mentioned this deal a few times, but it was funny to see it in the NY Post. After 5pm all perishable food is 50% off at the Cucina & Co in Rock Center (25% off after 3:30pm in the Met Life Bldg.) Just beware of all the Japanese tourists and Staten Island teenagers (?) you might see milling about around 4:59pm. (Thanks to Lunch'er "Gargupie" for posting this in the forums.)

A Plea For The Sri Lankan Cafe Niagara

Back in August Jeremiah posted about Cafe Niagara, the super unique Sri Lankan joint that took over Las Poblanitas (on 38th btw. 8+9th).  Sadly nobody seems to be going, and Lunch’er DC is afraid they are going to close.  From the forums:

Cafe Niagara is good. Good enough that I could go once a week. It’s cheap. It’s spicy. Great. Problem is I’ve been going twice a week, because it seems like it’s going to go out of business. No one’s ever in there. I took a coworker there today, and while he liked the food he said the place looked weird, like a sleeper cell/hotbed of food poisoning. Thing is, it DOES look weird. I can understand why someone wouldn’t go in. But the food is good. I haven’t felt ill once. But I don’t want to go twice a week. The best part about it is that it’s different. When you eat it twice a week different becomes the same.

Will you answer DC’s call? Sure, the weather sucks but if we don’t support little places like this on the outskirts of Midtown, who will? Don’t let this place become another Barros Luco…

Not All Shake Shacks Are Created Equal: Food super genius J Kenji Lopez-Alt did a taste test of all the Manhattan Shake Shacks for A Hamburger Today and declared the Midtown location the strangest. Apparently they don't smash the patty as much, making for a much thicker burger than the other Shake Shack locations.

PROFILE: Midtown Lunch’er “Linda”

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 Linda, a food loving diamond agent (!?) who spends a lot of time on 47th street (natch.)

Name: Linda

Age: Loving my 30’s! (That’s all I’m saying)

Occupation: Creator of Agent Diamond, a Personal Shopper for diamond engagement rings & all else shiny. Need help finding food? MTL is the place to go. Need help finding a diamond? Ask me. I promise not to bite :)

Where in Midtown do you Work?: I’m located all over the Diamond District (47th Street between 5th & 6th ). You can also find me twittering & online at www.agentDiamond.com

Favorite Kind of Food: I love them All! Being Asian, I tend to favor this category a slight bit more. Not only do I love the various flavors & textures, but it also warms my soul reminding me of my childhood. (Oh & Cheese! I love anything w/ cheese!)

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Can’t think of anything I don’t like. I’m a foodie & am pretty adventurous when it comes to food. I’ll try anything once. Well, almost anything.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: The Baby Okra/Sultan’s Delight at Akdeniz Turkish Restaurant (on 46th btw. 5+6th), Everything at Café Zaiya (on 41st btw. Mad+5th), The Bahn Mi Sandwiches at Boi Sandwich (on 3rd btw. 44+45th), K-town, Dishes (on 45th btw. Mad+5th)

Read more »

Eat & Go Istanbul Now Open in Dag Hammarskjold

Eat & Go

Part of my weekly produce pick-up at the slightly out-of-bounds Dag Hammarskjold Plaza involved checking up on the little house on the 1st Avenue side. A former home to burgers and shakes, it changed hands in the fall with signage going up that promised a new place called  “Eat & Go Istanbul”. The last we’d seen of Eat & Go was in Bryant Park during the ’09 holidays, and I was a little excited to have a new place to try out in Midtown East. Obviously there are bonus points for the park location (spring will be here, one day.)

Read more »

Free Book Alert!?: This has absolutely nothing to do about food, but it's free stuff and we know how much you guys like free stuff!  Today from 11am to 1pm if you check in on Four Square at the lobby of the Simon & Schuster building (on 6th ave. btw. 48+49th) and show the S&S rep in the lobby they'll give you a free copy of Gideon’s War (some book by a producer of 24.)

Zaiya Gets Slapped With a C From DOH

Cafe Zaiya (on 41st btw. 5+Mad) has never really struck me as an “unsanitary” place, yet it always seemed like their practice of storing food out in the open might get the attention of the DOH.  That day may have finally come as the Japanese eatery now has a C hanging in the window. We’ve been afraid for awhile that the DOH would ruin everything we loved about Zaiya, but there was only one major difference I noticed on a recent trip.
Read more »

Sifton Loves Jamaican Dutchy, Trini Pak, and Hot Sauce: In this week's "Hey Mr. Critic" column, Sam Sifton is asked to recommend places for eating on the cheap and includes Midtown faves the Jamaican Dutchy and the Trini Paki Boys Cart (with extra hot sauce), as well as Le Relais de Venise L’Entrecote, Tiffin Wallah (Curry Hill), Baoguette, Xi'an Famous Foods (Chinatown), and Caracas Arepa Bar (in the EV).

At Lunch Now: Your First Look at the Juicy Wings Cart

Thanks to mother nature (and the fact that it’s Monday?) the newly open Juicy Wings Cart wasn’t a mad house today, but reading the first reports makes us think that might not last too long. From Lunch’er Matt:

Its right across the street from the OG and Sandwich Land Cart. WINGS! 4 flavors. “Tripple” X Fahrenheit is soaked in spicy naga chili and habenero. Texas Ranch is Jack Daniel’s BBQ sauce, Sweet Wasabi is a honey glazed horseradish, sriracha is self explanatory. I went with the tripple x farenheit.

Photo and report, after the jump…

Read more »