Midtown Lunch

It’s time for the 2013 Midtown Lunch Readers’ Poll. Your nominations are in, and between now and the end of the year we’ll be asking all of you to vote for the best Midtown Lunches in a whole range of categories. You can only vote once per category (so choose wisely), and official results will be posted after the new year.

Our Readers’ Poll is just about over, but before we welcome in 2014 we have to bid a fond farewell to those that we lost in 2013. It wasn’t a good year for dumplings. Rickshaw finally packed it in after 5+ years in business, and newcomer Spring only lasted about 6 months.  Qdoba closed all of their NYC locations, and we lost a classic burger, corned beef, and onion ring joint in the 3rd Ave. Blarney Stone. But saddest closing of all? That’s for you to decide.

Here are the nominees…

• Blarney Stone (on 3rd Ave btw. 44+45th)
• Crisp (on 3rd Ave. btw 43+44th)
• Oriental Noodle Shop
• Qdoba
• Rickshaw Dumpling
• Satya Eastern Kitchen
• Spring Dumpling

Vote for your favorite, after the jump…

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It’s time for the 2013 Midtown Lunch Readers’ Poll. Your nominations are in, and you can only vote once per category (so choose wisely). Official results will be posted next week.

Flatiron Lunch has a history selecting only the healthiest of lunch options for our “Best of” including Doughnut Plant and Hill Country Chicken. 2012 Reader’s Poll saw Hill Country Chicken narrowly beating out Mad. Sq. Eats for the top prize, but given the general lack of love for our twice yearly Worth Sq visitor of late, it seems unlikely that Mad. Sq. Eats will even finish in the Top 5. Newcomer Tres Carnes joins the list. Here are the nominees for Best Flatiron Lunch…

• Beecher’s
• Bhatti
• Doughnut Plant
• Eataly
• Hill Country Chicken
• Mad. Sq. Eats
• Shake Shack
• 6 Avenue Taco Truck
• Tres Carnes

Vote for your favorite, after the jump…

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I’m a total sucker for grilled cheese and tomato soup. So two weeks ago, when I had the day off from work (and it was freezing outside), I made my way down to the Melt Shop on 26th to enjoy my personal favorite – the Buffalo Blue with a side of their tomato soup. As always, it was a delightful combination. When I heard they were opening another location in Midtown on 50th between 6th and 7th Ave, I was ecstatic. I ran over to their website to get the exact address, and moused over the menu. To my surprise, it was completely different than the menu I had become so familiar with. It now contained far fewer grilled cheese selections, and my beloved Buffalo Blue had disappeared. How was this possible? Was Melt Shop ruined forever? There was only one way to find out….

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It’s time for the 2013 Midtown Lunch Readers’ Poll. Your nominations are in, and between now and the end of the year we’ll be asking all of you to vote for the best Midtown Lunches in a whole range of categories. You can only vote once per category (so choose wisely), and official results will be posted after the new year.

Midtown Lunchers appear to stay pretty faithful to their favored Indian restaurant, as the nominations over the last few years haven’t offered much in the way of newcomers. This should speak to the quality this year’s nominees are serving out on a daily basis. However, that’s not to say things have remained completely stagnant, as we have seen the transition of 44th Curry House into a new Minar location, something I’m sure we can all appreciate. Will having two locations give them that leg up on the competition, or will Mausam Curry N Bites repeat again? Here are the nominees for best Indian in Midtown:

• Biriyani Cart
• Joy Curry & Tandoor
• Kati Roll Company
• Mausam Curry & Bites
• Minar

Vote for your favorite after the jump…

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It’s time for the 2013 Midtown Lunch Readers’ Poll. Your nominations are in, and between now and the end of the year we’ll be asking all of you to vote for the best Midtown Lunches in a whole range of categories. You can only vote once per category (so choose wisely), and official results will be posted after the new year.

Desserts. Afternoon treats. Everything right with the world. Call them what you will, just as long as they’re delicious. Long gone are the days of terrible desserts in Midtown–we now have more cupcakes and cookies than we know what to do with. Baked by Melissa, Magnolia Bakery, Milk Bar & the finally open Lady M are definite standbys for fancier days, while Schmackary’s, Culture Espresso Bar and Gregory’s Coffee have the down-home treats we seek out for moments of comfort. And there are still Treats Truck and the reigning dessert champ (are there term limits here, Zach?) Wafels & Dinges roaming the streets for our affections. But only one can be the best of 2013 and here are this year’s nominees….

• Baked by Melissa
• Culture Espresso Bar
• Gregory’s Coffee
• Lady M Cake Boutique (40th btw 5th+6th)
• Magnolia Bakery
• Momofuku Milk Bar
• Schmackary’s
• Treats Truck
• Wafels & Dinges

Vote for your favorite after the jump…

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It’s time for the 2013 Midtown Lunch Readers’ Poll. Your nominations are in, and between now and the end of the year we’ll be asking all of you to vote for the best Midtown Lunches in a whole range of categories. You can only vote once per category (so choose wisely), and official results will be posted after the new year.

For the past few years, the Japanese contingent of the readers’ poll has only been represented by the ramen. But this year, we’ve brought Best Japanese back because Japanese is so much more than ramen! You’ve got curries, bentos, teriyaki, and my personal favorite, black sesame ice cream. With Dainobu expanding and Glaze still whipping up some of the best cheap teriyaki around, how could we not celebrate all that Japan has to offer. And the nominees are….

• Cafe Zaiya
• Dainobu
• Glaze Teriyaki
• Go Go Curry
• Sunrise Mart

Vote for your favorite after the jump…

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It’s time for the 2013 Midtown Lunch Readers’ Poll. Your nominations are in, and between now and the end of the year we’ll be asking all of you to vote for the best Midtown Lunches in a whole range of categories. You can only vote once per category (so choose wisely), and official results will be posted after the new year.

This year, old school standby Trini Paki Boys finally won Street Meat Palooza thanks to their beef curry. But how does it stack up to the rest of Midtown’s chicken and lamb over rice according to you lunchers? Will you vote for Trini Paki’s Trini influenced tamarind sauce or for Uncle Gussy’s ethereal white sauce or Kwik Meal’s iconic tender lamb? And then, of course, there’s always the two competing Halal Guys on 53rd Street (the original and the imposter). Which is your favorite street meat?

It’s time for the 2013 Midtown Lunch Readers’ Poll. Your nominations are in, and between now and the end of the year we’ll be asking all of you to vote for the best Midtown Lunches in a whole range of categories. You can only vote once per category (so choose wisely), and official results will be posted after the new year.

Hungry Midtown Lunchers know that when it comes to burgers, Midtown is a great place to be. Over the past couple of years, it has been no surprise that Shake Shack has held onto our readers’ hearts and stomachs. With their expansion into Grand Central this year — and the addition of hand-cut fries at that location — we wouldn’t be surprised if they took the top spot again in our readers’ poll. But who knows, maybe newcomer Clarke’s Standard will dethrone the king…

• Bareburger
• Bill’s Bar & Burger
• Burger Joint at the Parker Meridian
• Clarke’s Standard
• Five Guys
• Schnipper’s Quality Kitchen
• Shake Shack
• Steak N Shake

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Yes, you’ve read that correctly. A new Chipotle Mexican Grill is coming to 40th between 5th and 6th Avenue, right next door to Zeytinz. For those of you keeping track, this new location is almost directly across from the Chipotle on 42nd. If you’ve ever found yourself arriving at the Chipotle on 42nd, only to be greeted to a line stretching out the door, you will soon be able to zip across Bryant Park to the new location where you will probably be greeted with a similarly long line. Nonetheless, it should be open shortly. As you can see from the image, they appear to be making things happen rather quickly.