Midtown Lunch

It sounds like 55th Street btw. 5+6th has been nothing but trouble for the brand new Street Sweets Truck since they popped up last week. On Monday, they complained that “politics” forced them to move to a different spot. Commenter “bm2e” seemed pretty pissed: “This is BULLSHIT. The carts on the block at 55th and 6th are a standard hot dog cart (pretty good, reasonable prices) and a mediocre halal cart that isn’t even there every day. Add to this poor showing the fact that the crap Italian restaurant in the first floor of 1350 6th Ave actually went and rented a U-Haul to prevent the truck from parking.” (I got confirmation that Bistro Milano, the Italian restaurant inside 1350, did indeed rent a UHaul and put it in the spot to prevent them from parking there on Monday.)

Well, it looks like it all came to a head yesterday when I noticed the scene above in front of the truck just before Noon. I asked one of the cops what was going on and he seemed all too excited to tell me.

Read more »

If borekas and egg rolls, why not PB&J Sandwiches!?

If you thought the whole “law student couldn’t get a job so opens a cupcake truck” story was crazy… what about this one?  Got this email in the old ML inbox the other day:

Hi Zach,

I’ve hatched an idea due to extended unemployment, and I thought you’d be the best qualified to tell me if it is feasible or not. During my days of working in Midtown your site was a bible.

It’s pretty simple: set up a small table on a busy corner and sell peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from a cooler for a few bucks. That’s more than the cost of making them, so I’d pull a profit. And it’s cheaper than other lunch options, and who doesn’t like PB&J?

But what about a vendor’s license?

Read more »

Those who have been reading Midtown Lunch for awhile may recall the Cartwatch of January ’07.  A croque monsieur truck popped up, and just as quickly disappeared a few days later, before ML got a chance to sample their wares.  Since then, I have dreamed of the day when we would be able to buy a French ham and cheese sandwich from a truck- and earlier this week, my dream finally came true.

The Le Gamin truck, which has been parking all over NYC since late last year, finally gave Midtown a chance to try their menu of French sandwiches, crepes, quiche, and (of course) frites.  They set up shop on 47th btw. Lex+3rd on Tuesday and Wednesday, and not even the rain could keep me away from date with destiny!

Read more »

In all the years I’ve been begging for somebody to serve Dim Sum in Midtown, the last place I’d expect to step up would be Yushi! (On 47th btw. Park+Lex)  Of course my idea of dim sum is carts rolling around… for Yushi it’s just what they’re calling a new line of dumplings being sold out of steamer baskets at the front of the restaurant.  They’ve got chicken and mushroom, or pork and chive for $6.45.  Shrimp and chive for $6.95.  One order is 6 dumplings, and you get a salad on the side. Sure it’s expensive by Chinatown standards, but that’s only 50 cents to $1 more than the Rickshaw Dumpling Truck (and they charge you $3 for the salad.)

I think I might have to try these, which just proves that if you put anything in a Chinese steamer basket and call it dim sum I’m going to be interested (nevermind that this place is Japanese.)  What can I say? It’s the only fair thing to do before passing judgment, and my last couple visits to Yushi involved a soup and a couple sushi rolls that were admittedly really good.  (Oh, and in case you were wondering the “for display only” conveyor belt is still rocking it down the center of the restaurant.)

Related:
I Am Big Enough to Admit I Wasn’t Entirely Correct About How Much Yushi Sucks
Yushi Bento Bar Brings Style Over Substance to Midtown

via Wined and Dined: The original El Rey del Sabor cart (on 60th and 3rd) will start a free delivery service on Monday (6/15). They’ll deliver via bicycle 10-12 blocks in any direction, with a minimum $3 order. No word on whether or not they will also have delivery from the 49th & 3rd Ave. location. Call 917-837-8278 to order.

Mentioned in the forums, and confirmed by the photo, Panda Restaurant (the Chinese food/Italian food mashup on 46th btw. 5+6th) has closed. It always saddens me to see a Chinese food place of any kind fail, but this isn’t much of a surprise- Panda just wasn’t really that good. And if I’m saying that, you know it’s pretty bad. (I discriminate against no Chinese food!) According to the sign, a pizza place is coming soon.

Midtown fro-yo fans will be bummed about this one. Lunch’er “Myra” reports: “Red Mango on 8th Ave (btw. 45+46th) had a yellow Marshal’s Notice on the door, and 2 employees standing there a bit puzzled.” Confirmed by the photo above, the store was still closed as of 1:30pm (and nobody was picking up the phone as of 2:15pm.) According to one of the employees on the scene, it’s because of a dispute between the owner of Red Mango and the landlord who owns the building. He assured me they would reopen (and added “maybe even today”.) It hasn’t effected any of the other Midtown locations… the one on 3rd Ave. and 34th is still open as is the Koreatown location (who knew nothing about the problems with the 8th Ave. location.)

Update in the Comments: As of 4:30 they have reopened

A close up of the notice is after the jump…

Read more »