Midtown Lunch

No riots today… Just a quiet, peaceful line of freeloaders that stretches down 42nd St. AND AROUND THE CORNER (onto Vanderbilt). Today they are only letting a few people in at a time so the line is moving super slow. I mean seriously people. This meal costs $5!!! You have to be the cheapest person of all time to put up with this nonsense.

I of course will be waiting in line for my free chicken. (What can I say? It’s what I do…)

UPDATE: 55 mins (10 of it in the rain) for $4 worth of chicken and you don’t even get to choose your sides! Worth it? Fuck no! What’s that? You already knew that? Oh. I guess it could have been worse… I could have been the guy behind me who waited all that time only to realize you needed a coupon (which he didn’t have.)

I think most people will agree that the biggest surprise of the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge was the duck pastrami reuben created by FreeFoods NYC (on 45th btw. 5+6th & 52nd btw. 3rd+Lex). It was so delicious, that most of us were willing to ignore the fact that it was kind of small, and very expensive ($9.95). It was especially hard for those who vowed never to step food in a place that serves the kind of super expensive raw/vegan/organic/yuppie food that FreeFoods is known for. But the sandwich was freakin’ awesome. And in the end taste triumphs over everything.

And then the unthinkable thing we knew was going to happen, happened. They raised the price. Part of the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge is that everything had to be under $10… so they introduced it at $9.95, only to raise it to $12 now that the sandwich is so popular. Normally I would institute an immediate boycott, but FreeFoods was too smart for that. They simultaneously introduced a new $9.75 sandwich, that sounded too good to pass up. It’s not part of the Sandwich Challenge, but the owner admitted that they made it with the Midtown Lunch readers in mind. Sloppy Leo’s Brisket Melt.

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According to the AP, KFC denies that there were any riots over grilled chicken yesterday. More importantly they say “the Manhattan restaurant on East 42nd Street plans to begin honoring the coupons again [today] after it resupplies the kitchen.”  But you may not want to sit on that coupon too long.  An anonymous source who claims to supply KFC with chicken has told Business Insider that because of this promotion KFC may run out of product by this weekend:

“A franchisee today told me KFC is projected to strip their entire supply chain of bird by Saturday. I am not making that up. They are scrambling to source more chicken before Sunday the 5th. By Sunday, because its Mothers Day, one of their busiest days of the year. Its possible they could be out of chicken on Mothers Day.”

This thing just keeps getting better and better.

I’ll admit I completely dismissed Asian Station, the new semi-chic looking Asian restaurant that opened over a month ago next to Bombay Bistro on 52nd btw. 3rd+Lex. Aside from it being a little too cool for school, they didn’t have a menu in the window- and from the looks of it, there was no way it was going to be cheap enough for Midtown Lunch’ing purposes. I do love Asian food though, so I was excited to hear yesterday that their lunch specials are actually well under $10! That’s the good news. The bad news is, they serve Japanese, Chinese, AND Thai food.

Lunch’er Joe was kind enough to transcribe the menu for us. It’s after the jump…

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After turning the decision over to you guys, the response was unanimous: keep the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge going, and bring on the torta! So, from Certe (on 55th btw. 5+6th) this morning: “Starting today we will offer our May Midtown Lunch Entry: Sirloin Mexican Torta. Sliced Roasted Sirloin of Beef with avocado, pico de gallo, queso blanco, fresh jalapeno and chipotle aioli on a soft Mexican torta. Also the Primavera (last month’s entry) will become one of our weekly specials starting next week. It will be available on Fridays (starting 5/15). And as always the Thanksgiving Dip is available on Thursdays.”

Yesterday tons of complaints streamed in from all over the country from people having trouble downloading the free chicken coupon from KFC (which you still should be able to download until tonight at 11pm.)  Today, complaints came in from Midtown Lunch’ers trying to redeem those coupons.  Lunch’er Tony checked in around 12:20pm today with this comment: “On line at 42nd/Mad location now, manager just announced they hit their limit and will not be honoring coupons.”  Things seemed crazy at the 50th & 7th location as well.  via Lunch’er “Win” just before 1 pm: “Just got back from 50th & 7th ave – there was about 50 ppl crammed into a very tiny space before me .. will try again much earlier on another day. The mgr said “while supplies last” so I wouldn’t even attempt this location.”

And that’s when all hell broke loose…

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You guys had a lot to say about the news that Bruegger’s bagels was planning on opening stores in Manhattan… and the CEO has responded in the comments: “I am the CEO of Bruegger’s and would like to respond. As for research, these comments confirmed our the work we did – Manhattanites are very opinionated about bagels. This is why we are not looking to displace your local favorites by entering neighborhood locations. (Though I am familiar with H&H and Ess-a-bagel and am not conceding that they are better.) As for our product we make our own fresh dough, boil and bake in each location in small batches so the bagels are fresh and hot. Our bagels have won “best of” awards year after year in cities across the country. We don’t believe bagels (or, for that matter, any food) should be “oversized”. We pride ourselves on offering healthy, wholesome food, in a warm, inviting atmospere with great guest service. And while we are known for our bagels we offer much more – sandwiches and paninis , hearty soups, fresh tossed salads, organic and fair trade coffee and desserts. Though we are new to Manhattan we have over 30 locations in New York State. We hope we will be as welcomed in Manhattan.”

When you guys speak, rich important people listen!

If you are a big fan of bakeries, Midtown would probably not be your first choice of places to be stuck 40 hours a week. Lower East Side, East Village, Soho, hell, anywhere would probably be better than here. (Though we do have 28 locations of Crumbs!) But don’t curl up into a sugar deprived ball just yet. Some of the best non-Midtown bakeries have items shipped to various shops in Midtown… and who better to uncover the best ones than our contributor, and baked goods expert, Kathy YL Chan (from A Passion for Food.) Here is her list of favorites, along with the location in Midtown you can find them. (Note: some places have multiple locations with a rotating list of sweets. You won’t be guaranteed to find each of these items at all locations on all days… but it’s still a good guide to get you started.)

Two Little Red Hens

• Actual Bakery Location: 1652 2nd Ave (btw. 85+86th), UES
• Favorite Item: Brooklyn Blackout Cake

This dark and luscious number never fails to leave me intoxicated in a sugar coma, post-consumption. Regardless, I return to it over and over again. And no, there are never regrets. Tiers of chocolate cake layered with chocolate pudding, finished off with frosting and a smattering of cake crumbs. Too sweet? Of course! But in just the right ways that you would expect and want. Where to get it in Midtown: Dean & Deluca

Sage General Store

• Actual Bakery Location: 24-20 Jackson Ave., Long Island City
• Favorite item: Carrot Cake Cupcake

The girls over at Lunch Studio have already spilled wonders on this oversized cupcake creation. Carrot cake and a smother of whipped cream cheese frosting. Simple and classic, no surprises here, just pleasure all around. Where to get it in Midtown: Dean & Deluca

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