Midtown Lunch

The site of the new Schnippers at 570 Lexington (btw. 50+51st)

• Schnipper’s is opening a 3rd location in Midtown East [Eater]
• The mapo tofu at Grand Sichuan is a good deal at $7.50 [Lunch Studio]
• Grand Central has a lot of kick ass clocks [Jeremiah Vanishing]
• As expected, Angelo Sosa’s Social Eatz has officially closed [Grub Street]
• A fancy Irish pub is taking over the Stage Deli space [Eater]
• This drugstore sushi stuff is about to get REAL [Fork in the Road]

If you like to eat, chances are you like to drink (read: a lot of you are freakin’ lushes), so I thought maybe it was time to introduce a happy hour column to the site. Every week, our Happy Hour Correspondent posts about a different bar in Midtown that fits the Midtown Lunch mentality: unhealthy food, not lame (unless it’s lame in a cool way), and most importantly… cheap.

There’s a new Peter Dillon’s in town with the same great happy hour specials. Much like the original location on 40th between Park & Lex, Peter Dillons 2 (36th between 5th and Madison) offers some of the best specials around with $4 (16 oz) pints of Bud, Bud Light, Blue Moon, and Stella and $4 shots of Jameson, Jager, and Cuervo from 4-7 pm. This cozy pub just opened a few months ago in a former Vitamin Shoppe.

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If you’ve walked by Daheen Wang Mandoo (32nd St. btw. Broadway + 6th) recently, you’re probably wondering what’s going on. Have they shuttered for good? What we know for sure is that they haven’t been open and there are two signs on the windows with something written in Korean. Well, according to Luncher Sam Kim – who wrote our Guy Fieri live-blog – and his somewhat shaky handle on the Korean language, it appears that Daheen is closing and will reopen with a new concept.

We’ll keep you posted as we find out more.

Every Friday we go south of the ML boundaries in search of a delicious lunch. Sometimes it’s Murray Hill south or the Flatiron District, sometimes Gramercy and everything in between- but we just like to call it Flatiron Lunch.

About a year ago when I started contributing to ML, I came across Great Burrito. What a find! Of course, it had been previously covered by Jason in March 2010. I figured now was a good time to revisit and try some of the other items on the menu, and, why not the pizza?

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A new Polish truck hit the streets of Midtown this week and Lunch’er Alexa was kind enough to send along this pretty detailed report…

I’m so glad it was sunny yesterday, because it forced me to take a walk outside of my office building and run straight into whiffs of delicious pierogies and kielbasa coming from a new truck I’d never seen before: the Old Traditional Polish Cuisine Food Truck. Parked at the northwest corner of 51st and Park, this homey looking truck, painted as if I were visiting my long lost old Polish grandmother’s wooden cottage, offers a simple menu of potato & cheese pierogies, meat pierogies, grilled kielbasa, and pretty much any combination of them all for $10 and under.

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There’s a part of us that thinks “chocolate covered bacon is so 5 years ago” but there’s another part of us that thinks “Holy Shit, Cafe  Duke (on 51st btw. 6+7th) is selling whole strips of bacon with 6 different kinds of chocolate and toppings!?!”  Either way, it’s worthy of taking a moment to reflect on the awesomeness of this photo. The bacon comes from Baconery, so if you were eyeing this Flatiron Lunch post with envy, this is your chance to fix that issue. (It’s also worth noting for Flatiron Lunchers that Baconery is no longer operating out of that bookstore.)   Thanks to Lunch’er Peter for sending it in.   

It’s been awhile since we checked out Tuscany Catering on 55th btw. 5+6th.  Lunch’er Chris stopped by recently and filed this report…

It’s no secret that midtown is lacking in the pizza category. However, I find this issue to reflect a greater problem – the lack of affordable, authentic Italian options as a whole. Without an abundance of quality pizza joints, midtown misses out on the variety of Italian dishes that often get served alongside the pizza. Luckily, we have Tuscany, which has proven itself worthy time and time again.

Hidden next to a parking garage, and lacking any sit-down area at all, this place seems to rely on catered events for the majority of its business. Since ML first reviewed Tuscany, prices have gone up a bit. Sandwiches are mostly in the $8 range and hot entrees tend to be a little bit more. For my lunch the other day I went with a safe choice of chicken parm and ziti, which came out to $9.80 after tax. While on the high end of the ML budget, I definitely felt like I got my money’s worth.

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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. I was so wrapped up in my rant again Chipotle I totally forgot to run this yesterday. So… here it is today. This week we talk to Nathan, a lawyer by day, home cook by night.

Name: Nathan

Age: 40

Occupation: Full time corporate restructuring/bankruptcy lawyer. Part time home-cooking blogger.

Where in Midtown do you work? Greenberg Traurig, right on top of Grand Central.

Favorite Kind of Food: Mexican or Korean. Well and maybe Greek too.

Least Favorite Kind of Food: Generic conference room sandwiches. No matter the bread, no matter the filling. They All. Taste. The Same.

Favorite Place(s) to Eat Lunch in Midtown: Num Pang (on 41st btw. Lex+3rd) for the catfish sandwich (a good Lenten Friday choice). Kimchee Taco for the new crispy fish tacos. Korilla for their bulgogi tacos. Works gyro on whole wheat pita from Uncle Gussy’s (on 51st & Park) though the debate rages about whether they are really pronouncing “gyro” correctly. Also the PB&J at ‘wichcraft is good but you have to tell them to put it on the press so the peanut butter gets all melted.

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Sometimes lunch isn’t enough to fuel your afternoon. Sometimes you need coffee too, so it’s nice to find a place where you can get a good meal and a mean cup o’ joe as well. Demarco Coffee (Lexington Ave. btw. 50th + 50st St.), which opened this month, is that kind of place. Demarco Coffee is based in Queens, where they roast their own coffee beans. But at their Midtown Cafe, you can sample their coffee and choose from a small menu of cafe-style pre-made sandwiches and salads.

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