Midtown Lunch

Rex 1516 is one of the under a year old spots turning the west of Broad side of South Street into a place worth coming to for eating purposes and not just drag shows. The menu is Southern influenced. I was invited to try the lunch menu, with entrees that hover around $10 for lunch. Despite the South’s reputation for heavy, not so healthy dining, plates like the blackened tacos or grilled turkey sandwich allow for a less caloric experience.  Inside the ambience is relaxed, especially during lunch. I like the exposed brick and rustic chandeliers. I sipped a Coronado orange wit beer while waiting for my meal, which didn’t take long at all to come out.

Read more »

My mission to Govindas’s Vegetarian To- Go may have been motivated by a carnivore’s smugness, an assumption that fake meat is categorically lame. My expectations were low, to say the least. I didn’t care how many hippies penned odes of love for Govinda.

But when I walked in (to the informal take out area, as opposed to the dining room which has a separate menu), I didn’t hate it. There were no wheatgrass lined windows, no ironic posters, not even a menu written on a chalkboard with cutsey handwriting and drawings.  I didn’t feel like the people behind the counter would detect last night’s pork on me and scorn me for it. It was just about getting the food; I appreciated that.

At the stark counter, with no judgments passed on either side, I ordered my fake meat.

Read more »

Sometimes my eating habits remind me of that Ace of Base song “The Sign”. (You remember, “I saw the sign, and it opened up my eyes, I saw the sign”) My lunches are frequently based on street signs that catch my eye and tempt me. I must have been channeling that Swedish group while passing Mango Bush, a little Caribbean eating hole.  This particular signage offered take out platters for $8. It didn’t at all specify what comes on the platter, but I was in the mood to be surprised.  Lucky for me, the sign opened up my eyes to some jerk chicken.

Read more »

I didn’t think much of South Street Souvlaki anytime I passed it while strolling down South Street, but after a few friends praised the food, I figured it was about time to go and get over my silly preconceived notions based solely on the generic facade. They must be doing something right, as they are currently celebrating their 33rd anniversary.

By the time I stopped to look at the menu in the window, I was already intrigued. You gotta appreciate any restaurant that acknowledges that crappy economic times calls for cheaper lamb.

About a year ago, South St Souvlaki adjusted their menu by making most of their entrees $9. I guess they decided to add some more options with this “new stimulus menu”.  The figs and sausage were hard to pass up, but I had to go with the waitresses whole-hearted recommendations instead.

Read more »