Yummy Yum Yum

So a lot of the folks here are in the NYC area... and I'm always looking for a good lunch place at work.

Actually, I'm just always looking for a good place to eat period.

Any recomendations?


I'll start.

If you're lunchin' in the garment district check out Nick's Place. 550 7th Ave @ 39th Street. Burgers are excellent (served on a pita TWO patties high) and a big selection of healthy wraps and salads.

No matter what you get GET THE CAJUN SAUCE. I'm not gonna say its the best thing ever made BUT, I will say that songs have been written about its goodness.

Its kinda tucked away on the back of the first floor of 550 7th, but worth the detective work to find it.

Bryant Park Grill in Bryant Park.

or just grab soem food from PAX on the corner and have a seat in Bryant Park

Ranch One! That place is so awesome. Corner of 28th and 7th if I remember right?

I love Ranch 1. Unfortunately the one by my office next to the Ed Sullivan Theater has now been converted to yet another sushi place to compete with the 89 others in the neighborhood. Previously, the one in Union Square closed just before I started working in that neighborhood. :roll: The one at 28th and 7th, however, is still open.

Good news for Phil...according to their website they're opening TWO branches in Kuwait City!

There was a Ranch 1 on Hemp Tpk in East Meadow and the closed that one too. :x Some of the best fast food.

There is one in DCA I frequent quite a bit when time premits it. Otherwise it is mostly other fast food venues in the LGA area.

I like the Guy and Gallards....they span the 30's from Lexington to the West Side. They've got good specials, great salads, sandwiches, soups and prepared foods, coffee, GREAT prices and some really good bagels as well. I miss it now that I'm in the 60's. Also, there's no minimum delivery, so if you just want a bottle of water or cup of coffee, you can call them up (or order online and get 10% off, via their website) and they'll bring it to you. Amazing.


My new uptown favorite is Spoons which is at 53rd and 3rd and is described as.... "What’s Italian, Asian, and American all over? Spoons! This innovative and exotic Midtown restaurant and caterer dreamed up by two entrepreneurial Korean sisters is the missing link between Italian and Asian cuisine." :)

I am curious about this Spoons place. That has GOT to be intresting. Tell me more.

My favorite item so far is the Sesame Chicken salad:

Organic Romaine Lettuce with Strips of sesame crusted chicken over arugula and romaine with cucumber, tomato and dijon vinaigrette. I also add walnuts and jicama. It's so so so good.


They have all kids of stuff, including a major variety of fresh fruit (everything from blueberries to sliced asian pear).

Check out the menu on SeamlessWeb...you'll have to sign in probably, and choose a delivery time for when they're open:

http://www2.seamlessweb.com/AtHome/Spoo ... City.249.r

Alfanoose...2 Maidel Lane downtown.
Decent Lebanese food.

Sometimes I'll hit up the Chipotle over by the Bull downtown. Lines are long but they move pretty well.

Alfanoose rocks, I used to live in the Middle East and it's pretty much the best falafel in Manhattan. Once had a chat with the owner about how he makes it fresh compared to many places that have the falafels sitting in the fryer for long periods of time or worse yet, cooked in the microwave. This place is reason enough for me to go downtown sometimes...For more upscale Leb cuisine I'd recommend Al Bustan on 3rd Ave around 50th St, it's where the Arab diplomats tend to go for business dinners and such.

Have to give a plug to "Big Nick" (aka the Burger Joint/Pizza Joint/Niko's) here on the UWS, he's been in business since the early '60s and how many Manhattan restaurants can say that? Well, one other is also on UWS, Fine & Shapiro deli which I think dates from the '20s...

As a local I HATE chain places, but you guys are right about Ranch 1, and in any event, it's a local chain. So they (and things like Nathan's and Carvel) get an exemption from my no-chain policy.

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Originally Posted by Nonstop2AUH

...For more upscale Leb cuisine I'd recommend Al Bustan on 3rd Ave around 50th St, it's where the Arab diplomats tend to go for business dinners and such...

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Al Bustan is excellent. There's also a good Lebanese place in Brooklyn on Atlantic Avenue called Tripoli. Prices are cheaper than Al Bustan.


Just thought of another place--Sahara in Brooklyn on Coney Island Avenue. Good Turkish food.

Since you brought up the UWS, you should DEFINATELY check out Calle Ocho on Columbus at 81st.

It is Cuban, and it is AMAZING. The seviche is great, the quatro quesadillas should not be missed. If you are going for dinner, be sure to ask for a table in the back. The bar in front gets a little loud and crowded, but the back resturant is gorgeous with super high ceilings and oversized comfy tables.

Prices are standard for that area, but totally worth it. And on Monday nights they serve free tapas at the bar with the $5 mojito specials. If you do a monday you have to deal with crowds and noise; just know that going for dinner is no bargain, but very reasonable for how good it is.

Yeah heard some good stuff about Calle Ocho, but I never go even though I'm like 5 blocks away because it looks like a bit of a scene and I'm getting too old. Would like to try it though, is there a night when it's quieter than Mondays and the weekend?

Does anyone here have a favorite NYC area airport dining establishment? I recently tried Bar Avion in T4 JFK which looked promising but the food, at least what I had, was kind of a letdown. Had been to Sam Adams down at the other end back in the spring and even though it's generic bar food, I found the quality a bit better. Would like to try the Todd English place (Figs?) at LGA and the Italian sort of buffet place in the MAT but never have time (the latter has some interesting memorabilia on the walls). Now, not to be a snot but if any of you are lucky enough (as I was) to get a shot at it, the catering in the EK lounge in T4 is amazing, they have Indian and Arabic specialties in addition to top notch 'western' fare. Much better than the BA Terrace lounge food over in T7, which has the added problem of big crowds thanks to the silly BA sleeper service on flights departing after 730p.

Cooper35 on Cooper and 6th. Great chinese during the day and a pretty hopping bar at night.

@ Nonstop2AUH...


As long as you ask for a table in the back at Calle Ocho, it does not matter AT ALL how rowdy the front is. The resturant is up a few stairs and down a narrow hall long enough to seperate you from crowd and noise and then it opens up to the dinning room. The last time I went was a Monday night, but we sat in the back---there could have been a nuclear war going on and we would not have known!

Thanks Lia, will check it out.

Ok, I know many of you are on LI, so tonight my friend took me to an Afghan place in Hicksville called "Ali Baba," was my first time there and the kebabs, rice and appetizers were really good. The attentive staff (well, attentive when not distracted by the satellite TV program they were watching) told me there's also one in Fresh Meadows Queens if that is more convenient for some of you.

While on the subject of LI dining, a couple of years ago I attended a memorial get together to honor a friend who had passed away, it was at a German place called Pumpernickel's, which had been one of his longtime favorites (he was also a big aviation fan and would have loved this site). It had a really nice, old-world, family atmosphere and even though I saw it under less than ideal circumstances, I'd recommend it if it's still the same, which I'd guess it probably is. Good place to drink beer, eat heavy food and think about old friends!

Probably not related, since it's not the MOST original name in the universe, but since you brough it up....there's an Ali Baba at 34th and 3rd which has great Turkish Food. :)

Oh, another favorite is

L'Annam. Either on 28th and 3rd or 29th and 3rd. Great Vietnamese lunch specials for under 7 dollars. And very good portions.

If you are new to Vietnamese cuisine, start with L17 Bun Chao with chicken.

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Originally Posted by Mellyrose

Probably not related, since it's not the MOST original name in the universe, but since you brough it up....there's an Ali Baba at 34th and 3rd which has great Turkish Food. :)

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What Kind of food is exactly Turkish Food? - sorry to sound like an idiot but I seen the commercials and It seems like a good place to eat.

Again sorry to be off topic a little bit, but anyone know any good places where theres good Greek food?

There's a little place by me in Massapequa just across from All-American. Their food is aces.

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...but anyone know any good places where theres good Greek food?

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Astoria.

Namely: Ovelia...or Opa! Opa!

Damm Mel!!!! you know where all the great places are ehh?

For those who are fans of life changing experiences:

Doughnut Plant
(on Grand btwn Essex and Norfolk)

Doughnuts are OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD delicious and refreshingly unique.

Tres Leches Doughnut is on my top ten "Best Foods Ever in My Mouth" List

PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY DOUGHNUT is not to be missed--imagine the sweetest, lightest, most perfect peanut butter and jelly sandwhich you've ever had lightly doughnut fried and glazed.

AMAZING.

MmmmmmMMMMMMmmmmMmmmmMMMmMmMmmmMmmmmMMmm!!!!!!

Defonte's Sandwich Shop on Columbia Street in Red Hook Brooklyn is a classic. I hadn't been there in about 2 years, but when I walked in today it was still the same smiling faces. The Salami and Provolone is excellent as is Ham, friend eggplant, and fresh Mozzarella on a hero. The eggplant is thinly sliced and dipped in flour then egg batter before being deep fried. As always they have fresh Roast Beef, Turkey, Corned Beef, Pastrami, Roast Pork, Potato and Egg, Pepper and Egg, and the Friday Shrimp and Calamari special. I used to ride a bike there from when I was about 10 to 15 when my fater was the dock boss at Piers 9-12 on Van Brunt Street, and introduced many a partner and student to their delicacies when I worked as a Medic in South Brooklyn.

Ah the food thread is back! Ok, since I was just in Chicago and I am sure some of you get out there on business too, I have to recommend the Billy Goat there, famous old burger dive right under Michigan Ave by the Wrigley Building, great for a quick lunch with some old Chitown "ambiance". It was the inspiration for John Belushi's classic "cheeburger" skit on SNL and that is what you must have if you go there because it is unlikely they will want to serve you anything else.

Back home, I had a cabdriver coming back from LGA who was actually from Corona (where shall we say I have some heritage), who reminded me that the Parkside there is still quite a good Italian place so I am planning to go soon since I've not been in years.