mid • town lunch n. (mid-toun luhnch) 1. an inexpensive (under $10), authentic, unique, and interesting quick-service lunch, preferably near where you work; 2. an adventure in urban lunching.
When Zach Brooks launched his site MidtownLunch.com on June 8, 2006, he unwittingly started a movement for workers in the heart of Manhattan to take back their lunch hour. Saying no to generic delis and boring, overpriced salad joints, Zach tirelessly pounded the pavement seeking out good food and good deals wherever they could be found within the bounds of Midtown (roughly the area from 30th Street to 59th Street between Third and Eighth Avenues). No restaurant was too divey, no food was off-limits. In the years since, Midtown Lunch has expanded to include Downtown Lunch, Midtown Lunch Philadelphia, and Midtown Lunch Los Angeles, where Zach is currently based with his family.
1. What’s the story behind starting Midtown Lunch?
It’s actually a very complex, intriguing tale involving many twists and unexpected turns. It involved many acts of surprising courage and unmistakable valor. I was a fat guy, searching for the best lunches near my office in the food wasteland of Midtown Manhattan. After finding a few gems, I thought to myself, “Gee, I’ll bet other people would be interested in this stuff.” On week two of the site, I ate at a different falafel place every single day. Gawker made fun of me, and the rest is history.
2. Did you have any favorite carts or trucks in Midtown prior to the blog?
To be completely honest, I don’t remember lunching in Midtown before the blog. It’s all a haze of cheap Chinese food and street meat.
3. What was your favorite street food discovery?
There are so many that have a special place in my heart, but if you pushed me to pick a favorite it would have to be the Biryani Cart (page 80). I can’t take full credit for Meru and all his success, because he would have eventually been discovered with or without me. But I was there the first day he added kati rolls to his menu, and having watched him grow from a standard Midtown halal cart into one of the more famous street food purveyors in all of New York brings me much happiness.
4. As the founder of Street Meat Palooza, how do you define “street meat”?
Chicken and/or lamb/gyro over rice with white sauce and hot sauce!
5. How has the street food scene changed since you started blogging?
Well, the whole gourmet food truck trend didn’t start until a few years into Midtown Lunch’s existence, and that has certainly changed the street food scene enormously. Not just in New York, but around the country.
6. Now that you’re L.A.-based, what do you see as the main differences between the East Coast and West Coast street food scenes?
I’ve actually been more surprised by the similarities between the two coasts more than the differences. Despite L.A. being an entirely food truck–based scene and New York being primarily carts, the stories and struggles of the old-school Mexican taco trucks in California and the old-school halal carts in New York City are so similar. The main difference is that California street food became popular as a late-night food option in communities that needed late-night food options, while much of the modern NYC street vendor scene is more geared toward tourists and office worker lunches. That being said, halal food started as a late-night option for Muslim cab drivers … so, there’s another similarity.
7. L.A.’s Kogi BBQ launched the Korean taco craze, what other fusion street foods have you seen that have been successful?
I don’t think that there will ever be another Kogi, or another “fusion” street food that will see a similar amount of success. There’s a reason why taco trucks and halal trucks are able to last while other more gourmet trucks struggle to turn a profit. Tacos and street meat is cheap food that can be served up quickly, in high volume. Cheap, quick, volume. Lose any one of those three things, and you’re not going to be successful. The reason Kogi was so huge is because they’re just a taco truck, making burritos and tacos and quesadillas. They didn’t change the model, just the salsas.
8. Are there any New York trucks or carts that you especially miss?
STREET MEAT! I’d give just about anything for a decent chicken and lamb over rice plate with white sauce and hot sauce.
9. Years ago you wished for a Thai food cart and it came true! What other street food would you love to see in Midtown?
You know … I’m not sure there’s anything left to wish for. Midtown seems to have everything at this point!
10. Where do you see street food in New York going?
Street food has always been cyclical, and history would say that we’re at the tail end of one of the cycles. But on the other hand, there seems to have been a breakthrough recently that would be tough to reverse. I think that hot dogs and halal carts will always be moneymakers for many of the vendors in New York City. But as lines grow at places like the Biryani Cart (page 80) or Eggstravaganza (page 75) or Uncle Gussy’s (page 69), you’ll see more and more vendors take a chance on more and more interesting fare.