juuceman

Los Paisanos, on Smith Street in downtown Brooklyn, sells a ton of pork. Great guys, the have a pretty wide delivery zone as well.

Queen remains the best jury duty sit down lunch in the area. Fasacati remains the best pizza in the neighborhood and can be done in an hour, it is closed on Monday. Waterfalls, on Atlantic, has been my go to middle eastern lately. Pete's Waterfront Ale House, also on Atlantic, has a pretty good lunch special. You can go to the Chip Shop on Atlantic if you're craving fried fish. Popeye's is on Court Street. Iris Cafe has decent coffee during the week, they brew Stumptown, but generally don't have a dedicated barista on weekdays. You could get down the hill on Joralemon for lunch and back in an hour. California Taqueria is a bit of a hike (less so if you're in the court on Livingston Street) but is pretty good. Montague Street has a bunch of Chinese (Litchi Nut is the best) and Japanese (Nanatori) places that are fine and do cheap lunch specials, Lantern Thai further up does a big lunch business, there's a Five Guys on the block as well. Nothing incredible, but it works if you're just looking to eat. There's also a Hale and Hearty on Remsen Street.

Note that my post should have read "Great KorEan on 32nd Street, North Side of the Street, street level - Kun Jip." Best Korean bbq is debatable, as it can depend on what specifically you're eating. That being said, Wo Chon, Woochon, on 36th Street, is my go to place. We walk up to Olympic Pita, on 38th Street, two or three times a month. Great schwarma on laffa, good salad bar. Lunch specials give you a ton of food. Kosher. Mr. Broadway's falafel is OK, their schwarma on a baguette is actually pretty good.

Dimple is now Punjab Palace and is no longer vegetarian. Great Koran on 32nd Street, North Side of the Street, street level - Kun Jip. Mandoo has good dumplings and a good fried tofu appetizer. Empire State Pizza on 33rd Street, South Side of the street, has a good 2 slices + soda deal for $5. Good slices as well. Bella Napoli, Madison btwn 30 and 31, has good steam table Italian-American food. Great chicken parm heros, and the Bella Napoli Salad with grilled chicken is a great meal. No 7 Sub, in the Ace Hotel, is interesting, but a little heavy. Stumptown has a small variety of small premade sandwiches on offer, mostly ham and cheese. Wolfgang's, at the bar, offers a decent slight splurge of a meal. Ben and Jack's, on 5th and 29th, offers a similar but larger menu. Mishima, on Park btwn 30 and 31, offers better than average sushi and good and interesting lunch specials. There's a random Chinese/Vietnamese restaurant on 33rd Street, South Side, btwn 5th and Madison, that has a 3 items over rice for $5 lunch special to take out only. Some interesting choices mixed in with one or two more Americanized dishes. Waldy's Woodfired Pizza is a nice break from the usual choices. There's a newish sandwich/salad place on 7th and 30th that's a few steps above the usual dreck offered by these places.

Lupa has always had an interesting seating policy which only now has caused it to be problematic for you. I often eat there, probably 90% of the time at the bar. for whatever reasons, the overall experience just works better for me there. they will not seat people at the bar who just want to drink once there is any sort of a wait for bar stools and people wanting to eat there. like Nathan, they have asked people to shift seats or stand to permit me to eat at the bar.. it's their model, and their policy if you're open and upfront with them about it.. they do have a more casual model in the front room at Otto, where you can stand, or sit at the larger bar, with a better wine list, and more snack type items available. their policy worked out better for you than if you had ordered wine, then later just appetizers, at which point the position they were in would have been a more awkward one.. I'm sure that the cost of the bottle of wine would have dictated their stance towards you, and whether they offered to allow you to order another bottle later in the afternoon.. at the end of the day though, i don't think they want to be known as a restaurant where it's ok to sit at a table and order just a bottle (or quartino) of wine and a small snack..

Lines in the Fast Pass area vary widely, and are very different from those in the general line. 100,000+ people attended last year. Less than 3% had Fast Passes. You do the math.

It's often down the block, from his mid-Madison Avenue vantage point, to the corner, where it doubles back, then doubles back again, and again. Often the longest line at the BBQ. I've said this before, if you plan on going with more than two people, you're insane to not commit to purchasing $100 worth of BBQ and getting a fast pass now. The lines are out of control, and with a fast pass I've never waited more than 10 minutes for anything, and even that is the rarity. Also, in prior years due to FastPass breakdowns, I've gotten plenty of free food.

unsure whether it's been noted elsewhere, but Mei Lai Wah has been closed by the Department of Health and is extremely unlikely to ever reopen.

The bottled kind that you squeeze and white stuff comes out of. Er, Japanese mayo. Too sweet for me. regards, trillium ← no, what I meant was...which menu items were using it? ← a lot of the non-local momofuku/chang press discusses his use of kewpie mayo.. look, this thread is slightly off.. you have an agenda and a listing of places that you'd like to visit.. none of them are really all that innovative or offering things that you indicate you can get from the source, and yet you want to try the nyc versions.. those of us who eat out a lot here enjoy the momofuku's because they offer something different from the standard ethnic food that you're apparently looking for, which is why they're offered up and almost pushed down your throat.. but to come here and go to the random sushi/kaiseki/korean bbq/etc joints that are fine, but considering the higher quality outlets of all of these places in the US, especially on the West Coast, I think it's a waste of your time to make it a point to hit them and not eat at Ssam..

This is our 'go to' olive oil.

This is my point in my post above. Go to Irving Place (Pete's Tavern, 71 Irving , Friend of a Farmer, Casa Mono, Bar Jamon, Pure Food and Wine, Cibar) and a whole new world of opportunities opens up to you though.

ehh.. all things being equal, being on the East Side of Union Square is, in my opinion, a better way to go.. i lived on Union Square, just off of 5th for years and moved closer to Irving a few years ago.. it makes a world of difference.. there are very few neighborhood 'go to' options on the blocks that you mention, they're not really that residential, and for things like a cup of coffee in the morning, normal drop in lunch places, and neighborhood dining options, etc., you won't do that well.. you can easily hit the greenmarket, there are a bunch of under rated places to eat that you wouldn't make the trek from 5th to eat in but are great for Tuesday night dinners.. on the East Side of the Park, the walk across Union Square isn't a big issue, it puts you closer to the East Village, and you don't have to deal with the tourist overflow that those blocks give you..

An article in this morning's NY Times recommends El Naranjo. Does this mean it is re-open (with Iliana?) or are they just behind the times with their information? ← the Times article seems to rely on old information, giving the website of the old Naranjo restaurant, and not mentioning that it was sold and has both a new chef and a new menu.

Actually, that's the owner's position, and the position of everybody who says the "his place, his rules" truism ends the discussion. My point is that Chris was treated inhospitably, that there was no justification for doing so -- as in a good reason, not the "his place, his rules" power play -- and that it is simultaneously grandiose and petty to care if one person in a half-empty bar is using a laptop computer quietly in the corner. ← Have you ever been to the University Club, or anything of a similar ilk? Almost all of them have rules against not just laptops, but cell phones, and really any sort of business discussions. Restaurants and bar owners make conscious decisions about whether to have televisions in the bar area. If they choose not to, they're going to lose a lot of business to the type of crowd that insists on watching television while they drink, while simultaneously giving them a small bump in business from those who appreciate the lack of televisisions. It's likely a poor economic decision, but it's one that been made. So Chris walks in to a place that has made the decision not to have a television. He pulls out his lapton, which the owner doesn't like. The owner comes to him immediately, before he has paid for his drink, and basically lets him know that he can't stay there with it. He does it nicely, and seemed to be polite throughout the entire interaction. Lets say that the owner didn't say anything to him, figuring that he was in the corner, the light wasn't bothering anyone else, and someone else walks in and sits down at the bar and pulls out their laptop in the middle of the room. This obviously throws off the entire aestheric and vibe that the owner is going for. It's now going to be a lot harder to deal with this situation, given that Chris has been there for 20 minutes, has had a drink, and has been working on his laptop not disturbing anyone. I don't blame the owner at all. His place, his terms. We refuse the right to serve anyone. I'm one of those who hates the glare and light of the television, laptop, and often even the blackberry, when I'm leaving the office and just want a cocktail at the end of the night on the way home.

there's an italian place on 8th and 30th or so that makes their own sausage, and has incredible sandwiches.. i'm sure that it's on this thread or that a quick google search will show it..