NYC fast-casual lunch spots offer refuge from the 'sad salad'
These take the 'mid' out of Midtown.
With NYC workers flocking back to the office in record numbers, working stiffs are seeking quick and tasty lunch options without paying through the nose.
More often than not, they end up with the ubiquitous 'sad' salad, an expensive amalgam of cold rabbit foods crunched catatonically at one's desk while one scrolls social media.
Hawked at such hotspots like Sweetgreen and Chopt, these soulless roughage bowls have inundated Midtown, offering little sustenance for the ever-growing throngs of desk jockeys in NYC, where post-pandemic visits to office buildings in April were just 5.5% below 2019 levels — a national record, according to the Placer.ai platform.
12 A mixed bowl with purple rice, soy eggs, kimchi, steak and more at SOPO, the hot new fast-casual Korean concept in Midtown.
Stefano Giovannini
'[It's] hard to find food that actually tastes good [and] that's not just rushed,' Sade Quianes, who works for a streaming company in the city, told The Post.
The '$20 salad' was notably lampooned on TikTok by singer 'Awkward' Marina Sneider, who crooned in her viral ditty, 'it isn't even good and you're not even wealthy, but you need all your coworkers to think you're super healthy.'
Thankfully, there is a growing fraternity of Midtown fast-casual restaurants that provide convenience without sacrificing flavor — and they're increasingly eating 'sad' salads for lunch.
As a service to hangry workers, here are five of the best, because Gotham deserves a better class of midday meal.
Seoul food at SOPO
SOPO achieves the difficult task of condensing Korean staples like beef bulgogi and crispy scallion dumplings into one convenient takeout dish.
Opened with the intent of bringing 'Michelin-quality Korean food to Midtown,' SOPO (whose name means 'Parcel' in Korean) is helmed by co-founder Tae Kim and Chef Dennis Hong, an alum of Michelin-starred Le Bernadin.
'We wanted to do a well-executed version that's very delicious, but it's also hassle-free,' Kim told The Post. He was inspired in part by his years working at a Tribeca bank where he'd have to scrounge up edible eats off Seamless on a $25 stipend.
12 'You can come here and get authentic Korean food and still very affordable,' gushed SOPO customer Sade Quianes.
Stefano Giovannini
12 'I want a variation in the texture and flavor of the different things rather than having a lot of the same,' said SOPO co-founder Tae Kim while describing how he planned to distinguish himself from the typical fast-casual spot.
Stefano Giovannini
To order, customers select their bases ranging from salad to Korean purple rice (a mix of black and white rice), proteins such as steak or chicken, garnishes like crispy seaweed and sides including kimchi and soy-dipped eggs. These can be topped with a palette of sauces ranging from a Korean chili paste to one with perilla leaves, tarragon and coconut yogurt.
Total price for a Seoul Steak Signature Plate: $16.48
'You can come here and get authentic Korean food and still very affordable,' gushed Quianes while toting a dish of dumplings and rice, which is cooked on-site in olive oil and giant sheets of Korean kelp for maximum umami.
12 SOPO co-founder Tae Kim said the goal was to allow customers to build their own bowls but ensure that every possible 'permutation' makes sense culinarily.
Stefano Giovannini
One difference is that SOPO doesn't 'mix' anything together to avoid discordant flavor combos. 'It's intended that everything is had separately as its own gourmet dish, because I feel like that's the only way that every permutation really works,' said Kim.
Those who want their lunch in wrap form can opt for the kimbap, Korean 'sushi rolls' featuring chicken, beef, tofu and more fillings ($13.49) that are hand-rolled in front of customers and swaddled in foil to go — essentially SOPO's answer to Chipotle.
SOPO, 463 7th Ave. between 35th and 36th Streets
The Toast Of Mid-town
12 A sprawling Spicy Crab toast at Toastique.
Stefano Giovannini
12 Toastique at 445 5th Ave near Bryant Park.
Stefano Giovannini
Healthful toast and juice bars have become almost cliche in NYC, but this newly-opened Washington D.C.-based transplant elevates the well-trodden concept with responsibly-sourced and unqiue accouterments.
Some of the Gourmet Toasts, which are served atop bloodcurdlingly-crunchy bread as big as a battle cruiser, include Spicy Crab ($17) with lump crab, melted Swiss and Fontina cheese, tomatoes and more — like a jumbo crostini.
Other toppings include avocado mash — the millennial catnip — prosciutto and even peanut butter and berry jam that's made in-house sans preservatives. Those looking for something lighter can opt for their fruit and granola bowls and wash it down with their all-natural smoothies or cold-pressed juices.
Toastique, 445 5th Ave. near East 39th Street
Dim sum and substance
12 Roast pork and duck over rice at Dim Sum Sam.
Stefano Giovannini
With its tiny breakfast baskets of chicken feet and lotus-wrapped sticky rice, dim sum might not seem like office-friendly fare. Thankfully, Dim Sum Sam makes the traditional Cantonese sit-down brunch to go and at any time of day — like China's version of Denny's all-day breakfast but high quality. They boast four locations across town in Fidi, Chinatown, the Flatiron district and a newly-opened branch in Times Square.
Unlike many fast-casual options, Dim Sum Sam also notably hand-crafts each piece of dim sum fresh by hand.
12 Dim Sum Sam customers Miranda (left) and Andrea posing with a roast pork and duck rice bowl.
Stefano Giovannini
Along with bamboo basket standbys like chicken feet, shrimp dumplings and Portuguese egg tarts, the dim sum depot also hawks portable bowls. These include BBQ roast pork over rice ($11.95), shrimp and pork wonton soup ($8.95) and even a speedball of roast duck and pork over rice ($13.95).
'If you can't find your Chinese aunt or mom in the morning, I know where they are,' quipped frugal foodie @val.am in a video review of Dim Sum Sam.
Dim Sum Sam, 240 W 40th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues
Midtown Eastern
12 A Chicken Shawarma bowl at NAYA, which condenses vibrant and diverse Lebanese cuisine into convenient to-go bowls.
Stefano Giovannini
This Lebanese juggernaut offers the same choose-your-own-adventure format as its 'sad' salad counterparts, but with vibrant toppings like beef shawarma and lamb kebab over vermicelli rice that's adorned with yogurt, hummus and paired with pita (for around $13.99) — they're not selling glorified airplane food here.
Founder Hady Kfoury told The Post that NAYA distinguishes itself via quality components like tahini and pickles sourced from Lebanon and hummus that's soaked for 24 hours, boiled all day, blast chilled and whacked with tahini and lemon.
12 The line at NAYA near Bryant Park.
Stefano Giovannini
He also said that the chain makes food that's hard for the average cook to recreate. 'During the pandemic, everybody baked bread at home, everybody created salads,' Kfoury said. 'You're not able to replicate NAYA at home because of the ingredients.'
Kfoury said he hopes to have 45 branches by the end of this year with the latest one opening near Rockefeller Center on June 11 if all goes well.
NAYA, 9 W 42nd Street near Fifth Avenue
Treasure of the Sierra Madras
12 A dosa without filling at Madras Dosa, a South Indian chain that originated in Boston.
Stefano Giovannini
12 Customers Raj Srinivas Krishna Srinivas at Madras Dosa.
Stefano Giovannini
Also ideal for casual fry-day is this Boston transplant, which recently opened a new branch in Times Square and specializes in dosas, a parchment-thin South Indian savory rice and lentil crepe.
They have around 30 customizable options, ranging from savory options like spicy potatoes ($16.33), Lays' Indian-flavored chips and lamb to unorthodox sweet versions such as strawberry jam and Nutella.
Other notable lunchable fare includes chaats, fried dough topped with various herbs and chutneys, best washed down with a tangy, creamy mango lassi.
Madras Dosa, 30 Rockefeller Center, Concourse Level
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