700 5th Avenue (55th St-Peninsula Hotel)
212.903.3918
www.peninsula.com/New_York/en/Dining/Fives/default.aspx
Notes: Very pretty room in the Peninsula Hotel, tastefully furnished. Beautiful views of Fifth Avenue. Excellent breakfast, brunch and lunch.
Michael’s American | Midtown West
24 W 55th St (bet 5th & 6th)
212.767.0555
Notes: I really wanted to like this place, with its perfect location and swanky, devoted lunch crowd. It’s an institution. Instead, I felt like I was eating at the clubhouse of a chintzy South Florida retirement village back in the 1980s. Snotty, inattentive service paired with sub-mediocre food and nauseating decor and furnishings make this a place I can’t recommend.
200 5th Ave (bet 23rd & 24th St)
212.229.2560
Notes: Mario Batali’s massive Italian food hall and market houses an extensive array of stations where you can munch on, among other things: bread, cheese, seafood, pizza, prepared foods, wine, coffee and gelato. It’s always pretty crowded, but grab a table where you can stand and enjoy a tasty meal or a snack.
