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.
Carnegie Deli Deli | Midtown West
854 7th Ave (at 55th St)
212.757.2245
Notes: Mouthwatering hot pastrami and corned beef piled ridiculously high on rye, perfect deli mustard, absurdly sour pickles (or half-sours if you prefer) and a Dr. Brown’s cream soda. Nothing better. Always entertaining. Cash only.
