The Best Damn $5 Lunch in New York

I know, I know, the moment you say the word “best” the whole city jumps up to argue with you. But hear me out here, people. This shit’s good.

First of all, here’s the menu: pizza & a cupcake. Who doesn’t love pizza & cupcakes? (N.b the lines at Magnolia and Artichoke Basille, impassioned Chowhound arguments like this one: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/320107, etc.) I stumbled upon this delectable combination early this summer when I decided to finally take a walk down to Chelsea Market and check the place out. (I say finally since I’d been in New York for nearly a year by that point, lived 10 blocks away from it, and hadn’t been by since my visiting-the-grandparents tourist days back in high school.) The problem with Chelsea Market, like in restaurants with too-long menus, is the overabundance of good choices – too many shops offering delicious-looking fare. So I figured hell with it, nobody says I have to stick with one place. My first course came from Buon Italia, where a slice of their basic pizza, topped with nothing but sauce, garlic, basil, and some herbs costs $2.17, cash only. From there, on to Eleni’s for a cupcake, $2 each. I headed out to the seating area in the middle of 9^th Ave to eat in the sun.

It was all fantastic. The pizza was nothing like the cheesy thin-crust stuff most places serve – it’s got a thick, airy crust topped by a thin layer of delicious sauce and herbs and nothing else. The cupcake too was phenomenal. It was a light lunch, not enough if you’re feeling really hungry, but the cupcake was substantial enough to fill up any space left by the pizza on a normal afternoon. Total bill: $4.17.

I’ve taken to going back every weekend for lunch, and there’s enough variation that I haven’t gotten bored yet. For a few extra cents you can get some more toppings on your pizza (cheese, onions, eggplant slices, depending on the day – though the plain is still my favorite). I’ve also tried a bunch of the other offerings, including the frittata di pasta (kind of a baked pasta with sauce, cheese, and veggies served in thick pie-like slices), stuffed zucchini, sautéed artichokes, and a few of the sandwiches, and been impressed by all of them. (I was heartbroken when, sitting outside Lincoln Center eating dinner before seeing South Pacific, my half-eaten frittata slipped off my lap and landed on the ground. What a waste of good carbs!) The frittata’s something like $2.50/slice, the veggies are around $10/pound, and the sandwiches (may I recommend the Milanese with breaded chicken, eggplant, sauce, & basil) range from around $4 each up to $6.50, so the tab’s higher but it’s still easy enough to stay below $10 for a meal. Also worth getting is the $1.50 can of Lemon Soda, more like a fizzy lemonade than a soda and hard to find in this country.

Eleni’s too has enough options to keep things interesting. The cupcakes are all fantastic – my favorite is the chocolate with coconut – but what really blew me away was a maple-walnut muffin with cream-cheese icing. Light, flavorful, not too sweet, and, since I ate it outside on a hot & humid day, by the time I finished the frosting had melted all over my hand. And let’s be honest, that’s definitely a plus. If a cupcake’s too heavy for your taste, the scones are good too, and come with a free small coffee (they’ll give you tea instead if you ask). Most pastries are $2-3, and if you go after 6 (after 5 on Sundays), everything is half price. How many places in this city can you get a cupcake for a buck anymore? And if you go Friday through Monday after noon or so and you see a cute guy with dark hair behind the counter, say hi to him. His name is Jon and he’s awesome.

So that’s my recommendation: pizza and a cupcake at Chelsea Market, awfully cheap and very tasty. It may not be the best five bucks you can spend in New York – I’ll leave that argument to the taco-truck aficionados vs the DiFara’s devotees – but it’s pretty damn good.

midnight snack

I just put a few scoops of vanilla ice cream and a handful of mixed frozen berries in the blender mixed it up for a minute or so, turned on Jon Stewart, and ate it. Mmmmmmmmm...