Midtown Lunch Forums: Recent Comments

chowsue on "Cha Pas Inbundles Coupon"

chowsue — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 16:32:19 -0500

InBundles...
Not to belabor the point, but I am not saying InBundles scammed Korovka. I think it is quite clear that Chapa did. Korovka handed the coupon to the waitress before ordering and at that point the waitress should have mentioned what items could be ordered or not ordered. When restaurants pull these bait and switch scams on customers, it only creates bad customer service, defeating the whole point of the marketing promotion. In the case of the OP, Hungry, well, it could be argued that OP should have shown the certificate first. I personally think OP shouldn't have had to do that at all.
Korovka doesn't seem to mind much, and they are lucky. If that happened to me, I would have left the certificate on the table, paid any amount due above the cost of the promotional value, and walked out, without leaving a tip.
Look, I know the waitress just probably forgot. Everyone makes mistakes. My objection is that I see these problems every time I try to use a promotional coupon from various companies. It is frustrating and makes me not want to be bothered at all sometimes.

Now, I liked the food at Chapa. I want to see them do well. This is not how to do that.

Harry on "LaFreida Korean Bulgogi Burger at Bon Chon"

Harry — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:47:26 -0500

I was at Bon Chon today on 2nd Ave. They had something on the menu called "LaFreida Korean Bulgogi Burger + Frites." It was a lunch special for $9.

I know ML gets delirious with La Freida Beef news, so I figured I'd try it. The burger was OK. I'm not convinced it was better than Social Eatz burger, but whatever.

The real story (to me) is that the fries were terrific. They are the same Truffle Oil fries they sell for $7.

The person I went with ordered the small order of wings. There are supposed to be 10 wings. They plate came out with only 7 wings. We complained and they brought the missing wings.

The burger came out before the burger by around 5 minutes which I thought was odd. Why would a burger with fries be served faster than chicken at a chicken place?
Is it really La Freida beef?

Harry on "El Rey Del Sabor 60th"

Harry — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:26:26 -0500

I was there on a pretty nice day last week and he had a line. Maybe it's the weather.

Karin on "Shamrock Shake available at every McDonald's this year"

Karin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:11:02 -0500

They are already here. I think it's a wee bit early for Shamrock Shakes signage and Valentines Day decorations to be in the same store.

Cavellier on "Traveling to Paris, France? TravelWithCarnet.com Provides Reviews of Best Hotels in Paris, Restaura"

Cavellier — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:52:23 -0500

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Goats on "El Rey Del Sabor 60th"

Goats — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:38:38 -0500

Debbie jh---Shame on you! Top quality burger and sh*tshack NEVER belongs in the same sentence. NEVER! SHAME! If you said 4 dollar 3 day old street meat vs. shake shack, I'd be more inclined to agree about the comparison.

vdubjb on "El Rey Del Sabor 60th"

vdubjb — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:15:28 -0500

Does his cart have wheels?

Moons on "Taz is closed"

Moons — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 16:18:42 -0500

I work right next to this place and couldn't believe they were opening ANOTHER generic deli on a half block that already has 3. At least Ambrosia had the sense to remove their steam tables and provide seating with a focus on their Korean food.

CheeeeEEEEse on "Shamrock Shake available at every McDonald's this year"

CheeeeEEEEse — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:36:45 -0500

Blondie, "some" of NY.

debbie jh on "El Rey Del Sabor 60th"

debbie jh — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:56:50 -0500

it all depends. i can get a version that's just as good in jackson heights for five bucks. but that's not midtown.

would you pay seven bucks for a top quality burger a la shake shack/burger joint? that's pretty close to a torta in terms of ingredients, scope and filling-ness.

how about a seventh-rate "turkey" sandwich festooned with that shredded paper they pass off for iceberg from a generic deli?

Blondie on "Shamrock Shake available at every McDonald's this year"

Blondie — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:15:45 -0500

They were available in NY last year. I remember because I thought I was SOOO COOOOOOL that I had one in Kansas only to come home and find out the news. I was pissed! #notspecialanymore

hawkeyepierced on "El Rey Del Sabor 60th"

hawkeyepierced — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:46:38 -0500

His prices definitely put him up against some tough competition. I'm not sure that his $7 torta (or higher now?) is better than the $7 falafel w/hummus from Soom Soom.

OTOH I'm from So Cal, so I might just be especially resistant to paying NY prices for Mexican food. I have no similar qualms against overpaying for Israeli food.

El Dubya El on "Shamrock Shake available at every McDonald's this year"

El Dubya El — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:35:46 -0500

Every year before St. Patrick's Day, someone posts a forum topic about which McDonald's have shamrock shakes, looks like this year, it will be available at every McD's nationwide.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/02/08/news/companies/mcdonalds_shamrock_shake/index.htm?source=cnn_bin

InBundles on "Cha Pas Inbundles Coupon"

InBundles — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 16:34:05 -0500

Hi MLers,

InBundles customer support, here. Sorry again about any confusion but I just wanted to make sure that everyone understood that even though the vouchers can't be used for the 8 Lunch Special items, they are still good for any of the other 60+ menu items any time of day INCLUDING lunchtime. We're definitely not trying to scam anyone. We just want to get diners great deals on Midtown restaurants. If you have any specific questions, feel free to email us at we'll be happy to answer them. Thanks.

chowsue on "Cha Pas Inbundles Coupon"

chowsue — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:13:51 -0500

Korovka,
Well THAT is bullshit.

The certificate says "ANYTIME". Anytime includes lunch. And you showed the certificate to the waitress before you ordered. You got scammed. And THAT is not right.

joer on "El Rey Del Sabor 60th"

joer — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:09:53 -0500

Haven't been here in a while - went today for huaraches. Vilio was wearing a MidtownLunch t-shirt.

He says that business is not great and is hoping that it's just this time of the year.

So...East-siders....show him a little love so that he doesn't leave.

{I have to also note that he raised his prices a bit.}

Don't forget about your other favorite street corner vendors either.

Rootbeer on "The Sushi Shop will be open soon"

Rootbeer — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 13:30:05 -0500

According to a NY Times story, they opened on Saturday.

Treated myself to one of their $14.95 lunch specials today, and I'm really impressed with both the quantity and quality. Hope they'll be able to maintain both.

Not a place I can afford to get lunch from frequently, but so far it seems like a great choice for the occasional splurge.

korovka on "Cha Pas Inbundles Coupon"

korovka — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:36:58 -0500

Same thing happened to me there. Except we showed our coupons BEFORE we sat down and the waitress took them. Then we ordered off the lunch menu and when we got our check they said we can't use the coupon on the lunch special. You'd think they would tell us that before we sat down since we gave them our coupon but no. Not a huge deal since their regular stuff is cheap anyway but still annoying.

joer on "Cafe Today -- Open Tomorrow"

joer — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 10:17:39 -0500

No bibimbap as of yesterday, so I tried their udon -- VERY garlicy. As soon as I got home last night, my wife said she could smell me from 10 ft away.

StreetMeasOnsumer3008 on "Cha Pas Inbundles Coupon"

StreetMeasOnsumer3008 — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:43:10 -0500

That really sucks. It's not entirely their fault since InBundles has to share in that blame but definitely more reason for me to NOT go out of my way to try Cha Pas and their pricey Pho.

chowsue on "Cha Pas Inbundles Coupon"

chowsue — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:27:36 -0500

Since when is a lunch special a "another offer"? I would have made the same assumption as "hungry". At least InBundles agrees that this is not right, and seems to be taking steps to correct these kinds of misunderstandings for the future for their customers.

Not to play "Tuesday night quarterbacker", but I learned the hard way to always show the coupon before you order.

I am fed up with restaurant.com for the same reason. I order and pay for a certificate. I visit the restaurant and they make up these random rules ALL the TIME, that are NOT printed on the certificate. "oh! Those can only be used on Tuesdays when the moon is nearest Jupiter!" or "oh we don't take those anymore" or "oh those can't be used on the specials". What do you do then after you have ordered and ate already?? Awkward and unfair!

So I usually show it when I walk in the door, and again to the waiter/waitress. So there is no misunderstanding.

With these deals always come BS. I went to Big D's truck the other day with a Level Up. He said his app wasn't working. I showed him my account before I ordered just in case, but what if I had ordered already? Meanwhile, I walked 15 minutes, each way, out of my way and waited on line, only to be told they were not honoring the Level Up deal that day.

It does suck. I agree. It is complete bullshit. That is the reason I gave up on restaurant.com. If InBundles, Groupon, LevelUP, etc. are going to have restaurants start to pull this BS as well, they can kiss our grits. They will fade away (ahem...Tenka) when folks get pissed off by the inconveniences and constant BS.

RBS05 on "Taz is closed"

RBS05 — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:48:13 -0500

Good. I posted about them here before. They got a C on their inspection and opened up again under a new name with the same employees wearing the same shirts and serving the same crappy food. Wish the Health Dept prevented this circumvention better.

hungry on "Cha Pas Inbundles Coupon"

hungry — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:35:48 -0500

Thanks for the clarification. I assumed that "can't be combined with other offers" meant it can't be combined with other coupons.

CheeeeEEEEse on "Bacon Milkshakes"

CheeeeEEEEse — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 16:04:15 -0500

So it didn't bring all the boys to the yard?

Kelis will be disappointed.

InBundles on "Cha Pas Inbundles Coupon"

InBundles — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:43:54 -0500

Dear MLers,

We're really sorry for the confusion that this deal has caused. One of the limitations we listed as part of the deal was that the voucher "can't be combined with other offers." When we signed up the restaurant, it was thought that this would cover in-house Lunch Special offers as well. We totally understand that this could be confusing so in future offers, we'll make sure to be specific about whether or not the voucher will be available for use on the Lunch Specials menu. Please keep in mind that even though the Bundles aren't good toward the 8 lunch special items, they're definitely good toward any of the 60+ menu items any time of day so it's still a great deal! If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at support@inbundles.com and we'll be glad to help.

deanlo on "Bacon Milkshakes"

deanlo — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:21:48 -0500

http://sfist.com/2012/02/03/jack_in_the_box_unleashes_a_bacon_m.php

http://sfist.com/2012/02/03/sfist_reviews_the_bacon_shake_by_ja.php#photo-1

Well yeah, how did you think it would turn out?

Zach Brooks on "Cha Pas Inbundles Coupon"

Zach Brooks — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:33:53 -0500

That's bullshit. I have forwarded this to InBundles and asked them to look into it...

Steve on "Cha Pas Inbundles Coupon"

Steve — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:27:41 -0500

Zach should refund you the difference.

hungry on "Cha Pas Inbundles Coupon"

hungry — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:13:28 -0500

Just went to Cha Pas today with Inbundles coupon in hand. Food was good and service nice. When we went to pay, we handed over the coupon. Then they came back and said it wasn't valid for Lunch Specials. The coupon didn't state this nor did the menu. We ended up paying the dinner prices for all the items instead.

So if you're looking to use your Inbundles coupon for Cha Pas during lunch, be warned that it doesn't work for the Lunch Specials.

exposure on "Super Bowl viewing options in Midtown?"

exposure — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 13:47:35 -0500

Thanks for the suggestions. I wound up going to Sunset Park to watch with friends. Congrats, Giants!

sana1234 on "HipSwap"

sana1234 — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:33:47 -0500

Thanks for suggesting. I will surely try it.

Dave on "Super Bowl viewing options in Midtown?"

Dave — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 23:29:06 -0500

This place might not suck: http://midtownlunch.com/2012/01/31/lillies-victorian-bar-restaurant-open-on-west-49th-st/

It's probably too new in midtown to be swamped with meathead sports fans, so there's that.

Sarah on "Super Bowl viewing options in Midtown?"

Sarah — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:38:08 -0500

I walked by The Playwright on 35th and I *think* I saw a sign advertising "$40 All you can drink" for the superbowl on sunday-- I now that they also have approx 9,000,000 TVs always tuned to sports in that place....

Username303 on "Super Bowl viewing options in Midtown?"

Username303 — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:59:45 -0500

Tonic (48th & 7th) is a great place to watch sports. Screens everywhere and lots of seating. Food is not bad. It is not cheap either. I have no idea what it will be like for sunday.

exposure on "Super Bowl viewing options in Midtown?"

exposure — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 14:01:34 -0500

Even though it's happening on Sunday, perhaps readers have suggestions for good places to watch the game in midtown? Preferably places with decent food and beer, and a low quotient of meathead sports fans.