Borough Vegetarian

Rubirosa - Great for Dinner and Even Better for Lunch!

Rubirosa is a popular, pizza-heavy eatery on downtown Manhattan's Nolita neighborhood.  I have been to Rubirosa for some packed-house, long-wait dinners, and have recently been back for a few much calmer (and still delicious) lunches.  On my most recent trip, I split with a friend both a pizza and the side of broccoli rabe - a great and affordable vegetarian lunch.

The arugula pizza was great - crisp crust, and lots of beautiful flavors from the salty cheese and sweeter balsamic and onions.  

The broccoli rabe was also cooked well (not tough as rabe can be) and well salted and seasoned with garlic.

So definitely consider checking out Rubirosa when it is a much calmer place during lunch time - and bring a friend to make it one of the better, affordable sit-down lunch options in an otherwise pricey area.

Rubirosa

235 Mulberry Street (btwn. Prince and Spring Streets)

Nolita/SoHo

Easily accessible via the B/D/F/M at Broadway/Lafayette, the 6 train at Spring, or the N/Q/R at Prince.

Black Seed Bagels - Delicious Downtown Bagels

Bagels and pizza - two staples that make living in New York City a daily (well, weekly or monthly if we are following current health conventions) delight.  My latest search for amazing bagels took me to Black Seed Bagels, a hip Montreal-inspired bagel spot on Elizabeth, between Kenmare and Spring.  

I was slightly wary of the attention that Black Seed has garnered, but they definitely served up some delicious bagels that reached the sweet spot of a hard/crisp exterior and soft interior.  The vegetable cream cheese was also pretty good, and my understanding is that the sandwiches they make (which I haven't tried) are quite good as well.  I also like the smaller size bagels, which still give you more than enough food.

While Black Seed has not displaced my ultimate bagel favorite, the Bagel Hole, it is definitely up there and a lot more accessible than Park Slope!

Black Seed Bagels

170 Elizabeth Street

Nolita, Manhattan

Easily accessible from several train lines, including the B/D at Grand St., J/Z at Bowery, 6 at Spring, or the F at 2nd Avenue or Delancey St.

Lombardi’s - Not Quite Di Fara or Totonno’s, But Worth a Manhattan Stop

A major premise of this blog is that the NYC boroughs apart from Manhattan - Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and the Bronx - have excellent food that too many folks seem to miss out on when visiting or living in the city.  This post unintentionally helps back that premise up with a round up of Lombardi’s, the well-trafficked “first pizza” restaurant in New York City.

(Large Original Pizza)

Don’t get me wrong, Lombardi’s serves a delicious pie and has a number of other menu items as well, which you don’t generally find at NYC pizza places.  

(House Salad)

But if you are looking for out-of-this-world, complex pizza, I’d recommend going to Brooklyn to Di Fara or Totonno’s (or Lucali, Giuseppina’s or even Franny’s).  The fresh sauce, cheese and flavorful dough are all a cut above at those Brooklyn places, in my mind.

(Slice of Original Pizza with Healthy Dose of Crushed Red Chile Peppers)