Aleo

7 W. 20th St, NY, NY 10010

Rating: 6 - Regretfully Yours
Visit #: 1
In brief: We're not snobby eaters here at Lunch Studio, and we are definitely not too picky to try something new, no matter the setting. But sometimes there are duds. And Aleo was a bit of a dude. 
The atmosphere at Aleo is empty and a little shabby, but that's ok, we don't need fancy tablecloths and shiny silverware. The lunch specials seemed inoffensive, and at $13 for a sandwich and salad or fries, we didn't have the highest expectations. But then the salad came, and the sandwiches next. Both looked so much like the kind of generic European restaurant fare that you might find next to a train station that we had that moment of doubt. A moment of doubt proved correct in the bland sandwiches and nothing special salad. Oh well. Can't win 'em all.

AA Ichiban

213 W. 28th St, NY, NY 10001

Rating: 6 - Regretfully Yours
Visit #: 1
In brief: Strike this one off your seamless list

I was thinking it would be nice for Seamless to have a friend/ social component so I could have ordered sushi takeout from a place that my friends have already vetted instead of randomly picking one that had enough ratings to ensure it wouldn't be the end of the world. It's close to the end of the world though, it's only my fear of an attack of food rage that compels me to finish. But well, in terms of the last minute micro-emergency that's going on right now, not that big a deal.

BBQue Smoke Shack

668 6th Ave, NY, NY 10010

Rating: 6 - Regretfully Yours
In brief: Don't be swayed by the "voted best wings" sign. If you must dine here, maybe try the pulled pork sandwich everyone else seemed to be having.
Visit #: 1

We couldn't resist a sign that said "voted best wings" and today, when we needed a quick lunch, BBQue Smoke Shack seemed like a brilliant idea. Anyway, we had to try it, right? Not the best idea we've had. The food takes forever to arrive, there was no Coke in the machine, barely any ice and WOAH when the wings came out. Or do I mean WAH. We picked a medium spicy sauce but in fact the wings were coated, dripping really, in a barbeque sauce that reminded us both precisely of General Tso's Chicken. Still the place was oddly busy, though it seemed most people ordered the pulled pork sandwich. I guess one day we could go back for that, though probably not any time soon.

Dumbo Kitchen

108 Jay St, Brooklyn, NY 11201

Rating: 6 - Regretfully Yours
Visit #: 1
In brief: What can I say, next to the subway entrance, we were starving, to be expected.

I completely forgot to post yesterday, but also because it was a rather unremarkable lunch that resulted from a panel discussion lasting well past lunch time and us stopping at the first place to serve lunch, that being Dumbo Kitchen. It's a pretty space though, so there's that.