Take yourself to lunch
Five dollar glasses of wine and unlimited fries make stars out of the midday meal
Going out to eat is my main form of entertainment. Sure, I go to the theater; I LOVED both We Had a World and Good Night and Good Luck recently. But most nights that I’m out, I’m in a restaurant. It’s my work but it’s also because restaurants are my happy place. What’s not to love?
If you spend a lot of nights in restaurants as well, you know they’re more costly than ever. Any time you put your butt in the seat you’re probably looking at $100 a person, with tax and tip. Now, I get the reasons why this has happened – labor costs have gone up significantly, rents are bananas, food costs are off the charts, inflation, tariffs, yada yada, it adds up.
But a reader last week wrote to me on my Strong Buzz HelpLine (a service offered to paid subscribers) because she and her husband work from home and like to do lunch instead of dinners to keep costs down. She wanted to know some of my favorite spots in the neighborhood. It got me thinking about sone of my local go-tos— Untable, Confidant (the cakes alone in the carousel case are enough of a reason to go!) French Louie, Rucola— and two new lunch spots that have launched this spring – one in my neighborhood in Brooklyn and another in Midtown. Both are under $30 per person. It’s quite a deal and you get to support chef-driven independent restaurants and have a little break for your wallet. Everybody wins!
Gus’s
Chef Chris McDade has done a lot to Gus’s in the past year, shedding ‘Chop House’ from the restaurant’s name, scaling down prices, digging into more of a neighborhood restaurant vibe, introducing a fresh pasta program (which Chris had missed since his departure from @popinanyc), and lightening up the menu in general. “Pasta, acidity, and herbs are all things that I find deeply satisfying when eating out or cooking in,” Chris said of the new focus.
In addition to the changes in the kitchen, the team made improvements to front of the house, with a wine list of heavy hitters as well as 80 or so bottles under $100, and a more relaxed décor with high top tables and inviting porch seating.
Just a few weeks ago, they launched a wonderful new lunch menu that changes weekly for a hyper-local focus on seasonality — so ramps, asparagus, and favas are in rotation now.
For just $28 for two courses (you pick an app and entree or entree and dessert), or $34 for all three, you get a selection of Chris’s weekly changing seasonal plates, and $5 glasses of rosé! Sit outside on the porch and tuck in for prime people watching on the sidewalks of Carroll Gardens. It’s fantastic. Also, abs this bears repeating $5 glasses of wine.
Gus’s is located at 215 Union Street, between Clinton and Henry Streets in Carroll Gardens. It serves lunch Wednesday through Friday, 11:30am-2pm.
GUI
If you’re not working from home and your job takes you into Midtown, head over to chef Sungchul Shim’s GUI Steakhouse in the Theater District. If you haven’t been yet, it’s very glamorous and posh. The restaurant is a classic American steakhouse at its core, but it’s reimagined through an Asian lens.
Yesterday, the team introduced two unbeatable-value lunch menus— a $23 ‘Prix-Fixe Menu’ featuring unlimited fries and a $37 three-course ‘Power Lunch.’
“This lunch menu is our way of making GUI feel approachable while staying true to the precision and bold flavor we’re known for,” said Chef Shim, the Korean-American chef who also runs MICHELIN-starred restaurants Kochi and Mari. “It’s for anyone who wants a great steak and incredible value—in an elegant welcoming space.”
The ‘GUI Prix Fixe’ at $23 per person includes a Fresh Market Salad, a GUI USDA Steak grilled over live fire, au poivre sauce, and endless fries!
The ‘GUI Power Lunch’ ($37) builds on that with a full three-course menu, offering starters like the Mari Spicy Tuna Tartar or Caesar Salad, mains including the Dry-Aged Prime Beef Burger or Steak Frites, and desserts like the Black and White Cake (devil’s food cake with jang caramel), a Tropical Panna Cotta, or GUI’s housemade ice creams and sorbets—dragon fruit, chocolate, banana milk, and Earl Grey. For $37! That’s like sample sale pricing. Go!
GUI is located at 776 8th Avenue. GUI’s “Power Lunch Menu,” will be served Monday to Friday, from 11:30 am to 3:30 pm. Reservations can be made at www.guinyc.com or by calling (646) 329-5929.
Weekday lunches out make me feel like what I imagine being an editor at Conde in the 80s must have felt like.
Andrea - A review like this is priceless. I was one of the first people to dine at Gus', which is in my neighborhood, because of your review. The food has always been great, but pricey, so I haven't gone frequently. Now you've opened my eyes to a revised Gus', and I'm getting right over there. Sometimes we need to know what's changing right in front of us. Thank you.