Whenever I’m in Manhattan, I avoid Times Square like the plague. I loathe Times Square. Schlock, sensory overload and a sea of tourists? No thanks. Also, compared to the rest of the city, Times Square is a food wasteland of chain restaurants and tourist traps. I think the classic scene from The Office with Michael Scott having his NY moment, sums it up best:
Oh, look! [pointing to a Sbarro] My favorite New York pizza place. I’m going to go get me a New York slice!
My colleague Hector and I were in Times Square today meeting a friend of his, who works in the area, for lunch. I whipped out my phone and frantically pulled up Yelp in an earnest attempt to find a suitable spot to eat. It wasn’t much help — mostly what came up were Italian restaurants and pizza places, with a Bubba Gump Shrimp thrown in for good measure.
We didn’t have time to wander around indefinitely; out of desperation, Hector even mentioned Applebee’s, and I think he was completely serious, until he saw the look on my face. Finally, we ducked into the Westin Hotel where there was a Shula’s Steakhouse (of Don Shula, former coach of the Miami Dolphins). Good enough.
The restaurant’s got Don Shula and football memorabilia all over the walls, plus those goofy signed celebrity photos that you hardly see anymore. I saw one of Jason Alexander. George Costanza ate at Shula’s Steakhouse!
Hector’s friend had the Cuban sandwich and Hector had the BLT.
He wasn’t crazy about it and gave me one of the triangles to try — it was nothing special, but I didn’t notice anything glaringly wrong. Tasted like your standard BLT.
I had the lobster roll.
It wasn’t bad — a little watery, but good bun, good chips, and I liked the side of diced pineapple and red onion. Shula’s is expensive though, and at these prices, you expect sandwich greatness, not sandwich averageness.
My preference will always be for the cheap eat or the ethnic hole-in-the wall, but all in all, a decent if overpriced lunch in the land of billboards and neon lights. Could have been worse. A lot worse. We could have eaten at Sbarro.
Shula’s Steakhouse (in the Westin New York at Times Square)
270 W. 43rd St.
New York, NY
212-201-2776
3 Comments
So how much IS a lobster roll @ Shula’s?
Next time you are trapped in Times Square, go to Margon. It is one of the best cheap eat/ethnic hole in the wall restaurants in midtown…and only steps away from Times Square.
I wish I knew about Margon beforehand. I’ll definitely keep that in mind for next time — thanks for the tip!
And Cheryl, the lobster roll was $19, Cuban $18, and BLT $18. Looking at the menu, saw it’s an ahi tuna BLT, which explains the price. Didn’t even taste the tuna though.