A section of Times Square’s vast underground area is quickly becoming one of Midtown’s coolest destinations.
The 50th Street concourse level of the Downtown 1 station, just steps away from the recently abandoned Duane Reade and the giant shuttered Sburrows on the neighborhood’s northern edge, lends a Bushwick feel to the heart of the tourist destination. The number of business hubs is increasing.
What you’ll find: A nihilistic cocktail joint, a hip espresso bar that roasts its own coffee, a digital art gallery, and, on March 1st, a selection of new restaurants. don’t look at evil pizza.
“What we offer is much better than what you would expect when you walk down the stairs to the subway,” See No Evil chef Ed Carew told the Post that he said about the 1,000-square-foot sit-down restaurant they co-opened. His longtime friend Adrian Gallo is an underground Midtown mogul who owns the two-year-old Nothing Really Matters liquor store and the several-month-old Tiny Dancer coffee shop next door.
“We are champions of the Times Square neighborhood and champions of Times Square as a gourmet destination for everything and everyone,” Gallo said. He finds the Cauldron in general, and the grimy hallways in which he built his underground empire in particular, to be “a wonderful place, very alive.” Once you get past all the noise. ”
Gallo is not the first person to notice the sordid, underground charm of both the Crossroads of the World and the Station Concourse. In 1996 he opened in the Nothing Really Matters space of former Tunnel tenant Siberia He said the bar offered “a dank, celebrity-infested atmosphere.” All the way until the turn of the century, it was a dive that complemented the dirty passages.
This time, the contrast between the depraved environment and the latest classy products is striking.
Diners looking to step into the laid-back atmosphere of Subway and See No Evil can enjoy “hybrid” Neapolitan and New York-style pies, topped with home-grown fresh produce and proprietary dough, all for $20 You can eat from. (This is “without a doubt the best pizza in Midtown!” boasts Gallo.)
The menu includes a selection of appetizers such as potato and cod puree, cold octopus and risotto croquettes, as well as gluten-free lasagna, delicious extra-virgin olive oil vanilla soft-serve ice cream, and a selection of drinks.
This pizzeria is open Monday through Saturday from 5pm to midnight, attracting both straphangers who happen to pass by on their way to catch a train, and savvy patrons looking for a unique dining experience. .
The 50th Street Station ecosystem is one of the borough’s most marginalized neighborhoods and has a uniquely authentic feel, but it’s the only New York City subway station that’s been turned into an eatery in recent years. Not just that.
Stefano Giovannini
For example, when cocktail lounge La Nox opened on 28th Street, one train stop away, during the pandemic, there was an immediate waiting list of 1,500 people.
Then, last fall, Nōksu, a $225 tasting counter, opened at the 34th Street Herald Square station, drawing gourmets from all over the world, including Michelin inspectors.
Long before that, Turnstile Underground Market was popular in the hallways of the sprawling Columbus Circle Station complex, but now it lacks some of the popularity it had before the pandemic.
The joy of having a place on public transportation, and why Gallo went all in on 50th Street Station, is that stepping into the heart of the Big Apple to dine makes dinner a journey. Because it changes, Gallo says.
“I’m finding something new that’s hidden, but not intentionally,” he continued. “It adds another layer to the experience, and at the end of the day, you can’t get a better experience of New York City.”
