Exotic Fast Food Palace on 44th Street

44th Street Food Court.jpgYum! Brands' dual-brand restaurants in the suburbs seemed like a novel idea when their rollout began in the early part of the last decade. In the suburbs you went to a KFC, a Pizza Hut, or a Taco Bell - not some combination of two of the three.

However, in New York City the concept of multi-branded food courts run by restaurant management companies is nothing new. For decades these companies, such as Riese Restaurants have run multi-brand food courts, primarily catering to the corporate lunch crowd, in Midtown and Lower Manhattan, as well as Downtown Brooklyn.

Unlike their modern suburban counterparts, the New York City food courts are generally parent-company independent. Nathan's Famous Hot Dogs may be paired with a Roy Rogers, a KFC may be paired with a Dunkin' Donuts and a Subway.

A gleaming example of diverse fast food experience is offered at the food court on the corner of 44th Street & 8th Avenue, two blocks north of the Port Authority Bus Terminal and a block west of Times Square. Here four chains (Subway, Arthur Treacher's Fish & Chips, Nathan's Famous, and Church's Chicken), as well as a pizza counter, are all under one roof. It is furthermore of note that this is Church's Chicken's only location in New York City, and one of the very few of Arthur Treacher's*.

The entire food court was overhauled in early 2009 and now boasts a very clean interior.

*Note that Arthur Treacher's website keeps a very spotty list of locations (it is even down at the time of this writing). This and several others in New York City are not listed.
Reblog this post [with Zemanta]

Related Entries

Leave a comment

Connect with Facebook

Recent Entries

  • Lunch at Perkins on Staten Island

    Address: 1409 Hylan Boulevard, Staten Island - Staten Island Railway to Old TownPerkins Family Restaurant and Bakery only has three locations in New York City, all on...

  • Kenny Rogers Roasters Leaves Nathan's Coney Island

    Sad news to report out of Coney Island: Kenny Rogers Roasters Express inside Nathan's, perhaps the last place on the East Coast to get KRR...

  • Exotic Fast Food Palace on 44th Street

    Yum! Brands' dual-brand restaurants in the suburbs seemed like a novel idea when their rollout began in the early part of the last decade. In...

  • New York City's In-N-Out Burger Clone

    Address: 311 East 23rd St at Park Ave South. 6-Train to 23rd Street.In-N-Out Burger, a highly-regarded, simple burger chain, only stretches as far east as...

  • Submarina California Opens in Astoria

    Address: 31-43 Steinway St, Astoria, Queens (Steinway Section) - G,R,V to Steinway St.New York City's (and the East Coast's) first Submarina California opened this past Thursday in...

Close