I spend a lot of time eating around Midtown Manhattan.

This is a follow-up to another post I did a while back on my favorite eats in Midtown Manhattan. Basically, I had so many places to eat written down that there was no way I could condense all of it into a single post, so here we are.

For those who weren’t around for the first post, the nutshell version of why I have some right to talk about this is because I work in the area.

I’ve worked in the theater industry of Times Square for about four years now, and that means, despite not living in New York City, I spend a ridiculous amount of time around Midtown.

The second part to this is that I attended my undergraduate degree at the Fashion Institute of Technology, which is in Midtown and Chelsea—it’s right on the border.

I lived in the dorms during my time as a college student, and when I wanted to go out once a week, when I actually had the money, I would hit up the town in search of new food and places to eat at.

That said, I’ve tried so many places at this point that my tracking app (Mapstr) is just full of dots in the Midtown area.

Enough of me rambling! Let’s deep dive into my favorite eats.

Angelina Bakery has some of my favorite desserts.

The very first time I went to Angelina Bakery, I had decided to go on a whim. I take one of those cheaper buses to go back and forth between Maryland and New York because I go so often, and these trips often rack up financially, and the pickup spot is in west Midtown.

I wanted to bring something home to my family that day, and I saw that Angelina Bakery had good reviews and it was in the middle of the way to my final destination. That day, I bought a nutella and a strawberry bombolone and took it onto the bus with me.

The bus trip home took five hours because of the traffic, but the pastries survived perfectly intact. We split the donuts into thirds, for my mother, sister, and I, and we thought it was so delicious.

The strawberry filling tastes like it’s strawberry yogurt but in the best way possible. We were raving about those bombolone for days afterwards.

I then went back to Angelina another time when it was pouring down rain, and picked up the nutella croissant and strawberry bombolone for my friend and I.

I hid them in the movie theater we were going to, we got dinner at the Pink Taco (which is further down my list), and then we snacked on these desserts in an abandoned Bryant Park at 11 PM right before they kicked every out. And those desserts were just as delicious then, too!

Kashmir 9 is a frequent place I snack at.

I always knew Kashmir 9 existed when I was in college, as it was the closest halal Desi place to school back then, but it took me to start working in theater years after, when I had left the city and moved back home, to actually try it. I went specifically because I heard the chai was only a $1, and it was true!

I ordered the Kashmiri chai, which is $2.50 because of how it’s specially made, and that’s such a bargain when a Starbucks charges $7 for a terrible one down the street.

So then I started ordering the food at Kashmir 9. You can’t expect a ton from this place as the food sits out, and sometimes when it’s not fresher they microwave it right in front of you so it’s hot.

My boss likes the kabobs from here because they’re $6 for two kabobs, and I tend to buy myself the samosas. Those are only $3 a samosa, and two are a complete meal for me. I’ve tried their chana masala and naan, and while the chana isn’t my favorite, I know other people have liked it.

Kati Shop is a Thai version of Chipotle.

My friend and I met in Kati Shop one time, as she wanted to try it out and she gets her bus home to Queens from Bryant Park. The day I met her there I ordered the white rice with penang curry, tofu, and a cucumber side salad.

The way this place works is that you tell the workers to assemble your bowl, and I consider it kind of like a Thai version of Chipotle.

They also were really kind and checked with me because I had picked tofu; the penang curry had fish sauce in it and they didn’t want me to eat something that I couldn’t eat if vegan or vegetarian.

This plate of food was so filling and flavorful! I’ve been meaning to go back to Kati Shop ever since I went there for the first time, as the food stuck in my mind. I’ve walked past it, but unfortunately have not had the chance to go and eat their food again.

I certainly would recommend it though if you like Thai food, or even eating healthy! They had many healthy options.

Pink Taco is reliable in a pinch.

I mentioned Pink Taco before, and my friend and I had landed on this spot after watching a Bollywood movie for a wide variety of reasons. We wanted somewhere that was open late, was affordable, and had decent reviews.

Pink Taco seated us immediately despite it being a Saturday night, and they started us off with some tortilla chips and salsa. Their salsa was really good—that was the first sign of this being a decent joint.

I ordered the pink tacos (the hard shells were hot pink!) with the chorizo tofu. It came with a side of refried beans.

My friend ordered a soup and more salsa so she could eat chips, as well as a pineapple aqua frescas. She raved about that pineapple drink and even told our waiter how much she loved it.

I thought my food was very tasty as well, and the portions were big enough that I had enough to eat the next day for lunch.

Woorijip was a go-to spot in college.

I know Woorijip has become more popular in the TikTok and Instagram reels world, but I’ve spent most of my time in college at Woorijip before it was ever popular.

My friend from Queens had introduced it to me when we were broke, and we would go in-between meal times to get the food that was 75% off. If you were lucky, you could get a japchae or bulgogi bowl for only $3, and those were the days that felt like gold.

I had just moved back from Korea when I came to college, and Woorijip was the spot that made me remember all the good days. The only thing I ever didn’t like from here was their jjajangmyeon—that wasn’t very good.

I also got my boss at the theater addicted to their kimchi, and she’s picky about what kind of kimchi she eats.

Sometimes I still make the thirty minute trek out of my way to work just to pick up lunch at Woorijip. Everything is in takeout containers, which makes it so easy to just grab a bunch of things and go. The line is sometimes long, but it moves really quickly.

I also bring cash because they’ll give you a discount if you pay in cash—sometimes that shaves off a couple of dollars or cents that adds up over time.

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