MadParkNews.com, covering New York City's Madison Square Park & Flatiron

One of the neighborhood’s favorite events is back – the Madison Square Eats food stands will return to Worth Square (5th Avenue between 24th and 25th Streets) just west of Madison Square Park from Friday, May 3rd until Friday, May 31st. It’s open every day from 11am-9pm and will feature 30 food stands from popular restaurants and food artisans in the neighborhood and around the city.

Here is the confirmed vendor list (stay tuned – we will get the menus as soon as we can)

• Arancini Bros.
• Asiadog
• Bar Suzette
• Calexico
• Charlito’s Cocina
• Dreamscoops Ice Cream
• Eleni’s New York
• Graffiti│Mehtaphor
• Hong Kong Street Cart
• ilili
• La Sonrisa Empanadas
• Macaron Parlour
• Mason Jar NYC
• Mayhem & Stout
• Melt Bakery
• Mexicue
• Mighty Balls
• Mimi and Coco NY
• MMM ENFES
• Momofuku Milk Bar
• Mrs. Dorsey’s Kitchen
• Nunu Chocolates
• People’s pops
• Red Hook Lobster Pound
• Roberta’s
• Seoul Lee Bar B Cue
• Stuffed Artisan Cannoli
• Sunday Gravy NYC
• The Cannibal
• Third Rail Coffee

If you want to see the menus and photos from last year go to Madison Square Eats 2012.

The always popular Madison Square Eats food stands start up again the Friday, September 21st and will run daily through October 19th. It’s hosted by the Madison Square Park Conservancy and serves food daily in the Worth Square area just west of Madison Square Park (@ 24th and 5th Avenue). Confirmed vendors so far include:

Roberta’s Pizza
Macaron Parlour
Mexicue
Asiadog
Momofuku Milk Bar
ilili
Sigmund’s
Bar Suzette
Calexico
Nunu Chocolates

Not really Mexican, and not traditional BBQ, Mexicue takes flavors from both cooking styles to create its own thing, and after trying a couple sliders at Madison Square Eats, I can say it really works. I personally love both Mexican food and BBQ, and although I had heard good things about Mexicue, sometimes these fusion concepts end up being a lesser version of both types of food. But both the Mexicue Alabama BBQ Chicken Slider (with lettuce, cotija cheese, and their “chipotle mayo-ish” bama sauce) and the Pulled Pork slider (with guacamole spread, pickled red onions, and BBQ sauce) were flavorful, savory, and satisfying. They sort of taste like what you would expect given the ingredients, so if it sounds at all good, definitely try them.

Madison Square Eats food stands run daily through October 19th from 11am-9pm. It’s hosted by the Madison Square Park Conservancy and serves food in the Worth Square area just west of Madison Square Park (@ 24th and 5th Avenue). See the full list of food stands and menus here.

By Rebecca Bratburd for MadParkNews.com Madison Square Eats (SEE all menus from all stands here) offers a pleasing diversity of foods from small snacks to hearty lunches just to the west of Madison Square Park. In an attempt to get a taste of many things, I ended up mixing an empanada with a vegetarian meatball [...]

By Rebecca Bratburd

Madison Square Eats offers a pleasing diversity of foods from small snacks to hearty lunches just to the west of Madison Square Park. In an attempt to get a taste of many things, I ended up mixing an empanada with a vegetarian meatball slider and topped it all off with an immaculate macaroon.

La Sonrisa’s Coconut Curry Chicken empanada ($3.50) was sweeter than expected thanks to sweetened coconut milk and its flavor was incredibly mild. The snack was deep fried to perfection and the all-white shredded chicken inside was moist and satisfying. Where the empanada lacked in flavor, it made up for in crispy texture.

The veggie meatball ($3.50) is not Mighty Ball’s strong point, but it did have a very buttery texture from the cheese infused into it. Luckily, Mighty Balls boasts some seriously mouth-watering sauces: Mighty Hot Jalapeno Jelly, African Onion, Tempting Tomato, Not Your Average Brown Sauce, and Cranberry Horseradish. I went with Tempting Tomato, a simple yet fiery sauce that added a much needed kick to the veggie meatball.

Macaron Parlour’s Gianduja macaroon ($2.50) was the cherry on top of this meal. The sweet treat tasted so fresh it must have been made that morning. The thin, crisp layer gave way to a light cake-like cookie shell, and the hazelnut and semisweet chocolate ganache (think Nutella) center was the tops. Luckily, Madison Square Eats runs daily until October 9, giving me plenty of time to try all of Macaron Parlour’s 12 untraditional flavors of macaroons.

[madison sq eats food photos]

(Clockwise from top: Baby Got Back Ribs Almost Sweet Tea, Mighty Ball’s Veggie Slider with Tempting Tomato Sauce, La Sonrisa’s Coconut Curry Chicken Empanada, and Macaron Parlour’s Gianduja Macaroon.)

One of our favorites this year at Madison Square Eats is Steve’s Craft Ice Cream. Admittedly we have been back 3 times, always to get some of the Brooklyn Blackout Cake Ice Cream. What is it? Well it’s milk chocolate ice cream, with chunks of Ovenly’s Black Chocolate Stout cake with swirls of dark chocolate [...]