Although many people are discovering it for the first time, Midtown Kingston wasn’t born yesterday. While Uptown and Downtown Kingston serve as photogenic gateways into our city, Midtown Kingston has been packed with gritty factories and medical buildings for the last 100 years. Although the details about those factories and hospitals have changed (see: Shirt Factory, Pajama Factory, Brush Factory, Lace Mill, HealthAlliance of the Hudson Valley), thousands of working-class artists, healthcare staff, students, teachers, retirees, residents and technopreneurs in the neighborhood always need to be fed.
We’re no exception: since we’re a Kingston marketing company located in the Shirt Factory on Cornell Street, we’re heavily reliant on our Midtown food scene. If there’s a meeting coming up or a late night in the office, we have lots of unpretentious and underrated options to keep us fueled. Here are some of our favorites:
DISCLAIMER: This list only has ten businesses on it, so tell us who we missed in the comments!
Morning:
1. Coffee from Monkey Joe’s:
Monkey Joe’s has been a staple of Midtown since 2000. The ultimate power meeting move is having a round of lattes ready for your clients.
2. Pastries from Deising’s:
Although their Midtown locaish isn’t as fully stocked as their Uptown one, it’s still a solid place to grab some danishes and donuts.
3. Grilled Muffins from PAKT:
You haven’t had a muffin until it’s been grilled in butter, and chocolately banana goodness is oozing out of it.
4. Bagels + cream cheese from Sunrise:
Sunrise is such a Kingston staple that they don’t even need a website or a Facebook page. Their bagels are massive and provide tremendous mouth-feels.
Lunch:
Another Kingston institution, no one has ever complained about a spread of hot dogs and SAWCE fries from Dallas. Also probably the best milkshake you can get in Midtown behind Boice’s.
6. Sushi from Yasuda:
Very reasonable sushi right on Broadway. They have a perfect review record on Facebook with over 20 5-star reviews.
7. Mexican Food from Just for You:
Although the exterior makes it sound like American food, Just for You provides some really authentic Mexican dishes. They had me at goat stew.
Late:
8. 6-pack of Great Life Brewing:
You have to go to Beer World to find their stuff, but there is a second brewery operating in Midtown Kingston. They’re behind Copy Hut, and they’ve already won a bunch of awards for quality. They recently did a tap takeover at Frogmore (RIP). And yes, we’re expanding the definition of food to include beer.
9. Takeout ‘Za from Tony’s Pizzeria:
They do fabulous takeout pizzas, and they often keep local booze on tap.
10. Boice Bros Dairy Ice Cream:
Their ice cream sandwiches are $1.50 a pop and are best enjoyed fresh and crunchy from NY State’s oldest family-run dairy. Everything there is awesome.
Kingston Creative is a strategic and creative marketing company that helps local organizations achieve their goals with branding, websites, and shareable/searchable content. Contact us and we’ll get grilled muffins together.
