Champs Gourmet Deli

Champs Gourmet Deli is one of my favorite places for food in the Financial District. In an area that is overrun with giant and overwhelming food court-style delis, Champs stands out as an easy place to get basic food (despite that "gourmet" in their name). They don't have a sushi bar or a juice bar or a stir-fry bar or a large selection of hot/cold bar items. However, they do have pretty much all the stand-by food items I might want, and they prepare them with care. They have a grill where everything is cooked to order, a small salad bar, a cold sandwich counter, and a decent selection of baked goods. They also have daily soups and oatmeal.

I frequently get egg sandwiches ($1.85 for mine) there in the morning, which are prepared exactly to my specifications (one fried egg, cooked through, with cheese on a toasted biali - yum!). They have excellent muffins ($1.40), which are obviously baked fresh daily (the chocolate chip, cranberry, and lemon-coconut are my favorites). They also make great sandwiches (starting at about $3.50) for lunch - both hot and cold. All the ingredients are fresh and everything is made to order.

Finally, I am very impressed with the staff at Champs. Despite the busy location and small space, they are incredibly efficient. Even at the busiest times of day, you can always count on quick service with very little waiting.

On the down side, while Champs does have tables, it's not a great place to eat in. Usually, when I pick up breakfast or lunch at Champs, I end up taking it back to my office to eat.

Champs Gourmet Deli is at 71 Broadway, but the entrance is actually in the back of the building on the corner of Trinity Place and Rector Street. There is a second location on Exchange Place between Broad and New Streets.

Welcome, Introduction, Explanation

I have for some time envied my midtown-working colleagues their lunch options, and the blog that describes them. More recently, I was disappointed to find that the 2007 list of cheap eats in New York magazine's annual Cheap Eats issue included only one restaurant that was south of Canal Street, and it was just two blocks south at that. This was definitely not an easily accessible lunch option from my Financial District workplace. Time Out New York's recent cheap eats issue had little more for me.

It's true that the options down here are limited. What is available is often unimpressive and overpriced. There are, however, also little gems: there is some delicious food; there are some reasonable prices. In these pages I will chronicle my lunches, and perhaps occasional other outings in the area.

Before I begin, there are a couple additional things potential readers might care to know about me, because they will influence the content here:

1. Despite my financial district location, I don't work a financial district job. In honor of this blog, I am granting myself a lunch budget of $10. (This is a big improvement over the $6 I used to allot myself.)

2. I don't eat much meat. If you're looking for burgers, I won't be able to help. I am not a vegetarian, but I only have meat at lunch maybe once a week.

3. I don't eat much lunch. At least a couple times a week, I sate myself with pretzels from my office vending machine. Reviews of those pretzels (or the things I have to substitute for them on the occasions when the machine runs out) will not be included here.