Lunch is the busiest hour for any restaurant near offices, and Ironside organised its midday service around freshness and speed. According to the archive, the executive chef, Bob Cina, wanted every day of the week to bring tasty, healthy and hearty options.
How lunch was prepared
The kitchen roasted its meats in-house each day, used fresh produce and made its sauces from scratch. Orders were assembled to order, so salads, sandwiches and pizzas were put together when a guest asked for them instead of being held under lights. The chef’s stated philosophy was that every detail of these dishes should be thought through and carried out with care.
What was on the menu
Launch materials mention several lunch items:
– a salad of citrus-marinated cucumbers and onions with toasted quinoa and feta
– a porchetta sandwich with herb-roasted pork and scamorza cheese
– seasonal soups
– a rotating line-up of pizzas, from wild boar sausage with broccoli rabe to a ratatouille version
– vegetarian options such as a vegetable take on the Cuban sandwich
Eat in or take away
Guests could sit down or collect their order, and the restaurant offered online ordering so workers could skip the line. The takeout page explains how pickup and delivery were organised.
Why it mattered locally
In a neighborhood with more fast food than sit-down options, a lunch that was house-made yet quick filled a gap. The restaurant’s backers described it as sitting between fast food and fine dining.
Related pages
See the dinner menu, the happy hour concept and the home page. Menus and prices from the archive are historical.