One thing I learned on our quick trips to Manhattan is wherever you are, go outside, and walk around the block. You'll find a bagel place, or a pizza place, or a fast food place, or a bakery, or one of the numerous takeout shops where you can customize a takeout order. This last category often featured buffet offerings, I'm not a buffet fan but if they had that, they also had a counter where you could order. Very popular with police so I imagined the food is safe and clean. There's a place called Essex, or Essen, or something with an E in it... think it's on 8th St. and you can get most any type of take out there for your trip, ranging from made to order salads, to noodle bowls, to hot and cold sandwiches, to desserts... to beverages... etc. It was open in May which was nice to see, so should be there now!