Margon

A block from the noise of Times Square, a Cuban lunch counter has been feeding Midtown since the 1970s. Three Cuban cousins started it; Lupe and Rafael Rivas, who have run it for decades, kept it exactly as it was. You get in line, point at the steam table, and take your tray to one of the orange tables in back.

The Cubano is the reason for the line — roast pork, ham, Swiss, pickles and mustard pressed on crackly bread — and the medianoche, on a soft sweet egg roll, is its gentler cousin. From the hot side, look for palomilla steak with onions, roast chicken, rice and beans, and sweet plantains, plus the oxtail braised in red wine on its appointed day. Finish with a sweet, sharp café cubano. It closes in the late afternoon, so this is a lunch place.