The Lunchbox

So. they DONT have roasted duck fat anymore. So if you were going there for that you will not get it. But still, no reason to be disappointed. Their food is still really good. It’s a little stand outside of all the government building that’s hipster and pleasant to be sit around.
Their Banh Mi Sandwich is really good. It’s great for lunch and I have literally drove from the other end of Gainesville just to pick up the sandwich for lunch to bring back home.
The meal also came with fried puffed chips which may be some type of vietnamese fare but it reminds me of the indian papdi that we usually have at our family get together. Nevertheless they are really good and a nice alternative to potato chips.

This place was right across the street from the Hampton Inn where I stayed for a trip. It has a nice outdoor patio where you can grab some food and a bear to enjoy. It rained a bit when I dropped by, but that made the experience that much nicer.

Love, love this place. We always stop here when we are downtown for the farmers market or other event. Fresh, delicious, flavorful food. The tacos, sandwiches, yuca fries, are great. More seating would be great, as the tables quickly fill up when it’s busy.

I used to go here almost every day when I worked downtown. The menu is pretty simple; choose a dish, choose a meat. They also have daily specials that are ever-​changing.
All of the tacos and sandwiches are great. My favorite is the Asian style tacos with the slow roasted pork, but everything is good. Sweet potato balls as an appetizer. French fries fried in duck fat. Avocado fries. I wish I didn’t have class in 30 minutes and highly regret ordering Jimmy John’s now. Prawn chips. Oh my.
Also, you can have a local Gainesville brew while waiting for your order (don’t tell my boss!). The homemade sodas are half crazy, half genius. Szechuan strawberry. That was a flavor at one point.
If you’re in the area for lunch, go here

Lunchbox rocks. The staff is incredibly friendly, the location is perfect as there really aren’t many options for a great lunch downtown, and the menu is very inventive. I can eat the hell out of a their chicken curry sandwich, and you can’t go wrong with both their pork tacos and hummus dip.

I’m home for the weekend after the end of spring semester, and the last time I ate here was maybe two years ago with a large group. I remember nice staff, delicious food (if slightly small portions), and a good Friday night atmosphere. What happened?
The menu is listed in about three different places: a huge specials board written in chalk, a similar drinks board, and then various papers spread out around the patio. While we were deciphering all these options, the server behind the counter tapped her pen impatiently. After every word we said, she kept asking, «Is that it? Is that it?» I ordered a pear soda and yuca fries.
Our three or so snacks took forever. I drank the entire soda while waiting for our food and politely asked pen-​tapping girl if there were any refills on the drinks. She scowled and shook her head like I was an idiot. I said it was interesting that I would pay $ 2.50 for a small plastic cup of soda, which I drank entirely while waiting for their slow food, and not receive any option for a refill. She launched into a speech about how the syrup is handmade and ice is expensive, etc. etc. and ended it with a sassy, «Just so you know.»
In the meantime, nobody bothered to let us know that our food was ready at the opposite end of the counter. The yuca was overcooked, oversalted, and the «tangy dipping sauce» tasted exactly like my childhood memory of McDonald’s Sweet & Sour.
As another reviewer pointed out, «Not only was I unimpressed with the vegetarian selections, but I was turned off by other typically vegetarian items being boasted about for being NOT VEG FRIENDLY.» This restaurant seems very pleased with itself to offer a couple vegan options. I think that should be a given, considering it is a locally owned restaurant near a major university.
When I’m away from home, I usually find myself missing the superior restaurant options Gainesville has to offer. However, I’m sad to say The Lunchbox is no longer one of them.

Didn’t a woman get her purse stolen as she was leaving here a few months ago? That makes you feel warm and fuzzy, no? Of course, you’re dining besides the dregs of Gainesville, huddled around the old Courthouse. Irrelevant, on to the review…
I have mixed opinions on the Lunchbox after 2 visits. The corndog lived up to the hype. A big beef hotdog, not some small weiner (mind, gutter, out). The batter was tastey, with a bit of sweetness mixed in with the cornmeal type mix. I’m probably way off, but it was almost like a mix between cornmeal and funnel cake batter. I enjoyed the fries as well. With all that fat, how can they not be good? The surprising part was that despite how they’re prepared, they were perfectly crispy. Not greasy or soggy at all.
The other meal started out ok, then got old. The pork asian sandwich. I love pork. I love slaw. This seemed like a can’t-miss. The first half was delicious with all the flavors of the sauce, cucumber, and jalapeño coming together. But honestly, half way through, it got a bit old and I was ready to be done with it. Those pita chips that came with it. 4. Yes, 4 chips. Maybe because it was to-​go, as most places generally try to screw you because they know you’ll be 15 minutes away before you realize you got screwed. I didn’t care for them anyway, so I suppose that’s moot. After eating, I started to feel pretty bad. Something in that sandwich did not like my stomach. or vice versa. In any case, it’s not something I’d order again.
If I happen to be downtown, the corndog is worth picking up. That’s as far as it goes for me.

Now that it’s the summer time, I haven’t been going to The Lunchbox as much as I’d like due to their outdoor dining. My wife and I have tried a variety of the dishes they serve, but I’ve settled on ordering their crispy fish in a rice bowl along with one of their delicious corn dogs. My wife swears by their ABCLT (avocado, bacon, cilantro, lettuce, tomato) sandwich.
I’ve always found the staff to be friendly and speedy. I’m trying to figure out how they can run a business out of that tight space and still remain relatively sane.
There are items on the menu I haven’t been that all impressed with. I’m just not a fan of the style of fry they serve. They always taste a little overdone so I always get their chips, which they aren’t very generous with, instead.
Parking can also be an issue depending on the time of day. Generally around lunchtime I can find a spot within walking distance.

Came here for a quick lunch in the downtown Gainesville area. I ordered the Killer Corn Dog– the dough was freshly fried and tasty and there’s a sizeable hot dog within all the doughy goodness. The bf had the Asian sandwich with pork. It had lots of meat, good flavors with half-​pickles and jalapenos w/​Vietnamese-​style slaw. We split the chips and fresca salsa as an appetizer. The salsa was (as its name suggests) very fresh, but they don’t give you enough chips in my opinion.
I would definitely like to come back here and try some of the other tasty-​sounding menu items.

Always a good place for lunch and a beer. The Vietnamese style spicy pork sandwich was always excellent as were the tacos with shredded cabbage. I’ve had the latter with everyone of the protein options, fish being my favorite.
Lunchbox is fast, cheap, and cool. As an added bonus you get to enjoy the free entertainment in the form of gibbering crackheads in Bo Diddly plaza.

Street food done right. Their flavors are fresh, and exciting. My asian chicken sandwich was a perfect blend of cilantro, lime, chicken, baquette, and the side crispy chips were amazing. Its like an unexpected explosion in your mouth, if only all restaurants were like this.
Eating outside on a hot afternoon was absolutely perfect. Oh, they make sodas. I got their strawberry peppercorn something (needed a little sugar) and tried my friends grapefruit soda (delicious!!)
I love the feel of the place, very laid back, local good eats, we need more joints like this in gainesville.
Well done, lunchbox.

Any place that openly uses animal fats for cooking, I will be an immediate fan of. That being said, get the TNV (totally not vegan) fries. Roasted in duck fat and fried with whole cloves of garlic. However since they roast it first, you may occasionally get a batch that’s over-​cooked.
What else to say? The menu is small, but they do everything right. From braised short rib «Bahn Mi Style Sandwiches,» to poached chicken salads. I wouldn’t say it’s the absolute best, but everything is consistently good and affordable. I just wish they did a little bit of seasonal changing to their menu.

IDK kinda overrated if you ask me. The corn dog was good but nothing to write home about. Not too sweet or salty. HUGE dog and crispy batter. The Pomme Frites tasted like plain olé fries to me. The Jalapeño Aioli wasn’t that good either. Too much coriander. IDK you guys… It was just ok. I will be giving them a second try tho. :Captain Kirk voice: IN. NEED. OF. BANH. MI. Heard theirs is pretty good. (As did I about the Pomme Frites) We’ll see.

This is the only place in Gainesville to get a Banh Mi, or anything resembling a Banh Mi. I know, I know, it is not authentic! But, when I crave it and do not feel like making it, I can come here. The atmosphere is always entertaining as well, there are people coming out of the courthouse screaming at each other and people asking you for change. And, oh yes, they accept credit cards! There is plenty of outdoor seating and the entire set-​up is adorable.
There is a set menu, but I like to also order off of the specials of the day board to see what is in season or recommendations. Once a long line forms around lunchtime, you will not be able to see the board because customers block it. You order and pay on the left, they call your name, and you pick up the food and add the condiments at the right window.
–Rosemary Grapefruit Soda– very unique and tasted exactly like the name
–Lemonade– refreshing and not too sweet
–Banh Mi Sandwich– your choice of meat with cabbage and carrot slaw on top, non marinated. There is cilantro hidden underneath. There are a few slices of baby cucumber and jalapeño on there as well. I think there was a mayo dressing underneath it all, but you could not really taste it. They give you a large amount of meat on the sandwiches, well more than I am used to. Yes, this plate comes with only two shrimp chips, however they are shrimp chips and not American style eat-​too-​much chips, so deal.
-(on special) BBQ Sandwich with pulled pork– the pork here is very neutral, so they can make different types of dishes with it. But, it can be on the bland side. It needed more BBQ sauce. Had a handful of tortilla chips on the side and was very filling.
–Avocado Fries– absolutely amazing. The outside is crisp panko breaded and the inside is soft but not mushy. Kudos! The dipping sauce is spicy mayo with little bits of jalapeño sans seeds.
–Corn Dog– It does not want to stay on the stick and the batter is very lumpy. It is also a wet dough, which tastes more like a corn cupcake. I recommend smoothing out the batter with more egg & liquid and using a finer grain cornmeal.
I cannot wait to go back and try the Coconut Rice Pudding and other savory items. It is so nice to have a creative and novel place like this in Gainesville! Reminds me of something that you would find in one of the upscale neighborhoods of Atlanta. I would not be surprised if Food Network hits this place up soon.

I had business downtown today so I was able to visit the Wednesday Farmers’ Market and have lunch at the Lunchbox, too. The Lunchbox’s premise is to offer quality, fresh, local foods at fair prices and as they have a small building and little space, they’re mainly a to-​go operation though they do have some seating on their porch plus given their location there’s ample places to take your food and eat it.
I had the BLT sandwich which also had fried avacado on it and was served with corn chips. It was truly one of the best sandwiches of any stripe I’ve ever had. Everything in it was exceptionally fresh and tasty as were the corn chips. It sounds like a simple meal, and it was, but it was done with care and came off as perfection. The girl who served me was very friendly and nice, too. Since your only real contact with the staff is at the order window and then the pick-​up window to get your food – there’s no wait-​staff – there’s not a lot to say about the service except she was friendly and I expect could have answered any questions about the menu. Obviously, the food speaks for itself. As Jim B, the urban planner, noted in his review, the addition of this restaurant is really a boon to the downtown plaza and makes it a more attractive place to spend some time while also offering a quality food option for city staffers, lawyers, and others who work nearby and want good food but something they can pick up and take back to their offices. While there’s many great restaurants around serving lunch, most will require spending an hour or more to dine in and their prices are not too encouraging of getting take-​away (I’m thinking of, say, Emiliano’s or Ichiban here). The Lunchbox is perfect for someone who wants quality take-​away.

I’ve been here several times, but my last visit was the most successful! The first couple of visits I sampled the sandwich and tacos. They were pretty good, and you could definitely taste the freshness of all the ingredients used in each dish. My last visit, though, I fell in love with the baked tofu rice bowl. Just in the last year I went from hating cilantro to loving it, so I definitely appreciate the copious amounts of cilantro used in this dish.
I also love the outdoor seating, and so do my dogs!

Reading the reviews, it seems like I’ve had good luck when coming here. Note I usually order from their specials board and not the menu.
Corn dog — I agree with the previous reviewer, very impressive indeed! The batter was very different and hot dog was a little snappy.
Homemade sodas — Made with their homemade «concentrate» with seltzer. It’s nice with the different flavors but never really amazed me since the sodas are always on the bland side. I did get a homemade orange ginger white tea which was fantastic though.
Roasted potatoes with duck fat — Disappointing. Tasted burnt and no duck fat flavor. Booooo. First and last thing I’ve ordered on their menu.
The most surprising thing was. their avocado fries!
Yes, that’s fried avocado!
Slices of avocado with a panko breading fried to salty golden awesomeness served with a jalapeño cream sauce.
I ordered this on a whim since it sounded interesting, but there’s a nice crunch on the outside and the avocado was nice and green on the inside. The flavor was very nice and it was served piping hot. As a french fry aficionado, I was pleased.
Definitely check this place out, there are some gems here and there and the concept is a great one, so hopefully they can perfect their flaws that other reviewers pointed out.

Hallelujah!
While standing in line I spied two books on display by the order window; Marco Pierre White’s Devil In The Kitchen and David Chang’s Momofuku Cookbook. At that point I was certain of one thing:
1– If the food sucked they’d really have no excuse.
I ordered a corn dog, a pork sandwich («Asian» style), and a watermelon soda. Everything, including the soda, was made in house!
The Corn Dog– Wow! This was the absolute best corn dog I have ever had end-​of-​story. The batter was substantial without being gloppy and the corn dog was expertly executed; complete with thin veneer of gilded crunch. The frankfurter itself was not the mealy, airy, loafy, liquid smoked lesser dog usually associated with corn dogs. This one was hearty. It had some heft to it with no compromise to flavor, and further, was not muted by your standard (read inferior) run-​of-​the-​mill commercial curing methods. Initially I thought the batter could have used a bit more sugar. After a few Pollock inspired strokes of ketchup and mustard on the dog I yearned no more.
The sandwich was excellent. The bread was more hoagie than baguette in a good way. The density was sufficient to keep the structural integrity in tact even after the additions of very juicy and stringy pulled pork. The protein had a very assertive and distinct porcine flavor; the origins of which I have trouble attributing. It was the only semi-​off putting element of the dish. The coleslaw, a very lightly sauced version with thinly shredded cabbage, was so lightly sauced that I couldn’t discern whether it was of the vinegar or mayonnaise-​based variety. Despite these short comings it was more than just a respectable sandwich; proof that sometimes the whole is greater than the sum of its parts even in food.
The watermelon soda was the weakest of the bunch. It seemed more like a watermelon agua fresca (but made with seltzer water) than a watermelon soda. The presence of watermelon was as upfront as it needed to be but it lacked sweetness. After a couple of sips I went to the pick-​up window and asked if they had any simple syrup. They did. After that much meed augmentation the soda was remarkable.
It seems as though the chef may *sometimes* be a bit too restrained when it comes to using sugar or sweeteners. I say sometimes because the coleslaw and sauce (s) could not have been more on point. The magnitudes involved are so minute that it’s hardly worth mentioning; but it’s all in the interest of nitpicking… I mean reporting.
All-​in-​all this place makes me optimistic about G’Ville’s collective palate. There is hope here after all. If The Lunchbox does NOT work and ultimately fails, assuming all things equal (i.e.: they don’t change for the worse), it would be us, the people of Gainesville, who really have no excuse.
PS– I counted eleven (11) chips with my sandwich. I really do not understand the gripes with the chips when all it takes for the issue to be resolved is: «Excuse me. Can I have a few more chips please?» Really, one star because of that? There must be more to that story.
PPS– I shall be back for their fries. Pommes frites in goose/​duck fat are supernaturally good!
«Non vegetarian fries»…I LOVE IT!

Been here 3 times so far. All the food choices were delicious. The sweet potatoes fried in duck fat are yum. The pork tacos delicious and the short rib sammie a winner. The soups are superb. I really liked the cilantro/​lime.
Upsides: (Planner nerd boy moment) New activity on the Downtown Plaza is a huge win for the urban fabric and cleans up about 30% of that disaster. When the weather is good, its a great place (finally) for alfresco eating in the center of it all. When the farmer’s market is going its a great place to sit and watch the crowds. The original cover and some shade trees in behind the place make for pleasant seating — but…
Downside: The new pergola needs a fabric cover. This is Florida and the lack of shade makes that space useless when its hot. And in Florida, its hot — a lot. The aggregation of homeless in the plaza seem to have moved off this part of the plaza, but expect that you might be panhandled if you are wandering nearby. Feel free to tell them to shove off. Giving them money is akin to feeding the seagulls at the beach: A very bad idea that will only lead to more of the same.
The CRA did a great job of renovating and repurposing a small but important building in a difficult location, the owners have done a great job in creating a small but tasty menu. Fix the shade issue and its 5 stars.
Bonus: I watched the owner come out and unlock a bike for someone — apparently she had put a lock and chain on the bike for the customer while he was eating lunch. What a nice touch.

Always good, fresh food — all of it made on the spot! I have no complaints. In fact I feel like going to the Lunchbox is a special occasion.
The pork tacos, rice pudding, cheddar biscuits, bread pudding, etc. All of it is good! Go try it!