"With lunch prices soaring, some workers make a meal of roasted sweet potatoes"—but this is New York City, not Seoul

[Financial News] Roasted sweet potatoes are emerging as a cost-effective lunch option in New York City. As restaurant prices climb steeply, office workers in New York City are turning to roasted sweet potatoes as an affordable alternative for a full meal.

On the 19th (local time), the New York Post reported, "Office workers in New York City have found an unexpected solution to soaring lunch prices," adding, "They sit at their Midtown desks eating $4 whole roasted sweet potatoes with the skin on and call it lunch. It is a reflection of the harsh economic reality of rising prices."
In Manhattan, a fast-food combo meal now costs around $15, and a takeout salad bowl runs about $20. Even the once-iconic $1 slice of New York pizza has climbed to at least $1.50.
As a result, office workers are reportedly lining up at Korean markets and specialty cafés across the city to buy roasted sweet potatoes.
At street stalls in Koreatown, a single sweet potato typically sells for about $2 to $4. That is roughly one-third the price of a small order of fries at a Five Guys location in Manhattan.


The New York Post introduced roasted sweet potatoes as a classic winter street food widely found across East Asia, including Korea, Japan, and China. It noted that in winter, sweet potatoes roasted in metal drum barrels on the roadside have skins so crisp they look sugar-coated, while the inside is so soft it almost melts in your mouth. The paper also pointed out that they are nutritionally rich in beta-carotene, vitamin C, and potassium.
The popularity of roasted sweet potatoes is spreading rapidly through SNS. A food reviewer who goes by "Mr. Spice Guy Eats" posted a viral video of himself trying roasted sweet potatoes near Penn Station. In the clip, he exclaims, "It tastes like marshmallow, it's really amazing."
Courtney Cook, a food influencer based in the State of Georgia, uploaded her "teacher lunch" recipe on TikTok, where she cuts a sweet potato in half and stuffs it with cheese sticks. The video has racked up more than 10 million views.
According to the report, at a café in the Koreatown area of New York City, baking sweet potatoes in an oven has become part of the daily scene. The article highlighted Cafe Julie on West 32nd Street, explaining that it has become one of the most popular street-style spots by selling sweet potatoes slowly roasted in an outdoor oven. Depending on size, each sweet potato costs about $2 to $3.
The roasted sweet potato craze is spreading beyond Koreatown to other neighborhoods as well. A Mediterranean fast-casual restaurant in the basement of Rockefeller Center has added roasted sweet potatoes to its lunch menu, and at some popular locations, they are reportedly selling out early in the day.
y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter