Favorite Cafe

I went there for lunch with two coworkers. One of them recommended it and because we could not decide on a place to deliver food to us on Grubhub, we went.
Both of my coworkers went to the hot food bar, so I followed. We all ordered the small hot lunch (one meat, two sides, and bread). When it came to be my turn, I ordered the sausage and peppers and a side of veggies. Then, as I could not decide on a second side, just requested that my extra side be more veggies. This «second side» of veggies included one piece of broccoli and one one steamed string bean. Then, as I checked out, they asked if I wanted bread and I said yes. They failed to give me any.
When I met my friends in the upstairs seating area, I noted that I received about half as much food as they did, not surprising when you basically do not receive a second side. That being side, next time I want to go on a diet, I will come back here. Unfortunately for Favorite Café, that will be never.

Oh no, you don’t want to go there, unless you want eggs a la crap with a stale toast for 20 bucks.
I’ll keep it sweet and short– they don’t know how to cook. If you want something that tastes decent, go somewhere else

Is Favorite Café my favorite café? Probably not. Is Favorite Café my favorite café around the Penn area? It has potential, but it’s not there yet. I do like sitting by the door on the stools to people watch and enjoy the breeze coming in while digging my face into their salads, but the business needs a bit of improvement with the décor, seating upstairs and possibly the food.
I can’t give them a rating for their hot foods because I’ve never tried them. My friend tried their pizza and didn’t like it, but I can’t attest to that. I usually come here for their salads, maybe with an iced coffee if I’m feeling too lazy to make another stop at Fuji Bakery, which is less than a block away :)
Well, we all know how expensive salads can get in Manhattan. I’ve paid over $ 10 for a few leaves drenched in salad dressing. Fine, I may be exaggerating a little, but my point is, they’re not all that worth it sometimes. For that reason, I get mine at Favorite Café. For $ 5.95, you get a medium salad (choose between spinach, romaine or mixed greens) with 4 toss-​ins. Their selections’ not as vast as salad bars, but in my opinion, it doesn’t need to be. All I need is chicken, maybe a hard-​boiled egg, nuts, cranberries, tomatoes and/​or corn and/​or chickpeas, with some light dressing and I’m all set. They probably have 30+ selections I haven’t mentioned, but if you’re one of those people who need to have 100 choices so you can put 10 things in your salad and pay $ 15 for it, then don’t bother.
One recommendation I have, however, is that they should do something about the warm, dark and dingy seating upstairs. The seating also needs some major fixer uppers. That should bring you closer to being one’s favorite café.

Affordable hot food bar. Good even though the meat lasagna doesn’t taste Italian and the Mac & Cheese American. My favorite is the pasta in alfredo sauce. I got all three for $ 7.95. This is what I call a cheap and okay place to eat. Very nice people.

So friendly and pleasant! The food is always fresh, and always tasty. And the prices are really good for Midtown. But what I just love about this place is how everyone who works there is friendly – always warm, authentic smiles.

Excellent breakfast menu, great variety, great service. Cramped seating but it works. Check them out.

Worst place I’ve ever had. Just ordered latte to a gentleman who is tallest more than others. I wished there was a lady at coffee bar place as usual. But she wasn’t. The gentleman said F word in Spanish that I knew. And just continued what he is doing, never ask someone to make my LATTE!!! Well. I can wait but I can not take that words. If you don’t like to work, don’t come please!!!

I order delivery from here to my workplace at least once a week. California wrap is amazing.

These guys would not make us a sandwich off the menu, they would only serve us per made sandwiches, and that made us nervous. The sandwiches were soggy as any per mades are. No so great.

Quick and easy lunch for those who work in the area such as myself. The workers are all friendly (never found a disgruntled employee who hates their life, as I meet frequently at midtown lunch places) and the food appears to be fresh.
Chopped salads are a little cheaper than nearby places– AND it includes meat and cheese in the items! (Medium around $ 5) Note: the mix-​ins change daily– but it’s usually best to go earlier in the day to get the freshest options. Hot bar is also good, with meat plus 2 sides at around $ 7. Go early for salmon!

It’s great for hot food lunch

Fave is the bomb! Their coffee is so good and only $ 1 for a small!!! great breakfast foods as well as lunch. Hot bar tastes like home cooking, nothing creepy like those buffets– you get a 3 items for $ 6.40. Make your own salad is also the cheapest in the area– 5 items for $ 5.99 (including meat and cheese)
Have to say fave is the cheapest and best food in midtown.

Price is right and for a quick lunch, the rice and beans with beef works great. Sandwiches are generously proportioned too.

This is one of my go to places for breakfast and/​or lunch. Good place to get cheap eats. I got a Bacon, Egg and Cheese Roll with a coffee for $ 2.99! Things are cheap until you starting making altercations to the special. For lunch they have a hot bar where you can get a meat and two side for around $ 6 or $ 7. Get there early though because by 1ish almost everything is gone. The food is pretty good and seems fresh not canned.
They have a made to order tossing salad station, sandwiches, pizza and soup as well. All equally as good sometimes better than other places around this area.
The staff are mostly men and all very nice, but the counter lady in the morning, never looks happy and she is mostly speaking in Spanish, sometimes I wonder if she’s talking crap. But everyone is friendly, maybe not smiling but service is fast.
I love that the location isn’t on 8^th avenue too because the tourist don’t usally see it, so it’s mostly people who work around here that go to it.

This place is probably my hands down favorite midtown Breakfast/​Lunch restaurant. The bottom line here is quality/​value. You order breakfast… its made right in front of you and it wont cost you more than 5 bucks. Around 11:00 you can see all of the fresh lunch food coming out of the back. The amply stocked salad station… tossed to order. An interesting tidbit about this place is that the pizza is amazing. When the pizzeria down the block shut down 2 years ago they hired the pizza guy from there. Now he’s at Favorite and man does he make a great slice. Midtown west is the absolute armpit of NYC, but Favorite Café is a real gem for office workers who work in the area.

Favorite Café is great. It is my favorite café.
Prices are slightly below average for the area, but the food is way above average.

I’ve only been for breakfast and my conclusion is that it’s pretty good breakfast on the run. They use real eggs, that’s a plus, and it’s quick, another plus. But generally I found it average.
I tried a ham egg and cheese on a croissant, and a bacon egg and cheese on a bagel. Both were pretty good. I wouldn’t eat there everyday… but once in a while if you need something quick that’s not fast food, this will do.

LOVE THIS PLACE! right across the street from work so obviously i’m gonna frequent this place often. staff are friendly and theyre really quick with their service and attentive. salad choices are great AND they also deliver. they’ve got a good variety menu wise and their lunch choices are pretty decent. you can get a panini, salads, pizza, or hot meals like salmon, different kinds of rice, freshly steamed or grilled veggies, different desserts, etc. Theyre adequately priced as well considering it’s in the city. in terms of décor: its nothing swanky but i only grab my lunch and go since sometimes its a bit noisy in there.
cleanliness: i think its very clean. everyone’s always wearing a hairnet and gloves and i always see the staff change their gloves from handling the person before me to myself and they’ve got the A rating from dept of health on the window. I personally love this place for my lunchtime meals!

I’ve been going here for a bit since I work literally right across. Now that there’s a bagel shop half a block away for food I usually make the trip to that one unless I am in a real hurry.
The prices jump insane here. One day I will pay $ 275 for 2 egg whites on a bagel, another $ 3.25 or $ 3.50
Just now I bought a can of coke and they charged me $ 1.35– not sure when they decided to raise it from $ 1.10. You never know how much you’ll spend there.
The staff is pretty nice (only reason why I’m giving it 2 stars). The food there is average — and price is more expensive for no reason. I think next time even if in a rush I’ll go to the place that’s a bit farther. This place leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
By the way needs $ 5 minimum charge to put on the card.

The Goal:
A bagel, and maybe a cup of tea, in the morning and lunch, close to work, nearly every single day…
First Impression:
Ok, this place is nothing spectacular. But it’s incredibly close to work, literally 6 store fronts away. It’s fairly cheap, I get a salad and drink usually for around $ 8, and my salads are always chock full of ingredients. The people are very nice, I go in enough that I have a routine, and even they know it! And, there are plenty of things to choose from.
The Specifics:
This place is just like every other lunch establishment this side of 5^th avenue, but what makes it special is just how quick and easy it is. I run down, grab my favorite mixed green salad with the fixin’s, and am out in less than 5 minutes, even at the height of the lunch rush. (My boss always orders the Italiano panini with chicken and pesto.) How great is that when a deadline is looming and you haven’t even started your work?! They have all the usual options: paninis, wraps, sandwiches, pizza, burgers, etc. and everything is always served with a smile!
Final Analysis:
Come for a morning bagel, or if you’re close to Penn Station and you want to come meet me for lunch, I am most likely grabbing something from Favorite Café. It’s quick, easy and yummy and always hits the spot.