Variety Cafe

Good egg white and cheese beagle price could have been a bit less. Lots of choices on the menu.

Stopped by today to get my usual udon soup and the whole place is gone. Dark, empty and a big for rent sign in the window. Nothing indicating they relocated. Very strange.

Two words: Food Poisoning.
My husband eats there sometimes for lunch. Well, yesterday he stopped in a grabbed a Chicken Parm Panini that was on display. Not only was it improperly reheated but a couple hours later my husband left work early with the most gruesome diarrhea he has ever had. Upon arriving home, he projectile vomited so forcefully I feared he had caught norovirus. Nope. Food poisoning. *the* WORST food poisoning I have ever witnessed. I have never seen a grown man vomit so hard in my life. He then managed to curl his 6’3″ body into fetal position while he shivered on the floor for the next hour and a half in horrendous stomach pain until he started uncontrollable retching. The vomiting was so forceful it scared me to tears and I’m certain it scared the neighbors. After that final episode he slept through the night just fine. But NOBODY we know, including any of his co-​workers will EVER EAT HERE EVER AGAIN.
I am not one to complain much, but this had to be one of the worst cases of food poisoning I ever witnessed. I left a report with NYC 311 food poisoning online and intend to fully follow up.
And if the owner id reading this, I would personally like to say: F-​CK YOU for running such a disgusting cesspool.

their sandwich area is really bad (eg, panini’s and pre-​made stuff). the guy burnt my panini and just ruined my lunch. how do you burn a panini? there were no other customers in this area and he pressed the hell out of my sandwich! I have never seen long lines in this sandwich/​soups area and the panini’s look like they haven’t sold in days. Selection is also somewhat limited. I’m sticking with the wraps. and to boot, they forgot to give me chips for this purchase.

The place is very large and really does have a «variety» of food. But because they have soooo much food, the preparation and handling of the food is not very sanitary. The restaurant has been closed down multiple times by the department of health because it has had so many health code violations. And it never really has above «C» rating. I’ve eaten there before and the food is fine. I have never been sick from the food there but I know people in my office who have.

Amazing breakfast spot.
Love the egg whites omelet, the bagel sandwiches, the scramble eggs. Toast perfectly toasted, nice flavor.
yum yum yum. Great for breakfast, not sure about what else.

The bagels in the morning are good but sesame bagels run out fast. The guy is super fast and remembers your order after a while.
The cashiers are fast if a bit robotic mechanical but oh so efficient! The salad bar is the best part. They actually have kalamata olives most of the year. The big salad comes with a small lemonade or orange juice. They don’t charge extra for certain toppings (chicken, avocado, tuna, turkey).

Variety Café is a staple for my coworkers and came highly recommended. So far, I can vouch for their soups and chopped salads– which were both great (the add-​ins for the salads are a better deal than other salad places). As other reviewers mentioned, there is a Mexican food section (my coworkers love the burritos).
The last time I went with a group, we were overcharged by $ 9– so I would say pay close attention with the cashiers, as an FYI!

Worst service ever.
I asked for the price of the fruits twice cause I couldn’t hear her the first time around, so she yelled at me.
What’s worse, we got something small to share at the buffet because we weren’t that hungry, and the same lady called my friend cheap.
Sure the lady might’ve had a bad day but that is no excuse to treat customers like dirt.

Went in for breakfast as it was down the street from where I was staying and was pretty happy with the selection. This was by far the cheapest meal I had in NYC. Had a breakfast sandwich with egg and cheese on a bagel and a large coffee and my total was under $ 4. I mean, coffee for $ 1. Good coffee for $ 1! Lots to choose from too. Additionally, although i didn’t partake they had a fruit bar where you pay by the pound and get any fruit that you want.

Decent buffet spread that covers Italian, Chinese, Japanese, American, Korean cuisines. It’s a chain (I used to frequent the Variety Café down in FIDI). However, this particular franchise is run by Korean people (not Chinese, as mentioned in Ben Y’s review).
The food is purchased by the pound, which means it can get expensive.
Here’s a little tip: DON’T WEIGH YOUR FOOD DOWN WITH EXTRANEOUS SAUCES.
Here’s a second little tip: If you’re stopping by for lunch, try getting there between 11:45am to 12:00pm. That’s when the food is first placed out. For example, the salmon is incredibly fresh because it just came out of the broiler. There’s also no one in the store at that time, so you’re guaranteed to get your choice cut of the salmon.

Variety Café is bangin. It has ANYTHING you could possibly want to eat for lunch. I used to intern in the McGraw Hill building (on Ave of Americas) and came here nearly every day. The prices are not spectacular but the food is. It is owned and run by Chinese people, so it is no surprise that their chicken and broccoli is unbelievable. And I’m not being racist because it is hands down the best broccoli I have ever eaten.
They have incredible pasta dishes and a huge salad bar and fresh sandwiches made to order. You could desire anything and Variety Café would feed that desire.

Two words: RUDE CASHIER.
My friend and I were looking for some snacks in the area. We were going to dinner later, so we only wanted something light. We somehow chose to come in here. HUGE MISTAKE.
The cashier lady, who I assume is the owner, had the audacity to call me cheap. Yes, she called me cheap to my face. All because I asked for another set of utensils to share the food with my friend. Who in the world would call their customer cheap?! I spent money, I gave you business, you ungrateful old lady!
I will never in a million years come back to this place again.

‘Ended up here’. Visiting the city… had the kids. getting hungry and everything was super busy so the first place that had availability for all of us we went to. Pretty dirty. Bathrooms overlflowing. Lots of variety of food but tht doesn’t make it good. My vege panini actually had a big thing of tin foil IN it! Tired and hungry ths place served its purpose.

Solid place with solid prices. They seem to have just about everything you could possibly want but I can rarely get passed the sandwiches in the front. They’ve got some beasts in that case and although pre-​made sammers are usually against my religion, these bad boys are a-​ok. And they give you a free OJ with the sandwich. I’m not sure why, but whatever.
I have tried the mongollian and it was pretty good. but I found it to be a bit pricey.
The only negative I can think of is that their drink coolers aren’t cased or even have the half assed plastic strips to help keep drinks cool. I always find my Coke Zero not to be quite as refreshing as it could be. annoying. Keep your fridges cooler!

One word closely associated with this place would be variety of food offered. Tried it a couple of times since it’s close to my workplace. They have a very good salad bar, very extensive one indeed. They also have Mexican, Hibachi, Italian and Sushi offerings.
I tried the veggie sandwich which was Ok, nothing great. I was hoping to get a great meal when I tried Hibachi station, I was proved wrong. First of all it is peak lunch hour make sure that all the Hibachi ingredients are available at the bar. I called the guy and told him that brocolli and mushroom were missing from the bar, he answer was I don’t know. What the f***k dude it’s your duty to make sure that the bar is carrying all the ingredients.
I then moved on and gave my Hibachi selction to the chef for cooking. The meal cooked was way too bland, this is even after telling the Chef to make it spicy. The meal was for $ 14 which I think was very steep in terms the way food tasted and it’s quality. Definately one can give a miss to the Hibachi station at this café.

I found bugs in my ramen soup! Barf!
Otherwise, I used to like this place.

Ya know, the lines are bad, the people are crazy, it’s a bit of a hassle and hectic… BUT THE FOOD WAS SURE CHEAP. Granted, it really helped they were doing their anniversary sale, so something like $ 5-​$ 6 PER POUND (vs. the normal $ 7.99) plus variety so I’m not complaining.
The seafood was super fresh, especially considering a) buffet and b) price.
As the name indicates, there is a LOT of variety here. In terms drinks (bottled/​made), food (ethnic/​typical lunch fare), and buffet (fast food, slow food, cooked food, cold food), fruit/​fish/​veggie/​meat/​grains, you name it, you will most likely get it.
Stumbled across this place in my quest to find a creamsicle in midtown. If you know of any places, msg me as this journey is starting to tourn into an epic saga.

I was going to rate this place a 4 but then I highlighted 5 and said ‘as good as it gets’. For a café in Midtown. This IS as good as it gets. Its like a deli on absolute crack. I weight the decision on mainly Variety. Cost is a little more than other places but on the other side… its about the same because you can tell this place uses better ingredients.
It has:
— Sushi
— Sandwich bar
— Salad Mixers (that do it for you)
— Fresh Shakes
— Indian Food
— Pizza Area
— Some sort of meat grill where you pick you’re own meat.
— Hot Bar
— Make your own salad/​pasta bar
— Pasta Station
— Mexican Station
— ‘Southern Foods Station’
What else could you want? Seriously? oh. speaking of that… they have beer too.

If you care about what you put into your body, don’t come here!
I know they have a HUGE Variety of things to eat but they were closed down twice by the NYC Dept of Health for a few weeks.
When they first opened, I didn’t know any better and came here every day for my breakfast. After my coworker told me she saw the sandwich maker trying to scoop something out of the tuna salad that was crawling around, it was a NOT a coincidence they were forced to shut down that same week. He didn’t trash the entire container of tuna salad, just tried to scoop the large roach out and kept serving it.
I black listed this place. Never go there if you fear for your health! They were shut down twice within the same year!