Fresh Healthy Cafe

When I used to work at the mall, everyone always ordered from here! They offer employee discounts which is nice because sometimes it gets pricey. I still say it’s worth it though because the smoothies are amazing. I usually get the strawberry/​banana one. The food is also great and I love all of the healthy options.

A true hidden gem in Albany/​Guilderland. It’s nice to see that in the 21^st century, malls are making strides to provide their guests with healthier alternatives instead of traditional mall food. (Blech!) I love their Acai Extreme, Jolly Green Kiwi, and goji tea are some of their best drinks. The portobello panini is my go-​to in terms of food and it’s SO good especially when paired with a side of veggie chips.
This place would be a ⁵⁄₅ if the employees were friendlier and showed more enthusiasm. Working in a mall does seem like kind of a drag but cmon fake it till you make it, guys!

Cashier needs to show more respect and empathy towards people with disability. Can’t comment on the food because i lost my appetite.

I love their food, but their customer service is so terrible that I never want to come here again. The owner is nice, but everyone else is so rude and doesnt know how to smile. One girl in particular is rude to me every single time. It’s not just a one bad experience thing. If the manager could find friendly people, maybe I wouldn’t tell people not to come here.

Great panini and smoothies. Made with good ingredients. Combos available. Also healthy juices if you’re looking to detox

Tucked in the corner by Dick’s Sporting Goods and Carhartt, behind Johnny Rocket’s is a hidden gem in Crossgates Mall food fare: Fresh Healthy Café’. I stumbled upon them by accident, but plan to come again. Menu included smoothies, fresh pressed juices, paninis, wraps, soups. I had the Jolly Green Kiwi which was kiwi, wheatgrass, spinach, raspberry, and yogurt — it was good (I just shut my eyes to the color of it because there is something about green smoothies that kind of put me off sightwise). The cashier did not say thank you or hello which is annoying to me — especially since I put money in her tip jar for doing absolutely nothing. Nevertheless, down the other end, the smoothie pickup area guy was nice and he made my drink afterall. They had interesting looking children’s meals with grilled cheese, a small smoothie, and veggie chips — it was pretty busy. The soup looked good — I was tempted by the carrot ginger and will try it another day. People were enjoying their lunches at the tables which are both inside and outside on the hall like a patio. Worth scouting out — particularly if you are gluten free, vegan, etc

Love this place, great healthy choice for the mall :) big fan of their soups, salads and wraps – and they have really yummy smoothies too

Hmmm. Well, it’s a seriously welcome change from the usual mall dreck, in that you can get fairly fresh and veggie-​oriented fare. It’s pretty run in the mill for that, though, and there’s the additional disqualifier that it’s stuck in an odd corner over by Dick’s, not anywhere close to the main food court, not that this matters in the oversprawling Crossgates mall. This leads me to the conundrum that it’s not really worth taking a detour for in terms of unique quality, and that since as such its primary usefulness is as an alternative to the other (rather awful) choices in the mall, when you have to get some fuel on the unhappy occasions when a particular errand forces you to come here, it may not be worth the bother.
But, that said: decent enough, at only somewhat slightly elevated over fast food prices. Just don’t expect haute.

One of the best tasting food locations in Albany. Menu is seasonally changing and is always delicious. Great spot for all types of diets (vegetarian, exc.). It’s so good you forget your in the mall for a little while.

Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to sample food. Customer service was very poor. While asking questions about the sandwich options I was told to refer to the menu for any questions. I asked about the size of a wrap 6 or 12 inches. I was told to refer to the menu. I asked for a manager or owner and to my shocked this was the owner manning the cash register. We walked out without ordering

Clean, fresh, good food — pretty much what it sounds like from the name «Fresh Healthy Café».
There are various smoothie and juice options as well as salads and sandwiches. If you see something on their online menu that isn’t on a store menu, just ask for it an they’ll usually make it for you.
They are also pretty good about customizing an order if requested. For example I ordered a kale salad but had them hold one of the toppings and put on a different dressing. Likewise, they’ll do this with sandwiches.
Customer service isn’t amazing, but isn’t terrible either. Mostly seems like bored high school or college kids getting some job experience rather than the diehard vegetarians or nutritionists that sometimes work at places like this.

Quick, yummy food with a great concept in a bustling mall. Service could definitely be better. It seems like the employees might need a few extra smiles here and there.

Amazing food! Me and my friends happened to just see this place by chance. We were getting late for a movie and we wanted to eat before getting in. Since the other places were packed, we decided will give it a try here. Best orange juice so far… its really fresh and squeezed right in front of you.
We had panini which was great and you should definitely try sandwiches with yummy raspberry vinaigrette as dressing.
I tasted the veggie soup which wasnt bad either.
I have been there again becoz i loved the food so much!

First time in Albany and this place rocks your socks. The customer service is awesome. They kept surprising me left and right. They have tons of things Acai, so if you like Acai, come here! I tried their Acai ice tea (OMG, wow) and their Acai smoothie (for the following morning, and both are wow).
I have the Acai/​granola bowl in the fridge for tomorrow’s breakfast. Can’t wait to try it.
I also had their soy chicken spicy panini on a multigrain grilled bread. It was amazing. Highly recommended. That certainly hit the spot and reminded me of home, which is very far from here. Thank you Albany for the good eats.

I feel my last review for this could be better. Let’s try again, The Fresh Café serves only the most delicious of wraps, paninis and smoothies. I have had all of their international wraps and all of them are uniquely flavored and absolutely refreshing. There is a wide array of smoothies with each one being satisfyingly tasty.
Something most people don’t know is that this place has amazing coffee. It’s cheap and is the perfect blend of nutty flavor and boldness.
To top it all off, the staff is always so polite and friendly. Every time I come in it’s nice to see good people with great customer service.

Fresh Healthy Café was amazing! The food is filling but not too heavy! Their smoothies are to die for; just pure greatness!

When you work in the mall there is the food court, oh yeah the food court. But tucked away at the other end of the mall near dicks and Macy’s is Fresh Healthy Café. Its a giant step up from when the mall had Salad by the pound. They have a average list of wraps/Panini’s and soups, but whats a great little unknown fact is you can get the wraps made into salads. My favorite is the Asian chicken salad with fresh made ginger dressing, also on occasion i have gotten the soup/​salad special with the same salad dressing. Cost for a salad will take you back a bit, but at least your not getting a salad that looks like its from a place that rhymes with «fendy’s».

I’ve been here a few times. It’s good. Nothing I ever get in the mood for, but as far as mall dining options go, this is probably as healthy as it’s going to get.
I really don’t enjoy going to Fresh Healthy Café though. Why? The employees.
Me: «can you tell me what’s in the *insert drink title*
Employee: «it’s all listed in the menu right there» *motions towards stack of menus*
Really? The girl works there, she makes the drinks and other items all day and night, and yet she couldn’t be bothered to tell me what the ingredients are. Lazy, bad attitude, I don’t know. It’s fine I’ll try to hold shopping bags a purse, and read through your menu all at once. Actually, I’ll just have an orange juice.
Other times haven’t been much better. Once I had to listen to the two girls working talk about how «you shouldn’t wear your new Sperry’s to work» because «they’ll get all nasty». Then after a minute or two «oh hi, did you want something?». No, I’m just standing here because I like the color of the paint on the walls. You get the idea, service sucks.
The drinks are ok. Smoothies are smoothies. Nothing you can’t make at home with the same ingredients and a vitamix. The food is typical. Salads and sandwiches. It would be nice to see more soups or maybe they could partner up with a local spot and get some sushi options. A few of the sandwiches and salads are in the ⁸⁰⁰⁄₉₀₀ calorie area, which doesn’t seem all that «healthy» to me.
1 star for a convenient mostly healthy option in a mall.
1 star for said healthy option being tasty.
It’s a mall food spot so service isn’t expected to be excellent, but at FHC, it stands out to me as horrible. I guess I wouldn’t mind it so much if the menus on the wall included descriptions for everything. Maybe then I’d give it a 2.5 or a 3.

Umm, I’m in love. I got the Jolly Green Kiwi Super Smoothie, amazing. I was worried about how it would taste, but I loved it. A bit pricey however. Fast service. I just wish this place had a better location. Its right outside of Dick’s Sporting Goods. They also have a rewards card. Buy 9 smoothies get 1 free.
I will be returning for more smoothies and try some sandwiches/​salads.

Great place to stop for a healthy snack or meal!
Fresh Healthy Café opened its first NY location at Crossgates Mall, next to the new Dick’s Sporting Goods lower level mall entrance. This casual eatery serves a healthy menu including a full line of smoothies, wraps, paninis, salads, soups, breakfast items, and healthy snacks. Vegan chicken strips, gluten free turkey chili, and carrot ginger soup (dairy free/​gluten free) are offered. Each smoothie gets a free fortifier. Calorie count ranges are posted on the menu. The prices are moderate, smoothies $ 4.29-$ 5.29 and paninis/​wraps $ 6.19. Combo deals are offered ½ or Full Wrap/​Panini, Veggie Chips, and Drink/​Smoothie. There’s table seating inside the café and out in the mall area.
I stopped here twice for lunch over the weekend while holiday shopping at Crossgates. I ordered the Full Wrap, Veggie Chips, and Medium Smoothie Combo ($ 9.99 plus tax) on each visit. The wraps and smoothies I had were very good, fresh, and delicious. I enjoyed the Mediterranean Wrap (roasted chicken breast, lettuce, feta cheese, green peppers, olives, tzatiki in a sundried tomato wrap) and the Turkey Cranberry Wrap (turkey breast, craisins, walnuts, romaine lettuce, Swiss cheese, raspberry vinaigrette in a spinach wrap). The veggie chips were sweet and crunchy, similar to the veggie chips I’ve purchased at The Fresh Market and Whole Foods. For smoothies, I enjoyed the Mango Madness and Pomegranite Passion smoothies with protein and energy boosts which were cool, sweet, and refreshing, going well with the meal.
The cashier on my second visit spelled my name as Ean, though I prefer E-​on, which was my alias in school, hehe…
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