Bistro Marketplace

After reading all the reviews, I can see that NO ONE from this place ever pays attention to what Unilocal reviewers are saying, but if this keeps even one person away from this place, I’ll feel like I’ve done my civic duty.
The ONLY reason this place gets any of my money is because its convenient, in my building and in the middle of winter, the thought of going outside is just awful.
To start, the breakfast/​grill area. There aren’t enough words in the English language to describe how awful this is, but I’ll give a few. Unorganized. Rude. Half-​witted. Shall I go on? I order the same thing EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. And it comes out wrong/​different EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. On top of the fact that they charge you a different price EVERY. SINGLE. DAY. Catching on yet? Yeah, I thought so.
Next up, does ANYONE in there know how to work the thermostat? I came down there today for the second day in a row and it was colder inside than it was outside. Someone really needs to work on fixing that problem.
Now the food. Its honestly just your standard buffet stuff. Nothing is overwhelming or fantastic, but it’ll fill you. I do enjoy their soups though.
The cashiers once you get to know them are friendly enough, at the least the two that I always go to. But I can definitely see where other people would feel that they can be off-​putting. The only reason they get two stars is the mixture of the two friendly cashiers and the soup. Other than that, STAY AWAY!

Sooooooooooo… I came here to write a review of my TERRIBLE experience here, but then realized that it most likely won’t do much good considering it only has 2 stars (big surprise) anyways. Well, since I already went out of my way to look up the name of the place on google earth, I guess my rant should start about now.
Although I never knew the name of this deli, I came here at least 4 times a week on my way to work spending $ 10 minimum to $ 25+ on my water, tea, breakfast, etc. I’m used to Manhattan inflated deli prices and I’m all for supporting small businesses. I’ve also even gotten used to the unfriendly cashiers they employ since I’m usually in a rush anyways and don’t have time for small talk. BBBUUUTTTTTT… after my somewhat recent and mind I mention, LAST time here, I felt compelled to share why I’ll never come back again.
Starting my morning ritual, getting all of my usual items, I notice that there are no more cup sleeve holders for my boiling hot herbal tea. I asked the closest employee who told me that they ran out and don’t have anymore. Ok… no big deal. I grab 2 extra cups and put my tea cup in them hoping that the 2 cups will be able to keep the heat from burning my hand on my 3 block walk to my work. I go up to the ‘usually unfriendly’ cashier who then tells me that she is going to charge me 25 cents for the additional cup. I tell her that their establishment ran out of cup sleeve holders and I don’t want to burn my hands. She then tells me that I’m only allowed to use 1 additional cup and I am using 2 so therefore I will be charged 25 cents still. I told her that was ridiculous since I was a regular customer and it was their fault they didn’t have the right supplies. YEAH… she didn’t give a shit. She just continued to be rude trying to make me feel like I was trying to cheat them out of 1 cardboard cup. Word of advice, no customer (especially a regular) wants to start their morning off arguing with a rude cashier about getting charged 25 cents for a cup that’s essential for leaving with their product that was just purchased.
Not only will I never return to that deli, I will never give that deli any additional business as I am a concierge at a neighboring hotel that gives loads of business to GOOD local businesses. I have moved on to a similar deli (Everyday Gourmet Deli) that offers all the same items, closer to my work, and has cashiers that say «HELLO» instead of «NEXT». I have no idea what the owners are like or if they even care, but judging from how bad all the other reviews are on this place… it’s not looking good.

Cool place to grab a drink and possibly a bite to eat if you want buffet style food. If you are waiting for someone then grab a beer and a seat near the window and people watch. It would actually be quite easy to get inebriated while waiting for someone.
It’s pretty dead in here after 530. So you’ll have plenty of seating and quiet time if you so desire.

The food was delicious, service was very nice. It is located in an expensive and nice area of New York. Too bad they don’t have outside sitting area.
I got pastrami sandwich and it was delicious.

The cashiers are terribly rude here. To me, it doesn’t matter what the food is like if, as a paying customer, I’m treated poorly. I’ll bring my business else where to avoid having my food and change thrown at me. BM is conveniently located right outside of grand central, thats why I’ve endured the bad treatment but this morning a cashier yelled at me to go to the back of the line so she could help «real customers» because I was only buying a banana with a $ 1 bill. What kind of place refuses to help paying customers? Places I don’t go to anymore, that’s where.

i am obviously hungry and rushed to notice til i saw the pink… which is not sauce. i work too hard to end up spending money on pink chicken sandwiches.

The food here is really good! They have a great selection and everything tastes really great. 2 stars because the cashiers are so rude. They never smile or greet you. They just throw your food down on the counter. They make me uncomfortable, like I’ve done something wrong. I don’t understand that and its definitely a turn off to going there.

Had a random assortment from buffet. Stuffed tofu was good. Spinach pie ok. Veggies were fresh enough. Still crispy which was nice. Not exactly a gourmet meal, but for a hole in a wall, buffet style, I was pleasantly surprised. A few things looked like it had been sitting awhile but they tasted fine. Some of the labels didn’t match the foods. But overall decent. I would stop by Again.

Pretty standard old school Midtown deli. They have all the trappings: the steam bar, the grill and bagel bar, the staff that gets the order wrong every time and the disgruntled over-​caffiliated owners who yell all the time. Haha. Whatever. It’s in my building, so the convenience keeps me coming back.

I only buy from them when I scored a $ 5 sandwich card.
I have gotten the Philadelphia cheese steak with American cheese and pepper & onions.
I have had the pastrami on a toasted hero.
I had the bacon cheeseburger deluxe.
only so-​so food but cheap with the $ 5.00 coupon.

You know those bad lo mien noodles? The ones the color of french’s yellow mustard, soaked in soy sauce with some stir fried veggies? Well I love me some bad lo mien noodles… and this place, has some of the worst, and I mean that in the best possible way.
Bistro is on the high mid range end of the «by weight buffet» scene. There’s a pretty good selection and it’s fast. I’d hit it up in a pinch.

I agree with all of the ineptitude comments about the short order staff. They are terrible. I work in the building and I go there alot because I can feed without going outside. Expect that your order will be wrong unless you watch them prepare your food and comment when you see it might be going wrong.
Another bone to pick. The guy that owns the place will not spend for climate control. No A/​C in the summer, no heat in the winter. I went in today, late January Arctic Vortex of 2014 and all the workers have their coats on. I’m waiting to order a sandwich and I can see my breath. I mean it is like I am standing outside.
This has to be something the department of labor can look into.

This place is stellar. How can you go wrong with Sushi, Sandwiches, Soup, a wide variety of beverages and a top notch hot bar/​salad bar to boot?
Must haves: Beet Salad, Tuna Pasta, Sesame Chicken. You can never go wrong with the meatballs.
On top of tremendous quality and wonderful lunch options the staff is always friendly and greets your large plastic tub of food with a warm smile even while they struggle to hold up the weight of your sesame chicken, mashed potatoes, and tuna monstrosity.
At just over 7 dollars a pound they are virtually giving the food to you.
What an operation.

Want to get a simple Bacon Egg and Cheese on a roll? Good luck! I hope you like repeating your order 3 times to someone who, at most, is handling two orders.
Picture this: there is an order receiver/​prep guy. You give him your order «Egg and Turkey Bacon on a wrap, Ketchup» and he repeats it to the cook directly behind him. He grabs a wrap, places it on his parchment paper, looks at you with an eyebrow raised and says «Bacon Egg and cheese on a wrap? With Hot Sauce?»
At this comment, you have to pause and ask «Sorry, are you talking to me?» at which he asks you «Did you just order?» Yes, you question if you’ve fully woken up yet. You tell him what you ordered, he has this look of ‘Oh! That order! Got it!’ and puts Ketchup on your wrap. Yours is one of two orders in front of him, apparently the max capacity he can handle. He’ll confuse himself yet again, after handing off the 1^st of 2 orders to the patient customer, and question what your order was so he can sharpie the cost to the foil. You’ll wait on line next to the lunch buffet which is just now being placed, for those of you that like lunch at 8:30 AM. You’ll pay, and walk out saying «These guys are lucky they are the only place between my subway exit and office entrance that I can get breakfast.»
Then you eat your breakfast, and notice it’s not what you ordered.

This review is for all the sweet potato lovers out there!!!
The self serve salad and hot food bar is pretty awful. but did you know this place has sweet potato in their tossed salad bar?! This is now my go-​to salad bar when in the office. It’s less than $ 9 (or so — can’t remember price exactly) for a salad, with protein and how many ever vegetables you’d like, no extra for chopping too!
I would give it 4 purely for the sweet potato and tossed salad bar
but actually would have given it a 1 or 2 before I discovered this — so rounding it to 3!

This used to be my «lunch after 2:30» place, because they reduced the price by 2.00/lb (from the seemingly now standard for this area $ 7.99/lb), as they should. Over the past year I have instead been going to other places which were simply better (Delish, Green Café or whatever it’s called now, next to each other on 44^th). However I’ve become tired of paying that price for the food I’m eating which likely will consist most of rice, vegetables and salad, with a little chicken or fish. Oh, and some mac & cheese! But that stuffs heavy, without being costly. I felt it wasn’t a good deal. So I came back to this place at 3:00 today, expecting the discount. They don’t do it any more. Given that, the other places I mentioned are a good notch better than this. They charge the same.

I don’t even want to give this place 1 star…
I can’t understand why this place even exists!!!
Ordered a platter of 2 fried eggs, bacon, home fried and whole wheat toast. After a good 7 minutes, the guy who took my order looks at me and goes, «what did you want again?» DUDE I’ve been standing there, you mean to tell me I’ve been standing around for nothing??? So I tell them my order again…
Long story short I had to tell the guy a 3^rd time what was missing form the plate and the wannabe «grillmaster» says «you didn’t give me the order and I’m not a robot» hey A-​hole you were standing literally 2 inches behind the guy I told the order to so don’t act like you didn’t hear me!
I went to look for the manager and now I’m just heated. Clearly his English is not up for my bitch fest so I bust out in my Korean and he’s now seriously apologetic and gives me my order on the house. Still not good enough.
If these owners just paid their workers a bit more then they could have quality people manning the various stations of their store and not some elementary school drop out!!!

Menu board says the following:
Egg w/​sausage on a roll
Sandwich: $ 2.75
Platter (comes with home fries or hash browns and toast): $ 3.75
— I asked for the platter. They give me egg and sausage with home fries — no roll, no toast.
— I clarify that I am missing the roll. They take it back, and hand me just the egg & sausage on a roll — no home fries.
— I break it down and say I want the egg with sausage on a roll with the side of home fries. They bag it separately, and I am finally able to head to the cashier.
I hand the cashier my items. She rings me up and says it’s $ 5 + change. I tell her that my order should only be at most $ 4 + change (after tax) since it is supposed to be $ 3.75, but she goes «No, the menu boards aren’t correct. My manager is supposed to change them next week.»
You can’t just make up prices as you please. The prices you list on your menu board are how much customers are expecting to pay. Not to mention that your home fries are mushy and flavorless!

I had a meeting in the building and hadn’t eaten all day, so I popped in for a 15 minute lunch. It’s a handsome place, large and modern. There’s a deli with sandwiches, pre-​made sushi and 2 big buffet islands of self serve hot and cold food. I chose the latter due to my limited time.
The food was pretty blah. It was near 2 p.m. and the pans had obviously been sitting on the steam tables for way too long/​not refreshed. Well worn pasta, completely dried up lasagne, scraps of meat, mushrooms that were now a dark brown. Usually, when starved, I want to try too many things on a buffet… but this time I had to pass on most. It wasn’t that it was dangerous… just overdone. Even if fresh, the variety was pretty pedestrian compared with similar places in town.
I can understand them not wanting to cook up fresh pans of whatever if their lunch rush is over, but maybe there should be a discount for the scraps, or perhaps they could simple put out smaller new portions as things wind down.
I’d actually score it one star, but their other offerings might be o.k. and the buffet might be better if you go during peak times. Otherwise, you get the scraps.

Ok, the food by the pound here is passable. I do enjoy their pasta salads, egg salad, and veggies. As far as hot food, I have never been tempted to be THAT adventurous. Just looking at it makes me nauseous at times.
And a word of warning… STAY away from their chicken salad. By far one that I would venture back to.
Why do I go you ask? It’s in my work office building. And I can access it without going out during the cold weather.
I guess I can always use them for bottled drinks, but even at that, they are pricier than most places that sometimes, it makes me want to just put on my coat and find some other place that is much more reasonable.
My two cents.