Cafe Alice

This place has the RUDEST CASHIERS EVER. I come at least once a week and am always greeted with a frown or impatience. I paid with several folded bills today and one of the cashiers laughed. The cashier who rang me up snapped at me for failing to give the right amount. The food is just OK and prices are definitely above average. You’re better off walking to 44^th to 46^th streets for similar food at better prices and friendly staff. I just wish the manager would think of placing people with pleasing personalities instead.

Good food, friendly staff
Sausage egg & cheese on an everything bagel mmMMMMmm followed by mango dream smoothie, which is a pricey drink but worth it because it’s fresh real fruit and the service was kind :)

BY FAR THE NASTIEST STAFF EVER — don’t get me wrong I understand they are busy as every other place in midtown is during lunch but it’s one thing to be abrupt which I can take — I’m a New Yorker — but for a cashier to intentionally make an extremely nasty and sarcastic comment is unacceptable. I purchased 2 separate orders and after paying I glanced in the bag to make sure all of the utensils were put in. The woman and I use that term lightly snapped «everything is in there!!» not once but twice! I replied «thanks I just want to make sure so I don’t have to come back» and she replied «that’s NOT MY PROBLEM!» as I was walking away. So j turned and looked at her and she wouldn’t make eye contact with me. WOW. Ok I get it — you are busy but if you feel the need to be sarcastic and nasty maybe you can’t take the heat of the hustle and bustle of the lines. I work for a corporation that literally takes up the entire block so I’ll be sure to add this to our newsletter. Trust me your udon is not that good so get over yourself and hire some friendly and competent staff. Oh and by the way everything was NOT in the bag!

Clever inviting design. Lures the rushing commuter. Eggs ok, sausage patty more sodium than nutrients, home fries: dire! Coffee adequate. But so convenient.

I’m updating my review here because I had the worst experience yesterday.
I ordered a steak salad and found a long black hair in it. I know, yuck. But it happens… And I didn’t think anything of it, and I did what one would normally do in a situation like this… bring this to the cashier and politely mention this to her, (without anyone hearing). Well, the response I got from the cashier was far from pleasant and apologetic. She looked at me like I had 3 heads, and questioned what I saw. And then she’s like «Well then just go get a new one!» I was like «um, yea now I don’t want a salad and want my money back.» The disgust of finding a hair in my salad was one thing, but it didn’t help when the customer service was disgusting as well. The person who chopped my salad wasn’t even a woman with long black hair. Ok I’m done with the salad… That was the last thing. And, officially done with this place. Vent over. Many other delis in the area to choose from.

One star for the friendly and nice deli guys. The place doesn’t deserve any.
Extremely rude cashiers. They charged me one dollar more than usual, no explanation on the price increase, and the lady was acting very rude and arrogant. Also, no price tags on drinks and snacks, typical rip off, be aware.

Café Alice is a midtown lunch hotspot. They offer a little bit of everything– chopped salads, hot food, sandwiches, breakfast pastries, fresh coffee, and more.
I stop here if I’m looking for comfort food for lunch, or if I’m looking for an alternative to the building cafeteria. Their hot food (think protein + two sides) option is actually pretty consistently delicious and the portions are big. The food quality is high for being an in-​and-​out setup, so, overall, I will keep coming back!

5-​stars for the guy & girl at the soup/​bibimbap counter and for the udon soup itself (my go-​to for udon soup — add-​your-​own-​toppings!). Used to be the cheapest in town but prices went up.
0 stars for the two girls at the register who are always paired up. (There’s another girl who is usually either on the other register by herself or paired with a guy and she’s really great, I make sure I see her when I check out even if she’s got more of a line.) I sometimes need a receipt for my lunch that shows line items with respective prices & the credit card slip doesn’t suffice — apparently asking the pair of girls for a copy of both receipts warrants snickering & glares of death (and God forbid you ask them if they can put them in the bag with your food). Just unprofessional behavior overall.
Pro: Fresh chopped salad bar
Con: overpriced, even for NYC
Pro: fresh pressed fruit & vegetable juice!
Con: Con: overpriced, even for NYC (cart on 47^th btwn park & Madison sells 16 oz of made-​while-​you-​wait fresh pressed fruit/​veg juice for $ 3…and 24 oz for $ 4! an absolute hands down STEAL!)
They change prices on a whim for items that aren’t on the menus, they have really high prices period, and the lady (who I assume is the owner) just seems to talk louder and louder over someone if she doesn’t understand your question or statement. Generally avoid unless there’s something inside that I can’t get elsewhere.

Don’t get salad here! But the rest of food are pretty good!
I come here regularly to pick up lunch, I have to say, salad here is rip-​off comparing to other deli or café in the area. However, other stuff like sushi, noddles,
Sandwiches…etc are all very good.
The place is pretty clean with a few tables you can sit down, maybe because it’s close to the 5^th ave, it’s slightly more expensive than similar places on Madison Ave.

$ 5.99 for a Kombucha drink. Unconscionable. Utterly excessive price gouge. Shame on Alice. Shame on you.

Alice is quick and convenient. I don’t love anything they have, but it’s great to just run in and grab. Salad station is the best.

solid muffins that have a crispy top. almond croissant is excellent as well. sandwiches here are a bit pricey and can approach $ 10, but are of good quality. I really like the chicken cutlet combo (grilled chicken, red peppers, onions, and honey mustard). Udon noodle soup is very good for about $ 8. The platter entrée (one choice of meat and two sides) ranges from about $ 10-​$ 12, similar to Toasties but the choices of sides are more varied. Overall, a solid deli.
Negatives: cashiers are uncommunicative at times and exhibit a bad attitude and seem unfriendly. Also, since I have been going frequently, I notice that they tend to sell day old muffins and pastries. not cool. I would like management to answer to this.
Overall: solid food and solid choices but prices are a bit on the higher end of delis. But I don’t think that I will be eating here for a while until management responds.

I work across the street and this place gets so crowded during rush hour lunch. The morning is much more lax to run in to grab a coffee and fruit parfait. My favorite thing here is definitely their chopped salads — great selection and super filling! I love the Santa Fe salad. Also, they make fresh juices right in front of you which are delicious and usually have samples out to try. The sushi is premade and good to grab in a hurry, would prefer it be made on the spot but very good nonetheless.

I’m so surprised that this place doesn’t have more reviews, especially since it’s packed every single day during lunch. If you get there anytime from 11:45 — 1:30 pm, it’ll take you a while to get your food. You can’t even move during those hours. It’s impossible. Anyway, this place is all the rave at work, especially since it’s right across the street. I’ve never dined in because it was so packed, but I can speak to the food.
Sushi: they have pre-​made sushi in the back. It’s pretty good, but nothing too amazing. I prefer my sushi fresh, not refrigerated for 3 hours. They do have a wide selection though and they have variety packs available. Very reasonably priced. They have seaweed salad available too. It’s delicious, but holy cow is it salty. It’s not much food, but the saltiness that gets to me. I was able to finish it, but I had to drink three full cups of water in order to do so.
Salads: amazing. They have an awesome selection of ingredients, which makes it fun to create your own salad. Personally, my favorite is the Santa Fe salad. It has crispy onion strips, chicken and avocado. It comes with ranch dressing (yes, I know it’s bad, but it’s the only way I’ll eat a salad), but you can sub in for another less fattening dressing. The salads are huge by the way. Always impossible for me to finish the entire thing. That being said, it’s going to cost at least $ 9 – 10 for the salad. Worth it though honestly.
Sandwiches: awesome. They’re freaking’ huge, depending on what you get of course. I had the avocado supreme the first time I was there. It was a small sandwich, but it was packed with avocados, which made it extremely filling. It’s great for vegetarians and people on a diet. I was the latter at the time. Still don’t understand why I did that considering how much I love bacon and other delicious and super fattening things. Trust me, that diet didn’t last long. I’ve also had the chicken salad blt. omg, their chicken salad is awesome. The bacon is cooked to perfection as well. This sandwich is monstrous. I was only able to finish half and I was full form the next 6 hours. It became my dinner later that day.
Coffee: delicious. Very flavorful and rich, unlike the Starbucks downstairs. Would recommend.
I’ve tried quite a few things here, but not everything yet. I hear the grill is amazing, so I might just give that a try next time I’m there! Overall, the food is good, somewhat pricey though. Also the crazy wait during lunch is annoying, which is why I rounded down to 3 stars (would have been 3.5 stars).

This spot is awesome for what it is and the clientele it serves. Get in, get good food, get out and back to work. Went there for lunch and they had juice /​salad /​soup /​sandwich bars — make your choice and order away! Place is clean and bustling.
Would definitely stop back for a quick lunch if I’m in the area again.

Some of these reviews have been pretty critical. This place is a feeding frenzy spot for working people. This is not a restaurant that is looking to pamper its customers and shower them with care and affection. You go in, order your food, get your food, and you get out – that’s it, that’s all it is.
That said, the food here is of higher quality than that of the other neighboring selections, i.e. Food World. However Café Alice definitely charges you for the step-​up in taste and quality.

Here for a quick breakfast.
Very contemporary, clean look, but it’s your basic short order breakfast, sandwich and salad shop.
Good looking breakfast sandwiches and platters being served up in the line. I opted for their two egg omelette of which all come with a choice of four toppings. You get a choice of regular eggs or all egg white. Regular eggs for me with bacon, cheese, onion and spinach.
Results were a pretty good omelette for a reasonable price… especially for NYC.
It wasn’t a work of art… it’s just an omelette after all, but Café Alice delivered.
Given the reviews for lunch items, I am curious and will be back to sample.
I still prefer Toasties a block over.

I ate here once a couple months ago (my company moved from the location in June) but the traumatically subpar experience still haunts me. The food is bland bland bland and expensive expensive expensive.
They advertise «bibimbap», which if you are familiar with it, is a delightful assortment of spicy, savory, sweet, roasted veggies in an orgiastic dance with rice. But the veggies they threw in there were soggy, disgusting swamp algae. The sauce was some mutated form of the typical korean gochujang sauce you are supposed to get. It looked red… but was really watery and vinegary. They basically did to the bibimbap dish, what americans did to chinese food — they cheapened, mutilated, and vandalized it. I’m pretty sure the owners are Korean. They know what bibimbap is supposed to taste like. They know what they are serving you. They know.
This café looks as good as the food tastes BAD. Dishes on 45^th has a positive correlation with looks and taste. This place has a negative correlation.

My coworkers raved about this place. They said it was fresh, clean and so much cheaper than dishes, so I figured I’d give it a try.
The salad bar looked promising. Lots of choices, but many things come up short here. The quality isn’t great. Some of the veggies simply looked past their time. On top of it my chopper not only used a dirty blade on my salad, he didn’t understand anything I said. I asked for more chopping which he completely ignored on top of asking him to clean the blade first. Sorry I eat mostly vegetarian and I don’t feel like tasting someone’s chicken salad from the last chop. Add it all up and $ 11.50 for an extremely mediocre salad.
I won’t be coming back here.
****. Edit to review posted yesterday. Regarding this review — I received an offensive «compliment» calling me a b**ch. in any case, I am going to chalk it up to a disgruntled owner which leaves an even greater distaste for this deli. It is possible the message was from a fan of the joint but I doubt it. Bad karma for them.

Came here for a quick breakfast yesterday morning. I went right over to the station and ordered an egg white omelette with a side of potatoes. It was quick and large in size. I definitely could not finish it. I like how they pack it in a to-​go container in case you want to take the rest with you.
They have almond milk for your coffee. Service was quick. Staff was friendly for me. Will be back for a quick meal if I am ever in the area again. Seems like there are many breakfast/​lunch options.