Chickpea

Generally I like chickpea’s food, its one of the healthier options available in Penn station. However, this visit was a different story. They only had quinoa falafel left, so I took that on a pita with jalapeño hummus. It tasted fine, but an hour or so after I ate it, I began to feel sick and had food poisoning Like symptoms that lasted through most of the night. I don’t know if the food was spoiled, it tasted fine, but could have been bad. It also could have been the quinoa, though I have eaten quinoa before and not gotten sick. I don’t know what it was, but I don’t think I will eat there again.

Visited Chickpea today for the first time. Delicious food. I got the Chipotle Hummus Platter. Friendly fast customer Service. Excellent Choice. I would definitely go there again.

I give this place 2 stars because the salad bar is pretty good and the soups are decent, or shall I say, better than other Penn Station alternatives. I have been to this location at least 75 times. I work at 11:00 so I come in at about 10:50. That is when they switch from breakfast to lunch. Even though there are other customers that come in for salad at the same time, they are never prepared. I usually have to ask for help. Nobody notices me. Then they have to go in the back room to put salad in the bowl. Once my salad is ready I go to the counter to pay and the Indian woman (not the manager) is counting money. She ignores me while she counts. We are talking minutes, not seconds. This is a train station in NYC for gods sake. Show some consideration. Recently, at 10:50, I asked for an egg and cheese sandwich. The manager said no breakfast. I said what time do you stop serving breakfast? She said 11:00. I said it is 10:50 and she completely ignored me. I go here all the time. These people know me. I am polite every time. It has gotten to the point where I go in there, if nobody comes to help within 1 minute, I leave. There is food everywhere in Penn Station. Many options. The food at Chickpea is not worth the attitude I get. I still go from time to time because I like the salad bar, but my patience is wearing thin. I used to go to the Chickpea by NYU all the time. That place was great. This manager needs a lesson in customer service. BIG time.

I picked up a ‘vegan’ falafel wrap and it was FULL OF CHICKEN MEAT. Never again. I’d give zero stars if possible. I’ve had a good experience with the food before, but never again. UNACCEPTABLE.

This is the best option for a healthy, veg-​friendly meal inside of Penn Station. The salads are fine, though not as good as even nearby options outside the station like Maoz. Non-​premium toppings are salad bar fare with a middle eastern theme – cucumbers, tomatoes, a corn salad, cabbage, beets, different kinds of beans. Feta is extra. For about $ 9, you can get a few of those, a flavorful dressing, and some baked falafel, which is definitely fair given the convenience.

Pretty decent vegetarian/​middle eastern wraps and salads, in a convenient location for Amtrak connections at a reasonable price. The ingredients were all fresh and the counter staff polite and helpful. Both our experiences were good ones in the last week, luckily we didn’t read some of the old reviews before deciding to order.

The nicest people work here! So many options & condiments with falafel. A lot of beverages too.

Summary: The behavior of one male employee was unacceptable and infuriating. I went there four times to pick up lunch and each time this man’s actions were increasingly demeaning and provoking.
I always get a salad at the salad bar, and you request ingredients to the man behind the counter. This guy (5’4″, slight build, 140 – 150 lbs, late 30s, latino male, with accent) is consistently not doing his job and trying to get a laugh at the expense of a customer. Every ingredient I order, he will confirm by saying an item totally different than what I asked, and then smirk. (e.g. I ask for carrots, he’ll ask «tomato»?). Then he would pretend to hand me the salad through the glass barrier, trying to get me to reach out and crash my hand against the glass. He would do this for his amusement all four times I ordered from him. It may be cute and funny to some, but he was obviously trying to provoke a reaction from a petite harmless-​looking Asian girl. I have seen him properly and courteously complete an order for other customers (that are of a different demographic profile, if you can infer what I mean).
Today was the last straw. I asked this man for grilled chicken, He replied, «Spicy chicken?» and smirked. I asked for cucumbers, he said «Oh ok, jalapeño?» He made me repeat myself four times for the cucumbers, smirking the whole time. How many times do you have to repeat «cucumber»?
Finally I let him have it, raising my voice and demanding that he just cut out the bullshit. He proceeded to comply, but barely so, trying to smother his laughter while completing the order. Meanwhile, I can hear laughter coming from the cashier’s area as well.
I proceeded to the cashier and asked for the manager, who was actually one of the cashiers. (She was probably one of the ones participating in the laughter.) I explained to her the situation in a calm voice, and she interrupted, «I don’t know what you’re talking about, because he is our best employee, in fact — he is the employee of the month, and this is the first complaint I’ve received about him. Listen, he is just joking, that is all!» I then felt like I was being mocked for not having their particular sense of humor. She then grabbed the salad and retorted, «You don’t have to take it, OK?» No apology, no explanation, no concession. The store is almost completely empty, so it wasn’t like she was too busy to address my concern.
During this whole time, I could hear the man at the salad bar counter laughing loudly with another male employee, obviously at me.
Needless to say it was infuriating and despicable.
I do not complain about the typical subpar food and service that one should expect to receive in low-​end eateries such as Chickpea. This situation was different in that I was deliberately provoked multiple times by the same employee, the manager on staff didn’t even offer an apology, and instead brushed me off. One star is for poor service, and this place doesn’t even deserve that because of an environment that encourages harassing behavior towards customers and the blatant disregard for a basic level of customer service.
I will not be returning.
It’s just sad because no amount of poor Unilocal reviews will make any difference, because they’re well situated inside Penn Station and they will always have customers.

Thought this would be a good, healthy option to grab for my train ride to NJ. With only a few minutes to spare, I selected one of the pre-​made chicken wraps in the fridge section. Settled in my seat on the train, I was so pleased I grabbed something to soothe my rumbling tummy. A few bites in I notice a hair sticking out between the lettuce and meat. At first, I assume it had fallen from my moptop– but as I tried to remove it, I had to PULL and it broke off, indicating that this was definitely (lovingly/​carelessly) added to the food as it was made.
Grossed out but stuck on a train, I popped it back in my bag with plans to bring it back for a refund when I returned to the city the next day. Surprisingly, they gave me a lot of trouble when I returned, wanting a receipt even though the container had their label on it. (I didn’t get a receipt as it was a cash purchase — I don’t think they even offered it me when I checked out). Long story short, refused to refund my money. Will try their corporate office but not holding my breath…

I was deliriously happy to have this option at Penn Station especially for breakfast. They had oatmeal with real whole walnuts and raisins and slivered almonds (as well as cranberries and brown sugar) as topping options. They had an egg-​white omelette. They had turkey bacon. It was fast. I used my credit card (don’t know what other Unilocalers are talking about). I liked the lunch /​dinner as well — baked, never fried. Also co-​located with a Red Mango. In a sea of not-​healthy options it was extremely great to be able to fortify myself for the day in a healthy way. I’m a fan!

Chickpea hits the spot for late night delivery. I’ve always gotten fresh food, very fast. Prices are good also. I usually get the falafel whole wheat wrap and can highly recommend it.

Great concept but lousy execution. Location is handy for Amtrak travelers as its near the platforms. I have purchased pitas from there on two separate occasions, first time it was great – pita and fillings were very fresh. Second time I ordered a chicken pita with red cabbage, chickpeas, eggplant & hummus. Pita tasted day old and I found hairs lodged inside the pita (gross!!!). I could not return the pita because I was already in transit. Upon reflection I suspect they don’t clean their utensils thoroughly as I recall quite a bit of gunk build up on the spatulas. It’s a shame because there aren’t too many healthy options open super early in the area especially if you don’t have time to go searching through Penn Station.

No credit card, unhappy and hard to understand service, and cheap food. My salad had a gritty taste. They didn’t have any French fries but they asked if I wanted to pay for them. Are you kidding me?

This place is a ripoff. Better shawarma & falafel can be found nearby, with lower prices & more food.

I’m accustomed to eating on the go for work travel, and it usually ends up being pretty demoralizing.
The quinoa/​kale plate that they offer here was a welcome surprise. It’s sautéed with chicken, banana peppers, chickpeas and red cabbage, and finished with a tahini sauce.
If I hadn’t eaten the bag of chips after it would have been quite a healthy lunch.

There are two Chickpeas in Penn station: the Amtrak Chickpea and the LIRR Chickpea. You’d think they’d be the same, more or less. This is not the case. The LIRR Chickpea is a way better option. I ate here and the staff seemed really high. They put too little hummus in my salad. They gave me stale pitas. They have no seating. Go downstairs to the other one.

Tick tock… Tick tock… 30 mins on the clock till my train boards. My stomach grumbles and I snicker, «Oh, right. I forgot to eat breakfast». I look around and my immediate options consist of dunkin donuts, pizza, more pizza, deli, Hudson news for candy bars and chickpea. I walked in thinking, what the devil? Something healthy around here? Hmpf, healthy with many vegetarian options, none the less. Perfect!
Chickpea is stocked with a large salad bar, assortment of Ito en teas, coconut water, fresh made hummus in a variety of flavors, tabbouleh salads, spicy tofu and vegetarian wraps, grilled chicken wraps, chickpea platters and a side area where they were making breakfast foods to order. A+ on the selection here.
I opted for the steel cut oatmeal with some almonds, cranberries and cinnamon. It was thick and delicious, too bad they didn’t have a option to add cinnamon sugar. I also grabbed a vegetarian «chicken» salad wrap for lunch. Not bad at all with fresh tomatoes and red peppers mixed in with it.
Staff was super friendly and helpful. Too bad they forgot to give me a spoon for my oats. I had to run back before the train left.
Prices are a little high but remember this is NYC, folks.

Seeing that once you are trapped in Penn Station — the eating becomes a choice of bad vs. tolerable — the best of the lot being Penn Sushi (the Korean-​run refrigerated case of OK maki)
Chick pea was a welcome beacon of light — for which I had high hopes. But it’s not all that — in fact I struggled between giving them 2 or 3 stars.
I ordered a platter — vegetarian (I think it was called the «eggplant» — but had no eggplant in it — it was sliced hard boiled egg, hummus, rice and veggies. Good but not great — the tabouleh was passable.
They also now have a small selection of Red Mango fro-​yo.
I will try then one more time for a meat option — but the last time the meat looked kida dried out.
Oh, chick pea — I wanted so much to love you — your bright shiny-​new digs and all — but I am not quite feelin’ the love. (But hey — at least it’s not another Auntie Anne’s.)

Wow, that chicken kebab over humus was a disappointment.
It’s never wise to seek out lunch when you’re famished. I know that. What I really wanted was a turkey sandwich: the kind that comes on a squishy Kaiser roll with strips of iceberg lettuce and lots of mayo and spicy mustard. Mmmm… I wish I had that right now instead of this greasy looking mess.
The humus plate starts with a bed of humus. The flavors are odd (basil?), so I went with the original flavor. The guy then poured on a bunch of oil. What! Why? Chicken was put on top of that. Optional additions: hot sauce and tahini. No tomatoes. No lettuce. No cilantro. That was it. It came with a piece of pita wrapped in tinfoil.
The humus is basically flavorless. The chicken is creepy. The whole thing is oily. The pita is mushy in the middle and stale on the outsides. I ate a couple bites to stave off starvation and will be going back to Penn Station a little later for some reliably good popcorn.

Outside of Penn Station, this would just be one more overpriced fast-​ethnic-​food restaurant like so many that pollute Manhattan. But inside the dire straits of the Penn Station Amtrak terminal, it’s pretty good eating.
The baked falafel was kind of nasty– sort of like a ball of wheat-​flavored sawdust held together with moistness. The chicken was fine. But the real point of ordering either one is to get a big bowl of salad with some flavorful and varied vegetable toppings from their salad bar. They don’t give you enough toppings (only four), and they don’t give you a big enough portion (they use stingy tongs and scoops) but it’s hard to get a nice bowl of tasty and flavorful vegetables in this part of the terminal, and it’s the best you’re going to do.