Hale & Hearty

Hale and Hearty is the NYC chain of cubicle drone soup and salad lunch combinations. With a ridiculous variety of foods at a typically sub-​$ 10 price point, Hale is usually a good lunch option for the health and wallet conscious. In addition, they are super about noting what is vegetarian vs vegan vs dairy free vs gluten free.
This location at 45^th between «Park» and Lexington recently finished a lobby renovation. The walkway between 46^th and 45^th Sts is still closed, but if you’re willing to walk around the block, you can still get your soup on. This location is now bigger, better laid out, shiny, and has new items on the menu and a staff that is super eager to please (if only people would know they reopened!)
Today I got a tasty seafood stew bowl with orzo — at $ 12 its on the expensive side of the menu, but it was super warm and delicious and way more filling than a soup. You actually get a larger and wider bowl, so totally worth the price. Typically I go for a soup and sandwich combo, like the mushroom risotto soup with the turkey walnut, or the chicken jambalaya with a mozzarella basil ciabatta. Feel free to ask for a sample of the soups.
I totally forgot to check if there were more than 10 seats. I saw a couple… I’ll report back later.

This place is not closed! It may have reopened again or been renovated but it looks beautiful now. It is large and serves up your favorite warm soups. One time I went in and they had samples of their beef satay over noodles and it was great. It’s also very well organized with a line and a large selection of their soups and sandwiches (might be more than I’ve seen in other locations). The serving bar seems much wider.
As for seats, because I’m sure not a lot of people know about this location as it is marked closed, there are many many seats and the wait for the line isn’t too long. Definitely recommend. Plus, if you download the LevelUp app, you can get $ 2 off your first order, talk about yum!

The cutest little café in New York! It’s a quick place for a nice hearty meal just like it’s name. I had the tomato basil soup and a sandwich. It was light and perfect! I didn’t want to be stuffed all day as I was visiting. I just wish I could have had more time in NYC to actually try more of their options! They need a location in LA.

I come here for the soup and tomato basil mozzarella sandwich (4 stars), not the fuck that the staff here gives or the lunch time crowding (negative stars). When I come late at 2pm sometimes, the staff peaces out from customer service. They talk among themselves, nobody greets the customers, and say everything is out when the sandwich is obviously sitting right in front of me. This is why I can only come once a month — to reset my patience. I wish I could serve myself and skip the annoying lazy workers I have to talk to in order to get through to my lunch. UGH!

I came here around 1:30 in the afternoon and it was jammed!
They let you taste the soups before you buy, I thought that was really great. I got the lentil chili and the Tuna. The Lentil soup was good, but not great and the tuna was better, It was on a multi grain and had pickles in it.
The price was OK, but the layout of the place is strange with multiple levels and no room to move.

Whenever I am in the city I make a point to go to Hale and Hearty for lunch. I absolutely adore their soup selection, and they always seem to have exactly what I’m craving! One of my favorites is the tomato, cauliflower, and fennel soup– yum! Pair that with some sourdough bread and you have a warm, yummy, and filling lunch that is delicious, healthy, and can fuel your manhattan adventures.
I am not a huge fan of their sandwiches and salads– to be honest I’ve never had a good experience with either. Stick with the soup and you’re golden.

Eggplant-​lentil soup was a hit! A large is quite large!

Found a pebble in my soup.
A rubber band was in another soup.
FAIL.

long wait at the salad line, salad tastes watery, and the bread is stale. Seriously? The place was also so small that you end up bumping into everyone, or they end up bumping into you. I’m so disappointed.

$ 15 for soup, half sandwich, soda and chips? FU in the rectum HnH.
Basically if you wanna pay for a full meal but dispense with all that bothersome chewing and digesting, this is your place.

I just picked up one of their turkey cranberry sandwiches and clearly, the sandwich wasn’t made today… my guess is that it’s leftover from yesterday.
The bread was cold and dry… inside was soggy from the sauce. lettuce is all wilted.
What a disappointment… never again!

Reliable delicious warm soup and great sandwiches! What more can you ask for in a perfect lunch spot during the weekday.
I signed up for a handy dandy soup alert so i will know when my favorite crab and tomato is in stock! Delivery is also an option. Line could be long so either go earlier (before noon) or later around 1pm.

Dear Hale and Hearty,
You make me happy. Your many ingredients oft confuse me and stir my ADD tendencies, but in the end, I’m happy with whatever my flighty preferences land on that day.
My salad: fresh mixed greens, carrots, croutons, avacado, blue cheese, and corn with a creamy chipotle dressing made my day. It made my boyfriend’s day. He regretted his BBQ sandwich as soon as he had a forkful of my delicious salad.
«Chopped» you ask? Why yes, please. Somehow your chopping makes the flavors all the more complementary.
To others who complain about your prices, tell them to stay home with their salami sandwiches and Cheetos or to find a street vendor. I think you’re priced just right. A huge salad for less than $ 9 won’t ever leave me complaining.
I can’t wait to see you again soon, whether it’s in Grand Central Terminal, Brooklyn, or beyond.
xo,
me

I really only make it to Hale and Hearty because it is right next to my office and super convenient.
Some of their soups are decent, some are just bad.
Sandwiches are awful, tastes like you are just eating bread.
Everything is overpriced.
Do yourself a favor and try a different soup and sandwich spot.

Picture this if you will: It’s Thursday and once again, you’ve overindulged on the booze Wednesday night. Of course, on your way home you maybe had a couple of slices of pizza or a cheeseburger, or a couple of tubes of street meat (hot dogs, you perv) and you’re not really hungover but you feel like a bloated piece of crap.
Well, Hale and Hearty’s got a bunch of soups that are less than 200 calories. I can’t think of any other reason to eat here, because really the soups aren’t worth the price in either quality or quantity. I only eat them because I don’t want to be a fat tub of goo.

Salads shouldn’t cost more than an arm and a leg.
Guy named Jose or whatever (he’s short and usually serves the sandwiches) can’t find soups I want when it’s blatantly there on the menu and in its pots. I had asked for Roadhouse Chili and like a headless chicken he wandered around, asked others for help and though they told him it was in the back he waltzed around the area and came back empty handed, eyes still wandering in the front. He ends up saying, «We don’t have it.» I asked for something else and they ran out of that too! As I waited I asked another server if they had the chili and she said they do and she gave me a friggin’ sample to prove it! That wasn’t the first time Jose screwed up and said they didn’t have the soup either, what an ass.
The cashier also charged me more than what I was supposed to pay because the server wrote the wrong number on the lid. But whatever, it was only a couple more dimes.
Good thing about H&H is that their soups are fulfilling and I like their soup card. I’ll go back but I refuse to be served by that jackbutt Jose.

Camille and I enjoyed this stopover. It was raining and chilly and we were «HANGRY» you know hungy + angry… So we chose to stop here. The Cream of tomato with the turkey sando filled the void quite nicely!

everything is good. my favorite part is sampling the soups and then going with something boring like cream of chicken. so whats the problem? super long lines during the lunch rush and they’re expensive. But they make up for it with free water with lemon slices. Get the Bean card and buy 10 medium soups and 11^th free!

I love their soup. It’s a long-​running love affair that started back in the early days of 2007. It was wintry. It was cold. It was the perfect time to fall in love with soup. I dabbled here and there with their constantly changing menu, but none of those early soups really stood out. Then I met the curried shrimp and it all changed. I would go blocks out of my way just for a taste of that delightful play of spicing and surprisingly well-​cooked shrimp. Yes, I paid the ridiculously high prices, but what do you expect, nothing could stand between me and my next fix. It’s been 18 months, and our love affair is still going strong. I’ve moved onto the current curried chicken, and there’s no looking back. Try it. You’ll never be the same.

What can you say about Stale & Lardy that hasn’t already been said…
The soups are overpriced. The wraps are not filling. And they think they did you a favor by starting to accept credit cards in late 2007. Well isn’t that special?
I am not saying you can’t get a good soup here. You can. In fact, some of them are very good. Just not worth the price. I can walk 400 more yards to Café Bistro and get a soup & a hella-​packed (yes I said hella) wrap w/​a drink for $ 6.50.