Hale & Hearty Soups

Hale & Hearty is very easy to nagivate for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The store has a vast selection of packaged fruits, salad, soups and sandwiches near the entrance and in the back.
Best soup here though a bit pricey. H&H has a plethora of soups and interesting flavors. The soups are behind the glass counter and there’s someone to help you make your soup selection. I think it’s much cleaner and less messier this way — I don’t like how some customers «pick» out all the ingredients (e.g., chicken or noodles) and leave the broth or «leftovers» at other cafes. There seem to be a high turnover, so you get a fresh batch every time.
There’s a store manager to help you to streamline the ordering/​purchasing process. I think this is very efficient during busy lunch hours. In addition, H&H packaged their spoons and forks with a napkin inside a plastic wrap. It’s so much cleaner.
I recently started this soup diet and had the ten vegetable soup for lunch. It was very fulfilling — I got a quart :)
In the past, I tried the following soups:
— New england clam chowder has more clam and hot.
— Chicken noodle soup — you can request to not have noodles added into the soup as oppose to the other soups places where its already in the broth.
— Ten vegetable soup has all the healthier options if you’re vegan or prefer an althernative option
— Italian wedding — flavorful and has ton of meat.

Like any other Hale & Hearty in the city, this place is great for Soups, especially in the Winter time, when I feel like they really step up their game.
There’s not much to say here that hasn’t already been said, but, in general, I would stick to the Soups and pass on the Salads & Sandwiches, and Combos.
I feel like the made-​to-​order Salads are fairly mediocre and you’re better off going to Chopt right next door, which offers a ton more ingredients and better quality.
And feel like the Sandwiches are also mediocre and you’re better off going to Jersey Mike’s, Potbelly or Terri, all across the street.
So, stick to the Soups, period. This is where they excel.
Seems like I’m here every other day in the Winter, so I’ve had almost all their soups. They have a lot of options that change daily, but my favorites (when available, and not necessarily healthy lol) are:
— Mac & Cheese w/​Beef
— Tomato Cheddar
— Coconut Shrimp w/​Rice
— Cauliflower Cheddar
— Charleston Crab
— Maryland Crab
— Chicken Pot Pie
— Mexican Chicken Pozole
— Butternut Squash
— Yukon Potato w/​4 Cheeses
I’ve been to many of the locations across Manhattan, and they are all pretty consistent. I haven’t necessarily found one location better than another in my opinion.
So, if you’re looking for something warm, fast and tasty, especially in the Winter time, Hale & Hearty, either this location or any other, is a safe bet!

Thank you for your response Ariel. Maybe you should share your thoughts with your delivery staff, as I’ve spoken to a few of them, and they are unhappy with the recent changes, as they should be. They have also asked for additional gratuity upon delivery, which, if I didn’t know what was going on with the recent changes, would be offensive, at the least. $ 3 an hour more, doesn’t compensate for the $ 200 a day they would make in tips, which is cold hard cash in their pockets. Most of the people you employ as delivery people seem to be immigrants, with limited English, that may have trouble finding employment elsewhere. So what you’ve done is taken away cash that they can bring home to their families every night, and replaced it with a paycheck at the end of the week, after the IRS has taken their share. Your administrative fee is not a result of transparency, but rather corporate greed at its finest. My opinion of your establishment will not change and I am no longer one of your customers.

I am writing to agree with Melanie B’s comments on this restaurant. For many years, I was an almost daily lunch customer. As of February 2016, with the implementation of their $ 2.50 «Administrative Fee,» I will never again patronize Hale & Hearty — not this location, not any location. And I am not being cheap; rather, I am incensed at the mistreatment of their delivery workers this newly-​imposed fee represents.
As Melanie B mentions, she has spoken to several of their delivery carriers since the fee was put into place. In his reply to Melanie’s comments, Ariel of Hale & Hearty alludes to a significant increase in the delivery carriers’ hourly wage. In fact, according to one of the delivery carriers, that increase amounts to $ 3.00 per hour gross. Don’t you imagine that before the wage increase, these people made MORE than $ 3.00 per hour in tips — a good deal more? One of the delivery carriers said he went from getting about $ 200 a day in tips to around $ 45 a day. Three lousy dollars gross more per hour does NOT in any way compensate for this loss of income. Along with inaccurately implying that their delivery workers are now making decent and reasonable wages, Hale & Hearty goes so far as to implicitly DISCOURAGE their customers from tipping their delivery people by making statements stating outright that tipping is unnecessary! Of COURSE they will say that, because they don’t want to lose business: if, by not tipping, you can make your soup and half sandwich cost the same (already expensive) $ 14 it did before the change rather than $ 16.50 with the new fee added, Hale & Hearty hopes you’ll still patronize them. How egregious and heinous is that?
«Transparency»? Making things «easier» for their customers? Baloney. This is, plain and simple, merely corporate greed and exploitation of their workers, many of whom, as Melanie mentions, appear to be unskilled immigrant workers who are just trying to make a reasonable living income from doing an honest day’s work. And so Hale & Hearty feels free to kick them to the curb.
They can take their food and… well, you know what I mean to say. Never, never, never again will this heartless, greedy corporation get one red cent of my money.

I love this place. Some of the menu items can seem pricey but for the unique selection its worth it. My go to soup is the 10 Vegetable. But my favorite soup is Seafood Chowder.
But I gotta give them a big fat star deduction due to my experience with their Simmers menu during the fall of 2015. I tried the Spicy Creole Crab & Shrimp. The picture on the advertising looked like a shrimp dish. Well, it was anything but. I paid $ 12 for a bowl of sauce on a supposed bed of rice (which I’m still trying to figure out where it is). This was a complete fail. There are two other choices in their Simmers menu but I won’t bother.

Hard to mess soup up, in my opinion. This was my first time at Hale & Hearty and the experience was really good! I thought the staff was courteous, the lines moved efficiently and the chicken vegetable noodle soup I ordered helped me fight my hangover. Really couldn’t have asked for more. I’m not sure I would try other chunkier flavors of soup but thought that the chicken noodle was definitely solid. It’s a great place if you’re looking for a light lunch!

It’s mayhem during the weekday lunch hours. Long lines are one thing, but it’s the mistakes that I can’t deal with. I just ordered a simple chicken noodle soup, paid for it, left and opened it up… it was a creamy potato soup, not what I ordered. I’d have eaten it anyway except I’m severely allergic to dairy. So now I have to buy lunch again :/

A solid place to grab a warm, comforting lunch. I had the combo — chicken and vegetable soup with noodles and half a mozarella, avocado and tomato sandwich. For about $ 10, this was a decent variety of food but it wasn’t very much in my opinion. You can always add $ 1 to get a larger cup of soup.
To be honest, I didn’t think the food was necessarily more remarkable than ABP next door. The chicken soup tastes pretty similar to canned chicken noodle soup, and the sandwich didn’t have any extraordinary ingredients that I couldn’t have put together myself. The best part is the staff here are so friendly! I’ll be sure to come back and try out some of the items on the menu.

Great selection of freshly made soup. So many to choose from and always a wide variety (they rotate regularly). My go-​to when I’m feeling a bit under the weather (chicken vegetable + sourdough please). Can’t comment on their sandwiches or salads because I’ve never tried but they do seem a bit underwhelming. Friendly service despite the lunchtime rush. Can get a bit crowded, but don’t let that scare you away. Line moves quickly!

I didn’t give them 5 because they didn’t have many options. However the soups I ordered were good. Service was also good even and this time I also got the tiny little Pre made caprese salad. It was good but just wish it was bigger.

Consistently great soups (Pumpkin bisque is the BEST during the holidays). Even though the line is always really long, I never spend more than 10 minutes in here. I’m giving 3 stars because, even though the soups and service are great, I’m dissappointed by the salad quality and the fact that they don’t have any gluten free bread options for sandwiches.

Everything always has that fresh homemade from scratch taste. It’s always clean and the service is always fast regardless of what time during the lunch craze you go. Never had a taste I didn’t like but lately the soups have not been quite as good but the quality is now 4 instead of 5 but otherwise no complaints.

I like the salads here. You get to choose and pay for what you want, so if you don’t like a ton of ingredients on your salad, you don’t have to pay the same price as someone with 10 ingredients in the salad. Also the croutons rock. The sour dough bread is my go-​to. YUM

Southwest chicken and cheddar soup was delicious. I gave them 4 stars due to lack of gluten free bread and sandwich options to go along with the soup. I would definitely go back though.

Cashier rang up order wrong 3^rd time this month. I’m finally giving in and not going back. Even if you mention it to the cashier, they try not to acknowledge it. It’s not really worth it to wait for a manager and a $ 2 refund every day at lunch.

Working in fast food myself, I understand that it can sometimes be a thankless, tedious job. That said, customer service should be a priority no matter if it is during your rush or downtime. This is one of the rudest fast food interactions I’ve had… maybe ever. I was literally yelled at when I walked into the store inquiring as to if I wanted soup because that was the server’s current preoccupation. Once she came to help me, she lazily put together my salad and proceeded to THROW the checklist and the dish at me. The woman who rung me up did the same thing. All of this was seen by the manager, whom I can only assume does not care. As I sit eating my salad now, it is mediocre at best– lets say 3 stars.

Hale & Hearty consistently produces competent yet overpriced soups around NYC. I’m one of those people that always asks for samples to the detriment of the line that could snake around several times over during the brutal winter months. Look, if you are going to offer the macaroni and cheese soup with beef I can have a sample but I would feel like too much of a fat-​ass if I got a medium or even a small. It is delicious though, appreciate it.
The big negative across all these stores is the soup leakage. Employees here are quick to fill the soup container, ask if you want bread or crackers then move it down the line to check out. Unfortunately, extra soup juices run amok along the sides of the container and could dirty up your big ol paws when you are ready to dig in. The occasional astute employee will wipe the container down, but it is an exception.
If you can’t avoid H&H, be sure to get a rewards card which hooks you up with a free soup for every 10 you purchase.

This location really stands out – they have a well thought out design and even during peak lunch hour the lines are not long and service is quick.
As you walk in, they have a whole selection of freshly poured hot soups ready to grab and go so you can avoid the line altogether, but if you want a soup/​salad/​sandwich made to order, your experience won’t even be that much longer.
I’m only sorry I discovered this place after I stopped working in the area!

Hale and Hearty may not be the sexiest place to eat lunch, but it is definitely one of my favorites. For $ 5 bucks you get a ginormous bowel of lettuce (choice of Romaine, Spinach, or Spring Mix) and can add dressing, croutons, shredded carrots, red onion, and cucumbers at no additional charge. Then there are add-​ons at 2 or 3 price points (65 cents to $ 1.50). Your last option is to take the salad tossed or you can have it chopped. You also get a choice of sourdough or multi grain bread slice. My salad includes all the free stuff, buttermilk ranch dressing, and pitted Kalamata olives with sourdough bread. So much flavor, so awesome a meal, for $ 6.60, I don’t think you can get a better lunch in NYC at that price point.
The absolute best part is the butter milk ranch dressing. I don’t know how you feel about ranch dressing, but I get damn emotional about it! Nothing is better than ranch dressing in the South because they still make it with buttermilk down there. So many places in NY have goopy gobby gross ranch dressing. But not Hale and Hearty, they keep it legit with the best buttermilk dressing in NYC. I would give the ranch dressing 6 stars if possible.
Aside from the salad, the staff here is pretty nice, and go out of their way to greet you when you come in. It is a little bit cheesy, but on the other hand, it is better than the normal indifference shown to customers at these chain lunch places. I did try a soup once here and did not like it, and the sandwiches look lame, so definitely stick with the salad.

When the weather is flipping for 50 to 30 and back to 50 degrees within a week comfort food like soup really help make the day go better.
A visit to Hale & Hearty around the corner from my office is my salvation.
Green and yellow split pea soup with double smoke bacon, just Yummy!
The small soup is $ 3.29 + tax.
Back to the ground stone…