Red Olive

This place is close to work. I have been here many times and their salads and buffet are reasonably priced. But today I had a terrible experience which made me very nauseous. I found not one but two pieces of hair mixed in my salad. Totally disgusting! I will not be going back.

I come here regularly for the salad bar (2016 new price: $ 8/​pound) and the Create your own small salad for $ 8 (incl tax).
Salad Bar recs: summer rolls, seaweed salad, fried chicken wings, korean pork, portabello mushroom, quinoa salad
Create your own salad: 1 protein, 1 cheese, 4 toppings (incl avocado)
–liberal with toppings, I’ve had a salad weigh as much as 1.5 pounds once
Good bang for your buck in midtown.

I usually go here for breakfast because it’s close to my job and the food is usually amazing. When the head chef is there he is very efficient. They make the best red velvet pound cakes. Definitely better than the café next door which is very bland. Im glad to have found this place. The prices are average for the neighborhood.

This place is a hidden gem, I almost don’t want to share this review because of how good it is. The place is clean and spacious but does get packed during lunch hours. The staff’s are always attentive and nice. The food is reasonably priced and most importantly fresh and delicious. I come here almost every single day and they have a big enough variety to keep me happy.
The veggie udon is beyond good with an assortment of veggies that you pick.

They have a pretty good variety of options and the food tastes decent. But it would be nice if their hot lunch buffet included hot food. A lot of items can be merely lukewarm. Just sayin.

I’m trying out new lunch places these days around this neighborhood and once in a while things turn out to surprise me. Today is one of those instances.
Red Olive was clean and not packed, not saying that they have few customers, just that the way they decorated the room made it look so spacious. Salad bar, buffet, soup or even Japanese ramen/​udon, amazing.
In order to make a comparison with Essen, I tried the noodle. Pros: cheaper, more varieties of toppings, better taste. Cons: no soba option. This is the best take-​away noodle I have had in the city.

This place has it ALL. Great prices and fresh fresh ingredients! Solid lunch spot in the city. I recommend this for sure :) the Cuban sand which was awesome!

SO great! The food is always delicious and it’s really affordable. I wish they would be a little better about cross contamination on the salad bar because I don’t eat chicken and there is often a piece that manages to find its way into my salad.

THE REDDEST OF OLIVES
Red Olive is another one of those Cafes with a Buffet, Sandwich Bar, Salad Bar, and a Noodle/​Soup Bar. At 7.29/lb the buffet is very reasonably priced and has pretty good options that seem to change daily.
I’ve had breakfast here several times and have gotten the Florentine Breakfast wrap which is pretty good and is somewhat of a healthy option with egg whites on whole wheat wrap. The staff is polite and the people at the sandwich bar put a ton of care into the sandwiches.
I did have the Ramen and wasn’t too impressed. What I was impressed with though was DAT BLT. One of the best BLTs i’ve ever had. The Crispiest of bacon, the freshest of lettuce and a yung tomato, and a perfect amount of mayo. gdlk!
The prices here are reasonable and I’ll probably continue to have lunch here. I heard the burritos are really good and have tons of options. Maybe I’ll try one of those eventually. I’d say Red Olive is a pretty solid spot for breakfast or lunch.

My co-​workers and I were so sick of overpriced Treehaus and café today and were so glad that we found Red Olive.
You get more for your your buck. What I like about Red Olive is they have seaweed salad and (imitation) crab salad. It goes so well with the hot buffet.
7.29 /​lb is cheaper than café today and treehaus… I brought my co-​workers here once and now we come here at least once a week.
The only thing is the hot buffet is against the wall which makes it «cozy» when trying to grab your food.

Had a super late lunch at Red Olive today, here are my thoughts:
– The buffet is priced quite reasonably at $ 7.29 /​lb. It’s rare to find anything less than $ 8 so this was a nice surprise.
– Restaurant is clean and efficient.
– Everyone is very friendly! (Side note to Café Manhattan: it is possible to run a midtown buffet and be friendly too.)
– Food was fresh and while not super elaborate, there were more than enough choices. I had container of avocado, rice, veggies, and Greek salad. Nothing was extraordinary but everything was good.
The bottom line: Red Olive isn’t making any waves, but if I was in the area again I’d definitely return.

Having worked in the area for two years Red Olive is one of the best in Midtown.
Great place for cheap and tasty Ramen or Udon.
While the pay per oz buffet is great the true gold lies in the back of this establishment at the soup bar. Add any ingredient or any amount of ingredients you want for a flat price and enjoy enough soup to feed a family of 4 all for an affordable price.
This place could be a stand alone soup place if it had to be and it would thrive.

I was walking on Lexington Ave and notice this place that looked the one of those typical open food trays select you own meal by the pound places.
It was around 2:00 PM but the place was crowed and I was curious. It was clean and they also had in addition to the food trays section, were other sections, one were they prepare customized salads and another one that make hot and cold sandwiches and other dishes. I must have look confused while looking around and at the menus since the manager walked up to me and offers to help.
I left without getting anything this time because I was not hungry but I will return again to try out something to eat.

This is a decent Midtown lunch spot with a competitive lunch buffet at under $ 8/​lb, variety of food stations, nice staff, and the fact that it is not disgustingly crowded during lunch with long lines (when I’ve gone at least) and I’m always in and out in a few minutes.
Stations include sandwiches/​wraps, burgers, salad bar, Mexican, soup, etc. There are lots of hot buffet selections that cater to carnivores and vegetarians alike. The baked salmon is surprisingly delicious, as well as their kale & red cabbage salad. As someone else stated, the buffet is right next to the ever-​swinging entrance door, so there is a lot of traffic passing by all the food which may have one thinking how sanitary that is.
As for their sandwiches, they are not bad and perhaps slightly less expensive than a deli, but they do not fill the sandwiches as heartily as a deli might.
I love their ramen and udon station! The soups come in huge portions and are inexpensive. You choose your meat (or veggie), and they even have tempura. You can add as many toppings as you please, including tofu. The veggie toppings are super fresh also. These noodles may hit the spot if you don’t want to spend $ 12+ at a legit ramen place, where they also usually charge per add-​in, but you won’t get as many variation options as a ramen place of course.

Four stars as a lunch option in Midtown. I come here solely for the vegetarian ramen and I’ve never been disappointed.
Red Olive has better ingredient add ons than other places in the area, such as ‘Essen. Usually I opt for veggie ramen with all of the vegetables (and soft tofu) added. Oh! And make sure you add an egg! It adds a wonderful, rich texture to your soup. You can also substitute udon instead of the ramen noodles, but frankly, I find udon harder to eat at my desk. I would also recommend 1 – 2 generous spoonfuls of their chili powder if you like your ramen/​udon remotely spicy since the flavoring they have is extremely mild.
At around $ 8 for an incredibly filling bowl of soup, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better deal!

I Unilocaled and found this place listed as «Mexican», with a single $ sign. I thought «oh nice, somewhere where I could possibly find most items under $ 7 with a drink».
NOPE. It looked very much like every other corp lunch area. I wonder if it’s just because they can wrap something up with rice and beans to deem it Mexican. How you going to sell me authenticity when you’re also selling ramen/​udon/​tempura/​italian sandwiches on the side?
The price was a teeny bit lower and the food looked pretty clean. So normal here.

I dont know what is there for 4 stars. I didnt like omelets or sandwiches.
We had gotten mexican omelets and no avacado on it even though on themenu. Did not mention forehand they were out of potatoes. The sanwichs were very small for the 8 pricre tag. Have had better sandwichs here in boston at the same price.
There arw dime a dozen in Ny like red olive for lunch crowd and usually there is nothing in them that would wow you except the price tags.
I would avoid it so did most as were only there at 12:15 pm.

A more trendy «cafeteria» in midtown east that opened up fairly recently. The storefront is narrow but it is long and offers all your basic stations.
A hot buffet when you first walk in on the left (I don’t like that the food is in the entrance where the door is and all the people are walking by) and tables on the right side. As you make your way further back, there is a salad, sanGwich, soup, and burrito station as well. Your typical array of drinks on hand.
If you get the buffet, it seems to be a little under the average price for others in the area, which is a perk here but the layout of the open food is a bit of a worry for me. Maybe that’s why the B rating? Other than that, the food was ok.

I was headed to SoumSoum a couple doors down, but found that it was closed for Shavuot, which sent me directly to Wikipedia («one of the lesser-​known Jewish holidays among secular Jews»).
Still needing a lunch option, I tried Red Olive and was pleasantly surprised. It’s got tons of options, though I went with the salad bar, which seems on par with what you’ll see at Whole Foods but cheaper. Thinking I may go for a burrito or soup next time.

I’ve never been a big fan of buffet/​multi-​stations eateries. But with Paypal Eater24 offer, I decided to give Red Olive a try after seeing its ⁴⁄₅ stars glowing reviews.
Arrived 15 mins before closing to pick up my pre-​ordered item — vegetarian burrito with a side of guac. My order was already bagged and I simply had to sign a paper.
From carrying it on my walk home alone, I could tell this burrito was going to give me a food baby. And I was not disappointed when I unwrapped my order, loaded with fried rice (even though the Eater24 options never asked me what rice I wanted and on their regular menu the choices were white, brown, or fried rice), kidney bean (menu says pinto bean, maybe Chipotle’s pinto bean has a signature look?), marinated tofu (they have tofu burrito on their menu too, vegetarian burrito is 25 cents cheaper and also has tofu — yep I am so confused) — it was one of the best burritos I’ve had — extra star for it to be coming from an eatery! The tofu was perfectly marinated with a hint of sweetness. They did not skim on the guac (with the $ 1.85 add on, my burrito was bursting in green!).
The only downside was that the ordering process through Eater24 was a bit confusing and I still have yet figured out if my vegetarian burrito was what it was supposed to be. I guess I just have to return and find out!