Roast Kitchen

I’ve been to several Roast locations and this one about 3 times and I have to say that although the food is tasty, the service is so rude at this particularly location that I won’t be going back.
The line at lunch is always very long, which is common for Midtown East. I don’t mind waiting 15 minutes for lunch. The problem here is that there system is so disorganized that when you finally get up to the counter they have either incorrectly made your order or lost it entirely.
The last time I went to Roast the manager was unbelievably rude to me. He snatched my salad out of the line person’s hand and barked at me «what did you order»? I told him I ordered the Spiked Caesar with herb chicken. He went to cut the Spicy chicken instead, and I told him, no I wanted the Herb chicken. He rolled his eyes and snapped, «just tell me what meat you want. that’s all I need to know». I told him, «the herb chicken, I already told you that». By the way, the fact that I wanted herb chicken had already been told to the woman taking my order, the previous line person, and was actually written on the bowl itself, so I’m not sure why my further insistence that I wanted herb chicken set off the manager, but he proceeded to try to lecture me about patience, saying «have you seen the line? its out the door!». I told him they needed to work on their process because its always disorganized when I go there, no matter the length of the line. Needless to say, he continued to rant.
Oh, and that «spiked» Caesar salad? Well when I got back to the office, I discovered they forgot to put the hot sauce on it which makes it «spiked». This wasn’t a custom order I added a bunch of stuff to … its one of their signature meals. So the fact that they missed 25% of the ingredients in it is ridiculous.
Even if you could overlook the rudeness, the portions are small and add-​ins are shockingly expensive. You’d do well to get a salad just about anywhere else in Midtown. The Chop’t next door always has a longer line — but it actually moves much faster and they never screw up your order.

This place was recommended to me by my Mom who went last week.
I ordered from here through Seamless at 10:35 AM, for a 12:30 PM delivery — we were doing a Group Order at work.
My food just arrived… its 2:00PM.
The food itself is good but, I don’t think I’d order from here again based on the time I had to wait. I shouldn’t have to call the store twice looking for my food, when I placed the order 3.5 hours before it was delivered, and 2 hours before it was promised delivery time. I got the Green Power Bowl, which is really yummy but skimped on avocado and dilled cucumber and instead is loaded with arugula and pea shoots. All-​in-​all, I’m eating it so, not really complaining about the food quality here but, it is totally inexcusable to make someone wait this length of time for a COLD bowl from a place that isn’t even far from my office.

Completely unacceptable delivery times. Don’t deliver if you can’t handle the volume. They have been around for years and are just being too cheap to invest.

The manager is a total moron. Told me my order wasn’t ready because they couldn’t pronounce my name. Make an effort you live in NYC. I eat at the one on 49^th and Madison all the time and never seem to have an issue. Guy then gave me a hard time abt processing my order. You are in a customer service business figure it out. Compete idiot.

Unsure why it has such a low rating! Perhaps it’s for the actual dining experience at the location but this review is specifically for a delivery order. My coworkers and I decided to order lunch together and placed an order through seamless at 12pm (I know the worst possible time ever). Although our estimated delivery time was 40 minutes, our food was delivered in under 30 minutes! YAY FOR US HUNGRY HIPPOS! :)
I ordered the Chorizo Bowl (baby spinach, basmati rice, garlic, chorizos with salsa verde sauce) with roasted corn, mushroom, brussel sprouts & spicy chicken. It looked really big at first but (I’m trying to limit my carb intake) without eating all the rice, the portion was good for a filling lunch!
I always love Roast Kitchen because it’s vegetable-​based, super healthy AND delicious!

I have been going to Roast with my best work pal twice or three times a week since August.
We have put up with the erratic customer service, which ranges from friendly to dictatorial, because we really like the spiked Ceasar salad. About 20% of the time, they forget the Cholula, which is what makes it spiked — it’s worth the gamble, because it’s really good. We started asking for extra hot sauce in an attempt to avoid getting a virgin Ceasar, but it still happened regularly.
After yesterday’s poisonous salads we will not be returning. Within an hour after eating, we were sitting in a very small room with a brand new co-​worker, trying to stifle our stomachs, which were gurgling in stereo.
Fortunately, my work buddy is male, so we did not have to fight for the restroom, but that is about the only positive I can think of. Oh, I guess since I was also too sick to eat dinner last night, I might have dropped a pound or two. Great timing for the beautiful weather!
It shouldn’t be that surprising given the questionable hygiene we witnessed (food bowls being held by their edges in an employee’s mouth, order taker coughing without covering her mouth) but we really liked that stupid salad.
Sorry, owner or manager guy who barks different instructions about how the line works depending on his mood. Never again.

Good food but small and inconsistent portions. My coworkers and I ordered the same thing and the portions was drastic differences. Hardly any greens in my and I choose the sirloin and got a small piece. My coworker luck out and had a bigger piece. It tasted good but not worth the long wait and $ 14 for its inconsistencies.
I was barely full after my lunch.

Roast is one of my favorite restaurants in the area. I both order and go into the restaurant frequently as I work in the area. It’s always great food and the service is very quick/​efficient. Would definitely recommend Roast.

Great concept and really good, healthy AND tasty food. So why are there so many negative reviews?
1. Management. They would be fine in a restaurant that is not in Midtown NYC. Here, they are out of their element, under pressure and its obvious that they are struggling.
2. Service — Really poor. You cannot train friendliness or good attitude. That said, proper training will go a long way. These people were never properly trained to interact with customers. If the first and last person on the «cooking» assembly line does nothing but greet people and interact positively, half the complaints will go away.
Smile. People are giving you money.
3. Menu — Confusing at first sight. Once you get it, you wonder why the heck do they make it so needlessly difficult.
4. Process — they have something great here — this is what makes this place good. People like seeing their food «cooked».
But you also see things that are not quite conducive of a good appetite. Training again.
Also — Less unsmiling «cooks» on the line and more cashiers taking your money.
5. Price — Not worth it. $ 15 for lunch would be OK if the service wasnt so poor and the portions were better.
Very deceptive — the $ 8 and change advertised is a little bit of roasted leaves, a little bit of veggies with some grain. It will cost you a minimum of $ 13 – 15 for a meal.
6. Portions — Definitely not adequate to keep you going the rest of the day. Also the amount of protein is actually a joke. You will be hungry within an hour.
So — I liked the food. Will I go back to any of their many locations again? Nope. Moving on.

Portions have been getting lighter and lighter on protein for the same price.

Great food, but i will never come back here. The staff are rude and i saw the manager actually yelling at a customer because the staff got his order wrong.

The line is always through the door during my lunch hour so they must be doing something right. I come here about three times a week so here are my thoughts:
Ginger bowl with pork — Mixed kale and jasmine rice, pork, roasted corn, bean sprouts, sesame seeds, scallions, mushroom. Gotta add the pork and mushroom. A coworker introduced me to the ginger bowl one chilly winter day, and I’ve going strong with this bowl for a few weeks now. It normally comes with jasmine rice but I sometimes substitute it with quinoa. The ginger scallion dressing also gives the bowl a little kick.
Space — There’s a few 2-​person tables, 4-​person tables, and a 6-​person table.
Water — You can ask for a free water cup, and there’s three infused waters you can choose from. They change it up from time to time, but they usually have cucumber infused, lemon infused, or mint infused.
Most lunch places leave my mouth high and dry but Roast Kitchen doesn’t seem to do that. The only cons I noted are that (1) they don’t always give the same portion sizes, and (2) they don’t cut the meat into small enough pieces considering they only include a fork and napkin in the bag.

DO NOT ORDER DELIVERY FROM THIS RESTAURANT! I placed an order for delivery, specifically specifying NO CHICKEN in the food, I ordered a side of chicken for someone else. My vegetarian meal came with shards of chicken mixed into the food. They also forgot to put the vegetables on my rice bowl so I received just rice.
I called the restaurant and was given a huge attitude and told that since they were busy, that was why my order was incorrect. I requested a refund and was told that I can only receive the rest of my order. I was not going to be around so i tried to request a refund and I was hung up on. i contacted seamless and they let me know that the person I spoke to was very upset! A little too emotional and still no refund or food replacement. NEVER COMING BACK!

I used to order from Roast weekly now it’s more like once or twice a month.
Let’s start with the food: the food itself is delicious (lots of flavor and variety) but portions are completely unpredictable. For one order your bowl may be full and for another order your bowl will hardly have anything inside. They charge $ 1.50 for most topping add-​ins yet they frequently forget to actually add the ingredients to your order. I rarely receive an order that comes with the correct add-​ins. Again, the food is delicious — you just never get the ingredients you pay for.
Now delivery– I would give delivery 1 star. The delivery person is generally 30 mins to 1 hour and 15 mins late. Again, items are almost always missing and orders overall can be wrong. Although late, the food is usually warm/​warmish. They delivery guy sometimes leaves the food unattended in my building’s messenger center but that’s okay by me.
One of these days I truly hope that Roast gets it together but till then order with caution.

First of all, let me start of by saying that until a month ago I’d have given 4.5 — 5 stars. Let me explain.
The standard bowl used to cost 8 — 9 dollars and then you could add meat to it. I normally added two meats @ 2.85 each or a meat and the creamed spinach because the single meat would get me hungry in a couple hours. So this time I ask for the spinach and I found out they stopped selling it and so as usual I add two meats.
Little did I know that Roast had DOUBLED the price of the second chicken from $ 2.85 to $ 5.65.
I do not understand for the life of me, how the first piece can cost you 2.85 and the second piece of chicken can cost you $ 5.65.
I would probably have not gotten the extra meat had I known they increased the price. The worst part is, it’s not even reflected on their menu on their site and they don’t have any signs put up that they have increased the price as well. It’s almost as though they stopped the spinach to shoe-​horn people into paying extra if they wanted extra meat.
I’m not naïve, and I know roast just wants to make money but it is just even more disappointing when the food tastes good.
TL;DR — Roast Kitchen doubled the cost of second piece of meat without notifications and I found out when I got to the payment. Here’s an image —

If you have not been here before, I strongly recommend to pay a visit.
There are two roast kitchens around this area, one on ⁴⁶⁄₄₇ street, the other on 56 street. The only difference between the two was that the latter doesn’t serve ramen. However the 56 street one was not at all crowded.
My favorite has always been ginger sauce with spicy chicken. Especially liked the grilled corn and kale mixed with rice. Will try the pork next time, as suggested by my friend.

Service is deplorable. Been a few times. Food is pretty good, but on the expensive side. I overlooked the inconsistent service in the past.
Tonight after triple checking the closing time on 3 sites, I walked over to find them closed two hours early. When I called I was told «we just shut off seamless» and «you should’ve called»
Why the fuck would I call you if it says everywhere you close at 9pm?!
Thanks for wasting my time. I’ll be sure to tell the 800 employees I work with a few blocks away.
Go to Dig Inn instead.

Okay, I think these bad reviews are pretty unjust. Yes, the menu is confusing at first, and the lines can be a turnoff, but the food itself is an excellent choice for lunch.
I always get the ginger scallion bowl with rice and pork. It’s super flavorful, balanced meat and vegetables-​wise, and it’s less than $ 10. Plus, unlike Dig Inn or Chopped, it’s freshly cooked food.
Definitely personalize your bowl rather than getting one of the premade choices.

Ah the midtown lunch scene — for a while, I spread my love (and lunch money) around. There would be a little DigInn, a little Dishes, some Blake and Todd, a little sprinkling of Hale and Hearty, and when I’m feeling extra skinny some 53^rd St. Halal Cart. Since I found Roast though, I’ve pretty much become a «one lunch-​spot woman». There’s still the occasional halal cart trip, but I’m quite loyal to my main squeeze, Roast, and go at least 4x a week.
When this location first opened, there were some kinks — a couple times my order got mixed up or orders through the app would take forever to be prepared. However, I think these issues have largely been fixed. The line can get long but moves at a decent pace. If you don’t feel like standing in line, you can order through the app which usually takes 15−25mins to prepare depending on how busy they are. The manager for the takeout section, Ignacio, is a total sweetheart and really tries to make sure your orders come out in a timely manner.
As for the food, you can choose from (hot or cold) pre-​set bowls or build your own. As for the preset ones, I’ve had the red curry bowl a couple times and it was ok. I’ve never had the Morrocan bowl, but I’ve seen dining companions get it and it smells kinda funky, like honey and smelly socks, so I advise against getting that one. They do have salads here, but I don’t think they are as popular as the hot bowls. My friend got a Caesar salad once and it looked kinda sad and limp. My go to is the «build your own» bowl with kale, broccoli, cauliflower, mushroom, edamame, stir-​fried in ginger scallion sauce, and topped with some roasted pork as my protein. Although, we disagree on which vegetables and which sauce to add, most of my dining companions agree that the «build your own» bowl is the way to go. They’re flavorful and cost less than $ 12, which is tough to beat in mid-​town east.

I’ve been coming here frequently and love the food. The hot bowls (aka stir fries) are great especially the herbed chicken.
However I’m deducting two stars because the service is frankly horrendous. They have an app which is flawed and doesn’t give an ETA for the order or let you include comments. I’ve waited over 45 minutes in the restaurant for my order which is unacceptable for pre-​ordering At that point, I could’ve waited in line. Even worse was the time I picked up my food, walked back to my office, sat at my desk and found out they stiffed me of chicken which was at a significant upcharge. I immediately called the restaurant and no one answered. So I walk all the way back to the restaurant and am told by the manager — «we are too busy to answer our phone.» Not sure how one can run a business without answering phones… My meal should have been comped and wasn’t.
In sum, the food is delicious. But they need to fix their process (and app) to efficiently and correctly process orders (and have time to answer phones). Until that happens, I won’t be able to return.
Hopefully, management responds to this post (and all the similar posts discussing customer service), so we can see that these concerns have been addressed.