Smilers Delicatessen Stores

You can get a burger a whole container of French fries here for less than at Five Guys. The salad bar is alarmingly expensive, but it is actually very well prepared.

Shame on YOU!!!
Lousy sandwiches and lousy delivery times. It’s hard to believe that a sandwich could be prepared this badly.
I’ll never order from here again. Here’s a tip. When preparing a hot sandwich you don’t microwave the bread you microwave the insides, then put it on a toasted piece of bread.
Otherwise you wind up with a soggy disgusting ball of dough.
God bless you.

3.5 stars. The buffet bar here is pretty decent and (I believe) slightly cheaper than Dishes and Blake and Todd. I love the broccoli, salmon and teriyaki chicken here. The pre-​made salads in the cold bar section are also decent. For a reasonably sized lunch, I usually pay $ 9-​$ 10.
Prices here for everything other than hot food is obscene! Having worked in midtown for a while now, I rarely get sticker shock, but the other day I stopped by Smilers for a GoMacro energy bar and I was charged $ 5.50. GoMacro bars on the expensive end for energy bars but still…$ 5.50! I quickly put it back and ran away hungry.

Very enjoyable visit! From the amazing flowers on the pavement to the lovely foods they serve! This is a lovely shop to visit.

I’m surprised this place has fairly poor reviews because when I went there with my sister, we both thought the food was AMAZING! Their salad bar was fresh and delicious and their meats were perfectly cooked and to die-​for. It was so good in fact, that we decided to eat dinner there as well that very same day! I would highly recommend this place and plan to stop by next time I’m in the area.

Avoid it plz everyone. It is just Ridiculous！Terrible staff，toooo average food，not pleasant seating are，plus disgusting price！Anyplace i tried could not be worse than this. i mean i’m willing to pay expensive for the salad bar，let’s say dish for 12.50/lb，it’s expensive but the staffs are nice and the environment is pretty pleasant. Here the staffs are rudy，i don’t mind pricy food but PLZ PLZ PLZ be nice to ur customers，they are the people paying for the food. If u are getting a deli salad bar style lunch，go dish（45^th between 5^th & madison），essen（40&41 madison），or westside 48^th，51^th，between 5^th & 6^th，or uppereast lexington ave. I mean there a lot of places similar to this buffet style but much much better than this！

Generally pretty good for a quick sandwich just don’t order italian meats. They have no idea how to slice prosciutto or salami!

Smiler’s is my go to spot before work for breakfast, during work for lunch, and after work for my walk to the train snack lol. They have everything there! It’s like a store/​restaurant. They have a deli, a juice bar, and hot food. If you go during lunch they also have upstairs seating available with a window for a outside view. Smiler’s continues to save my life as well as take all of my money because it’s kinda expensive…$ 3.59 for a pack of gum?! Needless to say I didn’t have gum that day :/​other than that enjoy!

I go here regularly, but I’m not proud of that fact. My laziness overcomes my desire for quality more often than it should. the lunch buffet is servicable, but even I have to admit that breakfast is gruesome.

I really enjoy the salad bar. and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but their penne&vodka sauce is out of this world!
I just think their scales weigh in heavy, but I think that about every salad bar!

Really bad. Sandwich was horrible, old bread, old salami, old prosciutto, old ham, green tomato and fresh lettuce, yay. I had lunch here before same, but now it was just really bad and overpriced.

Their buffet left much to be desired. The pickings were slim, and it was difficult to navigate because the space is so cramped. I couldn’t get anything without bumping into someone. The food looked picked over, but I was in a time crunch. The price was pretty average for the area, about 9 bucks a pound.
The food was okay, but the hot food was not as warm as I’d like.
This was definitely a one time deal.

WOW this place is shitty. I can’t believe they are still open all these years, with so many lunch places around midtown.
1. their supposedly 100% beef burgers is the cheapest thing on that grill menu. when a 100% beef burger is cheaper than a veggie patty, you know there’s something wrong with their meat. I don’t mind eating crappy burgers, but let me know. Cause I rather go to Mcdonalds for that, at least they taste good even if they are crappy.
2. BE WARE when you order the deluxe. BOTH my co and I end up finding out that we didn’t get our pickle, that was INCLUDED in the deluxe. The store is dishonest and will cheat their way out of giving you stuff if they can, for what? i don’t know. cost cutting? pathetic.
never going back there again. seriously.
if you want fresh salad bar, go to digsbys on 52^nd and 5^th. 8 bucks get you UNLIMITED toppings.
if you want good buffet, go to essen on 53^rd n madison. 1 block away.
if you want good sandwich, go to toasties on 51^st n madison. 2 blocks away.
people. stay away from this place. seriously.

Whenever I go to NYC I look forward to their salad/​buffet bar. Fresh and expansive. I thought I was going to have to walk several blocks, but found this one by accident. Not always the cleanest/​well kept, but it is an active gourmet deli.

On a frigid, bitter, below freezing, cold winters day, Smilers happily provided me shelter and a hot cup of java! Also a nice seat in the second floor dining area over looking Madison Ave. I will be forever indebted to Smilers.

07.25.11 — RIP Smilers. You are dead to me.
I can deal with crowdedness; I can deal with overpriced items that I could get elsewhere at least 20% cheaper. I cannot deal with RUDE staff that feels entitled to take your money.
I usually stopped into Smilers to grab an afternoon snack. The staff at the cash register likes to mumble your total. Then when you hand them (the wrong amount of) cash for the total that you think you hear, they like to loudly announce that they «can’t sell you this item; you do not have the money.»
WHOA LADY. Take a swig of your green tea and try enunciating will you?
Don’t dare ask them for a spoon. Their great customer service is reflected in their pointing to the container of spoons that sits 3 inches in front of them.
OH, MY BAD, LADY — didn’t know I was supposed to have x-​ray vision to see those spoons hidden under that pile of napkins.
Not sure if they are just not proficient in the English language or if they really are just that %$^#$ rude.
Either way, my patriotic self will start shopping at other local businesses who value their customers.
And PS, Smilers — I’m reporting you to the credit card companies for violating their terms of service by imposing minimum purchase requirements.

$ 5.50 for a Hamburger Deluxe. Can’t really argue with that.
Hot buffet, cold buffet, seating upstairs… what else do you need for your ‘oh F I forgot my lunch’ days?
When you consider the area, this really isn’t a bad option. I’m a fan.

They sell kombucha here. at $ 6/​pop.
They also sell flowers. something like $ 18/​rose bouquet.
Soup is also present, but they hide it in the back so you never know.
Take both cash and credit card, though they try to confuse you because preference is for cash.

They don’t cater for next day! what? do they know they are in NYC and everything here is last minute? Makes no sense to me.
This is next to my job and i’ve gone there once to get a juice that was $ 3!!! never again!
employees dont speak english (even though i speak spanish) its good to be able to communicate with customers if they are inquiring about an item, etc.
Its clean and food looks freash, but eh… there are better options near by.

Not too much to say here except it’s another run of the mill deli that you see on any random NYC block. My girlfriend and I just needed to grab some food and drinks for an impromptu Central Park picnic so we dipped in here real quick. We got some sandwiches that were pre-​made (sliced chicken breast with sundried tomatoes and an Italian sub). Both were priced at $ 6.95, though the sign said $ 7.95. We were thinking about getting the buffet but changed our minds once we found out it was $ 7.99 per pound (!!!). Typical for a NYC deli buffet but usually during lunch hours. This was already past 6pm so I thought we might be able to get it at $ 4.99 or something in that range. That was a major fail on Smiler’s part. Freaking Smiler’s. Nothing to smile about.
One cool thing about the place is when I was waiting on line to purchase my food, a customer asked for a pack of Marlboro Lights and the cashier said, «Sorry we do not sell cigarettes.» That’s pretty interesting considering the fact that stogies are usually a big revenue generator for delis. I hate cigarette smoke so I think it’s pretty cool that they refrain from contributing to the hastened death of many, smokers and non alike. At least I left with something to smile about. Maybe more of an internal smile at the very least.