Crisp
“Fast, and probably one of the best falafels/hummus salads I've had from a fast food restaurant.”
“I usually hit up Maoz in midtown if I'm looking for some good falafel for lunch, but I decided to give this place a try.”
“Crisp has some really great falafel, another tasty addition to the Bryant park/midtown midtown area.”
Crisp
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Caters: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
Rate and write a review Cancel reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
I am torn between giving Crisp 3 or 4 stars. The food is amazing… Delicious, (pretty) cheap, and (mostly) healthy.
The good:
Like I said above, the food is amazing. I used to get the Backyard with Crispy Chicken or Black Bean Burger, depending on if I was yo-yo dieting or not. If I was not on a diet on that particular day, I would get the side of Waffle Fries. It has, thankfully, been a long time since I ordered anything crispy nor fried.
I have since switched to the Mexican Flatbread Creation. It comes with Falafel as the main protein but I switch it to the Black Bean Burger. Nothing is wrong with the Falafel, I just prefer the burger.
The bad:
The online ordering system is a little weak. I will place an order and walk to the restaurant at the specified time on the e-receipt. Here is the downfall: you check in with the cashier(s), they say "we'll let them know you're here," and then you still wind up waiting 5-10 minutes. The one time it was so busy that I didn't check my order and they gave me the completely wrong one. I work a couple of blocks away so I didn't go back to switch the order. So, sorry random person, but your Parisian Burger was delicious.
My office (located basically across the street) ordered lunch from here today. I had a lamb on a pita and some waffle fries (we also ordered plenty of chicken pitas, vegetarian options, salads, etc).
The lamb in my pita was really delicious and cooked well – had really excellent flavor in it and reminded me a little of the falafel chain, Maoz. You can tell they use really excellent quality ingredients to put things together.
The waffle fries were super delicious and perfectly crispy. Ordering in is fantastic as they packaged everything really well and all of the food was clearly labels so as to avoid confusion.
I probably wouldn't come here for lunch on my own as they are a tad pricey for every day work lunch, but for free Friday office lunch – huzzah!
I've visited Crisp twice in the last two weeks – it's actually very, very satisfying and a delicious lunch option in the crappy Times Square area. It's also very convenient for work. During lunch rush, the lines look pretty ridiculous, but the wait is actually very reasonable and you can be in and out within 10-15 min max. On the right, you wait to place your order. On the left, you wait for your number to be called to pick up your order. The logistics and layout of this store is quite weird, especially for the line up process. I wouldn't recommend eating inside the restaurant, as you'll likely be hovered over by someone waiting in line.
The bowls, which is what I usually get, comes with greens, rice, and hummus (or a mix of all or two). It comes with falafel, but you can choose to add other proteins for an additional cost.
I would give Crisp 5 stars for food, but the first time I came here I ordered an Acropolis Bowl (Greek Salad) and by the time I got back to the office, I realized what I actually got was the Arugula Salad – and I'm not a big fan of arugula and I really hated the roasted semi-sweet red peppers and goat cheese.
The Acropolis (Greek salad) bowl is where it's at. I get the hummus on the side as to not to "mushify" my entire meal, which is what happened when I got the hummus in the bowl the first time around. I like dipping my pita in it separately. I got the Greek salad over more greens. I haven't ever gotten rice here. The salad and feta/olives/tomatoes/yogurt dressing were amazing and very satisfying. The falafel here isn't the best I've had in NYC, but the ones they serve up here are very good – freshly made and fried to order. The hummus is also good here. The whole wheat pita is made in house and excellent – still hot and fresh by the time I returned to the office 7 minutes away.
Crisp is definitely my go-to spot when I don't eat at the cafe at work.
Crisp is a fast casual Mediterranean restaurant that mostly serves the Midtown lunch crowd on the weekdays. While the line can get long/out the door during the peak lunch hours, it generally moves really fast and Crisp is very efficient and speedy at preparing the food (I think everything is pre-cooked, so it's all about assembling).
I have tried the Tikka Bowl, which includes grilled peppers, fried onions, and grape tomatoes over a choice of hummus, rice or greens (you can mix and match). Wheat pita and four balls of falafel are included, and you can pay extra for additional proteins like chicken, beef, lamb, fish, or veggie proteins.
Because the falafels are pre-fried vs. fried after the order is submitted, they are not scorching hot, but they are still crispy. I like their slightly thicker consistency of the hummus, and the combo of rice, greens, and hummus is great. The best part of the Tikka bowl was the creamy curry mango coconut sauce.
I usually go to Maoz for my salad bowls, but since my boyfriend isn't the biggest fan of that spot we decided to check out Crisp instead. While a bit far from his office, we still arrived before the lunch rush. Which was a good thing, considering there was a line three people wide all the way to the door by the time we left. He ordered a crispy chicken burger with waffle fries and I got a hummus & greens Israeli salad bowl with shawarma. They have to-go and to-stay options. We had managed to get two of the few seats in the joint, and while the environment was a tad loud, it was better than braving the cold and trying to eat our food somewhere else.
Firstly, my salad bowl. I do regret ordering hummus and greens. A rice and greens bowl probably would've been more up my alley. While the hummus was tasty, it far overpowered my veggies not only in flavor but also in size. It made the texture of the bowl a bit boring, and while I enjoyed the taste of everything, it was just soft on soft on soft. Although I did appreciate the piping hot pita that accompanied my dish, I wound up unable to finish all of it and had half the order leftover. My boyfriend said his chicken was surprisingly tasty, with a great crunch and lots of flavor. Kind of surprising for a place that seemed to be pushing out a lot more hummus than burgers.
I do recommend Crisp whether or not you're into healthy food. It's tasty, it's cheap, and it's creative. Just don't go during the lunch rush.
It's always a good day when I get to treat my self to a lunch as good as Crisp. They make great food, have a nice variety of options, and offer quick service. The lunch crowd gets extremely overwhelming, so I would recommend ordering for pickup on Seamless. If you'd rather not, just a note that the line on the right is for ordering/paying, and the line on the left is for picking up your ordered food
Personally, I always default to the bowls since they're not as messy as some of the other options and the customization options are great. Once you decide which bowl you want, you can choose greens, rice, hummus, or any combination of the three as a "base" for your bowl. Regarding the toppings, the falafel is always fresh and delicious as are their other protein toppings (mock veggie meat kabobs really took me by surprise). Most importantly, this is probably the only place in Midtown that offers waffle fries!
I have a love/hate relationship with Crisp. I usually order the Israeli salad with hummus and greens plus the chicken shwarma as extra protein. It's a very large lunch portion and filling.
Pros- The falafel is awesome! The food is very fresh and the hot pita with the meal is delicious as well. Plus, your meal is ready within minutes especially when you're on the go.
Cons – Roughly a few months ago the "greens" in the salad were not really greens. I'm not sure what it was but they've changed their receipe where it's green salad. Also, they were giving smaller portions off and on. I'm not sure if it had to do with a supplier issue or management change but they've improved since I've last ate there.
Finally, I would have rated this higher but the consistantcy of Crisp has been a struggle. Maybe in the near future I'll change my mind but I will continue to eat at this establishment as it's good Mediterranean food for a great price.
This place is so good for lunch! Ordering can be a little confusing though as there are two lines – one to order (right) and one to pick up (left) – so just make sure you're in the right one.
I come to Crisp when I'm pretending to eat healthy so I always go for the bowls. The great thing about the bowls is you can mix the following bases – rice, hummus or greens. All bowls come with a 4 falafel balls and a side of the pita. The falafel is pretty good and definitely tastes fresh but the pita is the real winner. It's so soft and always comes warm (and if you get your bowl with half greens and half hummus, the pita is perfect with the hummus). My favorite bowl is the Sahara – beets, carrots, and a pomegranate reduction. Highly recommend if you happen to be stuck around Times Square/Midtown for lunch!