Essen Fast Slow Food
“The place is set up with a bunch of stations you can order prepared foods from or just serve yourself at the buffet ($7.99/lb).”
“It is packed during lunch hour on a work week but they have evvverything here so I can see why everyone and their coworkers come!!!”
“They have awesome breakfasts (4 kinds of oatmeal with unlimited toppings + egg whites and fruit!)”
Essen Fast Slow Food
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Accepts Apple Pay: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Good for Groups: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
8 reviews
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Essen is cool. It's like a food court/buffet/sandwich place/everything. I've done the sandwich station, but more recently, I opt for the buffet.
For sandwiches, you can't go wrong with the 27th street combo (roast beef, turkey, provolone, onions and mayo). You can do sandwiches on rolls/sliced bread for $7.50, but it's a much better deal to go with the hero/wrap option for $7.95. Warning: it's a ton of sandwich.
For the buffet, I like the pork belly, and the lamb, and the labeled vegetable fried rice that actually has chicken in it. The buffet gets as little pricey, but you just have to have self-control, of which I have none.
Check out is fast and they take all credit cards.
I'm not really a fan of this buffet style dining. It's the perfect kind of fast food place someone would go to if they didn't know what they wanted to eat during their short lunch break. It's fast, it's easy, (it's chaotic), and has just about everything–from salads to hot meals.
Yet, with that being said, when a place has everything, it doesn't mean "everything" will be good. Just very mediocre in my opinion. Salads were meh, the hot food looked okay, and the sushi…i'll pass.
Another problem with this buffet style is how pricey it can be. It's a weigh system, which means it doesn't matter what exactly you put in your container, just how much it weighs. Which sucks, because you could just be piling on a bunch of veggies and maybe a potato and next thing you know you're basic meal is $12. Like, cmon.
So if you're indecisive for lunch or are short on time, this may be the place for you.
I work across from Essen but always try to avoid it as much as I can. Essen is a typical deli offering buffet style hot food and a salad/sandwich bar. Their slogan is "slow fast food," while I praise Essen for their marketing strategy and noble concept, the quality of food says otherwise. Don't get me wrong, Essen is a good place for a quick bite. Though, my main issue with them are their prices. For the type of food and ingredients used, they should not be charging $8.99 per pound. I find their fruits and vegetables to be stale and their hot foods are too oily for my taste. I would prefer to visit other nearby spots for a quick bite.
A deli/ bodega with a lot of variety for cold and hot salad bar/buffet for the office lunch crowd. While out in the city I came here to attain a bottle of water for a cool down from summer's purgatory heat and sun. Checkout is painless.
Oh Essen, my saving grace! Ever since I landed a new position, I have come to Essen Monday – Friday, sometimes for both breakfast and lunch. I come in so often or have ordered pick up from here that many of the people who prepare the orders know me on a first name basis.
What keeps me coming back?
OPTIONS people. If you're an indecisive like me, this is the place for you to get some good. Don't get me wrong some of their prices may cause you to think twice, but that's how they get you lol. . You may for the convenience. I've enjoyed their juice//smoothies, the delicious oatmeal with many toppings to choose from (flax seed, brown sugar, blueberries and toasted coconut for me) and the ever changing lunch buffet (Israeli couscous youre a winner and should be out every day).
I like chaos (when I'm a peripheral part of it, and not the epicenter, that is). Essen is lunch chaos – the kind you expect in NYC. There's loads of people rushing around, no real queues, everyone doing their own thing to the beat of their own drummer… and if you're at all an introvert, while the intense throng of folks might be overwhelming, it actually feels really nice to be just another face in the crowd.
My friends went with sandwiches, but I'm a sucker for a salad bar. I agree with my girl Sara M – "salad bars can be sort of sketch", but this one just isn't. Everything is clearly labeled, everything looks very fresh (i.e. there were beautifully scooped avocado halves that look like they had just been put out), no one seems to double-dip or cross-contaminate by using the same spoon in different areas, etc.
I got some lentil and avocado salad, roasted beets, quinoa, a caprese and olive salad, and some teriyaki tofu. It felt like it weighed a lot, but I think my total was around $10. And it was plenty of food and I didn't feel gross after eating it (all). The lentil and avocado salad had way, way too much cilantro for my liking, but everything else was good. I only wish the salad bar had clearer information about what was vegetarian. For example, there was some really nice looking green beans in a brown sauce which I didn't get for fear the sauce had oyster sauce in it. So, some ingredient info would be appreciated.
Other than that, I could come here for lunch every day and probably never get bored because of the variety (and massive amounts of avocado halves)!
Crowded, bustling, busy, loud… Want to have lunch here? No, you don't. Want to do take-out? Yes, you do.
Whether craving a salad, a panini or a bag of chips, Essen certainly has you covered and will accomplish the goal of getting you served in under 5 minutes, no matter what you order. Just go in with a game plan, because if you don't know what type of lunch thing you want, you'll get sucked into the vortex created by busy New Yorkers in a rush and may never find your way out (with the food you want, that is).
I went with a panini that was made-to-order before my eyes on fresh bread that was made before my eyes, and while it was good, it was very, very messy and very, very huge. I ate about half of it and felt like I'd been gut-bombed for the rest of the day. The sandwich and a bottle of tea cost me just under $12, for for NYC it's reasonable, even if I wasted half the food I bought.
It feels like a market but is so much more. Just take a few seconds to drink it all in upon arrival, and have a game plan.
decent for lunch. super packed so it's a little crazed when you are trying to get food. lots of options – sandwiches, burgers, salads, salad bar, mixed veggies/meats/fish. all around pretty good.
would suggest going early – 11am or 2pm if you want to be in and out (and have enough time to take a look around at options) although the service is pretty quick