Milano Market
“Ordinarily I wouldn't have trekked all the way to Morningside Heights but it seemed like the extraordinary sandwiches called for it.”
“Overall, this is one of the most well-rounded places in Columbia-town (with regard to quality and price).”
“Nice, fresh, green, leafy goodness, with unlimited toppings, for $7.something and tax, and they have the little buy-10-get-1-free card too, just like Ham Del nearby.”
Milano Market
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Caters: 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've come here a few times for deil sandwiches or paninis, however the customer service is complete sh**. I've been ignored for minutes on end while people just stand around in the back and talk. When they finally ask what I want, it seems like I'm bothering them, and they are not attentive or listen to what I want. As I was telling one man what I wanted, he didn't make eye contact, and started telling someone else what I want before I even finished. He didn't ask what kind of bread I wanted, just started making it, putting on things I didn't ask for or didn't want. Then when I said, no I didn't ask for that, he acts like I'm a jerk. Most places with GOOD customer service repeat your order before putting it in and making it so the customer is happy. This place doesn't care though.
Random celeb gossip: "According to the Oscar-winner's publicist, [Forest] Whitaker was stopped as he was leaving the store and accused of stealing. On Saturday, employees who worked at the store denied the incident happened."
The food is good but this place is severely over priced and the lack of care for customers is NOT worth it.
The Italian sandwiches behind the counter are some of the best in the city. The sandwiches are thick (but not Carnegie-Deli-style-heart-attack-inducing, don't worry). I always make sure to grab one when I'm in the area. The rest of the market has standard fare – drinks, deli salads (e.g., egg salad, tuna, salad, seafood salad, cheese, etc). The dessert section is ok, though I'd note that they only have dry Italian-style biscotti/shortbread-style cookies. Really though, come here for the sandwiches.
Well air-conditioned… that's about it.
This is the essence of gentrification: pretentious products of no greater quality, marked up indiscriminately and sold to wealthy people (or in this case, the recipients of their trust funds).
Some prices are moderate and others ridiculous, like the over $7 for service station-quality sushi. But what really irked me was that they price their potato salad et al. in QUARTER POUNDS. That is not a good sign.
They also have a $10 minimum for credit, which is unusually high by any standard, strange for a medium-sized store, and unnecessary when they are already making plenty off their products.
If I was so concerned about getting authentic Milanese goods I would go to Milan, not a college neighborhood.
I'm a huge sandwich lover, and this place has some of the best sandwiches in the area. They're on the more expensive side (Milano Market is in general) but 1) they're so big stuffed with meat that at least you get what you pay for! The toppings are also fresh and plentiful. And 2) they're INCREDIBLE. My roommate and I sat on the floor of the Columbia library during finals inhaling the Parma and El Paso sandwiches! Great pick when you're craving an amazing sandwich.
Very, very rude staff. Not helpful. When you approach them, they give you an attitude like you are inconveniencing them. A staff member pushed me out of the way, and this is what has "pushed" me to write this review. I always thought their employees were rude, but never actually came on yelp to write about this.
Food is better than a lot in the neighborhood. Nonetheless, I ordered an arugula salad the other day and it was very soggy. Soup is consistent but they should have a price in the soup station to make it clear of how it is sold by price.
Quick service. Consistently good food. Just had a number 53: mozzarella, broccoli rabe, prosciutto di parma, tomato, basil, olive oil and vinegar on old fashioned hero. $10.95. SO GOOD….. But the menu is too big to cope with, and many of the items are essentially identical but for slight variations, so I've noticed that most people build their own sandwich rather than ordering off the menu.
Close to Columbia University main campus this place caters to all your bougie market needs. They hold a lot of major brands for snacks and also have a salad, sandwich, and dessert counter.
I'll start with dessert because that's the way the world should be — I tried a slice of their raspberry cheesecake (huge slice for ~2$). Wow. YUM. Large slice and decadent. I recommend.
Later I tried their Brie and turkey sandwich. Good Brie, turkey, and bread with mustard. It's a pricey sandwich but it's filling and good ingredients. The staff is fast.
They take cards but they have a minimum.
I MUST give Milano 5 stars, because the seeds of my Yelp career began here. Milano Market inspired me to start writing comically long-winded culinary reviews a mere three years ago, and it is because the sandwiches here are truly magical. After biting into my first Milano sandiwch, I decided to embark on a "quest" to try every Milano signature sandwich (there are 73 in total) whilst in my junior year of college. While I only got through 23 during my time at Columbia, I can still pick up where I left off anytime (as I should – I still have my chipotle/cream cheese/mustard- stained Master Menu stowed away somewhere). I rated the sandwiches on a scale from 1-10 and tried some of the oddest ones first. Of the one's I've tried, here are my recommendations:
-No. 38: Buffalo Chicken with pesto cream cheese, avocado, on toasted tomato focaccia
-No. 45: 45. Jambon De Paris Ham brie, tomato, red onion and honey dijon mustard
-No. 9: Roast beef w/ horseradish cheddar, sauteed onions, tomato, chipotle on toasted focaccia
-No. 43: Cuban: roast pork, ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, Dijon mustard
More notes about Milano:
-This place has it all. The sandwiches are obviously the highlight for me, but they have a superb gourmet prepared foods counter as well. They specialize in Italian food, but there's also a sushi counter (with decent sushi, I might add – at least from a college student's perspective). To the right of the sandwich station is a fully-stocked salad bar. The motto here should be "Size Matters". HUGE sandwiches and equally huge salads. So while Milano Market is a bit pricey, you can make several meals out of a sandwich or salad, so in the end, it's worth it.
-They have Diet Dr. Brown's Cream Soda, which is my all-time favorite soda. A few years removed from college and I still remember that.
-The guys who work at the sandwich counter are awesome. I don't know if Milano has changed hands since I stopped going there frequently, but I can't imagine that they've hired all new employees. Always a fun time talking to them.
-Finally, I'd like to note that you don't need to get their signature sandwiches (or any of their other sandwiches for that matter – they have hot sandwiches, veggie sandwiches, etc. etc., as well) in their entirety. By that I mean you can of course specialize your order. I just chose to order the sandwiches as is for the authenticity of my quest.