Roast Kitchen
“Although our estimated delivery time was 40 minutes, our food was delivered in under 30 minutes!”
“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.”
“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.”
Roast Kitchen
Delivery: Yes
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Accepts Apple Pay: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Good for Kids: Yes
Caters: Yes
Price range.
$$ Price range $11-30
7 reviews
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Are you still waiting in a long line for 30+ minutes during lunch time? Go check your smartphone to download the Roast Chicken app and order online for pick up! (*only available for iphone, not for android. make sure to order with your colleagues if you are an android user!) I often order a hot bowl via the mobile app during peak lunch time. You can stop by to pick up your order 10-15 minutes after you place it. Smart move to save your time and energy.
Food isn't bad. Service is rushed. The menu isn't clear and the people who work there only want to move on to the next order chipotle style. If it's your first time in the place, they don't have the patience for you. Even if there is nobody else on the line, staff doesn't take the time to explain how it all works. They get annoyed if you ask. For a newbie, it's frustrating.
The decor is very basic and there are plenty of tables. Every Time I went I was able to grab a seat.
Its a pretty decent healthy food concept. I just wish menu and prices were clearer or that someone would at least care enough to explain to me how it all works.
Good luck.
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.
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 53rd 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.
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.
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.