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The Bread Factory Cafe
Rating Details »
Neighborhoods: Theater District, Hell's Kitchen
935 8th Ave Frnt
New York, NY 10019
(212) 586-2221
935 8th Ave Frnt
New York, NY 10019
(212) 586-2221
- Nearest Transit:
-
59th St-Columbus Circle (1, A, C, B, D)
57th St-7th Ave (N, Q, R, W)
7th Ave-53rd St (B, D, E)
- Price Range:
-
$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
17 reviews for The Bread Factory Cafe
A perfectly fine place for lunch, though there's no reason to seek it out.
I started coming here after being disappointed by Hale and Hearty Soups down the block. By comparison, the soups here (and let me say up front that's all I've had from here) are quite good. I've had the crab/lobster bisque a couple of times, and it was enjoyable, especially if you have a bagel or something to dip in it (by the way, the bagel or other piece of bread is free with your soup, though that's strangely not advertised that I've noticed). I tried the vegetable soup once as well, and that too was perfectly acceptable.
Still, this place is nothing to write home about, and seating can be a bit scarce during the lunch rush, though people are often in and out pretty quickly, so you can likely manage to find a seat if you exercise a little patience.
On my usual "what should I eat with the 30 minutes I have" Sunday night romp, I decided to finally try this place out on recommendation of a friend at work.
I boogied on down and entered The Bread Factory, completely expecting to be surrounded by a bustling, well, bread factory. I expected delicious aromas of freshly baked wonders delicately embracing my nostrils. I flirted with the idea of a French baker shouting commands to his flour covered staff.
I didn't get this. Any of it.
Instead I saw a sign outside advertising ANY sandwich ANY bread $5.50. Fine, that'll do. I get inside and see the albeit vast menu of different food stuffs. The sandwich menu confused me as there were several prices, both above and below $5.50. Nothin' AT $5.50. So I ask the dude about it and he says "yeah what kind do you want?" I say turkey on wheat, lettuce, tomato, salt pepper. Standard easy quick.
Ok here's the thing. I know it's a lot to ask, but if I'm PAYING for a sandwich, it NEEDS to look better than what I'd make at home. This was rather pathetic. Especially having devoured a sandwich near Shea D's place a couple weeks ago that was MUCH bigger/tastier/cheaper.
I know I can't say a lot about how it tasted, since I asked for a rather simple sandwich, but rergardless, it was just ok. I swear school kids get better packed sandwiches that what I had. If it was maybe $2.50 or $3, sure I'd call it acceptable. But for nearly $6? What. A. Joke. So much for that!
Last time I was working in New York, my colleagues decided to sleep in before another night of working late. I'm usually an early bird so set out in search of some sustenance.
I wandered into the Bread Factory and noticed that they had oatmeal made without dairy. Cool, I ordered a cup and then went to order a coffee as well. Without looking at the menu I asked the girl behind the counter whether they made americanos. She said "sure, no problem."
Next thing I knew, some other chick that works at the place is getting up in our faces almost shouting, rudely, that it's "illegal" to order things not on the menu, and what the hell was the girl doing making my drink. She kept harping on the "illegal" order I'd placed (seriously, illegal is the word choice?), while the gal placing my order tried to get her to chill out.
I finally paid my $7 and change (yup, the price for bland oatmeal, coffee, and getting reamed by some counter girl with nothing better to do). Yeah, no thanks I won't ever go back. Breakfast was ok, but for $7 I can do without the side of attitude.
There were several things I did not appreciate about my Bread Factory experience:
*I ordered a salad with baby shrimp. The shrimp were on ice. I was musing to myself about how pleasant it was to have ice-cold shrimp in my salad when I uncovered a giant chunk of ice. One I could have excused, but there were at least three more! Ick.
*Caeser dressing is not the same as ranch dressing. You'd think that would be kindergarten-level at the salad making school.
*At a place called the Bread Factory, woudn't you expect to get some good bread with your meal? A nice crusty baguette at least, or a hearty rye? Not a Pillsbury dinner roll?
*Charging 75 cents for a dixie cup of water is a bit annoying. Charging 75 cents for a dixie cup of ice, whereupon one must ask for the water separately (apparently?), is just obnoxious.
I have to admit I didn't try any of the baked goodies or desserts, and they did look tasty. People seemed to be frequenting the pastry counter more than the salad/sandwich/pizza counter so maybe that's the draw here. Shrug.
I work around the cornor so i'm a frequent customer, bc it is close. During lunch its always crowded. The make your own pasta is really good. Pizza and garlic knots are good. The ahmond pastry is delicious. Only problem is it is expensive. $2.18 for a 20 oz. but i guess because its the tourist area.
Eeeh... Filled with tourists (and I was one) who were rude (which I wasn't) and had no sort of queue etiquette.
Not impressed by the long wait. Not impressed by the fact that I had to scrounge up an extra chair for my table since a group of five midwesterners had one in their ranks sit down before ordering and commandeer chairs from all the tables surrounding theirs. Not impressed by the ineffectual counter service that seemed disconcertingly concessionary to queue barging and general mayhem. Not really all that impressed by my bagel in the end or the menu offerings.
I knew there was a reason I generally avoided Midtown.
This place is a bad joke. The bread based offerings run form bad to mediocre, with some stale pizza thrown in the middle.
It would have been better if they decided to embrace the factory side of their name more than the bread side, and served up hot lead pipe sandwiches and industrial waste smoothies. At least then you would have eaten something worth remembering.
My company ordered several large pizza pies to be delivered for a mandatory staff meeting although I've never dined in. Since I have not dined in, I will not comment on the service.
The pizza order was messed up, as we did not receive the correct order, thus four stars. The quality of the pizza is just average. They did give condiments, extra napkins, and paper plates.
This place is great!!! Its open 24 hours!!! I'm from California, so this was amazing for me! The pizza is delicious, the desserts are delicious... the staff is super nice. Very helpful, very friendly, and very funny. I'm definitely coming back here.
Seamless Web I love thee!
This place that makes ok breads(the Challah and 7grain are really good), Muffins, and cakes also is 'kick-ass' as far as delivering on time and getting orders correctly.
I work in the 'nabe' at night, and through the convenience of 'Seamless Web', I fell in love with a '2 Egg white w/ Veggies on 7 grain bread sandwich.'
Even if its 4am, these guys never fail. My Espresso or Cappuccino arrives Hot as hell!
Kudos to the delivery guys who do a better job than the USPS, delivering in snow, hail or sleet.
Thank you gentlemen, for never f'ing up my order.
Bread Factory, you ROCK!
I went to the Bread Factory Cafe assuming it would be a bread-baking haven. So I was quite surprised to walk in and not even smell baking bread or pastries or any of the delights I would expect a place with this name to showcase.
Nevertheless, I ponied up to the counter and ordered a hot pastrami sandwich. Now, coming from California, I expect this sandwich to kick the ass of any I've had back home, particularly at a chain such as, say, Max's Opera Cafe. Unfortunately, the bread wasn't that great, there was too much mustard killing the natural flavor of the pastrami (which was lean - I'll grant them that), and the cheese wasn't melted enough, nor did it have much taste.
Disappointing.
These folks have helped me in many a birthday pinches, hence, I have nothing but high regards for their services and quality cakes. Truth be told, I don't enjoy their breakfast items much as a lot of it is rather bland, uninspired, and often dry at times. Thus, I've learned to avoid virtually everything except their ability to deliver cakes in a timely fashion. They have come through several times during desperate situations and the prices are quite reasonable ($19.95 for a Strawberry Shortcake for 8, etc.)
Service has been friendly here each time and I have little to complain about. The delivery times are super fast and they are willing to work around the clock to finish last minute cakes.
The coffee was good and hot, the fruit salad was passable but the breakfast pastries were pretty narsty. I had a blueberry danish from there this morning. The pastry was dry and the blueberry filling tasted straight outta Comstock (canned pie filling). The random addition of walnuts and raisins to the pastry part was odd, and not in a good way.
Despite my love for all things baked and sweet, I couldn't stomach more than a few bites.
I'm gonna save my tummy space for goodies at Le Pain Quotidien later!
Good pastries. Picked up a bunch of stuff here, from cannolis (so so) to chocolate mousse mice (yum) to chocolate mousse baskets with fresh fruit (absolutely awesome, made me consider giving it 4 stars). Also got cookies and rugeleh...not the best, but I wasn't expecting much either. Overall, a little pricey for a chain, but some good stuff.
Aw, and I was excited to try this place. Don't get the cream of broccoli soup.
I think I ate here once (minimally) per day, during my latest 5 day stay in NY. The bagels here are just what NY bagels are supposed to be. I ate the tiramisu, cheesecake, Oreo cake, almond cookies, peanut butter cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and several slices of pizza. The ONLY thing that disappointed me was the Oreo cake. It was not moist- it was wet and dry and did not taste at all like Oreos. Everything else was so fantastic that I had to really talk myself out of buying extra cake and pizza just to rub them all over myself.
For what it is, I think it does a pretty good job. To clarify, it's much less of a bakery than I expected. They have good salads, sandwiches and pizza. Their breakfast items are also quite good.
