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The Great American Health Bar
Rating Details »
Category: Restaurants [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Theater District, Hell's Kitchen35 W 57th St Frnt
New York, NY 10019
(212) 355-5177
- Nearest Transit:
-
50th St-8th Ave (C, E)
7th Ave-53rd St (B, D, E)
59th St-Columbus Circle (1, A, C, B, D)
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Groups:
- No
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- Yes
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Good for:
- Lunch
- Alcohol:
- None
21 reviews for The Great American Health Bar
I must say this place was pretty bad. The reason it gets two stars and not one is because I liked the The Health Bar Special smoothie. Everything else=bad.
I was in New York with my friend and it was really hot and we were starving. We saw this place, and the "health bar" aspect turned us on, so we decided to go in and try it. Healthy bar it was not. The place was packed (not really sure why) and it took 15 minutes to get a table. Ok, not so bad, considering New York is way too crowded. But, it took the same amount of time just to get our orders taken and double that to get our food. I got the The Greek Salad, and it wasn't exactly "healthy". It had super fattening dressing all over it, and it was served with a big basket of pita.
My words of wisdom to The Great American Health Bar? Change your name, get some decent service, and please, please, don't call yourself great.
Don't even bother coming to this diner...
The food is nasty and service is terrible! I came here with a good friend in hopes of relieving grief and much agita of violent turbulence that disrupted my life. We arrived at 8:35pm after searching for Nobu, as mentioned in the 2010 Zagat guide, yet it seemed to disappear on this street. Upon entering the hostess ushered us to a table which we settled but did not order as we were reviewing the menu, the waiter rudely and anxiously announce their closing for the night within half hour. Will half hour of their precious time, kill them for more business of clients patronizing their restaurant--especially in this economic meltdown of 2009?
At 8:35pm, they disappointedly do not serve breakfast... what kind of diner to not serve breakfast round the clock? Also, the price is way to ridiculously expensive for poor quality food. An omlette alone without any toppings or side dishes is a whopping $13.50! Any dodo can cook eggs any time of day or night which is not rocket science, but certainly not for $13.50 without any toppings or side dishes.
Totally not all that "Great American" and certainly not "American" as they don't live up to the standard of a American diner which is to serve breakfast at any given hour, literally any time of day or night. Does eating healthy imply bland and poor quality lacking taste combined with no tact and improper customer service? The staff must be either deaf or they really choose to ignore patrons as it was closing time which I've requested a business card FOUR times to each different person. Is a business card such a very difficult request for a patron to obtain?
Upon receiving the bill, we were given a VIP card for 10% discount after 4pm on the next visit. Who wants to return for one's bad cooking, bad prices, bad quality of food, and bad attitude of rude customer service?! Nothing so "great" about this diner!
I used to order almost every day from this spot when I worked close by. They make good pasta dishes.. particularly if you like mushrooms, try the three mushrooms and gemil- I still crave it sometimes. Their quesadilla's are more like wraps, not flat like you would normally see-- I like the one with portobello mushrooms, eggplant, and swiss. The taco salad is also good.. also good fruit shakes. However, I've never been inside the actual restaurant so I can't rate as accurately on the eat-in experience. And based on some of the negative reviews maybe I will keep it that way. The one thing I can say about service is that the deliveries were pretty slow-- BUT I think it's because they are popular for some reason,,, always super busy and packed... Overall, I think this place is a good Midtown *lunch spot,* not a 5 star restaurant....
I don't know, I like this place. I work a few blocks away and it's on my rotating list for take out or delivery. I've only had a few items off the menu but there are many more that sound good to me that I'd be willing to try.
The thing with this place is I'm not really sure how "healthy" everything is, so you just have to be a little careful if you're really trying not to eat any fat or anything.
The Taco Salad is delicious! and BIG! If you have portion control issues and are trying to lose weight, don't order this, otherwise it's really tasty and can last 2 meals. Sometimes I get it without the taco shell and sour cream to make it a little healthier. My coworkers used to joke that the taco shell is "whole wheat" so it's healthy, but whatever kind of wheat it is, it still seems fried....
The onion rings are delicious! But again, who knows if they're fried regularly or baked in some healthy way. These are good to split between like 3 or 4 people if you're trying to be healthy.
I remember not loving the falafel, but that was a long time ago and maybe it was cold by the time I ate it.
My other new dish is the curried eggwhite salad sandwich on a pita... I don't know how much fat is in the "curry" used on the egg whites, but it tastes a lot healthier than getting "egg salad" from a deli.
That's all!
I got take-out from here often when I worked a block away. Looking at all the negative reviews, I'm not sure if it's the "eat-in" experience that is bad but these guys make some great tasting Pasta. I love the Rigatoni Salmon.
I'm always up for a healthy option instead of my usually fat filled, carbohydrate packed lunches. I stopped in because I was working in the area, and ordered the curried egg white salad on whole wheat. When it arrived, it egg salad came slopped all over this mangy, stale bread. I ended up scraping the egg salad off the bread and just eating it that way. The house salad my sandwich came with wasn't very appetizing either. It consisted of the end pieces of the lettuce ( the ones you usually throw away) and I was supposed to scoop my own dressing out of this dirty dressing cup they leave on the table. No thanks. The only reason I chose two stars for this place was only because I had the sweetest waiter ever.
*Note-cash only!
Dirty vinaigrette container on the table? Gross.
Huge dirty bottle of olive oil and vinegar that is placed in front of you on the table when you ask for oil and vinegar instead? Gross.
Tomato soup that is obviously filled with artificial (read: unhealthy) ingredients? Groooss.
Service that makes you feel like an afterthought? No thanks.
As the Bizarro version of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator would say: "I WON'T BE BACK!"
Why why why? Why do people eat here? I don't get it. There must be a reason -- it's packed to the gills at mid-day. The food is ok, but nothing good enough to make me sit in a crowded room with harried waiters carrying trays over my head.
Their Veggie Chili and Brown Rice Quesadilla is pretty ok, though not at all a quesadilla. Closer to a toasted burrito than anything else (like Sue Z. said). I like all things toasted, so I thought this was pretty good. Next time out I got the veggie chili, thinking it'd be a close relative to the quesadilla it stars in. What I got was the fat ugly cousin -- an Exxon of an oil spill that eliminated any chance of the food having a taste. I like my heart attacks flavorful, thanks.
I've had two different salads there. Both were fine, but when I think about the fact that I could make it at home for 1/5 of the price, I'm left with a sour taste in my mouth.
Their chocolate chip cookie's ok and you get a large hunk of healthy-type bread with your order, which I like.
Bottom line: mostly not horrible, but still an unjustifiable waste of money in my opinion.
Dear Great American Health Bar (GAHB),
eh ra, your taco salad was pretty good. But if you're so healthy, you might want to consider your portion sizes. The salad rivals my Austin Powers bobblehead figure, and that is a monster, a randy beast.
You take too long for delivery. Its probably because you spend lots and lots of time making sure everything is clean, and that the falafel is carefully made. Which is was. And it was good, and it was pure. A little more salt or pizazz would have helped though.
The problem with health food places I feel is they don't put enough into it, and it ends up tasting uninteresting and underwhelming. I suggest Eva's on 8th street for health food and power food. Its good stuff. Oh the pump ain't so bad either.
The Great American Health Bar is neither great nor healthy.
The breakfast I had there was truly terrible: soggy tasteless French toast and super-sour orange juice. The lunch I had was bad too: soup where its just whatever they happened to throw in the pot. Real soup should be greater than the sum of its part. The dinner I had was fair - cheese ravioli - I suppose that's the only decent part of their menu.
As Elizabeth K. mentioned, it's not health food, just plain old fast-food/diner stuff with a misleading pitch.
I wouldn't say the staff is rude, but would say that the GAHB did make the business decision to hire cheap labor for service, and you get what you pay for.
Haven't been in a couple years but used to work just a few doors down. I rarely ate in, usually getting a soup to go. The bread is amazing, I often would get an extra slice. If you can go during passover, the matzo ball soup is delicious, otherwise the lentil or the pea was always good. Service can be so-so.
Had the baked potato with side salad and pea soup. Service was kind of slow but it was Sunday afternoon and not very busy. Judging from the other reviews I can see that my conflicted "What the?" moment is shared. I am not sure how this place is named Great American Health Bar. I mean the salad dressing was sitting on the table in a metal decanter usually used for milk. I found that weird and that can't be sanitary right? The potato was pretty great. Really good soup. But I could do this at home in my sleep. My husband also liked his food whatever that was. Waiter was a little annoyed with him because he couldn't decide how to have his potato. Anyway I may stop here again on a desperate afternoon and I have shopped myself beyond cohesion and delirium but won't miss it.
I enjoy the food from here, but they have one of the rudest delivery staffs that I have encountered.
Great salads.
I went there on a whim one day and boy was it good! We had soup, fries and the baked ziti...all amazing!
I see some bad reviews....Im dumbfounded...
This place exemplifies everything I hate about the corporate-riddled, tourist-congested zoo that is midtown west. The only reason my friend and I went in there was because we were in a rush and it was on the way. I had never been there before, but the word "health" in this joint's title gave me hope. Alas, it's as icky, creepy, overpriced as any old nasty diner. I had a 9 dollar (!) falafel sandwich. It was not terrible, but for that kind of money you expect it to ooze gold. To add to the creepiness of this place, a woman behind us started whispering in my ear about how the owner is always "lying that they don't take credit cards, but they have a credit card machine! I saw two people paying with a card!" Hope to never be back there again.
Still lots of variety and big portions. LOUD (bad acoustics & nousy staff and patrons).
1 Previous Review: Show all »
-
11/18/2005
Veggie (dairy) and kosher. I like, esp, soups and salads.Good food and prices. I haven't encountered… Read more »
Since i started working in the area, it's the nearest walkable healthier option for me to eat at that I know of. The sandwiches are what I'd stick to, i wouldn't have a salad there. Pricewise, it's more or less what you'd expect in midtown manhattan -- paid around $20 for two people. I'd still go back, but only until I find a better option for me to eat at.
The taco salad IS the best thing I have tried on the menu so far, and it COULD feed two people. Other dishes I've tried there tasted too healthy, almost inedible if you don't like your veggies tasteless. But, their frozen yoghurt is yummy!
My observant and not-so-observant Jewish friends and I, a Korean-American, regularly frequented this kosher and vegetarian diner-esque place run by Eastern Indians (only in NYC folks!). There's not a lot that's good here, but I was a big fan of the spinach "quesadilla," which is no way even arguably a quesadilla, but rather resembles a kind of baked "burrito." Sounds strange, but it's actually very good, even if the spinach clearly comes from one of those frozen packets. The spinach is combined with other filling -- a ratatouille kind of tomato sauce, peas, swiss cheese and ricotta -- rolled up in a whole wheat tortilla, and the whole thing is baked until the outside is browned and the cheese melting. It's delicious! I also always got a side of the "healthy" fries -- I have no idea what was healthy about them, but they were certainly excellent lightly spicy and crunchy curly fries.
It's a small place frequented only by locals. One of the few in midtown where you can actually hang out and you don't feel rushed to leave.
Health food lovers beware! Despite the name, the meals I received here were soaked in oil. Sure, they tasted good, but it defeated the purpose of getting a spinach burger if it was going to be fried and greasy! Dont pitch it as healthfood if it isnt!
Nothing at all to complain about! I've now been here twice, in one weekend. I stopped here for an early dinner before a movie. We had about 30 minutes before we had to BE there. And it was very quick. Each meal comes with a sizeable salad. I had an avocado wrap which was amazing and my friend had an eggplant pizza which was also amazing. Today I returned with a native New Yorker and she loved it because it looked like a diner, but was healthy. We split some good cajun fries, and I had the baked potato with chili and cheese. The chili wasn't very spicy, but the fries made up for that. She had pizza w/o cheese which she seemed to like. The service is fast, except not very attentive with the water. You pay at the counter, furthering the diner feel.
