Hummingbird Express

That weird owner isn’t there. The food is not even made here, and the guy behind the counter doesn’t speak English.

Terrible. Only takes cash. Soggy (crappy) wheat bread. Tuna «melt» has no cheese. Revolting amounts of mayo and mustard. Poorly configured sandwich.
Go elsewhere.

This is my favorite place on the North side of campus. The sandwiches are delicious, but my favorites are the chicken and kefta wraps. Fresh ingredients, made-​to-​order, and extremely tasty.

Good to-​go Gyro .
Came for really early fast lunch, owner seemed upset with the workers that they opened before 11am. They took a while to make my lamb and beef gyro, but they probably were still busy setting up. Keep in mind their is no place to sit and unfortunately it is cash only. Not the best gyro I’ve had, but it was fresh, comes with pickles, and not terrible value for ~$ 7.

This is my favorite place at North Gate. Everything is fresh and I always feel so welcomed when I come in.

Ahhhhh, the newly reinvented Hummingbird Express. Meat slowly roasting on a spit right in the front window is genius marketing… it, along with the flyer I received on campus, got me in there.
Went in for a late lunch. Not crowded, but it’s so tiny that even with one other person inside I felt cramped. The three guys working there were really friendly and enthusiastic, hollering at each other in what I guessed was their native tongue, I love to see that. The menu has quite a few types of kabobs and freshly made spreads/​salads plus some meat pies and desserts. I ordered the lamb burrito hoping to get some meat off of the spit, instead they took it from a side container and threw it on a grill with oil. I say burrito because it was wrapped in a tortilla as opposed to lavash bread or a pita, but I gotta say that I preferred the taste and texture of the tortilla over lavash or pita which tend to be dry.
The wrap itself was fairly tasty but a bit greasy, likely due to the double cooking process. It had some mixed greens, cukes and tomato all dressed in a vinaigrette with some yogurt sauce, grilled onions and meat. This thing was packed with flavor. The $ 10 price, with a drink, puts it at the high end of the price spectrum for a quick lunch.
One small table outside crammed next to Nefelis tables so plan on taking out. I think a name change is needed to better reflect the new menu… but 4 stars to hummingbird express for filling the middle eastern void on Northside.
One guy offered some free dessert, I’m not a huge sweets so I passed but it was a nice gesture.
Cash Only.

I’m writing this review just as I finished a $ 3.75 regular turkey sandwich from hummingbird express. It was delicious. I really don’t understand why other people dislike it so much or not like it at all. I really would rather go here for lunch (for a sandwich) than go to Stuffed Inn and wait 30 minutes for a sandwich that’s about $ 5.00 and not at all better. The «special» sandwiches at Hummingbird are about $ 4.25 which probably include like avocado and more meats and stuff like that. which is totally good if you’re super hungry, and still, cheaper than Stuffed Inn. Oh, you can also get 2 salads at $ 1 more if you get the «special» sandwiches. So you get like 1.5 meals (sandwich and a little bit of salad, save the rest of the salads for later.) for the price of about $ 5.50? I might be a little off. but probably only so by a quarter or two. So cheap!
Maybe I prefer these sandwiches because I like that vinegar-​y taste… what is that taste… bitter? It’s not bitter but the mustard definitely tastes a little different but for me, on the good side. I’m pretty sure their salads are like that too… I don’t know but I love vinegar and I love the sandwiches here. They taste fresh and clean… do you know what I mean? It doesn’t taste at all soggy or messy but crisp… The sourdough bread is really thick and chewy too. There are plenty of different kinds of salad – including a fruit one, a mayonnaise based salad, and like 3 other kinds.
I was actually a little hesitant to try it first as well because it just doesn’t look that big, they only take cash, and I didn’t see anyone there. Now, I don’t mind the size (I can eat at my desk), I save my cash to eat here, and I’m glad I don’t have to wait in a super long line (seriously though, in and out in less than 5 minutes)!!!

Taste: 3
Value: 5
Service: 4
I come here pretty often, and they have okay sandwiches. For only $ 6.25 for a sandwich and two side salads, it’s pretty cheap. Usually get the turkey avocado or the Bear sandwich on sourdough or dutch crunch. Last time, I asked for easy on the mustard, which they screwed up, so I wasn’t too happy about that.

Having eaten at most of the other places on Euclid, this was an intriguing place to try out for lunch, although never hearing about this place before was a bad sign. Sometimes it’s better to not let your curiosity get the better of you.
The location is small, there only being a counter over which you order and get your food. There’s no seating, meaning you have to find your own place to eat your food.
For lunch, I went with the sandwich/​salad combo, which comes in at $ 5.25 (tax included) for regular sandwiches and $ 6.25 (?) for deluxe sandwiches, which I would guess are the same size but have better ingredients. I ordered the roast beef sandwich and got a pasta salad with small, curled pasta and some kind of vegetable salad (no lettuce).
The sandwiches seem to be the same thing with different choices of meat. There’s a decent selection of bread; I went with wheat, which was soft but also seemed processed and not 100% wheat. It comes with a tomato, some dressing, and bean sprouts, I think. A light, if unspectacular, sandwich.
The salads were disappointing. The flavoring (vinegar-​based?) was too strong on both them, and the ingredients of the vegetable salad, which included bell peppers, celery, and broccoli, didn’t coalesce. The fruit salad might have been a better choice.
Service was fast and nice; there was a lady handling the register and the salads, and a man making the sandwiches.
If you go with just the sandwich, you might be moderately satisfied with the quality, but I would be wary of the salads.

I’ve eaten here once and the sandwiches here are OK but there is only one person staffing the place and he has to go between making the sandwich and handling money, with no gloves and no hand washing. Paper money carries myriad bacteria and viruses! That’s just gross, and probably a health code violation. The guy running this place should provide gloves so that his staff can prepare food safely.

I’m not sure why this place is rated so low. Granted, I’ve only been here once… I didn’t see anything I wanted on the menu, so I asked for a bagel with hummus, so they did it, and added tomatoes, cukes and sprouts for free. The coffee I got was from a warming pot, but it was fine. The people were both really nice, too. It’s a tiny hole in the wall, but I’d totally come back.

It seems like the draw here is the combo meal, which is a sandwich with two salads of your choice for about $ 5. It’s almost not worth it though because I’ve tried four of the salads so far and haven’t enjoyed any of them. The potato salad, for instance, is very heavily flavored by relish. The sandwiches are okay, though, and it’s convenient if you’re in the area and aren’t particular.

I went here today thinking it was the Hummingbird Café (wanted to go there because of its good Unilocal ratings)…don’t get confused, you’ll see the Hummingbird Express first, keep going up the street and you’ll reach the Hummingbird Café.
Anyway, as far as the food goes I was not impressed. I ordered a vegetarian sandwich called «Fufu Vegetarian,» and it was surprisingly… not that good. I didn’t even think a vegetarian sandwich with sprouts, some avocado, lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers could be messed up. If you’re looking for such a sandwich, subway is a much better (and cheaper) place to go. I would have given this place one star, but the owner was very nice and I don’t know how good their non vegetarian dishes are… maybe vegetarian dishes aren’t their speciality?

Pretty similar to the normal hummingbird café, but more focused on sandwiches and quick lunches. Good selection of chips and drinks.
I kind of prefer the other location (a whole 20 feet /​5 storefronts away). I’ve always liked hummingbird for their smoothies more than their food, so the old location is still superior.
Nice to see another food place opening up — food on Euclid is generally so mediocre that any new competition couldn’t hurt.