cafe 45

I work in the area, so I come here now and again. While the guys who cook breakfast are all great, the ladies behind the cash register are not! I like my iced coffee with light ice and I never had any trouble ordering this drink anywhere else, but here, the woman behind the counter talked down to me as if I didn’t know what I was talking about! When I insisted, she gave me a scowl face. Then the other day I wanted to get an iced latte. The lady behind the counter did not know what a latte is! C’mon know what you are selling and how to make it! Oh, and if you are going to customize your breakfast sandwich (I ordered egg white, turkey sausage on a roll), be prepared to pay a lot! They charge for each ingredient, where in other delis they have one price for a breakfast sandwich no matter what you want in it and egg whites are $ 1 extra. Not worth spending my money here.

This review is mainly for the service. I used to go here all the time for breakfast and sometimes lunch. The guys that prepare the food are nice however the lady at the register is nasty. I gave her three chances thinking maybe she was having a bad day during my prior visits. Once she told me off for putting my sandwich on the candies-​ok I understand. The second time she was plain rude and the third time she yelled at me for packing my own stuff while she just stood there. I had an orange juice and one other thing along with my coffee from Starbucks next door. Did she really expect me to just carrying everything by putting it in my pockets?
I then took it upon myself to bag my stuff and she yelled at me for taking too many bags.
You lost a customer, sorry.

This is my breakfast spot. The guys are great cooks, The two ladies at the register are super nice to me and they have the best udon soup EVER!!!

Grilled chicken is never dry and I have yet to run into a customer line. Average pricing is fair and there’s plenty of mezzanine seating.

Ok, so this is your standard Midtown Deli owned by Koreans, but serving American Salads & Buffet options and Japanese Udon & Sushi. Needless to say, you don’t come here for exceptional and tasty food, but rather edible lunch food at a decent price. Food is nothing to write home about, but not terrible either, just ok in my opinion.
So here’s my review for:
Salads: meh, go to Free Foods a few doors down instead. It’s more expensive, but the quality is 10x, yes 10x, better. If you get a salad here at Café 45, it’s cause you can’t afford to spend an extra $ 4 for better quality vegetables, or you’re just down right cheap.
Buffet: my Life Motto which has served me well has been to «Never Eat from a Buffet and Never Go on a Cruise». They basically go hand-in-hand…lots of ill-​mannered people touching & sneezing on everything, increasing the chance I contract the Norovirus… pass.
Sushi: actually not bad, even though it’s essentially fake sushi, being prepared by a Korean guy who I see constantly chain smoking outside the storefront — otherwise known as «cigarette sushi» at my work. Not the best name for a sushi spot, but look, I’ve been to plenty of 5-​star sushi spots in the city, as well as in the Tokyo fish market, but given the horrendous sushi options in the neighborhood (Azusa, Café Zaiya, etc.), I’ve resorted to eating at the «White Castle of Sushi» — at least it’s edible and I haven’t gotten sick (yet), and cheap — $ 12 for 4 large salmon sushi pieces and a sushi avocado roll.
Udon and Stir Fry: actually very good noodles, especially in the winter time, and the broth has a good flavor and good additions (beef, chicken, shrimp, etc). This is what you come for, don’t bother with anything else, unless you need a sushi fix, which like I said, is not bad.
So, come here for the Udon, Stir Fry or Sushi (if you have to), as well as any other convenience store items you might need, but don’t come here expecting to be blown away or saying, «that was amazing, I’m coming back again»…more like, «that wasn’t bad, I guess I could do it again sometime if I have to».

2 stars ONLY because my BLT was delicious. Service from the cooks was good, but going to the register to the Asian lady (who I believe manages the place) is a complete out of control person. She gets snippy with customers all the time. My co-​workers order from there because the food is good and its around the corner from our building, but the downside is seeing her at the register. Today I ordered the BLT and she was on the phone from when I walked in to order my sandwich till when it was ready for purchase. I waited a moment then said, «miss I have to make a purchase please» I needed to get back to work. 2 other customers just waited… If she knew she was going to be busy she should find some help from her staff or leave a that phone call for another time when she has help. She then got off the phone about 1 minute after and said, «Did u not see I was on the phone?» I said, «Did u not see I had to make a purchase and go back to work?» Then she kept going on like she was upset. I then said, «lady you need to calm down and take a chill pill because everyone knows how you get» She was shocked I said it, but someone has got to tell her the truth if others haven’t already did. I paid, said thank you, and I left. Like I said… good food but unfortunate management.

I’d come here again because of the nice seating up here– convenient location– and the variety.
I’d describe it as, «cafeteria food». Mediocre– but not terrible.
The sushi was good– the udon noodles were NOT. I suspect it’s because I came here around 7pm. Maybe if I came for lunch instead– the food would have been more fresh.

Real good UDON for $ 9.
You get 32OZ with a TON of mix-​ins, and can choose to get it with or without spice.
The broth with spice is delicious.
Credit card minimum $ 5

I can’t complain about this place. It gets the job done.
This place is not much to look at, but there is tons of seating upstairs and their wifi usually works. I am loyal to the chicken caesar wrap and the dollar chips (back towards the buffet bar). I work i the area and it a perfect grab-​and-​go lunch/​dinner place.
Check it out.

«Context is everything»
Ok, this isn’t my favorite restaurant in the city, but it’s a solid grab-​your-​lunch and take back-​to-​the-​office.
Tips:
*Stay away from the buffet, like you should do anywhere in NYC
* Go for the Ramen, Udon or stir fry. They are cheap and good.
* Sushi is decent, but only a little better than average grocery store
* The ubiquitous mixed salad station is brought up a notch by offering more topping choices and are fresh.
* Sandwiches and grill items are made fresh and a little more flavorful than your typical midtown lunch spots.
Remember to bring your cash under $ 10

Hello Unilocalerz… stay away from this place. I’ve been eating at this place for over 3years… Breakfast, lunch and dinner. although it’s over priced as if it’s a 5 star restaurant I still find myself spending money there. I know everyone from the workers to the owner’s. I’ve even helped with a few catering events. My issue with this place is «Loyalty». When you have a faithful customer who spends money at least 3 times a day a minimum of $ 10 each purchase, and you fail to acknowledge or even thank me for my purchases. Today I was over charged, I don’t know why I was surprised but $ 16 for a piece of salmon the size of my state ID. no I’m not exaggerating, the woman at the register claim the price of the salmon was raised to $ 11.99 per lb. she could clearly see how big it was and it did not weigh 1lb. she knew it wasn’t right, she then tried to keep me calm by deducting $ 2 off the price so that the other customers wouldn’t hear my complaint… I’ve seen tourist get charged prices like they were eating a gourmet meal. I ADVISE YOU TO STAY AWAY FROM Cafe45 located at 2 WEST45 STREET MANHATTAN NEW YORK. THEY ARE OVER PRICED AND DON’T VALUE THERE CUSTOMERS…

Not a bad lunch spot, I come here once or twice a week usually. They have wide variety of food, buffet style, udon station, and regular salad and sandwich station. They also serve sushi. They also have a dumpling section. Food is average priced $ 4.39 per pound. Average lunch normally runs me around $ 12 with a drink. Their sushi is a bit pricey, its decent but you get much more rice then fish.
Its kept clean also.
Over the years I have been here they did reduce the amount of buffet offerings, and they do change them up few times a week. Try to avoid on Mondays. Usually the selection isn’t good.
Decent amount of space to sit down and eat on top, free wifi is also available.

If you need a place to eat and are not sure what exactly to eat, you should come here; however — beware! This place is extremely overpriced and be mindful that the lady at the register rings you up so fast that you don’t even have time to even comprehend what you were charged for. I was just charged $ 20.00 for a small drink, a panini, and a bag of chips — simply outrageous.
The staff is definitely not friendly besides the men who are working in the sandwich shop. Over the buffet there is a man who watches you closely as if it is possible to put hot food in your pocket and walk out of the store.
Overall, the food is not bad. There are many options both in terms of sandwiches, breakfast food, drinks, chips, snacks, buffet, etc. and it seems as if you hit two pounds of food on your cheap plate before you even realize it (seems fishy to me…) And it is quite clean inside; however, the staff (and their seeming necessity to rush your service and seeming bothered by your presence at the counter to put your change away) and the over inflated prices makes me want to take my business elsewhere.
There are definitely much nicer cafes around; however, around this part of town and in general cafes of grand fare such as this one, you are bound to the same overpriced goods and unfriendly staff who don’t want to be there and only want your money. This is usually a stop-​and-​go kind of place for most business people or tourists in the area (which is touristy in general), so you honestly cannot expect much regarding the prices and service. It just always hits closer to home when it actually happens, though.
My suggestion: Only come here once in awhile and if you have no other choice (Ambrosia next door is a more decent, cheaper, viable option). It is much more worthwhile to spend your money at an establishment which truly makes good food and cares about your patronage.

Sure really good food stop. Two of our group in today. Nice selection and large selection. We very much enjoyed. Sat upstairs. Just right sample of New York

I used to be loyal to a similar place that had awesome chicken udon soup by my old job. Now that I have a new gig, I’ve been on the hunt for udon that’s just as tasty.
Didn’t get to try it here. That’s because they misheard me as saying ramen instead of udon. Pretty frustrating, but then again I didn’t send it back. I figured it would be a nice change of pace from my usual lunch.
To my dismay, the chicken is essentially boiled, making it flavorless. My last place used to grill the chicken so you’d get this nice hint of smokiness. I swear it makes the chicken more succulent too. This chicken was like gnawing on a really chewy piece of tofu. Yuck.
On top of that I asked for no spice but still ended up with a runny nose, burned lips and the sweats. The language barrier is certainly an issue here.
Perhaps the udon broth I love do much is fantastic, but the nasty chicken alone is not enough to come back and try it. Especially for $ 7.95 — I want something good.
I will however say their pre-​made sushi ($ 6.50 for something like a spicy tuna roll, $ 9.95 for a dragon roll) is pretty good, so I’ll continue to get that.

Yummy! And budget saving!!!
Keep ordering from them everyday for the office. Food is delicious and prices are very reasonable. LOVE their cuban panini!!! And its cute how their draw a smily face on my order box all the time:). I feel loved and appreciated as a customer. I order via seamless and was impressed how this place supports Food Tracking system and text you the order info and when its out for delivery. Very convenient!!!

Good quick food at a affordable price once you realize how much money you’ve spent while on vacation. I started searching Unilocal checking $ versus $$, $$$, $$$$ and looking for 4 stars minimum.
–We found our way to «café 45» and was not disappointed. I ordered spicy beef over noodles with a coke (great combo). Tasted good and my family seemed to like what they ordered which was different than mine.
–Funny thing, though, is the seating area in back (food is prepared and served from small window) is hot while the cavernous ordering area up front is almost too cold from the ac running. It would be nice if they vent some of that cool air to the dining area.
–This place seems totally Asian, but they play hip hop which is kind of odd to me, but ok.

It’s similar to the other delis around but it’s new and clean. Soups aren’t very good and salad bar is okay. Sushi, salads, and sandwiches are good.

Jack of All Trades, Master of None.
Face it, you’re not here to get a killer burger, top-​notch ramen or mind-​blowing falafel. You’re here because you’re hungry, in a hurry and can’t decide what you want, but you don’t want to go far to figure it out. Café 45, like most catch-​all «Cafes» catering to the working crowd, has a broad offering without really standing out in anything. Also, again like most «Cafes», the biggest appeal is its location; it’s right down the block from where I work. You won’t go out of your way for it, though. If you work in Midtown, and this particular place isn’t a block or two away, you probably have a place just like it nearby. That said, the food here isn’t terrible, it’s just A-​OK.

Café 45 is your typical Manhattan Deli (with seating upstairs). You’ll find your usual assortment of snacks, drinks, and living necessities. In addition to the norm they also have a large selection of real food. Sandwiches, sushi, and even ramen. I decided on this visit to try their beef ramen. As a ramen lover I cannot say that i expected too much. Setting my expectations to «realistic» i was not disappointed. The ramen was ok, especially for the portion I received.
The location is convenient, they have wifi (big plus), and the management is very very friendly. I was here for a board game meetup and they were super nice to me and the rest of the group. I would def recommend to stop in and patron their establishment.