Café Hestia

I have ordered a few Korean dishes for lunch from Café Hestia. First of all, the food tastes really good. Definitely better than a deli in midtown I used to go. And the portion is generous. The price is very reasonable too. Overall, great place to grub your lunch !! I highly recommend this place to anyone !!!

This place has the BEST kimchi fried rice (with spicy pork) I've ever had, and I grew up with a Korean mom. Seriously, I've tried to recreate it at home and I can't figure out how they do it! Seriously good asian food! Other than that the store is nice with a wide variety of food and plenty of cafeteria style seating. The food is on the pricier side but on par with the rest of FIDI, but the portions are worth two meals for a moderate eater like myself.

The service here was great. We came in about 10 minutes after breakfast and they still were able to make us our baconegg&cheese. Coffee is great and the ambiance is cozy.

Pretty good place. They have a hot buffet and salad bar, sushi place, and a lot of dessert options. Coffee is good. A lot of space to sit or you can take food with you. Decent price. I like this place

Hestia Café is a popular spot in the Financial District where one can find Korean Soondubu stew. This meal consists of a tofu-based broth with a variety of vegetables and spices. The stew is prepared with soft tofu as the base, combined with ingredients like zucchini, mushrooms, onions, and garlic, simmered in a flavorful stock. Protein options such as beef, seafood, or chicken can be included, and the dish is typically finished with an egg cracked directly into the hot stew. The serving size is substantial. The stew is accompanied by rice, which complements the broth. The meal is effective for providing warmth, making it suitable for individuals seeking comfort on colder days or when unwell. Hestia Café also offers seating near the entrance, making it a suitable location for people-watching. The visibility of the preparation process, combined with the availability of Korean dishes in this neighborhood, sets this spot apart. Gracias mi bro por la sopa 🇲🇽🇲🇽 viva México carbones

My friends and I came and we all thought it was pretty good!

The food is EXCELLENT! The staff is GREAT, the seating and setting is comfortable! There's so much to choose from everyday! Breakfast, lunch... they never disappoint!

Hoiping Ngo

Hestia Café is a popular spot in the Financial District where one can find Korean Soondubu stew. This meal consists of a tofu-based broth with a variety of vegetables and spices. The stew is prepared with soft tofu as the base, combined with ingredients like zucchini, mushrooms, onions, and garlic, simmered in a flavorful stock. Protein options such as beef, seafood, or chicken can be included, and the dish is typically finished with an egg cracked directly into the hot stew. The serving size is substantial. The stew is accompanied by rice, which complements the broth. The meal is effective for providing warmth, making it suitable for individuals seeking comfort on colder days or when unwell. Hestia Café also offers seating near the entrance, making it a suitable location for people-watching. The visibility of the preparation process, combined with the availability of Korean dishes in this neighborhood, sets this spot apart. Gracias mi bro por la sopa 🇲🇽🇲🇽 viva México carbones

Galyna Shulimova

Pretty good place. They have a hot buffet and salad bar, sushi place, and a lot of dessert options. Coffee is good. A lot of space to sit or you can take food with you. Decent price. I like this place

Anderson

My friends and I came and we all thought it was pretty good!

Ray Aiken

The food is EXCELLENT! The staff is GREAT, the seating and setting is comfortable! There's so much to choose from everyday! Breakfast, lunch... they never disappoint!

This place is great, and easily one of my favourite spots in NYC As a tourist I always come back here because of the sheer selection of what’s on offer! I normally get a a BEC bagel, with some fruit, nuts and other snacks in the morning, and while I’m there always see the staff getting ready for the Wall Street lunch rush, great selection of deli meats, Chinese food, Mexican street food, there is literally everything there in a takeaway box. Always clean and staff are friendly If I worked nearby I’d be here every day!

Will A

This place is great, and easily one of my favourite spots in NYC As a tourist I always come back here because of the sheer selection of what’s on offer! I normally get a a BEC bagel, with some fruit, nuts and other snacks in the morning, and while I’m there always see the staff getting ready for the Wall Street lunch rush, great selection of deli meats, Chinese food, Mexican street food, there is literally everything there in a takeaway box. Always clean and staff are friendly If I worked nearby I’d be here every day!

4.5 stars. Good food and service. It is difficult to get freshly made hot meals in the city that appeal to a wide demographic.

Let's talk about that Korean style burger goodness. The ramen was bland. However, they need to know what spicy is because I requested spicy ramen and it turned out bland.

Wide selection and variety, the pre-cooked food is actually pretty good. Everything is just a bit too expensive but that is typical in the area. They just opened so hopefully they can fix that. hours are 6am to 8pm

I was very impress with this Cafe. It was very clean, and arranged in a way where you can order whatever type food you have taste for, such as breakfast, or pasta, sandwich or Burger maybe Chinese which was great. There is a dining area where you can sit and enjoy your meal. Loved this place. The ONLY thing I don't like is....they allow people to bring there animals, dogs .... I saw one woman holding her dog over the food buffet. That did not sit to well with me.

Been here twice for quick ‘home cooked’ meals. The burger was decent but the kimchi rice was better. Generous portions at great value. Will try other dishes next time!

- Pasta is Excellent. Served hot. - Service wise very slow. Only one person to make food for a booth on Sundays. Expect 15 mins for your food. - Management should do better in organizing the Menu. Very confusing to understand what is for Breakfast and Lunch. They can easily extend Breakfast Menu to till lunch hours.

Marion

Been here twice for quick ‘home cooked’ meals. The burger was decent but the kimchi rice was better. Generous portions at great value. Will try other dishes next time!

Sai K

- Pasta is Excellent. Served hot. - Service wise very slow. Only one person to make food for a booth on Sundays. Expect 15 mins for your food. - Management should do better in organizing the Menu. Very confusing to understand what is for Breakfast and Lunch. They can easily extend Breakfast Menu to till lunch hours.

This place has everything from hot buffet, to salad station, to korean food to paninis. The only issue is the line to pay can get crazy long. The best snack selection i've ever seen

I am a regular customer at your Maiden Lane store. For years the I have enjoyed the variety and freshness of food, the neatness of the store and above all, the staff is consistently courteous and professional. Some of your customers were also referred by me. However yesterday at approx. 1:00pm I had the displeasure of watching the most unprofessional and insensitive interaction between the Asian cashier; the tall gentleman with glasses and a boy (minor approx. 12 years old). The boy was obviously Special Needs. The boys handicap was clearly obvious to other customers as well, however this cashier's conduct was relentlessly rude, disrespectful and demeaning to the minor, with total lack of any emphaty. Courteous and professional customer service is a right that ALL of your customers must enjoy. This must NOT exclude those with Special Needs. I strongly recommend that your establishment include Sensitivity Training for staff to address this gap

Judith L. Colon

This place has everything from hot buffet, to salad station, to korean food to paninis. The only issue is the line to pay can get crazy long. The best snack selection i've ever seen

Slim Pickens for buffets in lower Manhattan these days. I like the place but the "B" restaurant rating always gives me pause.

I had a salmon bagel 🥯 which was pretty filling. They were very generous with smoke salmon. My colleague likes this place for it's hot food. It seemed alright. It's a typical lunch place , good for value.

It was hard to give my order when I'm having to yell over the counter and the employee couldn’t hear me. The bagel that I got was pretty good.

Porsche Nguyen

It was hard to give my order when I'm having to yell over the counter and the employee couldn’t hear me. The bagel that I got was pretty good.

I didn’t expect much from this place but burgers and fries which we ordered with my friend today here…didn’t cost even a half of the price…we didn’t even finish our fries to be honest. They didn’t put enough meat, sauce, instead they put like whole onion in it (and it was not tasty at all)…:( But my gf’s Coobb salad was pretty good, portion and taste was good.

Nice place, clean, friendly staff, huge menu. Unfortunately everything I ordered they were out of, like plain bagels and plain cream cheese. There is no shortage of breakfast sandwiches in lower Manhattan and this place is definitely not one of the better places. Besides messing up the order and reassembling it. The bread seemed stall.

When I first came I liked it enjoyed it but then first I had came just to get halal food the lady at the register with glasses was not trying to take my money kept saying for me to use Apple Pay when I definitely have cash only and kept giving dirty looks and talked bout it in a different language looking at the money then me…I order my juices and I always get extras and it’s 1.50 extra each nun new the man did it with no problem then I come again next day he looks at me and laughs and say it’s expensive he can’t do it I said you did the other day what are you talking bout like make my juice he like you sure cause that’s a lot of money it was only $17 he made it seem as if it was $30 I don’t wanna go back to them again because they need to learn to have manners and be professional

Came to try the “uptown egg special” on their menu online. Going in to order, nobody working there had heard of it. So I ended up walking out of the way and spending double for a breakfast special that you can get for $7 if you order online to pickup downtown? Annoying

Jessica Cheung

Came to try the “uptown egg special” on their menu online. Going in to order, nobody working there had heard of it. So I ended up walking out of the way and spending double for a breakfast special that you can get for $7 if you order online to pickup downtown? Annoying

Used to be good. Seafood soondubu was bland with two pieces of shrimp and imitation crab. Not even a mild spicy.. there was zero seasoning... The soup color was of a light orange. It used to be red. Beef fried rice was supremely bland. A waste of calories. Quality check your line cooks. Unfortunately was the worst Korean dish I've ever had. Genuinely upsetting.

Young C

Used to be good. Seafood soondubu was bland with two pieces of shrimp and imitation crab. Not even a mild spicy.. there was zero seasoning... The soup color was of a light orange. It used to be red. Beef fried rice was supremely bland. A waste of calories. Quality check your line cooks. Unfortunately was the worst Korean dish I've ever had. Genuinely upsetting.

The worse delivery service ever!!!! I ordered 3 times from them, and all 3 times my order got messed up.I ordered Kimchi rice with specific instructions of what I DID NOT Want so they decided to change my order again, and AGAIN THEY MESSED IT UP. I spoke to a manager and the nerve of him to tell me that the order comes with onions (so was I force to eat it because it comes with it) like what sense does that even make. I told him no onions and I want my egg yolk soft, what I got was 2 over cooked eggs and onions after I gave them instructions of what I want. Their delivery service is really bad and the manager doesn't deserve to have his title if he is going to put blame on the customer and not correct his staff. ...BEWARE OF THE DECEPTION OK. AS STATED FROM THE OWNER AS THEY MENTIONED THAT KIMCHI RICE DOESN'T COME WITH ONIONS IS A COMPLETE LIE!!! I JUST POSTED A PHOTO OF THE KIMCHI RICE FROM THIS PLACE WITH MY OVER COOKED EGGS so please stop the lies!! Like I said, EVERY ORDER CAME WITH ONIONS AFTER I SAID NO ONIONS!. I CHALLENGE ANY CUSTOMER TO ODER THE KIMCHI RICE 1R AND SEE IF THAT ORDER COMES WITH ONIONS BECAUSE IT DOES. SO PLEASE STOP LIEING ✋

I ordered $15 worth of lunch and asked them if I could have a cup of water. They said no, this is not a restaurant (even though there are tables to sit and eat). Needless to say, I will not be returning.

Do not order if you are vegetarian. Server did not change gloves and contaminated my food since he touched multiple meat products while making my food and they didn’t like the request to change gloves. I notified cashier also but they don’t care. If you can’t respect other people’ s culture and request, please stop serving vegetarian. Highly disappointed.

I usually go to other places in the area...walked 5 blocks this Sunday to try it and ordered ...the cook rudely told me they were out of white bread...and rolls? How are you out of bread mid-morning at a restaurant that makes sandwiches. Plenty of other places in the area that know how to keep items in stock. Hard to judge a place by one experience but I haven't been back...but seems like it's always busy. First impressions are important when running a business.

Super rude KJ the manager has severe anger issues and food is cold, If you need a buffet I would go to Jubilee instead nicer people and better food.

DO NOT GO HERE FOR BREAKFAST!!! We have tried to go here twice before 11am and they refuse to make eggs even though they still had eggs for other people on the grill. I didn’t even try to order and they yelled “NO MORE BREAKFAST” as we’d already been waiting for 10 min to order. Update: I got here at 10:30 tried to order a cold cut sub and they won’t serve it cause “only breakfast” this place is ridiculous I don’t know any deli that has such strict rules for when you can get lunch vs breakfast. AND they’ve been so RUDE about it every single time. Extremely unfortunate how they just turn away business constantly

I love Cafe Hestia. I have been coming here for years, as I used to work downtown, and they have been the most reliable place to find a healthy and somewhat affordable meal. However, every time I go in there now, I notice that they are understaffed. Notably, in the deli, there are only two or three workers, with a long line of impatient New Yorkers on their lunch break. After that, the line to the cashier is long as well; I see two cash registers, but only one cashier, who is always looking over stressed. I feel bad for the workers there, and it seems that there is some kind of mismanagement happening, which is really sad, since it is such a good source of food. Hopefully they can hire more workers to help keep the business running. I’ve chosen other restaurants in the area, just because it takes too long to get in and out of there (especially if you only have a one hour lunch break- you spend almost the whole thing waiting in line).

Every morning around 9am, the little short woman on the cash register, the register closest to the door and to my left facing the cashier is rude arrogant and should not be dealing with the public. She is more interested in compiling plastic bags with forks and napkins than her customers in line. She is unbelieveably consistent with regards to the patrons of CAFE HESTIA. I found another neighborhood deli that is interested in keeping me as a customer. Good bye !

I ordered bibimbap after hearing about the dish online. In the store they have a completely different picture advertised. I ordered a 14 dollar bowl that was pre made. The beef was dry, the whole dish was flavorless and the miso soup had no salt. I asked to switch the dish out for something else on the menu for the same price. They told me I already ate half of it (which I didn’t). Then the owner started yelling at me if I know anything about Korean food. I said I don’t want it and left the store. Not worth your money, do not come here. Not authentic at all.

I went in for the first time today and ordered the 1A off the healthy wraps menu. It was egg whites, turkey sausage, cheddar, and peppers. When I opened my wrap it was odd looking so I called and asked what kind of turkey sausage they use because it didn’t look or taste like it. The manager proceeded to tell me he doesn’t know the brand. I asked if they are always hot dog shaped and he said no they are not and I informed him there must’ve been a mistake with my order. He then caught an attitude and said “what’s your point?”. Extremely rude, careless, and unapologetic for giving me a literal hot dog in a breakfast wrap and no offer for refund or remake. It was gross and covered in grease anyways, don’t ever go here.

I bought a cup of ice for my water and I found a roach floating inside my cup! Same things happen when I bought a cup of coffee three days prior. Health dept needs to see this and shut them down. Completely Unacceptable

Hi so I'm not someone who leaves reviews...but I had to say something. I had a tuna melt that was horrible. It was put in the microwave..now doesn't Tuna salad have mayonnaise? It also had lettuce & tomatoes which also shouldn't be microwaved. Then its was taken out of the microwave & then put in the Paninni press. The bottom of the Paninni was soggy & the Tuna tasted way too fishy. I threw it out after the 2nd bite.

I been here about 2 times, the first time I got Shrimp Ramen and everything was great. So I went back today ordered the same thing but once i got to the bottom with all the broth and was drinking it from a spoon I noticed a bug inside of my food. I went back to the place with the soup and the big and the lady at the counter is telling me “Well you ate it so we can’t do nothing” OBVIOUSLY i ate it I bought it I didn’t notice the bug until I got to the bottom. She had to get her manager and once he saw the bug and I informed them I can report this they ended up giving me my refund. Smh

Very rude and unprofessional staff. It was 11:25am and the workers rudely told me I couldn’t place my order until 11:30am. I went to the manager and told him how rudely his workers were. The manager went over to the workers insisting that they take my orders. The workers replied “NO HE CAN WAIT”. The manager walked away without giving me an explanation. There were no patrons in the restaurant at the time. At 11:20 am they have already switched the signs to the lunch menu.

Lukas

I ordered bibimbap after hearing about the dish online. In the store they have a completely different picture advertised. I ordered a 14 dollar bowl that was pre made. The beef was dry, the whole dish was flavorless and the miso soup had no salt. I asked to switch the dish out for something else on the menu for the same price. They told me I already ate half of it (which I didn’t). Then the owner started yelling at me if I know anything about Korean food. I said I don’t want it and left the store. Not worth your money, do not come here. Not authentic at all.

Joey Beahan

I went in for the first time today and ordered the 1A off the healthy wraps menu. It was egg whites, turkey sausage, cheddar, and peppers. When I opened my wrap it was odd looking so I called and asked what kind of turkey sausage they use because it didn’t look or taste like it. The manager proceeded to tell me he doesn’t know the brand. I asked if they are always hot dog shaped and he said no they are not and I informed him there must’ve been a mistake with my order. He then caught an attitude and said “what’s your point?”. Extremely rude, careless, and unapologetic for giving me a literal hot dog in a breakfast wrap and no offer for refund or remake. It was gross and covered in grease anyways, don’t ever go here.

mik

I bought a cup of ice for my water and I found a roach floating inside my cup! Same things happen when I bought a cup of coffee three days prior. Health dept needs to see this and shut them down. Completely Unacceptable

young wong

Hi so I'm not someone who leaves reviews...but I had to say something. I had a tuna melt that was horrible. It was put in the microwave..now doesn't Tuna salad have mayonnaise? It also had lettuce & tomatoes which also shouldn't be microwaved. Then its was taken out of the microwave & then put in the Paninni press. The bottom of the Paninni was soggy & the Tuna tasted way too fishy. I threw it out after the 2nd bite.

Kaisha Franklin

I been here about 2 times, the first time I got Shrimp Ramen and everything was great. So I went back today ordered the same thing but once i got to the bottom with all the broth and was drinking it from a spoon I noticed a bug inside of my food. I went back to the place with the soup and the big and the lady at the counter is telling me “Well you ate it so we can’t do nothing” OBVIOUSLY i ate it I bought it I didn’t notice the bug until I got to the bottom. She had to get her manager and once he saw the bug and I informed them I can report this they ended up giving me my refund. Smh

christopher potts

Very rude and unprofessional staff. It was 11:25am and the workers rudely told me I couldn’t place my order until 11:30am. I went to the manager and told him how rudely his workers were. The manager went over to the workers insisting that they take my orders. The workers replied “NO HE CAN WAIT”. The manager walked away without giving me an explanation. There were no patrons in the restaurant at the time. At 11:20 am they have already switched the signs to the lunch menu.

We came to order breakfast for 3 people and stayed in the line for 5 min. We started placing order when it was a few minutes before 11am. By the time the order was finalized, the employee refused to take it as it was 11:01am and the breakfast is served until 11am. He was disrespectful and obnoxious. We called the manager who completely ignored the situation, turned around and left. This place has no concept of customer service. Moreover, they have no concept of how to run business as they easily turned down our $30+ order. We came here many times before and today was the last time.

It's a food court. I tried the sundubu but it was really flavorless. It is not authentic but it was a big portion. It's watered down. Go to K-town for a better experience.

J Z

It's a food court. I tried the sundubu but it was really flavorless. It is not authentic but it was a big portion. It's watered down. Go to K-town for a better experience.

Alessia Starovoytova

We came to order breakfast for 3 people and stayed in the line for 5 min. We started placing order when it was a few minutes before 11am. By the time the order was finalized, the employee refused to take it as it was 11:01am and the breakfast is served until 11am. He was disrespectful and obnoxious. We called the manager who completely ignored the situation, turned around and left. This place has no concept of customer service. Moreover, they have no concept of how to run business as they easily turned down our $30+ order. We came here many times before and today was the last time.

DSK1NYC

I usually go to other places in the area...walked 5 blocks this Sunday to try it and ordered ...the cook rudely told me they were out of white bread...and rolls? How are you out of bread mid-morning at a restaurant that makes sandwiches. Plenty of other places in the area that know how to keep items in stock. Hard to judge a place by one experience but I haven't been back...but seems like it's always busy. First impressions are important when running a business.