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    Cafe 53

    3.2 (102 reviews)
    ModerateDelis, Cafes, Sandwiches
    Open 6:00 am - 10:30 pm
    Updated 3 months ago

    Cafe 53 Photos

    Business Info

    CAFE 53 ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Quiet
    Good for groups
    Good for kids

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    Recommended Reviews - Cafe 53

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    Reviews With Photos

    Fruit, veg and hot bar.
    Lenore N.

    I've been coming here for years and it keeps getting better. Fresh and interesting salads and hot bar, smoothies, sushi, coffees, breakfast and more. A great grab and go place that's affordable. And very clean.

    Sean M.

    Actually had a great BEC here and the kids enjoyed an order of bacon and pancakes (3 big pancakes for $10.95). The Bacon egg and cheese was $7. Place is clean and bright and the staff was too the point and efficient. Be warned though, the two people ahead of us were complaining about price discrepancies which I remember was a problem when I use to work in the area. Otherwise, no complaints.

    the interior of a restaurant with a variety of food items
    Stephanie P.

    I came in here one morning to grab something quick for breakfast. The sandwich line was really long so I took a glance at their hot bar. I saw pork dumplings and put 5 into a small plastic container. Five. FIVE. Upon heading to check out and pay they were deemed to be $10. These dumplings WERE NOT sized or weighing anywhere near being worth $2 each. The women at the register said they were heavy - yeah, heavy with thick skin and NOT with meat filling. The dumplings themselves tasted okay...okaaaaaay....but it was tough to get past how overpriced their hot bar apparently is. Person who paid after me had a small container with some cold fruit and was charged nearly $12 - unsurprisingly they were also shocked. Their breakfast sandwich and lunch sandwich menu seems decently priced for the area but their cold/hot bar is definitely not. I should have known better so shame on me, but I'll do my best to never eat here again soon.

    From the seating area
    Gary C.

    Food is good and much better than I expected. The Cafe 53 staff are super friends and helpful. I didn't give it 5-Star rating since it's not an upscale restaurant, but for what you get the place is excellent. Now, this is my first time eating here so I can't speak for the rest of time.

    a bowl of rice, oranges, and grapes
    Soy P.

    There is a lot of delish food here. There's stuff from places like the UK and Korea, along with salad/fruit bars and A HOT FOOD SECTION. It's a little overpriced but has a wide selection. On weekdays, the lines are short. This place is underrated it is delish

    two trays of sushi and a bottle of beer
    Cayce D.

    Yum yum yum! When I have a conference in midtown this place never disappoints for a quick, fresh, & delicious meal on the go. I've had the hot bar, the cold bar, sushi, and sandwiches. So good'

    Cheese Burger and Fries

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    6 months ago

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    15 days ago

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    1 year ago

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    8 months ago

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    7 months ago

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    5 months ago

    Disgusting place. The scales are rigged. Employee stuck her hand in the food and took a piece of chicken WITH HER HANDS)

    Business owner information

    Photo of Mimi L.

    Mimi L.

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    5 months ago

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    1 year ago

    The food was good and the service was great. I was mad that they didn't serve breakfast all day.

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    3 years ago

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    2 years ago

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    2 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    2 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    1 year ago

    Absolutely the place to go for quick, but great breakfasts. Amazing variety and super fast service. Convenient location too.

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    3 years ago

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    2 years ago

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    7 years ago

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    9 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    2 years ago

    The breakfast sandwich guys and buffet have no peer, the smoothee drinks also are great

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    3 years ago

    Food is a little pricey, but the customer service is satisfactory and the food is delicious!

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    8 years ago

    It's open late. Honestly, we got cereal, drinks and snacks, and it was perfect for what we needed at 1am.

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    2 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    8 years ago

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    9 years ago

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    7 years ago

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    3 years ago

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    7 years ago

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    10 years ago

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    8 years ago

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    5 years ago

    The hours here are not accurate. We walked to this restaurant and it was closed when yelp said it was open

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    10 years ago

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    Page 1 of 3

    Ask the Community - Cafe 53

    Review Highlights - Cafe 53

    They have a hot bar, a cold bar, a juicing station..... Basically anything you need or want, you'll find it here.

    Mentioned in 4 reviews

    Read more highlights

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    All'Antico Vinaio

    4.2(119 reviews)
    0.5 miUpper East Side
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    All'Antico Vinaio means "to the ancient wine merchant" (Thanks, Google). I thought it would be…read morecloser to Italian for delicatessen like salumeria. This is in a ritzy part of town on 60th St between Madison Ave & Park Ave with Ferraris & Bentleys parked on the street, so you have to guess that the storefront rent must be astronomical. But oh, these gastronomical sandwiches are off the charts and can justify the price. Once you decipher the names of the sandwiches on the menu and see what's between the bread, you will want to try all of them. I settled on 2 finalists, but decided get both anyway. All sandwiches are made fresh with some of the best looking meats & ingredients I've ever seen! And what's better is that they bake all the focaccia for the sandwiches fresh and in-house. You see the bread oven right behind the register. I wonder if I could buy a slab of that bread? The L'Inferno brought images of Danté Alighieri's version of the Underworld to mind, but was a spicy hot masterpiece of sandwich art. The combination of thinly sliced roasted porchetta, nduja, spicy grilled eggplant & arugula was fantastic! The fresh baked focaccia took it even further. But I did learn something new today besides Italian pronunciation, which was that nduja (silent n) is a spicy sausage from Calabrese that's spreadable like butter. I gotta get me some of that stuff! The La Paradiso sounds like the third installment of Danté's Divine Comedy trilogy, but is a very mild, but tasty sandwich with mortadella, stracciatella & crushed pistachios in pistachio cream. The pistachio cream is a stroke of culinary genius and gives the sandwich an amazingly smooth texture & taste. The only part of the Divine Comedy missing from their menu is La Purgatorio and I do not want to find out what would go into that sandwich!

    All' Antico Vinaio…read more Excellent sandwiches, fresh in store bread. This sandwich shop offers huge, flavorful Italian sandwiches on freshly baked schiacciata bread with high-quality ingredient La Paradiso Mortadella, stracciatella, pistachio cream, pistachio is a heavenly combination Just a simple tasty sandwich that fills you up.at a reasonable price. Works everytime for me

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    Joe's Home of Soup Dumplings

    Joe's Home of Soup Dumplings

    4.5(877 reviews)
    0.3 miMidtown East
    $$

    Great overall assortment. Central location. Staff was warm and inviting. Went with the pan fried…read morenoodles, shrimp, fried rice, chicken, soup, dumplings, the Chinese pancakes, and orange chicken. Great quality food. Fresh ingredients that were prepared well. Everything from plating to presentation was on point. Don't miss out on this great option for Chinese food.

    Chose this spot for a late lunch since it was close to our next stop. I wasn't quite sure what to…read moreexpect, especially being in Midtown rather than Chinatown. But it turned out to be a fantastic meal and fully satisfied my endless craving for well-made soup dumplings. The scallion pancakes were excellent, too, crispy without being greasy and packed with scallions. I had seen a lot of reviews praising the General Tso's chicken, but I've honestly avoided the Chinese-American dish for years. Too often it's overly sweet with a heavy batter. Still, after seeing plate after plate come out to nearby tables, I decided to give it a try. What a surprise. It was a huge portion of fresh white meat chicken with a light coating and a perfectly balanced sauce, served piping hot. We couldn't finish it (knowing we had a big dinner later), but I kept going back for "just one more piece" more times than I'd like to admit. Reservations aren't accepted for parties of two, but in the late afternoon it wasn't busy at all, we walked right in with no wait. Would absolutely come back.

    Photos
    Joe's Home of Soup Dumplings
    Joe's Home of Soup Dumplings - Young Chow Fried Rice

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    ALIDORO - Gothamist - prosciutto, sun dried tomato paste, burrata, lemon basil pesto, torn basil leaf

    ALIDORO

    3.6(53 reviews)
    0.3 miMidtown West

    We had arrived in NYC for fall break and dumped out bags at the hotel before heading out to find a…read morequick lunch and explore the city. I have three big guys with me and sometimes quick lunches need to be more filling than fast food options, so we chose Alidoro's under Rockefeller Plaza. We could walk to it form the hotel and it was in the middle off all we wanted to show the boys on their first day (first time) in the city. We all chose different sandwiches and they were ready pretty fast. Since the shop itself is not huge, we landed a small space at the window bar with two stools and some standing room. After being in a car and on a flight and in another car all morning, we weren't mad about the standing part. We were all able to share and sample each sandwich, and honestly, we were not disappointed. We were all full and happy when we weren't finished, so what more could we want for a relatively quick NYC meal? Being under the plaza, the restrooms were outside the shop but very close by so we were able to wash hands and such before journeying out into the wild. I would definitely stop back by again on another trip! The guys and I all gave Alidoro's two thumbs up - so 8 thumbs total, if you're counting.

    Good flavor of the Pinocchio sandwich due to the olive paste a s sweet roasted peppers. But my…read moresandwich was seriously lacking in the prosciutto and sweet sopressata. For $16.50, I definitely should have gotten at least two slices of each meat.

    Photos
    ALIDORO - Il Sole

    Il Sole

    ALIDORO - Giorgio

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    Cafe 53 - delis - Updated May 2026

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