Energy Kitchen

Starting with the good — the food is actually pretty good here, and the people are friendly– which is why my wife insists on continuing to order from here. However, there are two major negatives. First, it is soooooooo slow. And secondly, they screw up the order over 50% of the time.
Delivery routinely takes over an hour, sometimes longer. We did pick up the other night — still took them 30 minutes to have our order ready. And the place was empty when I went in to pick up the food. Still had to wait 10 minutes (30+ from when we ordered). Often on delivery, the food is cold by the time we get it.
Secondly, I can’t trust them. It’s very often the wrong side dish, or the burger is not how it’s requested. Ordered a plain burger the other night, and ended up getting a cheeseburger with all the trimmings. And they do this sort of thing all the time.

I love this place. I get the chicken fajita wraps from here. They also have good salads. It is located behind the Dream Hotel Downtown. You can walk there or they also deliver, if your staying at the hotel. I usually use the Seamless app on my iPhone to order from there.

I’m sort of a health freak who has to count every single calorie of every single meal, so I thought Energy Kitchen would be like a dream come true for me. But as much as most of the food tastes good (the Norwegian salmon and the coffee smoothie and the mashed sweet potatoes are pretty amazing), I can’t overlook the bad.
They got my order wrong more than once at this particular store, and the portions are way too small for the price you pay. The online ordering system is ATROCIOUS. Seriously, do NOT order online. Something manages to go wrong EVERY time.
So in sum, I will not be ordering from here again. Their food may be healthy, but I think I’ll start looking for a new place to frequent for lunch (maybe one that brings less stress and drama into my life.)

Food is cute and healthy, and the staff is INCREDIBLY friendly!

I guess I should have read the reviews before ordering. It’s been about two hours and I still haven’t received my breakfast sandwich and bottle of water. Never again.

For the simple food they’re cooking, they take quite a long time.
I ordered a chicken fajita wrap and a burger. I’ve heard some bad things about energy kitchen, but the boyfriend is on a clean eating diet so this was the only choice we had.
While I was happy with my burger, he did make a really good point about the food. His chicken wrap came with cheese, peppers, onions, sour cream and salsa. Supposedly all the food is under 500 calories, but with cheese, salsa, sour cream, a wrap and the seasoning they put on top of it, there’s no way they are as healthy as they try to be. While it was my bad judgment in food choices (chicken fajitas clearly aren’t a good choice for a clean eater), I don’t think I’ll be back here if I’m trying to be «healthy.»
I will say, the staff was friendly and were able to accommodate my very picky needs.

Service is fast, staff is friendly.
Food options are tasty and healthy! You know how many calories are in everything, which is great for all of those who have made a resolution to lose weight.
I recommend the thai chicken wrap.

Just had a great customer service experience. The food is healthy and in small portions great for an on the go mean easy to eat, burn and I like the taste. Employee Caren is off the hook, she went the extra mile to make sure my experience was the best! She is amazing this place is great — why have I never seen it before? I walk by here all the time…

— quick, personable service
— recommend: chicken fajita wrap
— the wrap is quite sizable for being under 500 calories, its almost enough for 2 meals. . or at least a meal and a snack
— I wish there was one by my office

I eat here constantly. I love the idea that I can eat hamburgers (which I am incredibly addicted to) and still keep it less than 500 calories.
The food is exactly what you’d expect it to be, but better. The burger honestly tastes nearly as good as most generic burgers you get — it’s no Shake Shack or NY Burger company, but it’s on par with an average burger joint. It’s the healthy low calorie and low fat options that make it fantastic. I usually get the Sirloin burger, which is about 450 calories — significantly less than most burgers out there, especially cheeseburgers. The fries are really something too, as they are 71 calories but taste just as good as most fries. I also appreciate that they force you to drink 0 calorie drinks — no full calorie Coke here!
I have two negatives which knock this down to 4 stars. First, the pricing is a little ridiculously high considering a burger and fries combo with drink costs about $ 13. Second, the service is excellent, but they are often understaffed at rush times. The cashiers are always extremely friendly to me, which I appreciate. But there have been a couple times that I’ve had to wait quite a while either to place my order or for my food to be ready. I see how stressed the folks get behind the counter get when there is a line at the counter, phone orders coming in, and the Seamless machine repeating «New Seamless order» over and over. If the management is reading this, consider hiring another worker to keep things running more smoothly.

Come in here for pickup all the time.
I’d give this place 6 stars if I could.
The counter staff is nicer to me than my own family and the food is tasty and low calorie. The sea salt fries are the best and you don’t feel like you’re depriving yourself at all!
The best part is that it’s somewhat tucked away from the street, therefore it never gets ridiculously crowded. Occasionally there will be a bit of a wait during lunch rush, but that’s about it.
Again, can’t say enough about the people who work there. They genuinely seem to love their jobs. Maybe they keep a pen of kittens and Xanax in the back. Who knows?

I’m a fan of any place that helps me keep my caloric intake in check. The food is good and the service, while friendly can be so slow sometimes. I shouldn’t have to wait over 20 mins for an egg white and chicken wrap. Especially when there’s only one person in line ahead of me.
That being said, the wrap is my favorite and is yummy. Those who are complaining about taste are most likely use to food drowning in mayo, cheese, and all the other crap that jacks up the calorie count. I’ll take a balanced low calorie diet thank you.

Until this spring I would have enthusiastically recommended Energy Kitchen: all branches, all meals – I love their food, their approach, their in-​house service.
Sadly, I’ve now had multiple delivery experiences in which I order via the online system, the delivery guy drops off my lunch at our front desk, leaves immediately (instead of waiting for me to come up, retrieve my lunch, and pay him a cash tip) and then somebody (presumably the delivery guy but I suppose the location managers could be pulling this scam) then tips themselves on my card charge. So on a delivery for which I’d have paid a $ 3 tip in cash, I instead catch a +$ 4.50 tip on my bank statement. It’s an outrageous thing to happen even a single time – this stunt was pulled on me twice in a single month by the Chelsea Branch (where I’d been a years-​long loyal customer) and I brought it to ownership’s attention at that time. Their attention to it was initially, «sorry here’s a gift card» and I get it: tracking down $ 3-​$ 5 tip fraud may feel like a bother, but seriously?
So still craving EK lunches, I switched branches to the West Village location. All was great. Until this week: card fraud again, even larger than before. Whether it is the delivery personnel or the branch managers, Energy Kitchen clearly fosters an environment of ripping off customers who utilize their online order system. The irony is that through 2011, Energy Kitchen used an online order system that allowed users to tip in advance – and that’s a system I heartily endorse, since it ensures the tip is included in the transaction from the get-​go, courtesy of the ordering customer. Since early this year, EK revised their system – and there’s no longer an option of programming the tip in advance – and we’ve wound up, multiple times, in the land of credit card fraud.
So buyers beware: Energy Kitchen is out to utilize your credit cards fraudulently. Shame – they’ve got a good thing going from a food standpoint, but they’re thieves.

«MENergy Kitchen»
I have always frequented the Hells Kitchen location for delivery and take out and loved it. To the point they even knew my order when I walked in… Bison Cheese Philly w/​egg whites. I also love the morning egg sandwich.
Anywho, the Chelsea location on 17^th I have only received pick up and can comment on the fact I need only call about 5 blocks away because they are super quick. Why pick up… well, even when my office was here I had a similar issue like Jane K. below. Also its on the way back from my gym and provides perfect sustenance. It might ALSO be because it provides plenty of eye candy being as its right in chelsea. (these things are important)
The food has always been fresh to me, but I will admit I have taken some friends here who complained it was bland. That being said they are very generous with their condiments (s&p, hot sauce etc) so you can have it your way. Beverage selection is par for the course with your Crystal Light, Water, and Shakes.
P. s. it’s generally fast food, so don’t expect an epic convo with the staff.

I’ve been a regular here for a couple of years as I work half a block away, and I can always rely on their wraps and salads for a quick, healthy lunch.
I am addicted to the bison cheesesteak wrap — a gooey, yummy mess that actually comes closer to the taste of a Philly cheesesteak than some of the sub shops I’ve been to that purport to offer authentic Philly cheesesteaks.
And, like everything on the menu, it is under 500 calories. All the wraps and salads I have tried here are pretty tasty — this place does a good job of making healthy taste good. Prices are OK at about $ 10 for a sandwich and beverage, and they often have $ 5, month-​long promotions on some items.
It’s counter-​service fast food — although burgers can take a while — and the ambiance is nothing special. But for a quick bite (Tip: order a wrap or salad if you are in a hurry) without the guilt, this place can’t be beat, with a much broader selection than the Chipotle around the corner.

I came here a few days after the five boro bike tour. They had a promo that gives us riders a free smoothie if we brought in our bibs.
Good thing I ride my bike all over the city, this allowed me to score quite a few smoothies while checking out all of the Energy Kitchens this city has to offer! This was the last on my day of scoring smoothies.
I order the orange creamsicle smoothie and it was alright, you can definitely taste the chalky protein aftertaste.
Yeah, the food won’t taste as good as full-​on unhealthy food, but considering the tradeoffs (having a heart attack/​not being able to move), I’ll take it.
This location is by far the largest and nicest of all of the Energy Kitchens I’ve visited so far.

When you choose to eat healthy, you will suffer some drawbacks, particularly in the taste area. You can’t rub down a baked potato with all sorts of sour cream, bacon and chives and you can’t indulge in a double burger with a side of fries. According to Energy Kitchen, «eating healthy should be a piece of cake… ok we take that back. What we meant to say is eating healthy should be easy, and taste great too.» My delivery order from Energy Kitchen was most certainly easy, but tasting great might be a stretch.
I have no complaints about Energy Kitchen because I knew going in I was opting for a healthier lunch and that the likelihood of taste perfection was thereby lowered accordingly. I used
to order a turkey burger with two sides (broccoli and corn/​edamame salad) and I was not disappointed in any way.
It arrived very quickly, in about 20 minutes. The to-​go ensemble was well done, with the burger wrapped properly and the vegetables staying in their respective spots in the tv dinner tray. The turkey burger was fine, nothing spectacular, but it had its moments of goodness garnished only with two pieces of lettuce and two tomatoes. The broccoli was steamed and unseasoned so you can guess how it tasted, but that is what you get for like 48 calories. The corn and edamame salad was a real winner, very tasty. It will accompany any order I make from Energy Kitchen.
All told, I think I got lunch in around 600 calories, I was full and I was not disappointed at all. In Chelsea, that goes a long, long way. I like the idea of this place especially when it comes to lunch. It gives you that healthy option that you can use at your discretion to balance out your other gluttonous meals of the week and that milkshake you are thinking about having right now.

Love the idea… I’m always looking around for places where I can get low-​glycemic index carbs (I’m trying to lose my belly fat). Energy kitchen seems to be just that, with their whole wheat buns and their sweet potato side dish.
On top of that, you can get bison and ostrich burger. Yum.

Lately I’ve been trying to eat less crappy which is very hard to do when you’re out and about in the city and aren’t really a big fan of salads and sometimes I’m just sick of Subway. Along comes the small 7 location chain of Energy Kitchen where their mottos are «nothing over 500 calories, everything grilled baked or steamed, all calories are not created equal, go healthy». They’ve got a decent selection of made to order wraps, breakfast items, salads, burgers, entrees, sides, and smoothies. Although they say «nothing over 500 calories» their entrees come with 2 sides and this could go up to as much as 733 calories (still not horrible) depending on what sides you choose. Of course if you add and sides, snacks, or smoothies to anything on the menu you’ll most likely go over too but you get the idea, they’re very up front with the ingredients and calories here.
The procedure here is you order at the counter, pick up your food, and have a seat (think a higher end, cleaner, and less corporate version of McDonalds). I can completely see how others could get piss poor service here but the particular guy who helped me was very friendly and nice.
The prices here are reasonable, though not outstanding at $ 7 – 12 for most items.
My problem with this place though is all of their burgers are these previously frozen, tough and tasteless cardboard discs of questionable meat quality. Most of their things aren’t fresh here like their «home-​style potatoes» that I got that were dry and shriveled with little flavor. The broccoli tasted halfway fresh but unfortunately they couldn’t think enough to drain them after cooking so they were sitting in a pool of water. I might come back at some point but I’d prefer Subway where I can get something cheaper, fresher, and tastier for a low calorie lunch.

I went back and tried a different wrap: bison cheesesteak.
Bleh. I should have stuck with the tex mex wrap. It was good, but cheesesteak sort of HAS to be decadent for it to be good. This wrap was only good after I drenched it in pepper sauce. It wasn’t disgusting. It was just bland and good cheesesteak isn’t ever bland.
However, they keep their 4-​start rating because their level of service was still very good. It’s just that I chose a dish that didn’t appeal to me. Next time I’ll switch back to the wrap I know I like.