Hale and Hearty

This place is horrible. Highly expensive soups and they still mess up orders. I ordered delivery and asked for crab bisque and what came was some chicken rice soup. I’m not that picky so I decided to try it anyways. The flavor was not good, also super small portions so unless you’re on a diet don’t go/​order from here. After paying $ 12 for a soup, I expected the service to be good at the very least.
Nope!
Instead I was told I couldn’t get a refund or replacement after receiving the WRONG order. I contacted seamless (since that’s where i ordered from) who was helpful and their response was «We spoke to the restaurant and they would not allow us to credit the order.» Not ordering from here again.

This is the worst Hale and Hearty in the city. I swear to god they water down the soups here. The best part about this franchise is how filling the soups are. Basically flavored water compared to the other Hale and Hearty soups. It wasn’t just today either, it’s been this way since I started working in the area. I thought maybe the person or the batch was weak, but no… it’s every time. Doesn’t matter which soup and doesn’t matter if it’s freshly poured or pre-​poured. Also, every soup is more expensive at this location. What gives…

Hale and Hearty used to be my go-​to for lunch — each and every day. Something with the menu changed a while ago and it’s harder for me to find a soup that I like, but the Chicken Vegetable with Noodles is something I could eat for every meal — I love it! Today I was really craving it, so walked to H&H from my office (not too close). I paid $ 7 for basically a large cup of chicken broth. Barely any noodles and even less chicken /​veggies. Disappointed to say the least. Seems like I got the bottom of the batch and they just poured the broth in — I would’ve happily waited for a new batch. Still hungry…

Good place for soups and salads. Very quick service. I had 10 veggies and 3 lentils and chicken soup. I enjoyed the 3 lentils most. They even let you taste before you so you can pick the right soup for you… I would recommend to try once and again and again…

Sometimes they’re better than other times, but today I had the most lackluster salad service. The tiniest scoop of turkey added. Then when chopped, it was so half-​hearted, just 3 – 5 chops and she tosses the blade into the bin without asking if that was sufficient. Then scoops salad back into the bowl sloppily and some turkey fell onto the counter.

I know it’s kind of «boring» to get salad for lunch, but I do so on a very frequent basis and when I do it’s almost always at Hale & Hearty. Of all the salad joints in the area, H&H might not have the largest selection of toppings, but they do have the freshest, best quality ingredients for the price. Plus I probably get at least 1 free salad a month thanks to the loyalty card, so if you’re a regular the net pricing is even better!
Sometimes the soups can be hit or miss, but I am LOVING the new pumpkin bisque they started serving for the season. It’s like slurping creamy pumpkin pie filling. The tomato & basil, cream of tomato, and anything curried are also all consistently good choices.
Another thing that I count in their favor is that they really do focus on efficient service. There have been a few times when my soup order’s been mixed up, which is irksome, but otherwise I feel like I’ve noticed that they will rotate employees based on strengths. Service is a tough job, especially during a lunch rush, so while it may seem a relatively simple task there are definitely people who manage their stations better and it really makes a difference to the overall flow. Even when the salad line is way backed up, I can generally get in and out within 10 minutes.

I used to like Hale and Hearty till today. The day I realized that their service is probably the worst on Hudson. Honestly the almost $ 10 for a small soup, half of a sandwich, and a heaping serving of rolling-​your-​eyes, disrespectfully slow and just-​plain-​disrespectful, unhappy-​with-​your-​jobs, think-that-they’re-doing-you-a-favor attitude isn’t worth it.
Perhaps if the soups were better – always too sweet IMHO – I wouldn’t mind the terrible service. The sandwiches are pretty good, especially the smoked turkey and parmesan sandwich, but not good enough to endure the crowds or the serpentine confusion, brought on by the three or four sections, one of which changes function arbitrarily, during the day.
Or perhaps if there were no other good options in the immediate area, like next door.

Seeing as I grab lunch here at least once a week (emphasis on the «at least» part), I probably owe the Hudson Street Hale and Hearty props. For all these semi-​cafeteria style chains in the city, H&H is definitely upper-​echelon. They serve the three holy S’s of NYC lunch breaks — soups, salads, and sandwiches. And if I had to choose their forte, it’d be hands down S #1 — the soups.
I mean, I get soup alerts, for cryin’ out loud. Who gets soup alerts?! That’s right, I loved a soup so much (the Tortellini Florentine) that I went on the H&H website, found out you can choose your location and choose your favorite soup (s)*, and you will get an e-​mail notification, the day of, when it is on the menu. In summation, I subscribe to soups, and now everyone outside of my inbox knows it.
Anyway. Lately, I’ve also been a fan of their salads, but it took a while to find my combo (Large Mixed Greens, Smoked Turkey, Red Onions, Avocado, Corn, Quinoa, and Shaved Parmesan, with Herb Italian Vinaigrette Dressing, if you must know). The employees here are aggressive (but friendly!) choppers, so just keep an eye on them so they don’t hack your greens into lawnmower dust. And even with them goin’ at a grueling pace, the salad line can be intimidating sometimes, I’ll admit it.
Last are their sandwiches. I’m a big fan of sandwiches in general, and Hale and Hearty’s are, let’s say, decent — again, especially for a chain. I typically pick a soup and half-​sammy combo, in which my go-​to is the Mozzarella, Avocado & Tomato. I’ve got no complaints, but also no pending sandwich alerts on the horizon — I’ll save my e-​mail notifications exclusively for the soups, thankyouverymuch.
*Yeah, now that we mention it, I might need to add some of their seafood-​based selections, because those are usually pretty legit…

This is by far the fastest service I have experience for lunch. The queuing process seems to work well. Even if the line is almost out the door. It seem that most of their lunch crowd is between 18 and 34 years. They have an app for rewards and ordering via your smartphone. Their sandwiches, soups and salads are slightly above an average price point. But, the overall experience is good. Last but not least the app is hearty rewards.