SoomSoom

After seeing decent reviews I was looking forward to visiting this location on one of my rare trips to midtown. I won’t again. Falafel was overdone, hummus bland, fries sodden and greasy. Salad was passable but had weird things in it like big chunks of lemon peel. Very disappointing.

SoomSoom Vegetarian Bar catered our wedding in Brooklyn. They worked with us from the beginning to create a meal that was unpretentious, delicious, bountiful, festive, beautiful (and kosher). It was a pleasure to work with Sharon and Ron, who are just the sweetest, kindest people around.

Solid falafel and tons of toppings to choose from. Comparing two similar concept restaurants, I personally would choose Maoz each time but I didn’t have one in walking distance during my last NYC trip and this place was.

Great falafel; miserable woman taking orders. Went at 5, and the salads looked like they were sitting around all day, but the crispy, fresh falafel made up for the poor toppings. The woman behind the counter was so nasty that it was almost funny.

I’m a lunch regular here. I mostly get the soom sabich (the pita with the fried eggplant, egg and potatoes) and it’s fantastic. They used to have more variety with the fillings when they first opened though. Anyways, their fresh veggies in fresh pita, and some decent sauces to go with, makes them a solid 5. They’re a ray of healthy hope around here. Keep ‘em veggies coming !

Salad bar is the highlight. Plenty of Israeli staples to choose from.
Beyond that, the experience is a letdown. Service is slow and often inattentive. Hummus is not that great. «Side» of hummus is essentially served in a salad dressing container.

I went with a colleague who swore by the felafel quality and I concur. It tasted better than any felafel Ive tasted anywhere. It edges Maoz in that respect.

One of the best falafel in the area, fresh and good food, the only minose it’s the service, bat I defntly come back again.

Very fresh stuff here. Delicious and very filling. A bit pricey for what it is, but portions are quite generous. Would recommend for quick salads with shawurma and falafel. Take-​out place. Not bad at all.

I was up by the park with my family and found this place on Unilocal and decided to head over. It was a little after 2 on a Fri and we wasted no time to get there (it says they close at 3). We got there at 2:30 and the doors were closed. There were 2 people milling around in there, I had the impression that they had been closed for a while already — NOT COOL. I wouldn’t have wasted my time walking there… and I just read someones review were she was hurried out of the place while she was trying to eat her meal.

I recently started a job in midtown and am always looking for healthy lunch spots. So I came across this place, at first glance it looks like a Chickpea or a Maoz. But when you see the menu and start ordering, you realize how expensive this place really is. They do not have very many options if you are gluten free. Their falafels are not gluten free and they do not carry gluten free wrap.
I decided to order the salad which ended up being close to $ 10. The worst part is not do they over charge but to even get falafels on your salad is an extra $ 3 — ridiculous! Plus, they do not even have half as many toppings as Maoz does. Personally, I thought the quality of food was mediocre at best and this place was certainly overpriced! Not to mention this place caters to be a healthy vegetarian joint and yet their falafels are fried.

Food is yummy and fresh. Authentic NYC experience–

I have eaten here three or four times and had falafel each time. The food is fresh and is very good. I have had the fries as well, which again are very good. They also serve Shawarma, so this place is not vegetarian.
My complaint is that the service stinks. It can take a long time to get your falafel, and often when they are ready, they will just give them out regardless of who ordered first. On the one hand, the delay is because the food is fresh. On the other hand, why there should be a long delay at lunch time with tons of people is a mystery. Making falafels is not rocket science. They seem to run out of food and are always in a hurry to prepare more. The guy at the counter is gruff and unfriendly. The line to the salad bar is chaotic.
I will continue to go for the food until the service gets the better of me.
By the way, sort the Unilocal reviews by date and you will see that this place doesn’t deserve 4 stars. Most recent reviews pan it.

Decent falafels!
They were giving out free falafels last night in the cold but these falafels so happened to stay warm and crispy. Now that is what I call a good falafel! I concluded she was standing out there for a while since there were only 2 pieces left after I took one and my boyfriend took the other. She gave us the last two and I was very impressed by the texture of it. It was far from dry with the perfect crisp. The flavor I was hoping for was missing though so I wasn’t that hype about coming here again.

Food here is good. I’ve tried the falafel sandwiches and the bureka sabich, which is a bureka filled with eggplant, hard boiled egg, and tahina. I’m getting hungry just thinking of it.
The falafel is pretty good, the only problem is that I know I can get better tasting falafel at half the cost a few blocks away. But, I will come here for the bureka sabich because I haven’t seen this combination anywhere else. I will warn you that its a heavy meal and pretty messy, but I think it is tasty.
Oh and they also have limonana, the Israeli style lemonade with mint. Sooo good and refreshing.

I have been going here for a while as I liked the falafel and their green omelette. What I saw today makes me write this review and give a 1 star.
I ordered and was waiting for my green omelette, guy in front ordered something and he got it, before he started filling from salad bar he took a few bites, then filled some tomatoes before leaving. I saw his tong touching the inside of part of pita, disgusted with this I told the guy at the cash register he ignored me (guess the line was long), then i told the store manager and pointed to him he just replaced the tong and said «Thank You». I wish he had removed the entire container and replaced it. I am not going to this place again. I am not sure how many incidents like this happen here everyday.

This place reminds me of Maoz.
I would’ve have given this place 4 stars except for the weird customer service. It was close to 6pm when I made my way over here. I had been walking around all day at Bastille Day sponsored by FIAF and felt pangs of hunger. I look on my phone and find this place, cool, I am in the mood for falafel.
They have a nice salad fixings bar here similar to Maoz. I order a falafel sandwich and then I put tahini sauce in it and then stuffed the sandwich with all the different pickled sides.
Just when I was about finished stuffing my sandwich, the counter help comes to my side and asks if I want it wrapped up to go. Actually, I wanted to eat my sandwich there, but she insisted on wrapping up my sandwich and then promptly shooed me out of the place.
Honestly, if that was the rushed service I was going to get, I might as well have gone somewhere else for food. I don’t like to be rushed and definitely didn’t like being chased out of the store. Honestly, get some business skills.

I love my fellow Unilocalers and I rely on their opinions when it comes to trying new food and places. However, SoomSoom is one place where I wholeheartedly disagree with the majority of opinions which gave it such a stellar composite rating. As my rule of thumb, if I know that I am going to be a victim of terrible operations management, the food really has to be good to justify that particular visit. Otherwise, it would be very difficult for me to have any conviction in recommending a spot to anyone. SoomSoom made it impossible.
Perhaps SoomSoom will get their act together once the DOH gives them their grade (still pending), but upon first glance, I have my doubts already. Allow me to elaborate:
1) The salad bar is place in the open where there is no queue management. Patrons waiting to order are basically placed onto the same line with people adding toppings onto their salads. With all this confusion, I would be surprised if SoomSoom were able to maintain a fresh and bacteria/​germ-​free salad bar.
2) My hummus plate required a 20 minute wait, which also allowed me to notice patrons trying to weave in between each other to add toppings, grab small sauce-​containers and blocking the salad bar, dirty and unattended table counters, etc.
3) In addition to a lot of the topping containers being closed to depletion, I do not recall a fresh batch for any topping replenished. The artichoke was hard and not close to edible.
If none of this turns you off, then by all means you might love SoomSoom. The hummus was very adequate, but it is a bit too creamy for my taste. I liken it to the quality of hummus as Chickpea. The falafel was excellent with just the right amount of crispiness on the outside and softness on the inside.
If SoomSoom can improve on their operations management, that would be a big plus. They can really learn a thing or two from Maoz. Even as a casual observer, I witnessed customers walk out without ordering while mumbling to themselves about the chaos inside. That, in and of itself, is never a good thing.

Delicious crispy falafel!
I love getting the pita with falafel and then stuffing it with a bunch of fun stuff from the veggie bar… You can stuff quite a bit of stuff in there if you’re patient!!!
Not too much space to sit down — but great for lunch or for a quick dinner before running to the gym or to another place. If I actually get a lunch hour I will go out of my way to walk over there! NUM!

I am totally looking forward to coming here for lunch on a steady rotation! This place is like the small mom and pops MAOZ. Its Kosher and totally vegetarian.
Their falafel balls are so fresh, light and moist with a wonderful green color inside letting me know I am eating veggies, so what if its fried still, as long as my brain thinks its healthy.
Once you get your falafel pocket you can hit up the fresh salad bar to put all sorts of goodies onto your pita. I really liked how clean and fresh everything looked in their store, of course it is brand new, but it has a very streamline essence.
The management is really focused on keeping its customers happy and the staff are incredibly nice. Refreshing customer service… This does make people regulars! I am looking forward to going back and trying the Israeli Burekasabich (eggplant dish) next!