Hale and Hearty Soups

Note: there are several locations in Manhattan and for now these reviews refer to more than one location.

Overall:
Food:
Ambiance:
Service:

Great Staff 8 / 10

12/14/01

I go to the H&H on third avenue and 43rd St, and I am always taken aback by how friendly and helpful the counter staff are. I don't know where H&H finds these great people, but I wish more places in NY treated their customers as nicely.

Life Saver 6 / 10

1/30/02

Sometimes it seems that my diet can only be satisfied at home. This chain offers delicious selections labelled "vegetarian," "low-fat," and "dairy". The prices are great.

Waiting .. Waiting 6 / 10

5/9/02

Man do those delivery guys smell somthing awful... I mean it! The stink lingers for at least five minutes after they've gone. DEODORANT PLEASE! The food is good, but it takes a while to get here.

Open in DC 6 / 10

6/24/02

I just moved to DC and really miss Hale & Hearty. Can't find a company website, so I'm posting it here: Open a location in DC! (Farragut Sq preferably)

One Small Complaint 6 / 10

7/26/02

I frequent your chain constantly. The store on 42nd between 6th & Fifth is the best. I went to one today on 47th & Madison. I got a salad with add-in roasted pepper. The skins were left on the peppers! One actually stuck to the roof of my mouth. One suggestion: please remove the skin from the peppers after they are roasted. The skin becomes like paper and it was time consuming to dig out the peppers and peel the skin.

I Need Your Advice 6 / 10

7/29/02

There are many soups that contain potato, but they are all quite different and should be taken, or should I say "eaten", with different settings in mind. H&H has the broccoli, cheddar and potato. This, to me, seems like a sea-worthy soup. "Haaghr." That's a pirate noise. I imagine myself coming back from a pirate mission and landing back in Bristol and chowin' down on some of that.

Now, the steak and potato is more of a ranch-worthy soup. Like you just finished roping in a calf or something and you come back to a tasty cup a' steak an tater.

What do you all think?

Is There a Recipe Book? 6 / 10

8/15/02

I had the chicken corn bisque and chicken barley--they were both out of this world!

Anyone have recipes?

Salads with Chicken are a Rip Off 2 / 10

9/9/02

In general the salads are fine -- however, if you are looking for a Chicken Caesar, forgetaboutit. In a large salad ($4.95) you get 1/4 cup of diced chicken ($1.00) for a total salad cost of $6.50.

Great Wild Mushroom and Potato Soup 8 / 10

9/26/02

This is a great soup - need to bring it back more often to the store on 45th Street near Metlife Bldg.

Change the Prices 6 / 10

12/6/02

I eat at H&H quite frequently. I even finally racked up enough points to get 1 free soup. But I cannot believe that size of a small cup of soup and the price is absolutely ridiculous. $5.95 before taxes for a small cup, which is so small that it should be used as a taste tester for customers. I only had $6.00 in my pocket and I was gonna buy the small Texas chili, but when I saw how small the small size was, I told the server, forget. I went to McDonalds and got 2 cheeseburgers, order of fry and a drink for $5.44 Come on H&H you can make those small sizes a little bit larger...

Worst Customer Service Ever 2 / 10

12/12/02

I went to Hale & Hearty in Rock Plaza yesterday and had the worst experience ever. The guy behind the counter dropped my salad on the floor and then picked it up. I then asked for soup and he said, "no," and walked away. Now, everyone has bad days so I politely went to the manager and explained what happened and asked for him to get my food. The manager said, "We are too busy. Come back tomorrow and I'll give you a free lunch." I couldn't believe he wasn't going to do anything until the next day!! Well, I'm not going back to Hale and Hearty ever again -- not even for that free lunch. It's probably dirty from falling on the ground anyway.

65th street store ! 6 / 10

4/19/03

I used to go to the Hale & hearty at 65th street, but the store is small,and has few seats, no restrooms. I went to thier new store located at 54st and Lex, I found the staff rude and crude, the store is bigger, but the staff and managers don't seem to care. I now go to 65st store, the staff and managers are friendly. Same great soup.

ROCK CENTER Poorly Run 2 / 10

5/5/03

I decided today that this location is pretty bad. The staff needs some serious help in terms of courtesy. I have problems with the salad area. Today, the lady at the register told me she couldn't stamp my card because she didn't have any ink. That was it. She never offers bread or crackers. I get so annoyed in there I always forget to ask! And there is not a day that I go where you run out of an ingredient. You need some more competent employees and less hecticness.

VERY poor experience 2 / 10

6/11/03

I walked in to a clean store and stepped up to the sandwich counter - an employee stepped in front of me and blocked my selection while she and another employee carried on a 3-4 minute personal conversation. The woman finally moved then the one behind the counter took my order, and failed basic customer service with an F. My order was packed incorrectly and food service handling was poor. I should have walked out. The server’s attitude was lethargic at best. I left the store and opened my sandwich at my destination to find that I had been cheated. My $5.99 tuna sandwich was nothing more than a roll with 1 slice of tomato, a leaf of lettuce some carrot shavings and so little tuna that I had to search to find it.

I used to hate soup!! 10 / 10

11/29/03

I finally decided to just bear with it and eat soup at a friend's request. Well, HH changed my mind about soup forever!! I eat there at least 3 - 4 times a week. I love the 849 lex location!!

Long lines, Fast service, Good soup 6 / 10

6/13/04

I used to go to Hale and Hearty at 64 st Lex,However I stop going 5 Years ago. I hate long lines, the service was always slow. Recently my wife had a cold, and she wanted chicken soup. I decided to go to H&H. I was in and out in 3 minutes, and they had long lines. Long lines fast service good soup

The Selection of Soups is Unacceptable at 1 Location 8 / 10

9/19/00

I became a Hale and Hearty devotee when I worked at 57th and 6th Avenue in NYC. At the 56th St location, the flavors changed every day and there was a wide range of dietary choices. I like to have their soup each day for lunch. When my job location changed to 35th St. and Seventh Avenue, I discovered that they change flavors every two or three days. I also discovered that for the past two days, no soups were offered (except for the usual Chicken Vegetable) that did not contain a large amount of starch. Literally, EVERY SOUP SPECIAL CONTAINED STARCH AS A BASE! I am on a no-carbohydrate diet and had thought that Hale and Hearty would make the diet much more palatable. Is there anything to be done about this one location's offerings? I certainly would hate to give up some of the best soups I've ever had -- even better than mine.

Hale and Hearty Soups
849 Lexington Ave.
New York, NY 10019
(212) 517-7600

Hours:
Sun-Thu 8:30 AM-7:30 PM
Fri 8:30 AM-5:30 PM
Sat 8:30 AM-5:00 PM

Links:
Review Review

NYC Restaurants

Midtown East

Other

Hale and Hearty Soups