Essen Fast Slow Food — Restaurant in New York

Its a shame that this otherwise immaculate buffet-style deli is utterly ruined by hostile, miserly management. I went in for lunch today and presented 4 items: two green juices and two sushi boxes. I was told my total was $37. I'm no mathematician but I knew this was a little off. I asked the checkout lady to recheck and she refused, "I know the price - I don't make mistake" she barked in broken chinese-english. I retreated to allow other customers to check out and reviewed my receipt. She had overcharged me for two of the four items. That's an unacceptable margin of error. When I confronted her suggesting "next time when a customer asks you to verify something he believes to be a mistake, you should listen." She waved her hand dismissively saying the manager told her these items were different prices but were clearly labeled 20% lower than I had been charged. I asked to speak to the manager who then conceded she had made one mistake but the other item was mislabeled. He then snatched the green juice from my grasp and used his nail to scrape away the label. I could hardly believe it, physically wrestling with me to correct his store manager's mistake. I said "in retail commerce you have to honor prices displayed - its the law. This is your problem, not mine and you've overcharged me for half the items I bought"

Anyway it was all resolved eventually but the woman in particular was dismissive, glib and arrogant. She didn't compute (saving face is of course extremely important in chinese culture) that there was a possibility that an aggrieved customer was worth listening to even when I'd flagged the error before running my card in the first place. Skip this place. Their prices are already high enough that they don't need to steal...

I love this place ❤️ There's a lot of choices for your hearty breakfast, or lunch, and or dinner!😍😘 A buffet hot food, a cold cuts, smoothie bar, salad bar, pastries, and soups area, and varieties of coffee and milk and creams in their coffee bar__but, I always go for half & half for my dark roast coffee, and a lot more👍(see pics) 😘 They have mezzanine seating area inside and few 2-sitter tables outside, on the sidewalk--so,I guess, it is Essen & the sidewalk tables? ☺️

I gave them 5 stars because the place is neat and clean and you have so many choices what to eat for the day and they have a good seating area.

When I dropped by earlier, I already had my lunch__so, I only bought coffee and Blueberry Scone and Cheese Croissant, for my sweet-tooth me as my "merrienda (snack) at work☺️. I am on my way home and decided to drop by to take a pics as my evidence for you all to see🥰

The kind manager let me take a pic, but he also told me to take picture at around 11am__because they're not much food anymore for they are about to close soon. But,I told him I just need pics of every area of food and the seatings...

Well it's a zoo of a place if you're a newcomer around lunchtime, but once you get the hang of it, Essen is fantastic. Great food, a little pricey even for NYC standards. A quality buffet full of different items. Just grab your food and pick a line....they move pretty fast. **Took one star away because HAIR was found in my Hudson sandwich. Please make the employees wear hairnets. **Took one star away because they are extremely rude and unorganized. I typically get the feeling there that they only care about taking your money, but just deal with it because the food is good. However, I can't tell you how many times after I am finished being rung up that they call out "Next!" and I am nudged out of the way just as I go to put my wallet in my pocket, while still in front of the register! Well, enough is enough with this attitude, it...