Restaurant Review: Green Bean Café

Green Bean Café 1413 York Avenue (between 75th Street and 76th Street) Upper East Side, Manhattan 212-861-1539

Vegiboys Rating (2/4)

Green Bean is a cute hole-in-the-wall café on the Upper East Side, but unfortunately that’s where its positive traits end. It markets itself as a full service restaurant, and continuously provided us with a very extensive menu that suggests a fully operating kitchen. However, every time we attempted to eat at Green Bean, either the café was closed or the kitchen wasn’t operating.

Instead, we were offered slim pickings from a few sad-looking steam trays, or selections from their pre-made foods. A variety of excuses were provided for the limited menu; the chef had recently quit, the kitchen was experiencing technical difficulties, the kitchen was closed for the night (two hours before the café’s closing time)…

Regardless, after six months of trying to eat from Green Bean’s kitchen, we’re convinced that it may not exist (or if it does, it provides very selected daily items to the steam tray). You will not have anything listed on their menu available to you.

During our final attempt, I finally decided I needed to try something, and chose a faux-chicken salad sandwich from their fridge along with a homemade green tea lemonade. The taste was bland; it tasted like prepackaged food. It was not worth the $11 price for the meal. Green Bean might aspire to be a vegetarian venue, but in reality is nothing more than a banal coffee shop. If you’re seeking vegetarian fare, we suggest going elsewhere until their kitchen operates and their menu items are actually available.

Food (2.5/4)
Atmosphere & Service (1.5/4)
Value (2/4)