Harborside Club

I end up here for lunch quite often since I work in the building. It’s not a five-​star, remember for the rest of your life type dining experience, but it’s a solid option for lunch. They have quite a variety of food here including soup, sandwiches, salad bar, Asian /​Indian food, a grill, pizza /​Italian, sushi, desserts, and more. Basically, if you have a craving you can find it here.
I usually go with the salad bar, which is always fresh and full of good options for toppings and sides. I’ve also tried their pizza and soups, which I enjoyed. One would think that with so many options, they can’t do everything right, but I struggle to think of a bad meal that I’ve had here.
I usually grab the food for take-​out, but there’s quite a lot of seating here and just outside of the cafeteria-​style restaurant as well if you’d like to stay.
So, like I said earlier, it’s definitely a solid lunch option and if you can’t make a decision on what to get, it’d be a good place to start looking because of the variety.

I only eat here because its in my building, and I haven’t been there in a while because I try to avoid it. Lets first talk about the staff, there is a young man who works behind the counter at the breakfast station can be a little rude once he’s overwhelmed, lets just call him bob, for all intents and purposes. its gets really busy around 9am-​10am with people ordering breakfast items made to order, Bob will ask four people what they want while simultaneously cooking previous customers’ meals and promptly forget what orders he’s been fed and ask those same people over and over again what they want then STILL get the order wrong. thats fine, but what gets me is the attitude he gets when you correct him, for instance I will usually order an egg, bacon, wrap with onion and tomato on a spinach wrap, then he will start to cook a egg, american cheese wrap on a plain white tortilla wrap with onion, and then ask me what kind of meat I want on it, then when you say «oohhh sorry, I wanted sundried tomato wrap and tomatoes and bacon» hell yell «YOU NEVER TOLD ME!» and roll his eyes, what kind of crap is that?
then there’s the guy behind the sandwich station, lets call him Tom. Tom hates life, but what he hates even more is his job of making sandwiches for the likes of me. when you get up to the counter don’t waste your breath saying «hello» or «how are you» because he will not respond to such pleasantries, instead he’ll ask you what you want. Tom will not let you finish explaining what you want on your sandwich before he closes it up and starts putting cellophane on it. if you say you want a ham sandwich in a wheat wrap with to– he’s already spiraling that bad boy up and putting cellophane on it. when I ask him to please for teh love of god put some cheese, lettuce, tomato and condiments on it, he says «YOU DIDN’T SAY YOU WANTED CHEESE» when you explain to him that he didn’t ask and that he didn’t give you enough time to say it he says «I DONT HAVE TO ASK YOU ANYTHING». ummmmm yes you do Tom, because its literally your job to ask me what i want on my sandwich and then make it. thats it, i’m not asking him to solve global climate change, or to cure cancer, or to single handedly renovate and repair all 469 subways station in NYC that where damaged during hurricane sandy, i’m asking you to make a sandwich.
then there is, lets call him Robert. Robert is actually a friendly janitor that walks around cleaning stuff, chatting it up. however, there is a such thing as being too friendly and unfortunately Robert has crossed that line. Every time I even walk by the place he is right up next to me asking where i’ve been and where are my co-​workers and fetching things for me… not his job at all. Even after displaying signs that i’m not interested the guy is still persistent, he will literally follow you around and chat you up even while you’re ignoring him.
The food is okay, the best food by far is the food form the chefs table and the grill. they have an asian buffet that is usually stuff made with the wrong ingredients, and the salad bar is mediocre at best. the sandwich area has very basic ingredients and most of the bread is stale.
if you work in the building and have to jet downstairs and grab something close before a meeting, by all means go there. but otherwise there are more options in the area that are way better.

I was really disappointed in the arrangement Noah’s Ark did. I ordered a large bouquet arrangement for my partner for Valentine’s Day. It arrived at 9pm on Valentine’s Day… so late that does it even count? And the extra money I paid for the larger size was not reflected. It was actually smaller than the grocery store arrangement she bought me. :(
Major fail. Especially for $ 100+.

I was mainly by the pier but this is a very nice open space with plenty of food, vendors, and great views of NYC. If you have kids then it’s pretty safe to let them run around since there’s a fence all around too. You also have a few benches so you can relax outside by the water. I’ll come back here to try some of the food options and enjoy the ambiance later.

Their food is ok. I like the pizza section. Better than nearby places.
However be careful of the cashier. There’s no price label on the food you’re taking. It’s all up to the cashier. I’ve caught one young cashier put in wrong price. I asked her why is that number. She insisted it’s the tax, which is about $ 1 for a $ 6 order. I don’t think NJ tax is that high…

After nearly a five year hiatus, I returned to Jersey City for a business meeting that just so happened to be around lunch time. And, lo and behold, the Harborside Club is still serving up cafeteria style lunches for the masses of corporate workers who occupy the various office towers in the area.
Various stations make up the cafeteria, including a grill, tossed salad, assorted paninis, deli, chef’s table and a taste of asia (that includes a taste of india on thursdays).
I opted for the almond crusted tilapia, mashed potatoes and broccoli from the chef’s table area. For $ 6.95, I had a decent sized portion that fully encompassed my styrofoam plate.
Taste-​wise, the tilapia was surprisingly good, enhanced by a light cream sauce drizzled over the top. Mashed potatoes were school cafeteria grade, the kind scooped out by a matronly woman who chain smokes and gambles in Atlantic City on weekends.
The staff at the Club can range from efficient to fairly entertaining. I recognized some of the same personalities with the passing of five years so plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose.
Most of the entertaining behavior comes while observing garbage collection.
There are plenty of booths and small tables to spend a lunch break at, checking a smartphone, catching up with coworkers or reading a book.
While the pizzazz of Manhattan lunch options is lacking, you’ll never have much of a line where you kill 75% of your lunch break and you won’t break the bank either.

CAN CORPORATE CAFETERIAS BE DECENT???
…SURPRISINGLY, YES
My group moved to JC so I had a chance to make several visits here. It is located at the mouth of Plaza3 @ Harborside Financial Center. Like any corporate cafeteria, many food options are available here. I was surprised they don’t check for work IDs, as the food here is very affordable and anyone can just walk in. For Breakfast, your best bet is the omelette station where you can get a Breakfast Wrap (more like a giant burrito) for $ 2.95 + tax. Their system is flawed in the sense that your food isn’t marked, so what you ordered is on the honor system when you check out. I usually opt for the veggie omelette wrap w/​pork sausage and American cheese. For lunch, I make an A line to the ‘Chef’s Table’ station, where the food is least processed (besides the boring salad station). You can get a meat & 2 sides for a mere $ 6.25-$ 6.50 + tax. The availablity of low carb sides make this station a no-​brainer for me. At times, you will find some pork/​beef to be overcooked, but that is to be expected. This place is on the better end of corporate cafterias if you know where to look/​what to order. The icing on the cake is that not only is there plenty of seating (2 tops, 4tops, booths), but they also take credit cards for any amount.
Pics are up on my FB…

Salads. Burgers. Hot Dogs. Pizza. Even Asian food.
Much better than you’d expect for an office building cafeteria. Nothing here is particularly outstanding, but in an area of Jersey City that doesn’t have much options, this is not bad. No matter your tastes, you’ll find something here. They even have some fruit, cereal, pretzels, and sometimes sushi.
Keep in mind, this place says they close at 3pm, but they really start packing up by around 2:30pm.