Emma’s Dilemma

This place is closed.

Pretty good food and prices. However the cooks are so rude, I hate going there. I really hate spending money at a place that doesn’t appreciate business. The cashiers are nice though. I work near by, I would be a regular but the deli down the block is a way better experience.

Emma’s Dilemma is not the prettiest or cleanest place.
What I like about it is the variety of food in the steamtable buffet which you can pick up what you like and pay for it by the pound. I have tried the lunch selection from the steamtable and I liked it very much. They have a hot and cold section. I like the selection when you get to the steamtable early during the lunch rush.
They have a salad fixin bar also where you get to pick your favorite salad toppings and dressing and the guy will toss your salad for you…
The sandwiches from the counter always look good too. When I walk in everything makes my mouth water here.
What is convenient is they have tables upstairs for you to eat your selections. Problem with this dining area atmosphere is the lighting is poor, it is not too clean and it looks like it needs a fresh coat of paint, but it’s convenient.

They are open 24 hours and they have a lot of selections!
For lunch the steam table food is fresh and their deli makes good sandwiches.
They also have breakfast at the steam table in the morning.
Their service is fast and people are polite.
We try eating in the 2^nd floor cafeteria. Not my favorite place. It feels old, not good lighting and tables are not too clean but when it is raining hard it useful.

Rude workers making breakfast, the food is cross contaminated and if you notice the cold meats and cheese aren’t kept at the right temperature which leads causes bacteria to grow. Not to mention the prices change way too often, one day a sandwich will run you 2.50 the next day 3.00 and the following day down to 2.75. I would never eat there again!!!

They have the best breakfast sandwiches around and the best prices. decent selection and buffet since earl in the AM. LUnch is also cheap for the area and why i like this spot. Sorry cant be ballin everyday for food paying 15 – 20 per meal.
They are quick and clean, you are in and out in less than 5 minutes. They have an upstairs area to eat but i have never stayed there.
Guys in the kitchen are friendly and fast with their service and so are the cashiers.
Def going again and again.

The staff were really rude to me here. I didn’t have enough cash, so the lady at the check-​out ignored me for the next customer. I stood there like an idiot for a couple minutes, until I was pointed in a vague direction for an ATM. I didn’t see one, so I just left without my food. I don’t know if there food is good or not, but their lack of customer service has deterred me from ever going back.

I’m going to have to stop coming here, as they’ve now twice given me the wrong order and then charged me for the more expensive, incorrect order. It’s a burger and fries, people, not Baked Alaska.

What doesn’t this place have? I know, people complain about the prices but come ON — they just have so… much… variety!
You can get omelets, sandwiches of any style, they have hot food choices, cold food choices, pre-​made salads, make-​your-​own salads, veggies — both raw and cooked, sushi, hard boiled eggs for those diety type days, fruit, pastries, pizza, and… well, I could go on, but I think you get the idea.
Oh, yeah, and a little grocery store part where you can buy drinks (read: BEER ME), chips, yogurt, a coffee bar, any condiment you’d want, ever, snacks and flowers.
Seriously. They have everything. And they have nice staff to boot. These are the reasons why I go there at least once a day.

This review is strictly for the buffet section. The food is $ 8 per pound of food. During lunch hours, the options range from salads to chinese takeout looking type foods to semi italian pasta. I enjoy the shrimp salad and the corn along with some fish. Looks are deceiving! My food came up to be almost $ 10 after I was done. Maybe I was just super hungry that day and my eyes were bigger than my stomach. I think it’s a bit overpriced at $ 8 a pound since most of the stuff was just chinese takeout type food and the other types of food didn’t look very flavorful but ohwell. Emma’s Dilemma is a good place for a quick lunch that allows you to choose between a handful of options. I still think the price for a pound of food here is a bit over the top though.

I really like the people at Emma’s, particularly the Mexican and Japanese employees that give each other salutes that in some parts of the country may be considered a ‘white power’ type of gesture.
However, these buffet-​type places are all the same — a bit overpriced and full of food that kind of all tastes the same. I can’t put my finger on it, but the meatloaf and the checken and the salads all have this weird similarity that I can’t quite identify, and it just wierds me out.
Oh well, the coffee’s great, it’s close to work, and all the people are cool, so I’ll remain a loyal breakfast customer.

This place drives me absolutely crazy.
It’s great for its convenience and numerous options. The food is all pretty decent, and the grill guys are all super nice.
However, I have serious issues with the checkout ladies and all things related to pricing in this place.
A) They don’t put price tags on ANYTHING. I’m fairly certain pricing is at a complete whim to the checkout lady, and they gouge you on a quarter here and there. So what, it’s a quarter, but the principle of it drives me nuts. Also, some of the pricing is RIDICULOUS and because you don’t know how much it costs til you get to the counter, you end up paying exorbitant prices. Oh, that bottle of smoothie that you assume costs $ 3 – 4 because that’s where it costs everyone else? $ 5.75. That old school roll of breath savers that should cost 50 cents, tops, because come on, it’s not even in a fancy plastic container like TicTacs? A dollar. WHAT??? You got me, Emma’s. You got me.
B) There’s always a sales tax, which seems odd. I’ve never been to a deli that charges sales tax.
C) They keep upping the credit card minimum which is just annoying and ends up destroying my plan for a cheap lunch.
D) Those ladies are NEVER FRIENDLY. And for this reason, I am more inclined to believe they are ripping me off, slowly, penny by penny.
I always exit Emmas declaring I WILL NEVER GO BACK. But I always do in the end.

My morning joint. Great fruit bar, and the breakfast sandwiches are decent. Didn’t like the buffet all that much for lunch, but what do you really expect at a Deli?

This place is a typical deli in the city. They do have a hot/​cold bar where you weigh food by the pound. What stands out the most is the selection of food and the Iced Coffee. You can actually make your own Iced Coffee here. So you know what’s in it before you drink. A large one will cost you $ 2.50… Very cheap and just the way you like it.

This place tends to be on my way to somewhere, so I stop in here not infrequently. They always have coconut water, «fresh» fruit, and pre-​made sushi that hasn’t killed me yet. They have a decent selection of baked goods, frozen treats, and «healthy» food in a bag, like that naked popcorn.
I stay away from the hot buffet (who eats that stuff?) but I always inspect it (I just can’t look away!) and the fried chicken etc. looks less dried out and crusty than at other hot buffets I’ve encountered.
Oh and it’s overpriced, naturally. Which is to be expected for a Park Avenue/​Gramercy area deli.

I have been eating here for lunch for 3 days! and will go on.
The buffet here is good, it have spicy, cooked food and the seafood noodle is really delicious.
Kind like chinese food in taste, but not in format…
And you serve yourself for choosing food then weight for price.
Kind of self control of eating lunch… by the weight of food…

Had lunch there yesterday and today because it’s convenient to my office.
Yesterday’s burrito really wasn’t great-​I wouldn’t get it again but I went back today because the hot buffet caught my eye and it delivered. Pretty good stuff so I’ll go back for that.
My point isn’t very original-​go here if you need something quick, not terribly expensive, and you like to have a lot of different cuisines at once.

update: hidden upstairs seating in the back right hand side!

Lots of food options, true. WAY over priced for alcohol. $ 15 for a 6-​pack of Sierra Nevada? I know it’s Manhattan, and on Park Avenue and it’s convenient… but seriously, that’s a rip off! Whole Foods sells the same 6-​pack for $ 9.99, down a few blocks on Union Sq.

Emma’s Dilemma is an excellent name for the deli that does everything. The place is huge, with half of it dedicated to your standard grocery-​store type food stuffs. The rest has a grill, a deli, a pizza over, a huge ass hot buffet, and a custom salad station. The place does a lot which gives you a bunch of choices. The prices are standard, the ingredients are rather fresh and delicious and that place is rather clean. Almost too clean. The place is busy during the lunch hour but everything is fast and runs smoothly. If you’re looking for your standard deli fair during your lunch hour, this is a good place to high tail it too.