Little Lad's Basket (CLOSED)

ummm this place is weird. was excited to try it out as i'm a big fan of vegetarian food (but not a strict vegetarian myself). the atmosphere is not my style. the place seems very....old...and not in that "cute antique" kind of way. the food tasted fine but the look of it really turned me off. their buffet seems kind of run-down and the food just seemed to be slopped onto platters. it reminds me a little bit of a soup kitchen for homeless people.

excellent service. friendly staff. healthy food. great price.

I go to this place all the time for lunch as I work downtown. I used to get the buffet because it tastes great, but you pay for it later... Once Larry (the owner) told me I need to get used to that type of food, which is interesting because I eat a very healthy diet at all times which consists ofwhole grains, fruits/vegetables, lean protein and beans) and if anything Little Lads is less healthy than my usual fare (no matter what they claim). So I switched to the grilled cheeseburger (really a veggie burger), because it has a more favorable gastronomic effect and tastes great. However, the girl who works the register is rude and I am done dealing with her. She likes to imply that I tell her I get popcorn but really get (costlier) fries on the side. I have never done that because I'm not a dishonest person, nor am I so hard up I need to cheat Little Lads. But rather than have the chef simply mark on the container what people get, this girl continues to treat me rudely every time I go to pay. Today she went as far as opening my container to check I was telling the truth. I mean, come on. She also charged me an extra dollar because she prob. assumed I'd ordered fries (I hadn't) and claimed I must have been undercharged the last 20 times I have been there and ordered the same thing. Note that Larry himself has rung me up for $5.41 rather than $6.50. She also told me I must have lied about what I'd ordered in the past (!) Since I'm really not interested in having the only break in my workday be spent dealing with this rude girl and I have never warmed up to the atmosphere there, I am taking my $5.41/$6.50 elsewhere.

My wife and I have visited almost every vegetarian place in NYC. So when staying at a friends place downtown in the financial district we were excited to check out one that had fallen through the cracks...Little Lads. An oasis in the midst of Wall Street? Let me preface this review by saying that most people think my wife and I are pretty nice people. So we decide to go Little Lad’s for breakfast and showed up there a few minutes before 7:30. We had thought the place opened at 7:00 per google's restaurant into. It is rare to find a veg place in NYC that opens early so this was another find. The door was open and all the lights were on so we walked in. We waited a few minutes, but nobody came out from the back. OK, not so strange, it was kind of early. So we walked towards the back of the restaurant where we saw a gentleman a few feet away from us in the kitchen. He shook his head at me in disgust, "too early". I thought he was joking with me. I replied "when do you open". He replied, 7:30. I looked at my watch, 7:28. I apologized and explained that I had gotten wrong info off the internet. So we patiently waited in the front area. 5, 10, 15 minutes go by. Employees pass us by, look at us, nothing. An employee is working on some sort of catering order right in front of us, nothing. Finally it’s becoming almost a comedy act. I go back towards the kitchen and say, “excuse me, is there someone to assist us out here?”. The guy mumbles something about someone else helping me. Meanwhile "someone else" is standing out there also blankly staring at me. A moment or two later, nothing. I said "we're leaving, you are making us feel unwelcome". They stood there and smiled at me. I said "well be back next lifetime". They stood there, not a word. If the owner ever saw this I would think both those people would be fired on the spot. Little Lad’s if this is how you treat your customers your days in NYC will be numbered.

I went here for lunch recently thought the place was a little weird at first. There didn't seem to be anyone around and I wasn't sure if my order had even been put in, but once the food arrived it really redeemed itself. I'm not one for vegetarian or vegan food but I had the fake steak sandwich and I loved it! The popcorn was also delicious and I thought about taking some home. I would definitely go back. It's cheap, good and my sandwich was huge. The only bad thing was a lack of things to drink there wasn't much selection.

I really love this place! The food is good and so fresh and so so so affordable! I have some of my meat-eating co-workers going there regularly now and we all love it. The buffet food is very tasty (although, as a warning, low on choices) and my new favorite is the soup and bread. Yum! It's the best price for any soup in the financial district and I would swear the tomatoes in my Italian lentil soup today had been picked this morning.

This is actually one of my favorite vegetarian spots to date. The food is delicious for a great price. Lunch buffet is usually 3.99 with a soup. The atmospere is friendly because Larry the owner is very polite as well as the staff. The food is very healthy and fresh. Non meat eaters as well as carnivores will love this food!