Sam’s Spring Roll

We found this place after visiting the cat café (meow parlour) around the corner who recommended here. The food was great, really down to earth, friendly, tasty and great music (audio slave, green day, etc.) Really glad we came and will come back when we’re visiting new york again (from the UK).

I was very very excited about this. Such an awesome concept but it didn’t fit my taste, unfortunately. :(
Super friendly staff. I wish I enjoyed it more but overall, cool concept!

Experience was good. I liked ²⁄₃ types of spring rolls that I ordered. I think my friends meal looked more attractive. My food was unique, and i love the crack sauce. Just thought the portion size was a bit small for the price.

I came with a friend around 2:30pm and although it was empty, I still would recommend this place. I ordered the bulgogi rice bowl and raspberry (I think it was raspberry) lemonade while my friend ordered the lunch special. The cashier was super sweet & informative. (Thumbs up)
Although the bulgogi was a bit dry, I still loved it and the chimichurri sauce was a nice kick to it. I forgot what spring roll I ordered that came along with the rice bowl but it was good too. I really love fried food so this makes me happy! The raspberry lemonade was something different but I still liked it tho. I also tried the waffle fries from my friend’s ordered and tried the «crack sauce» from her also and I can see why it’s call «crack sauce».
Overall, I’m happy with the customer service and food and will return in the future :)

Really great food and service! Get the rice bowl to fill up and her potato soup is everything!

Fine, not great. Reasonable. Friendly staff, accommodating. Nothing special.
We ordered two rice bowls and a grilled cheese. Granted, we were the first customers of the day, but it took nearly 40 minutes for our food to come out. When it did, the rice bowls were very tasty but the grilled cheese was pretty much the worst grilled cheese I’ve ever seen, had or heard about. The kind of grilled cheese your 8 year old makes when you are sick in bed and he/​she is trying SO hard to help out. It was greasy, flaccid, icky. When your two starving children refuse to eat a grilled cheese sandwich, you know it’s bad.
The rest was fine but nothing remarkable. Bulgogi was ground beef and not thinly sliced beef as one usually encounters. It was also dry and over cooked. Disappointing. The ground pork was tastier and more interesting. The grownups also had a really bad headache an hour after eating it, so I don’t know if there was MSG or what to punch up the flavor, but since we both had it…
The spring rolls were nice, but the flavors were basically the same as the main components of the other dishes. I wish those had been more creative.
Limited menu, slow but very kind service (the owner was aware of how slow it was and gave us some free lemonade and tater tots, both of which were very good), iffy quality on the beef and some real misses on the dishes. I think there’s something good here and thus I’m giving it a 3. If we head to Seward Park again, I would consider another visit, but probably not until they up their grilled cheese game.

stopped by here to pick up a meal for the wife. this review isn’t going to be on the freshness of the meal but rather flavor and texture since it wouldn’t be fair.
the bulgogi rice bowl: meat was over cooked and very dry, lacked sauce and moisture.
the price is okay but the food isn’t all that great. adding rice as a filler to an egg roll is just a bad move…
service was impeccable and they were super nice. the spring rolls they offer are definitely different and the choice of sauces are also different. it would be nice if they had a sauce recommendation for each type of spring roll (like a pairing) so we don’t get some crazy combination.
being asian we know that spring rolls just don’t cost that much, that being said pricing isn’t horrible but also its not all that cheap either. i think having a more diverse menu with more authentic fillers/​ingredients may help this place take off.
ill be willing to try them again but this time ill eat in to see if it makes a difference.

Overview: Excellent food. Original menu, sober meals. Fast service. Friendly staff.
You don’t really come here for the decoration. If it’s typically new york-​ish, it’s all about simplicity and sobriety, not comfortness and warmth. Winter is coming, and the front window is not weather proof, so I have the feeling that I’ll soon try their delivery service ! In a word (repeat after me) you don’t come over with your old already-​shacky grandma. But don’t get me wrong, the restaurant is heated !
Aside from my obsessive-​compulsive preocupations for comfort, the food is great, and if you compare with other 8 – 9 $ lunch you can find in the City, it’s really honorable.
Yes, yes, I know, we’re in the middle of cheap dumpling’s Kingdom. Well, when you’re ready to take the next step and quit on this weird «I’m not perfectly sure of what I just ate, burp-​» feeling, then you can stop by and try the rolls (beef and chicken are my favorites). Or even better, if you’re craving real cooked food, try the Rice bowls with meat. You get to choose your meat. It comes with an egg, a roll, and a sauce. Chimichuri or Ginger-​Scallion are my top picks.
Overall, it’s very tasty, it’s real cooking, it’s original. I recommend it. Especially anything with Bulgogi in it (beef cooked meat), from the rice bowl to their special weapon: the beef grilled-​cheese. Yeay !!
Owner & staff are very friendly. That doesn’t hurt !

Awesome spring rolls, great price, quick service and staff are very polite, i give this a 100%. Highly rec.

I stumbled here in accident when I tried to go to the Hester Street Fair… on a Friday (for future notice, it only opens on Saturdays). I’m not a huge fan of spring rolls, but after having trekked 20 minutes from my office, I was super annoyed and willing to eat anything. Sam’s Spring Rolls is a small, hole in the wall with a few tables, dimly lit atmosphere, and grungy feel. What attracted me was their lunch special — $ 7 for three spring rolls, waffle fries, a sauce, and a soda.
There are four different spring roll options: Pork, Bulgogi, Chicken, and Samosa. I had the three meat options and the chimichurri sauce to match them. The food came out pretty quickly, very hot. The spring rolls are pretty small, but they pack a lot of flavor. The Bulgogi one was the juiciest (I’m still thinking about it!). The other two were good, but I couldn’t really tell which one was which, so stick with the beef! The Chimichurri sauce was sharp and oily (in a good way, chimichurri sauce needs to be oily) and worked well with the spring rolls. The waffle fries were super plentiful and delicious. I would recommend a different sauce for those fries (maybe the more creamy, mayo-​y options?).
It was a nice pleasant meal and maybe I’ll have them deliver next time. Check it out if you are in the area and want a quick, cheap, tasty lunch!

I had four types of rolls and the were all delicious. The two sauces were great but the rolls didn’t even need a sauce they were that tasty.
Staff very friendly (:

This happens ALL the time in Chinatown and I have a personal grudge when restaurants close early because they «just feel like it» but Sam’s is a new (and welcome!) breed of restaurant attitude. I took my friends on an eating tour of the LES hole in the walls and Sam’s was my last stop. It was 20 minutes until closing so I called ahead and Sam (the owner) was so nice and friendly on the phone and she said «Come on by — we’ll make sure to stay open for you guys!» Needless to say, we were so happy they squeezed us in. We had the place to ourselves and had a great chance to chat with Sam and her manager while we sampled every kind of roll and sauce on the menu.
My roll rankings: #1 chicken, #2 pork, #3 bulgogi beef (leans sweet which is not my style but it was the favorite for 2 of my friends). My sauce rankings: #1 crack sauce, #2 crack sauce, #3 crack sauce… basically crack sauce forever.
The rolls are thin-​skinned (win) and lightly fried (win) and remain crisp throughout (win). My only request is that Sam start experimenting with some glass noodle filling in addition to the rice (which is, I think, her twist on the traditional fillings). Totes coming back here to try the grilled cheese.

Stopped by as a result of Unilocal reviewers boasting reviews. They do a lunch special for 7 $ that includes 3 spring rolls of choice, waffle fries and a drink.
Upon arrival, was greeted by a friendly cashier and she made an effort to make small talk (a plus). I forgot what sauce reviewers were fawning over and she knew, it was the crack (spicy thai) sauce. I left with my friend and she was not hungry but after smelling my spring rolls, we decided to return again so she can make a purchase.
After getting home a little later, my fries were soggy — didn’t matter they are waffle fries and I love them. Appearance of spring rolls looked small but they were very filling. Both the bulgogi and the cumin chicken had rice in them! They were portioned generously. Not really a fan of the samosa, but when my bf is back in town, I will take him for these vegetarian spring rolls. I, on the otherhand will definitely return.
TLDR; Sam’s spring rolls are a must try with fun fillings and great sauces!

Honestly thought this place was just alright. I stopped by for a quick lunch with my mom and decided to order two bulgogi rice bowls. I had originally thought of getting a salad bowl but I think its’ description was literally salad, a spring roll, and an egg. Sounds pretty lacking to me. FYI — the salad bowl also costs $ 9 vs. the rice bowl at $ 8.
I’ll have to say that the cashier/​waitress was super sweet and checked up on us a bunch of times and refilled our tap water (had noticed that a prior review complained about lack of tap water — kudos that Sam’s read their reviews and actually follow up). The food came out pretty quickly and the meat itself was nicely flavored albeit tough and all chopped up into bits, not like the bulgogi you would normally find. The rice was a little undercooked to my liking and the sauces we ordered (verde and scallion ginger) were underwhelming. I didn’t feel like they added much to the meal. The spring roll was fresh — straight out of the oven — and the bulgolgi roll was much more flavorful than the pork w. leek roll we ordered.
Overall, just fine for a fast meal, clocking in at about over $ 17 for two bowls. Was disappointed because I expected a bomb meal for all their rave reviews!

The newest item the Bulgogi Grilled cheese and the loaded fries with Bulgogi. Its just a Secret menu item right now so you have to ask for it, but definetly worth it. Inexpensive and a great snack with a good mix of salty, sweet and spicy for the savory taste buds. My mouth is watering just thinking about ordering another one

If you love spring rolls, this is the place to go. Also, this is my place to go when I come back home for a night snacks. They also have rice bowls. It’s amazing.

Nice little local spot for a quick bite or when you get the drunken munchies, won’t be disappointed. First off, the staff here are very friendly. They treat you as if you’ve been a regular of theirs for years. As soon as you come in you’re greeted by friendly faces waiting to take your order. These spring rolls aren’t the typical ones you find in take out restaurants down the block, they’re much better. They are bigger and tastier especially when accompanied by the different dipping sauces.
On my visit here, I ordered all four types of spring rolls they sell. You can choose from a bulgogi spring roll, which has a Korean styled marinated beef, a chicken cumin spring roll, a more traditional pork leek spring roll, or for you non-​humans, a vegetarian spring roll. Your choice of rolls are accompanied by a dipping sauce of your choosing. On my visit, I tried the creamy chimichurri and crack sauces. You really can’t go wrong with any of the sauces. And no, the crack sauce does NOT taste like a NYC sidewalk crack… it actually tastes much better and has a hint of spiciness. They also serve their version of a salad and different rice bowls which I will try the next time I go!
As far as pricing, you really get your moneys worth. You would probably come here for a quick bite or snack, so for $ 5 you can get any three spring rolls and your choice of a sauce. Can’t beat that. Remember, they are spring rolls. If they get any bigger they would basically be chimichangas. So, $ 2 for a spring roll that is bigger and tastier than your typical is a good deal in my opinion.
Definitely will be coming back for more!

I frequent the Lower East Side area a lot, so I was pretty surprised when a new spring roll place opened up on Essex Street. This is the first time that I’ve actually seen a place specializing in just selling spring rolls lol. Yesterday I walked past the store, and noticed that they were giving out free samples of their spring rolls. I couldn’t help but give it a try. Sam explained that they’ve just opened up not too long and gave out and explained the different varieties of spring rolls that they offered. I tried samosa spring roll and it didn’t disappoint. The hot sauce that was provided was superb also. I didn’t really get a chance to order because this is a new business and they were just setting up, but I do look forward to trying their spring rolls. Best of luck to the new business!

Can these early great reviews really be true? (Friends of the owner, perhaps?) My experience at Sam’s Spring Roll makes we wonder big time.
First, the place has no character whatsoever, and the seating is uncomfortable.
Next the service — the waitress required payment upfront– are customers not to be trusted to pay after eating? But she would not give me my change because she was busy eating.
Then I had to ask 3 different times later to get my change.
When I asked for a cup of water I was presented with a bottle of water that I would have to pay for! What — no tap water?
The spring rolls are really tiny– certainly no value for $ 2 each. Not only tiny but extremely greasy. When I used my napkin to wipe off the grease it was almost soaked. The taste was nothing special at all. When the waitress asked me what I thought of the rolls I said they were tiny and very greasy. She defended that spring rolls are like that. I responded that they are much better and less greasy elsewhere.
BTW, the ‘crack’ sauce that all the owner’s friends have raved about in their Unilocal reviews is really pretty awful tasting. Why does almost every review state that ‘you must try the crack sauce’? It’s greenish and oily and over-​spiced. What does ‘crack’ sauce mean anyway? does it mean the kind of taste you get from a crack in a NYC sidewalk perhaps?
Unfortunately the grease later affected my stomach — rather uncomfortable.
Now, for the same amount of money you can get so much more and better quality Chinese at Northern Dumpling a few doors down.

This place is AMAZING, and a must try for every New Yorker, tourist, and everyone in-​between. The staff is so friendly and accommodating — Sam herself is one of the coolest people in the food industry that I’ve ever met. The space is a comfortable size, and the atmosphere is very chill. The FOOD… oh my god, the food. Each roll is as good as the last, you can’t compare one with another — they’re just so good!
Sam’s Spring Rolls is a wonderful addition to the area, and is perfect for people spending the night out on the town looking for a quick, delicious snack!