SoomSoom Vegetarian Bar

Dude. Best falafel ever. Forget what anyone says. The ambiance is just an added plus. I eat «legit» falafel in 3 places in NYC, and this is one of them.

Yes, I am coming back again. Friendly service and good fast vegetarian food. Slightly pricey, and hardly any place to sit inside this tiny eatery, but it was worth coming in. The woman at the check out counter asked if this was was first time here. I said yes and she went through the list of choices with me. Per her advice, I’ve selected the Soom Sabich, which is a pita stuffed with eggplant, hard-​boiled eggs, potatoes, and hummus with add ons from the salad bar. I had the whole wheat pita instead of the white. Since I had so much inside my pita, I only added more tahini and green sauce. Boy, was I happy after my first bite. Next time, I must try their falafel and hummus treat.

I like this place as a quick, no-​frills place to grab a bite to eat to go. I have usually gotten the soomsoom original falafel in a whole wheat pita; you can add in topping you want from the salad bar, which is a nice touch because you control the quantity of sauce/​toppings. It’s not super cheap but I still like it. The falafels aren’t dry or too breaded. On Fridays, they used to have buy 1 get 1 free falafel/​meal with a drink. They also have a loyalty card: buy 7 main dishes and get 1 free. The food has been consistent each time I’ve gone. They close early on weekdays and aren’t open on the weekend.

I’m not sure why this place has gotten such great reviews. The food was fine, definitely nothing special, and the salad bar was a mess. It appeared to be full of regulars, who maybe don’t mind the small space as they run in and out, but I will not be returning.
This is definitely a run in and grab kind of place, where you get a little dish to fill in the salad bar similar to Maoz. I would definitely go to Maoz before this place if you have the chance.

This place is a whole in the wall, but nicely decorated. I didnt like that I kept having to move around while waiting for my shawarma plater with hummous. However, there was way too much humus in there to eat. The flavor was only OK, but good. The falafel was tasty but not awesome.
Oh. yes. definitely not Vegetarian!

Definitely a place I will pick up food from again! So much better than street falafel. Went a bit after lunch and had no lines so that was great!

SoomSoom Vegetarian Bar has crunchy falafels, shawarma, and a salad bar to suit vegetarians and meat lovers alike. With a short menu but countless combinations, its easy to try new things and find something that you like here. However, with only five seats in the house, it is a grab and go place only.
You start with ordering your base — do you want a falafel sandwich? a salad? Do you want that with meat or just falafel? How about an egg? After that, you fill it up at the salad bar and get to sample grilled zucchini, carrots and cucumbers, parsley, quinoa, beets, chickpeas, cabbage salad, and various sauces. The layout of the store is quite tight, so be prepared to jostle elbows with your fellow cubicle comrades. Get here early to avoid the hassle and mixed signals. They also have an amazing mint lemonade.
The soom salad (falafels, salad bar, over mixed greens or spinach) is a good deal at $ 10.75 for a preservative free — vegetable friendly meal. Other options can range from $ 8 – 12. Service was friendly and quick, but again, also at the mercy of the tiny counter space and too many hungry standing customers.
Note that they do delivery and you can order on their website. The menu looks different from the store to the website, but you should be able to find what you want.

Great falafel and also very unique all vegetarian Israeli salad bar, but the restaurant did serve meat so the name was misleading. I brought my mom here as she tries not to eat at restaurants that serve meat so I was a bit disappointed. Onto the food and ambiance…
Hot sauce delivered a punch. Only wish that they had more seats as I stared at a wall whilst I devoured the delicious falafel. Pita was warm and the falafels weren’t dry at all. Highly recommend this spot if you are getting it to go…

Some of the best falafel place in midtown. However, the 46^th ave store is showing in the wrong area as it showed it between 5^th and Madison but they opened a new location at Lexington between 55^th and 56^th (really on the corner of 56^th and Lex) so we went there. The 46^th St location is open just between 5^th and 6^th/​Avenue of the America’s.
Have to make a stop here every time we come to NYC.

Yummy! I am a born and raised New Yorker with a southern girl palate. Surprisingly enough Soom Soom’s pita and falafel gave the right amount of flavor and freshness to satisfy my lunch hunt in midtown for «something different». I will be adding them to the lunch rotation.

This place was ok. the Falafal was amazing when I had a sample from teh lady giving it out on the street, but my actual order was a bit cold by the time I got it. The staff kept hurrying me along and I felt very rushed. The new Belgium fries were delicious, but a very small order. Next time I go I will try the salad bar, which looked a little more legit.

I was really not a fan — the place was chaotic even for a late lunch and hot inside. Orders were getting messed up and missed.
The food itself was okay — nothing special or different from any of the other numerous options.

Soom soom soom soom soom! The food was ehh. I am a huge fan of falafel but there no absolutely nothing to draw me back to this place. It’s not that their food wasn’t good per say. But it extremely average and lacked flavor in certain areas.
Their pitas– definitely good! They don’t break on you as you fill them. They’re very wholesome. Here I have no complaints.
Their falafel is okay. It’s slightly heavy to my opinion but its not flavored well. It doesn’t have that end note that makes it an OUTSTANDING falafel ball.
The salad bar– good selection but again no creativity. It’s so average and familiar that the looks of it made me disappointed I even purchased the sandwich in the first place.
Amba (mango sauce) — well done! Ill give them that. The Amba is delicious. Perhaps a bit spicier but great overall.
Last note– the tahini– omg! The worst tahini I’ve ever had. Sooo bland. And it’s made of sesame seed paste which is soom soom in Hebrew which means their tahini should be amazing. SO NOT THE CASE! Very unfortunate.
The place is just another whole in the wall but unfortunately it will remain just that.

This little falafel joint packs a potent vegetarian punch. The self serve toppings station offers a breadth of customization that enables SoomSoom to be a workhorse lunch option. Even with a line the turnover is usually fast, so you’re in and out by about five minutes. The prices are reasonable, too.
But these practicalities do not cover the key strengths of SoomSoom. No. It’s the thumping trance background music that makes you think you ordered a side of Ibiza along with your pita sandwich. It’s the way the manager asks if you want «hoomoos», with a rich intonation that makes you crave humus even though you don’t. And it’s the terrifically frantic servers who are racing to make your falafel sandwiches, and who are struggling mightily to separate the non-​humus and humus orders. It’s a SoomSoom world — with your vegetarian, pseudo health conscious order, anything is possible.

I’m not big on negativity. This was my experience. I went in, said «I’m thinking about having a soup and the humus plate but I» interrupting me and without really acknowledging me she said, «the soup’s over there»
I was the only person in the venue at 2 in the afternoon. I attempted several more times to engage her but she was far more interested in yelling at another staff member about paper bags.
When I got my food, the pita was quite good but the humus was all tahini, no chickpeas, making the taste unbearable, the pickled egg was «meh» and the felafel was cold. The butternut squash soup was completely unseasoned and little more than butternut squash and water without salt.
I’ve already thrown away my take out menu with more than half of the food I ordered.

I keep hoping i would like falafels, if i just try one more time– but it is just not for me. I asked for a salad, and he told me 11 dollars! Later I find out from someone who frequent this place that the pricy lunch was because they gave me 6 falafels, as opposed to 3. The cashier never asked me for my preference and assumed I was going to stuff my face and charged me for it! The person at the end of the salad bar who was responsible for packaging my meal seemed frazzeled and took 5 minutes just to get some new plastic forks as they didn’t restock. With that said, the food was okay, even the none falafel stuff. They also ran out of whole wheat pita bread. just seemed so disorganized.

I am still dreaming of the hummus here… mmmm.
Great place for a quick (vegetarian) bite. Super healthy. Super flavorful. Just not much place to sit. So be prepared to take your deliciousness back to your office. Or grab a counter and just stand and eat. That’s what I did! Still fabulous!

Work in the area and was on the way to 99 Cent Dreams… a great dollar store, by the way.
The falafel sandwich is $ 6.50 + $ 0.50 for hummus. The falafel topping/​salad bar is fresh and full of items like stuffed grape leaves, tomatoes, red cabbage, hot sauce, and cucumbers. There is also a bowl of croûton-​like strips that give your sandwich a nice crunch. If you want your falafel to go, they will wrap it up in foil for you after you add your desired toppings. The falafel balls themselves are delicious – tender and perfectly herby. Like others have mentioned, tahini is free flowing here – it comes in squeeze bottles on the counters!
The staff is nice, and the service is quick. So excited that this opened up nearby! Will definitely be coming by for lunch again.
There is also a hand washing sink in the lobby for Jews. An A+!!!

I just left Soom Soom and have demolished my yummy falafel sandwich.
I hadn’t been to this location before but had been to the one on 72^nd several times. This one tastes just as great as the other which I always loved. This one actually seems a little cleaner & it seems they keep the salad bar a little more out of the way & easier to navigate because its wide so multiple people can fit at it at once.
They also seemed to do amazing with the lunch rush — anticipating that a lot of people would be ordering falafel and having them popping out and ready to go very quickly so the line would move.
Overall, great experience and will definitely be back next time I’m craving a falafel for lunch! Yummmmmmmmmm!

I’m so excited that soomsoom has opened a midtown locale on 46^th. The other locale on 56 and lex is a hike from my office. And I believe the original is on the uws. I brought two of my co-​workers and we all agreed there is a dearth of fresh and affordable vegetarian lunch options in the neighborhood.
Soomsoom is a vegetarian falafel bar similar to others like chickpea and crisp but here’s the nuance. Portions are generous and there is an all you can add salad bar (unlike chickpea which nickels and dimes add ons). Salad bar has stuff like beets, artichokes, some kosher cabbage salads, and other veggies. Lunch and drink is just around $ 10 which is a super bargain especially given how how fresh everything is.
Get here early because this spot is popular and there will be a line for lunch. Seating is limited so soomsoom is more a grab n go lunch option.