Simply put...I've had better food at a hospital. I was disappointed to find very few options on a Saturday. There was a couple hot food options but not clearly labeled so it wasn't clear what else was there besides the BBQ pork. The greens in the salads were wilted. The pasta salad was very watery and slime-like. I couldn't eat that. There was soda but not much else for healthier drinks besides juice. The prices I felt was not worth the little meal I got. if anyone is looking for a good filling meal with more enticing choices this cafe is NOT the place. Go elsewhere. read more

Really poor food that's overpriced. There are a few nice people that work here and they can't stand the food either. There are some really rude people too. One worker told me you're welcome before giving me my food and a chance to thank her. The toaster was on fire and when I asked the worker to help his response was "I don't know, sir". Which didn't even make sense. He just didn't want to be bothered. Another very helpful person helped me put the fire out. The dining room is very beautiful with huge windows, but you can't enjoy it because the food is so poor that you can't think of anything else. read more

I've worked in both restaurants and hospitals for years, and I can tell you that this is singularly the worst hospital cafeteria I have ever eaten in. Basically, it's a middle school cafeteria at 30x the price. Let's start with the location. The Atrium is a huge, open space with plenty of seating and nice decor. The Café is bright, with various stations serving hot entrées and sides, a deli counter, salad bar, hot sandwiches, deserts, soups, pizza, an "international" section serving single dishes individually prepared,and even a sushi station. With that kind of variety, there has to be something for everyone, right? Nope. The entrée station is perhaps the only decent fare in the place. That is, if stuffed chicken breast caked in paprika is your jam. Soggy steamed vegetables sweat in the their steam trays, while the mashed potatoes dry out in the open air. Which brings me to the short order station. They do not have a fryer. So your "French fries", onion rings and chicken fingers are baked in a convection oven. Not a huge deal, but no one bothers to flip or shuffle them around, every order is simultaneously burnt and undercooked. The burgers are cooked at 9am, kept in a holding oven in a sheet pan half soaking in their own grease, leaving them dried out and greasy at the same time. They are made up as needed and left under a heater, so the bread is stale and more akin to a large cracker than a bun. I've surmised that the hot sandwiches are not made with bread, but rather a kitchen sponge rolled in broken glass. Perhaps it's a means of drumming up business for the oral surgery clinic. The pizza looks decent (when there is any), and is about par for what you'd expect from a hospital cafeteria. However, it sits out in the open, and is often cold, and the employees working there refuse to heat it up in the oven that is 4 FEET AWAY. The sushi is actually decent, but $7-9 for not the freshest raw seafood is a bit high in my opinion. The "International Expo" is a crapshoot, it closes down at 2pm, but the portions are small and you could do better with a Marie Calendar frozen meal. The sandwich station is manned by people who have never eaten a decent sandwich in their lives. Rule #1 in making a delicious looking sandwich, DO NOT lay each piece of meat flat upon the next like you are counting out dollar bills. Crumple it up so it gives the sandwich some fullness. The "artisan" bread is mealy and dry, but not horrible. The salad bar is a beacon of hope. You can choose from fresh greens or lettuce, pick your toppings, including grilled chicken, ham, turkey, tuna, chicken salad, fresh fruits and many different dressings. They have wraps and bread available if you want to make your own. One caveat however. The salad bar, and everything else that gets weighed is EXPENSIVE. $0.42/oz for salad, wraps/sandwiches, fresh fruit, yogurt, ice cream, and bulk candy. If you aren't careful, you can easily spend $12-15 on a mediocre salad or more. My tip: limit the heavy wet ingredients and put your dressing on the side. The coffee is pricey, and the coffee station is small, cramped, and constantly dirty and perpetually out of one ingredient, be it plain creamer, decaf coffee, sweet and lo, whatever. They do allow you a refill using an outside cup (any one that doesn't come from them, regardless of size) for $0.85. So there's that. All in all, it's a rout. Highway robbery perpetuated against a captive market. The staff is unhelpful, the prices are ridiculous, the food is mediocre at best, and even the condiments are watery and questionable. This place desperately needs some kind of management to actually look at it from a customers POV and make the appropriate changes. If it weren't in the hospital, with a admittedly beautiful space, it would have closed its doors days after opening. Save your money and bring food, or hit up Wendy's, Burger King, or even Weis' deli shop. Honestly, Geisinger should be ashamed. read more

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Food is meh and you'll have a heart attack when the cashier rings you up. Excellent business model for a hospital, I suppose.