The closest thing to Chinatown that's away from Chinatown in the deep south, downtown NYC district. My coworkers and I always go there when we have a hankering for (relatively) traditional Cantonese style Chinese food for lunch that won't break your budget.
Basically, the entire building is dedicated to food and dining for its customers. The basement has one of the biggest selection of salad bars I've seen for a restaurant that mainly focuses on quick and low budget lunch meal. The 1st floor is dedicated to made-to-order plates and daily specials, i.e. rise dishes and noodles. And thus leaving the 2nd and 3rd floors for customer dining sections. They even provide an elevator for those that don't want to climb the stairs! I've never taken it so I can't review on its efficiency.
What I love most are the daily lunch discounts. The basement buffet discounts happen later in the day, while the 1st floor's discounts happen before noon. The discounts are most likely to stabilize the crowds, as it gets super packed after 12:15pm when the hungry herds come through for their daily chow. Even with 2 entire floors (and some on the first floor) of seating, there still might not be enough room to sit and eat. Luckily, there's a nearby park half a block away that I go to on the nice weather days!
I also enjoy the staff's super efficiency. If there's no line, I'm usually in and out within 10 minutes when I make a made-to-order dish on the spot. I can't even get that in "fast food" restaurants. I guess the efficiency is a must since they service so many customers at once.
Since it's such a budget lunch place with so much variety, there's almost always a homeless guy with his hand outstretched by the front door, hoping for handouts from the customers. Also notice in one instance, the 3rd floor bathroom funk filled the entire floor, which put a real damper on my appetite. read more