CLOSED: Otarian

If you aren't locked to being in this location then head up to peacefood instead. This is really a vegetarian restaurant and the food we had was not high quality. They have places to sit but it is not a comfortable environment and in addition the wait time was too long.

Otarian is vegetarian with a lot of vegan options (in fact, several of the burgers can be made vegan by swapping out the cheese and mayo -- yes, they have vegan mayo!). I've had their two veggie burgers, veganized, and they were delicious! The fries are also quite tasty. Good for a quick bite on the go.

The Burgers a good and the sweet potatos are delicious!

This place is not vegan, just vegetarian, but it has some good vegan options like soup and salads. Right now I am enjoying a Latska, which is nice and spicy. Do not expect big meals, just tasty bites with lots of flavor. It is a great veg option before your Broadway show. It has to go food, nice desserts and apparently they offset they do what they can to reduce their carbon footprint, but they do not use real plates, just compostable stuff.

the emloyees where very nice, but the food....
i couldn't finish the fries and the vegan burger was dry and tasteless
this place is empty most of the time, there's a reason!
i wanted to give a try, i won't go again

The good was the desert. Nice chocolate cake.
The bad one:
Burger too spicy and the salad was very bad, really it's look like quality went down.

This place was fairly cheap and pretty quick, but the food was just so-so. If you are looking for yummy vegan food, this place probably isn't the best option. The menu looks exciting, but the food turns out to be fairly bland.

Think McDonalds, except a million times better. This place serves nicely prepared, rather healthy, reasonably priced, and relatively fast food that you order at the counter. The place is clean, has a bathroom. Most of the food here is rather tasty, and the ingredients and calories are clearly labeled. It is not fair to compare this place to a gourment restarant--for a fast food place near Carnegie Hall/Columbus circle, this is truly a great find.
Updated from previous review on Thursday July 28, 2011

The concept image of Otarian is great: healthy "fast" food, eco-friendly, on a global mission. However, look behind the curtain and this "mission" has failed on all accounts. I would write a more detailed and full review; however, the owners are notorious for targeting negative reviews and slandering the writers, so I will leave it up to people to choose where you eat wisely. I'd suggest skipping the airplane food and going for quality veggie places where you can also trust the practices. There are plenty not far away, fast and slow dining options.

This was a good find on Happy Cow and as my title explains, the restaurant had many food fusions that were creative and tasty. We received a complimentary chocolate mousse after ordering. (so smooth and rich- yum!) I ordered a Biryani dish that was good and my friends were happy with what they ordered. The seating is unique but there aren't many sets for larger groups. Afterwards, I needed to get something to go for a friend (who is a picky eater)and the staff was super friendly and helpful in choosing something to appeal to my friend's tastes. They were also talkative about their use of corn-based products for traveling/serving food and composting as well as the creation of the restaurant. Overall- it was a great experience and I would go back.

Otarian has kind of a cafeteria-feel. Their meals are mix and match with combos all individually packaged. They are super environmentally friendly and they even analyze and can tell you the carbon footprint of all their menu items. When I first looked at the menu I was a bit surprised to see only 5-6 vegan entree options. There were no vegan desserts on the menu, but they did have some cakes in the pre-packaged food section.

I got one order of each kind of taco and a fruit cake, and my husband got the burger combo with sweet potato chiplets and a chocolate cake. I thought the tacos were pretty bland and I wasn't too happy with them (one was literally just corn, black beans, and lettuce in a tortilla shell--wtf). My husband's burger was really good and the chiplets were to die for. Both of the cakes were really yummy. Oh, and the prices were fantastic! The meals were filling and cheap.

Vegan options are labeled and the service is very helpful when trying to decide what to get. I got the mushroom quinoa burger and the potato spinach burger. Both were delicious! (The potato spinach was a little better). The sweet potato frites are interesting so I would recommended trying them out if you haven't before. Good food to grab on the go...got this while waiting to see a taping of the David Letterman show and it was great (both the food and the show).

Place was fast, clean and good menu. It reminded me too much of a fast food joint but, the food was good as well as the help. I would definitely go back.

Having visited both London locations I didn't have high hopes for this one. But it wasn't as extortionate as London, and the food was surprisingly good. Today I had the lentil mushroom burger - the burger itself is kinda dry, but it didn't matter as it was swimming in a Big Mac Sauce substitute. French fries were perfect. Maybe I'll try the London one again now.

Was visiting NYC for work and found this via happycow. Trekked through the icy streets for some good vegan food and wasn't disappointed. The counter staff was super friendly and explained my options for vegan food. They were out of the one vegan dessert, but I promised to come back for it next time I was in town. Had the portobello burger (vegan option) and sweet potato chiplettes. Very, very good.