R&D Foods

Layout/atmosphere *Small grocery store setup; six seat wall counter; backyard area; tables on sidewalk Food/drink *Chicken Salad Sandwich (lettuce, tomato, mayo on multigrain bread) [with bacon] - good; bacon was thick cut style *Chocolate chip cookie (sea salt, smoked salt) - good; little too much salt *Donuts (plain, cinnamon, powdered sugar) - Good; cake style

Was it expensive? Yes. Would I go again? Hell yes! The food was so good, customer service happy and welcoming. Be warned this is not a BK have it your way kind of venue, if you want added extras in your sandwich this is not the spot for you. They are complete purists and for good reason! Everything is fresh and absolutely delicious 🤤 great place to check out. Also they have outdoor seating in a cute garden so definitely give it a go.

Had the ham & cheese, meatball, and chicken salad - all were incredible. Backyard is so cute too.

$6 for a baguette is a crime. Even high end stores sell $5 at most. Unless it's the best baguette in NY don't be charging these prices. update: the owners reply is so silly. you are not conveniencing your customers and neighborhood with inflated prices. those baguettes are not good as they're sourdough. Better off going to whole foods for Balthazar or tom cat.

$18 for 2 or 3 pieces of turkey on dry bread. You're not allowed to modify any of their "made to order" sandwiches. There are soo many better shops in the area. I'm not sure how they can justify their prices. I won't be going back.

We only got one thing here, which was the very unique pistachio tahini maple slice. It was a very unique combination of flavors, but it really worked! It’s almost like a fancier and more delicious version of a pecan pie! It had a very nice caramel flavor and was sweet but not cloying. I love the pistachios and how they tasted with the savoriness of the tahini. And the tart base and the crust were Super buttery, a little sweet, and flaky! I would definitely love to have another slice of this! While we didn’t get any prepared foods, the glass case has quite a nice selection of food if you are not interested in making dinner but want to eat at home.

Stopped in to R&D goods first and then saw this place next door - tried the ham and cheese and it was one of the best sandwiches I’ve ever had!! Crusty and soft bread with loads of prosciutto cotto, good white cheddar and the absolute cherry on top is the pickled peppers 👌🏾 will be back for more

Food is pretty good but agreed with many other reviews - sandwiches are overpriced & undersized, even relative to other similar options on the block, and the no substitutions rule is a bit precious - it’s a sandwich joint, not fine dining. I got the banh mih which the restaurant said is big enough to be shared in response to multiple reviews here, and it’s not - it’s just a normal sized banh mih. Don’t see why you’d go here when there are many better options nearby.

Go here! I've been twice and both times HIT. First time: ham and cheese. Amazing! Second time: kale sammy. surprised at how good it was. Cooked down the kale mixed into some cheese (either provolone or mozz)... shiiiiiit it's good Also, gf and vegan options available!

I usually don't do bad reviews but I was super underwhelmed with R&D Foods. First off, I went for a quick bite on a Saturday morning. There were a ton of people so it seemed promising. That said, it took sooooo long for them to make a little BEC. I get that they were busy but it took an unbelievable amount of time to get my sandwich (close to 30 minutes). In addition, the sandwich is extremely small for the price and just ok. I may come back for the donuts as they did look good, but otherwise I will probably not come back.

I literally cried when they stopped making their chicken Satay sandwhich- my guilty lunch pleasure- but lots of other guilty and healthy pleasures here. Love the apple cider doughnuts and the kale be kaling!

i had to try the kale sandwich. it is worth the hype. it's delicious and obviously healthy. i added the salami to it. the sandwich takes about 15 min to make. there wasn't a line and it was around 1pm on a friday so i sat outside. they don't have indoor seating, so unless, it's a nice day, you're likely doing pickup

Good sandwich, but the service was okay perhaps because it was almost closing time. The cold Tea drinks were okay too

My sweetheart and I were touring apartments in the neighborhood and literally stumbled into this place with zero expectations just needing some fuel. And to my surprise, R&D Foods is THE SPOT, a comforting find, reminding me/us of our place we called home in California. I also haven't been eating meat, but after one bite of the kale "salad" sandwich (added salami) I promptly asked my lover to trade me halves. We've been talking about that sandwich everyday since we had it 3 days ago. Sheesh! Life changing, honest.

I really wanted to like this place because the menu looks good and months ago I was given a free baguette at the end of the day by a little girl, whom I presumed to be the daughter of the owner. What a great way to reach out to your community and to fight food waste, I thought! (Plus the baguette was fantastic, which makes sense because I think it's sourced by Pain d'Avignon). So, one extra star for that Anyway, we came in today to try the coffee and a breakfast sandwich, and everything was a bit disappointing. The drip coffee was bitter and it seems that the coffeemaker is simply not cleaned frequently enough. The sandwich was fine but tiny and overpriced. It took a long time to make despite there being only a couple of customers and quite a few employees. Although the packaging is nice and pretty, I could really have skipped the FOUR stickers and labels that my guy affixed to the wrapping, which took forever. The cappuccino was pretty good. Pastries look yummy but I'm not sure if I'll return :(

This place has great food but has the most bizarrely hostile staff in the neighborhood. They are mad when you come in and even more mad when you order something. I think they may be ghosts who came back to life to avenge a death but then forgot who the murderer was so now just angrily suspect everyone. Cookies look good tho.

Yep, the food is good and the staff 'tude is real. So.... You take the good You take the bad You take them both and there you have The facts of life The facts of life

Great kale salad. And sandwiches! We ate at a little park like setting behind the shop.

I think you've got to know what to order here. The first time I came, my friend steered me to the right things and I had a lovely experience. The second time I came, I ordered based on what sounded good to me and was sorely disappointed. The good: Ode to saltie - basically an egg salad sandwich with some additional saltiness (sardines) and acidity (pickled beets). I was a fan even though the rendition I had apparently wasn't even its best form (my friend has had it before, and the version I had apparently didn't have as much acidity as usual). Eggplant salad - A way of preparing eggplant I've never tried before - the eggplants were either roasted or fried to remove the moisture (and most of the eggplant flesh) so most of what remained was the skin, and then mixed with mushrooms and chives. Tasty and unique. The not so good: Kale salad sandwich - I should have read the description more closely - probably would have realized this was going to be a cheesy oily sandwich rather than a light vegetable forward sandwich I was hoping for. Rice noodles - I was hoping there would be other stuff in this side (bok choy, radish, etc), but there was very little of the other stuff and it was primarily just the noodles, which were fine but nothing to write home about.

I've been a regular at R&D Foods and I'm updating my previous 5 star review to two stars due to my experience with micro aggressive staffs. I've been getting pick up orders from R&D through Cavier app once or twice a week for last couple months and I still think food here taste good. However I started going into their store more often and taking orders directly from the staffs and I now see why previous reviewers are upset with staff's brusque demeanor. For example, today I ordered two sandwiches and donuts to go. I got the donuts first and told the casher with a pixie hair cut that I'll be waiting outside for sandwiches to be ready. (They also have max 3 people in store rule) 25 mins passed and I was wondering why I still haven't got my sandwiches yet as I was the only customer waiting. I went in and I saw that same casher was busy chatting with her co worker and I also saw my two sandwiches are sitting on a tray on the table. I waited until they finished the conversation and casher just pointed the sandwiches. I told her that I didn't know that my sandwiches been ready as I've been waiting outside for a while and also told her that I asked for a take out order so I want them to be packed up in a bag. She immediately spitted back at me in a sarcastic voice "oh I texted you 5 mins ago that your sandwiches are ready". I told her that I have never got the text. I still don't understand how she could have my phone number and why she couldn't just walk couple steps outside to let me know that my order is ready as she was clearly not doing anything and standing next to a big window where she could see me. She never apologized and gave me a look as I was leaving the store. I'm really unhappy that I'm being treated badly with no respect like this incident as a customer and will have to re-think about visiting this store again.

Best donuts in the area. The staff is always friendly. My go to is powder sugar and cinnamon donuts.

Our friends took us here for lunch. R&D has a great reputation for well crafted sandwiches. It's a good thing we had ordered ahead to avoid a long wait. We sat at one of the tables out front; the warm sun felt good. I really loved my Reuben sandwich (very securely wrapped!): the Bread&Butter pickles and kraut condiments complemented the Gruyère cheese and soft turkey well, giving it a crunchy, moist, delicious mouthfeel. My companions loved their turkey meatball and Satay chicken sandwiches as well. Of the chocolate chip and oatmeal cookies we bought, I found the latter especially yummy and addictive!

We catered my daughter's party with R&D and it was a hit with the grown-ups. The kale salad sandwich in particular was amazing and they even comped me some fresh apples while I waited.

I love exploring the coffee shops on Vanderbilt avenue and I've got to say, this one was the most disappointing spot I've come across. I was drawn in by the decoration inside; shelves of items stacked on top of each other. I went in for coffee and breakfast. The menu was limited and expensive. Sandwiches were $12+, salads and rolls for $8+. I ended up getting the kale salad with eggs and it was nasty.The egg might as well have been raw, the salad itself was so small in size and lacked flavor. I was also confused because they clearly are trying to make an effort to be sustainable since there are no plastic straws, but everything else was plastic, thus defeating the purpose of sustainability. I think it would be great if they served the food with washable dishes and utensils. Lastly, there was no restroom available for customers. Seriously? Coffee is a diuretic and kales got fiber! What a fail.

The food is excellent. I do get food here regularly. There is a major problem with the staff though. There are often issues such as the food coming out extraordinarily late (even when ordering hours in advance) or other mistakes. There are rarely apologies and often a bit of attitude which you can see from the other reviews here happens quite often. These problems could easily be fixed with training though, almost every restaurant on Vanderbilt does better with these service and logistical issues! I also find the extra gratuity they add to every order a bit strange. Some restaurants added these during covid but it seems R&D just kept it going. I don't think this makes sense any longer, just charge higher prices if you want to charge higher prices, but there is no need for mysterious extra fees, especially when the service is so lacking.

We've had R&D both pre and during the pandemic. It's a nice little nieghborhood spot. We typically get the whole chicken (usually needs to be re-heated/served cold- which we don't especially like) with all the fixin's and make a weekday meal out of it. They also do really good salads- loved the noodle salad we had here once. Check them out.

R and D Food Brooklyn, Rating: 5 Went on a Saturday afternoon after the park. Was advised by person at register to get the kale salad sandwich if I was able to wait around a few minutes. Glad I did. Very delicious. In spite of it being a pressed sandwich, the kale stayed crispy inside. Could be done with added proteins for a surcharge, but not necessary. Store also seemed to have provisions section with things for the home fridge that looked tasty--will check those out next time

First time and I got the kale salad sandwich. Disappointing. It was a heavy, sloppy mess of a sandwich that left the bread soggy. They should also tell you that it's served warm. I was expecting a cold sandwich. I threw out half of it and left angry I paid as much as I did for that. The Reuben looked like it would be good so I'd go back and try that and I can update my review then.

The food is great and friendly staff but definitely overpriced. $15 for a kale sandwich.

One of the best take out spots in prospect. Their Vietnamese pho sandwich is ridiculous. Pricing is also ridiculous, but that's NY I suppose. Service could be faster but everyone is pleasant enough to keep coming back.

I had the most delicious tofu sandwich! I will be back. Fresh and delicious! My friend had the kale sandwich. Amazing!

I really enjoy the coffee and sandwiches from here. Yeah, its pricy but by the time you trek to a decent grocery store and prepare your own food, you could've just stopped into R&D to save the most important cost... time. Before every beach trip, we stop to get sandwiches and other snacks/sides. Love the tofu sandwich! And the fried egg sandwich is solid too. Coffee is nice and tweaky for the sleep deprived. And come on people... Who seriously leaves 1 star (2 paragraphed) reviews for not having an option for straws? What did humans do before straws? Put your lips to the cup, derrrr. 5 stars for saving the planet and cutting unnecessary costs for your business! Will return.

Food is good esp the blt but staff can be rude and unhelpful. Service slow. A bit overpriced.

Best lunch spot in the neighborhood! The food is thoughtfully prepared and the staff is super nice!

The food here is okay and the manager was super sweet and came out to check on us. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be returning because the owner and some of the other staff members were very rude.

$20 for a sandwich and. Drink? YES it's tasteful, the flavor melted in my mouth the aroma of spices and perfect bread was just fantastic !!

The best donuts in the City--rivaling my favorite cider mill upstate. Great sandwiches (kale and egg is my fav for breakfast; if it wasn't so expensive, I'd get it on the regular). The roast chicken is always terrific--juicy, flavorful, and never over cooked (though I wish I knew exactly when they came out every day so I could get it hot, which almost never happens!). The salads and other precooked foods are all pretty solid, though I wish they were more affordable... Still, nice to have a healthy, satisfying meal when I can't cook and don't want another disappointing (and even more expensive) take out dinner.

Very slow service (for a simple order, just stuff like ham & cheese sandwich) and the food wasn't that good.

Staff seemed kinda miz. Sandwich was messy and tasteless, got the chicken satay which they had recommended. Heard good things oh well ‍

Perry was extremely cool and knowledgeable about the menu. She was so helpful to a coffee novice like myself. It was a wide range of foods that I Can't wait to try. I had a turmeric latte and a slice of bread pudding. It was def a great mix.

I've now been to R&D enough times (over 5) to comfortably give them these two stars. I typically go to pick up some bread and cheese, but have found the baguettes and focaccia consistently stale or day-old. The prices are way too high to be selling stale bread. I have also tried the donuts and have been equally disappointed with the stale-factor and lack of flavor. Today my boyfriend and I tried sandwiches for the first time here and it's definitely convinced us not to return. My gruyere and avocado was on whole grain bread that was incredibly dense/hard and very thinly sliced. My boyfriend got the BLT which was so comically small for the $10 price tag, I had to upload a photo for your amusement.

No wifi. Very little seating. Selection of non dairy milks. I had the Bhangra cookie which was described as a not too sweet, east Indian cookie with spices & nuts. Very good description. Really packed with nuts, and flavorful spices. Delicious. Friendly staff. Open to 8pm. Works for me.

This place always has a way of making you feel like they are doing you a favor for allowing you to buy food there. The culture is so weird and rude. The food is absurdly overpriced. The soup is good as is the babka but the bread is always stale.

I'm one of the seemingly rare people who live in the area who hasn't been to 606 R&D, but I'm definitely going to give it a try after trying its sister grocery/bakery/coffee shop two doors down. It's essentially Vanderbilt's answer to Bklyn Larder on Flatbush -- the high-end grocery/drinks section is not quite as extensive at R&D but there's a lot of neat stuff, plus they have fantastic fresh loaves of bread, housemade doughnuts and pastries, and great coffee. I've had an open-faced fresh ricotta and heirloom tomato sandwich that was knock-your-socks off good as well. There are a few seats up front facing out the window onto the street. The staff is friendly and helpful. Great new(ish) shop!

Never fail to find some new way to be persnickety and disappointing. Save yourself the time.

Overpriced and underserviced. Me: "Can I have my bread pudding warmed up?" R&D: "No, we only have an oven." Me: "Huh?"

I absolutely do not recommend this establishment. I visited this afternoon with a friend. The staff was extremely micro aggressive so much so that my friend noticed how attentive they were to him when we both arrived at the counter to order and how none od the several employees acknowledged me until they realized I was with him. Later on after how our beverages and snack, I got up from my seat to ask one of the employees, a short woman with glasses if they had a restroom. She seemed annoyed that I asked suxh a question of an establishment serving food and drink with a dine-in seats. Another customer who was at the counter was also shocked at the employees brusque demeanor when she dismissively and annoyed told me no. I them asked if she knew of any nearby establishments that her customers could go to use a restroom and she got even more annoyed and huffily said she did not while rolling her eyes. Very surly and poor customer service and the added insult was that the snack I ordered with my tea didn't taste good. They don't have to worry about getting any of my money. Thank goodness my friend treated.

The best way to judge the food is how you feel afterwards. R&D knows how to cook vegetables to bring out the best of flavor and the body feels light yet satisfied after. They care about their customers and passionate about quality. A great local business to support. They've adjusted their menu and schedule to working during COVID and whenever we place an order it is always timely and fresh. Thank you!

Updated review in response to managers response 11 months later - buying a metal reusable straw -- you're assuming I should remember to carry my straw every time I visit your store? For this to be the only option is unfair and not worth purchasing coffee, will go elsewhere - discount to customers who bring your own containers- congrats, good for you- was not the point of my post and that's not relevant information - sip lids- this is really your only realistic solution - but also an unfair option for customers to use-- it's SO bad for staining of teeth. Drinking coffee from a sip lid vs straw does damage to your teeth color. - understand your mission for environmental impact, but you can look into other options such as hay straws etc. you serve plastic cups, so clearly there's room for consideration of alternatives. ------------------------------------------ Serving drinks out of plastic cups and then saying there are no straws is ridiculous. They don't "like" paper straws because they don't last as long and the only option is to purchase a 4$ metal straw. Absolutely wild. Management needs to strongly reconsider this policy. Buy paper straws. Pasta straws. You want me to just sip my iced coffee out of the PLASTIC cup as if that's an enjoyable alternative

I agree with the other reviews, a bit on the pricey side but you do get quality ingredients in your sandwiches. Perhaps they can make the portions a tad bit bigger? We had the Zucchini Quesadilla ($10) Pulled Chicken Sandwich ($11) and ice coffee ($3.75). All good but the Quesadilla stood out!

Extremely horrible customer service and terrible espresso. I went in for an appointment and the entire staff on shift looked like not one of them was happy or wanted to be there. I asked for an espresso and the angry hipster woman who pulled the shot didn't even clean the basket of the portafilter. Also, she had no clue what she was doing. The shot literally ran for 5 seconds from start to finish. The grinder wasn't even dialed in. When I asked what they were pulling at not one person had a clue. Some other angry lady said "it's automatic so we don't know. It's no wonder why they are online e begging for money because they won't be around in a year that's for sure. Horrible customer service, horrible coffee. Do Not Go if you value your money and time.

I've stopped into this place a bunch over the last year or so and can confidently say I will not be returning after my last trip there! I ordered an iced tea to-go and I didn't see any straws out so asked the woman working the counter if she could bring some out. She said that they didn't have any without any reasoning. I guessed that it was for environmental reasons so asked why they didn't have alternative straw options such as paper. She said that they disintegrate before the drink is finished. If you serve iced beverages TO-GO you need have a straw option. People don't want to walk down the street or get in their car with an open container that could spill. The whole purpose of paper straws is that they disintegrate in liquid. Customers are aware of this! Allow us to make the choice to use one if we like.

Great experience. Tasty food. Warm service. Priced right. Downside? No branch in Phoenix.

Holy Alfalfa Sprouts! When ordering a Gruyere and Avocado sandwich I normally expect that either of those ingredients will be featured predominantly - in this case the main attraction was sprouts. Its hard to judge the sandwich because I really couldn't taste the thin single slice of Gruyere at all. Its not an expensive cheese so I'd suggest adding enough to actually achieve the flavor.

I recently went there for lunch and asked for a pulled pork sandwich, but was very disappointed with what I got. I got a sandwich with sliced cold-cut pork which in my opinion isn't pulled at all. Although tasty not worth the $11.00 i paid for it.

Awesome store with lots of artisanal goodies (chocolate, pickles, pork rinds, etc.) The employees were friendly and welcoming as well. But the sandwich was disappointing. The pulled chicken sandwich was tiny and the flavor was mediocre at best. Not what I expected for $11. Will be back for the goodies, and willing to try their baked goods, but not sure about the sandwiches.

The service was nice but the food was just, no. The sandwich I got was tiny for the price, about the size of my palm, whitefish was mushy and watery and the black bean soup was very bland, just tasted like bean water. Nothing special about this place other than the pretentious small serving and inflated price ratio. Some reviewers want to gas this place up and make it sound like some local, small business treasure, small and local is no excuse to suck. If this place is suppose to be a local treasure, bury it.