Farmer's Fridge

- Located in the GRVC employee cafeteria along the vending wall, 09-09 Hazen St, East Elmhurst, NY 11370

In a city that never sleeps, the search for quick, convenient, and genuinely healthy food can often feel like a compromise. For New Yorkers juggling busy work schedules, especially those in institutional or high-traffic areas, options for a fresh, balanced meal are vital. Enter Farmer's Fridge, a revolutionary concept that is reshaping the traditional cafeteria and restaurant model by combining state-of-the-art technology with a deep commitment to fresh, clean-label ingredients. This location, situated within the GRVC employee cafeteria, offers a unique and essential solution for local users needing fast, nutritious food at any hour.

Farmer’s Fridge is essentially a smart, refrigerated vending machine—a "mini-restaurant"—stocked daily with a rotating menu of hand-prepared meals, including vibrant salads, hearty grain bowls, filling sandwiches, and wholesome snacks. Each item is handcrafted in a central kitchen, using fresh, whole ingredients, and thoughtfully packaged in reusable or recyclable mason-style jars to maintain peak freshness and prevent sogginess. The machine itself is temperature-controlled and digitally monitored, ensuring that no food past its quality peak is ever served. This blend of health-conscious eating and absolute convenience makes it a crucial resource for professionals and staff in the surrounding area who might otherwise be limited to less healthy, traditional vending machine fare or rushed takeout.

The service model is inherently casual and built for speed—a true "quick bite" offering that caters perfectly to the solo diner or anyone on a short break. It provides dining options across the entire day, covering breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and is accessible around the clock. For those in East Elmhurst and the broader New York City region, Farmer's Fridge represents the future of grab-and-go eating: dependable, transparently healthy, and instantly available, proving that convenience does not have to come at the cost of nutrition.

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Location and Accessibility

The specific Farmer's Fridge location is situated to provide essential service in a controlled environment, highlighting its role as a key employee amenity. While this address is primarily geared toward staff and visitors of the GRVC (George R. Vierno Center) facility, its function is to offer a high-quality, 24/7 food service in an area where dining options are often scarce or closed after hours.

The precise address for this particular Farmer's Fridge unit is: Located in the GRVC employee cafeteria along the vending wall, 09-09 Hazen St, East Elmhurst, NY 11370, USA.

This location is technically within the East Elmhurst area of Queens, although the facility it serves is widely associated with Rikers Island. Accessibility features are thoughtfully integrated into the experience, given the nature of the facility it serves:

• Wheelchair Accessible Entrance: While the unit is located inside a larger institutional building, the access to the cafeteria area where the Fridge is situated is noted to be wheelchair accessible, ensuring inclusivity for all employees and authorized visitors.
• 24-Hour Availability: Critically, this Farmer's Fridge unit is designed to be Open 24 hours. This round-the-clock availability is one of its most essential features, providing reliable meal access regardless of shift schedules or traditional restaurant hours.

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Services Offered

Farmer's Fridge operates as a unique hybrid of a health food restaurant and a quick-service cafeteria, all managed through an automated, intelligent system. The focus is on providing fresh, pre-packaged meals for maximum convenience.

The core services and offerings include:

• Fresh, Ready-to-Eat Meals: A diverse menu of healthy, pre-portioned items including Salads, Bowls (e.g., grain, pasta, protein-focused), Sandwiches, and Wraps.
• All-Day Dining Options: Meals are available to cover Breakfast (e.g., Overnight Oats, Chia Pudding), Lunch, Dinner, and Dessert/Snacks.
• Quick Bite Access: The entire process is automated via the vending machine, allowing customers to browse the menu, select an item, pay using major credit/debit cards, and receive their meal in seconds.
• High-Quality, Clean-Label Food: All products are made from scratch and feature a full serving of fruits and vegetables, prioritizing clean ingredients and avoiding excessive processing.
• Takeout and Dine-in Options: While the purchase is a "takeout" transaction from the machine, the location within the cafeteria vending wall allows for immediate "dine-in" consumption at the facility's available seating, catering to solo dining.

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Features / Highlights

Farmer's Fridge differentiates itself in the New York food landscape with several innovative and customer-focused highlights:

• 24/7 Operation: The ability to access fresh, healthy meals at literally any time of day or night—a non-negotiable feature for staff working unusual or extended shifts, making it a "lifesaver" amenity.
• Guaranteed Freshness: The smart Fridges are designed not to vend food that has passed its pre-set "Best Before" date, giving customers absolute confidence in the quality and freshness of their meal.
• Sustainable Packaging: Meals are served in attractive, durable mason-style jars that are either reusable for customers or 100% recyclable, aligning with New York's growing focus on environmental responsibility.
• Technology-Driven Convenience: The use of a simple, modern interface for browsing and payment, coupled with a dedicated rewards program accessible via the Farmer's Fridge app, makes the purchasing experience seamless and rewarding.
• A Healthy Alternative: The entire concept is founded on making nutritious meals as accessible as junk food. For the East Elmhurst location, this means providing fresh salads and bowls as an alternative to typical high-carb or processed vending machine snacks.
• Committed to Zero Waste: Any unsold food is composted rather than thrown away, demonstrating the company's commitment to reducing food waste—a key environmental concern for NYC residents.

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Contact Information

While the physical location operates entirely self-serve through the vending unit, customer support for purchases, refunds, or general inquiries can be directed through the main company contact lines.

Address: Located in the GRVC employee cafeteria along the vending wall, 09-09 Hazen St, East Elmhurst, NY 11370, USA

Phone (General Customer Service/Inquiries): (312) 229-0099

Mobile Phone (Customer Support Text Line): +1 312-229-0099 (Customers can text this number for troubleshooting or issues)

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What is worth choosing

For local New York users relying on this specific location for sustenance, the value of Farmer's Fridge lies in its unique combination of speed, health, and availability. When approaching the Fridge, there are several menu categories and specific items that are particularly worth choosing.

The absolute Must-Choose items are the Salads and Bowls. These items are the backbone of the Farmer's Fridge concept, featuring fresh vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins packaged smartly to ensure ingredients stay separate until mixing. The quality of these meals often surprises first-time users, offering a taste profile on par with many specialty salad shops across New York City.

• Protein-Focused Bowls: Items labeled as "High Protein" bowls, such as the High Protein Medi Chicken Bowl or High Protein Chicken Taco Bowl, are excellent choices, providing sustained energy for long workdays and better fuel than high-carb options. These are essential for lunch or dinner.
• Overnight Oats for Breakfast: If using the Fridge for morning fuel, a breakfast item like the Blueberry Chia Overnight Oats provides a cold, fiber-rich, and healthy start to the day. It’s an ideal grab-and-go option that saves valuable time.
• Any Salad or Bowl with Separate Dressing: The design of the jars keeps the ingredients separated, with the dressing on the bottom or side, preventing sogginess. Choosing any salad that takes advantage of this (like the Green Goddess Salad or Southwest Salad) guarantees a crisp texture, even from a vending machine.

The final choice worth making is leveraging the 24/7 availability. Knowing that a high-quality, pre-made meal—a significant step up from standard cafeteria food—is available instantly, day or night, is the most valuable feature of the Farmer's Fridge at GRVC.

Farmer's Fridge

Located in the GRVC employee cafeteria along the vending wall, 09-09 Hazen St, East Elmhurst, NY 11370, USA