One State Street Cafe - Hartford

This spot is great for lunch with plenty of space BUT the lady at the grill is so rude!! She could be the nicest person to the person in front, but she just flips a switch every time I’ve ordered from her at the grill. She doesn’t know me, yet doesn’t fail to flip the switch every time and be rude and short. Last time I went to a different station because I didn’t want to deal with rude customer service. This is the only downside to this place.

I received an email from 'Only in Connecticut ' regarding this Cafeteria that was located in One State Street on the 4th floor in Hartford, CT. The reviews that were provided intrigued me so I checked out the website and looked at the menu. I decided it would be a nice place for lunch. I 'm a Lyft driver and I had a drop off in Harford so I decided to go there for lunch because I hadn 't eaten breakfast and it was already 12 pm. Once I pulled into the parking garage, I realized that I couldn 't get a ticket to come out of the machine so I requested help. I informed the lady that I was looking for the Cafeteria. She says I 's not open to the public. . I then explained to her that I saw on the website that it was opened to the public. Then she said, I don 't know about that. You will need an Employee badge to get a ticket. You can try to go there if you 'd like. I said never mind and decided to go to for Jamaican food instead. It was a disappointing moment because I was looking forward to seeing what the place was all about and tasting the food I saw on their website and I see all these reviews from other people about it and reviews on the email I got from Only in Connecticut. Is this place opened to the public or is it closed? Glad I didn 't waste a full tank of gas going up to Harford just for that. There should be a clear sign stating whether the cafeteria is open to the public or not so when people read reviews about it from other sources, they 're not wasting their time like I did.

Though the cuisine theme days are gone and the wide selection of food items has been pared down since COVID, there are still specials of the day, salads that staff will assemble for you behind the counter, and great sandwiches. Here is a photo of a cup of their chili bought to-go for three dollars. This is really good chili. I like chili whether its made with ground or stew meat, with or without beans, though some people prefer it one way or the other. The Hartford Steam Boiler Company 's cafeteria, One State Street Café, which is open to the public, makes their chili with beef stew meat, and it 's not barely there in shreds, but big, bold, tender pieces of beef. The beans are cooked perfectly. The spice and seasoning is light but present. Impressive. A package of oyster crackers comes with the chili. I had some on a hot dog and the rest from the to-go cup reheated in the microwave. Please start selling this by the quart!

Great healthy lunch. But note need to pay by card.... no cash accepted at this time.

The food here is freshly made by a good chef. A variety of items to choose from which is good. I don't like that the food is a la carte and weighed unlike most places that charge a set price for a meal and you order the items to make up your meal. This practice makes it very expensive to eat here. Plus you don't know how much it's going to cost and if you have enough to pay. I think they'd get more sales if they take away weighting the items.