Customer Reviews

Built Extra Relish Lunch Tote, Black

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This bag is great for my work lunch. It's shaped like a triangle, so it holds lots of little storage containers. It's bigger than it looks, and it can hold quite a lot. I put a Diet Coke in the other day and it was still quite cold at lunch-- some posters have noted it wasn't insulated enough for them-- but for me the food is still cold hours later (perhaps this has to do with different climates in which the bag is placed).

I've received a bunch of compliments on the bag. It's very cute.

My only complaint-- the strap is not that hardy. It is very cheap, and the strands come apart each time I reach down to pick them up. I wish they had put a better made strap with this model of bag-- the reason I chose this bag was specifically for the strap.

So 1 star less for the bad strap. The bag itself is perfect, though.

I was under the impression that this item would keep food cold for a while. Also, I find the zipper difficult to use and the hole in the handle is too small. The thread from the stitching already ripped out and I don't handle it much. Disappointed with Built.

Nice bag, basically what I expected but as I suspected it's a bit small for a full lunch plus snacks. The upside is that it is flexible material so you can make it stretch over most of what you want to carry, but since this is the large model they definitely should have made it a little bigger. As others have mentioned, the strap is a little cheap, I expected a little better. For those of you wondering:

You CAN fit Lean Cuisine lunch sized frozen meals in this bag, although they just fit with a little room left over in the corners for fruit or other very small containers. A Lean Cuisine individual pizza will also fit but that's definitely when making use of the stretchiness of the bag - you have to play around with the angles to make it work. Again, you could fit fruit or something else small around it.

I also found I could fit two small sized Ziploc bowls and fruit (not with Lean Cusine but on their own). I would say this tote would work decently well for a woman looking to pack a healthy lunch plus a small snack or two. Although once you add in a freezer pack things get even more tight of course. Most of the room in this bag is at the base, which expands. You can see from the picture that the bag narrows at the top so that's why it becomes more difficult when trying to stack several items or fit rectangular items like frozen food boxes.

For me I just need it to hold my containers until I can get to work and transfer them to my refrigerator. I'll get good use from it I just wish it were 25% larger and then it would be perfect.

The Built lunch bag holds up really well. I wash it weekly and drip dry, and it can hand washed or machine washed. The colors have not faded the slightest and the bag seems well made.

Other lunch bags I've used are made with stiff insulating sides with a white plastic lining on the inside. Here is a comparison between that style and the Built bag:
1) The stiff-sided lunch bags may be a bit better insulated. The Built bag is made of neoprene and it needs two small freezer packs to keep food really cool until lunch time. The stiff one could probably do it with one small freezer pack, IF the bag was pre-chilled in the refrigerator.
2) The white lining on the stiff-sided lunch bags stains easily and is difficult to wash because of the shape and stiffness. The Built bag can be turned inside out and rubbed,and it does not stain (so far).
3) The white lining on stiff lunch bags tends to tear. The Built bag has been very sturdy.
4) The stiff lunch bag is, well, stiff. It is uncomfortable to carry, but it protects soft foods like sandwiches better. The Built bag is more comfortable to carry but may require a hard sandwich box when packing soft foods.
5) The Built bag is made of neoprene and it has a distinct neoprene odor for the first month or so. The odor can be quite strong at first, but wash it a few times to remove most of the odor, and then time will take care of the rest.
6) The stiff bag takes a lot of space to store. The Built bag folds almost flat and since it's floppy, it fits fine in tight spaces.

This lunch tote is wonderful!! Holds a lot, over the shoulder strap so your hands are free.... I use it every day! It will not really keep things "cold" unless you put one of those freezer packs in, but that's a minor issue. I bought it to be able to bring breakfast/lunch to work and not have to use a paper or plastic bag. This more than fills the bill, and is stylish to boot. Would buy another with NO hesitation--very well made and delivers exactly what it is supposed to!

My wife loves it and when her mother saw it, she had to have one too!
Great functional design with lots of visual appeal too.
Machine washable, what could be better?

Bought this to pack lunch and dinner for long days at work. does not even hold lunch. can handle 1 soda can, 1 small container and not much else. maybe nice for a kid or someone with a tiny appetite. nice for small snacks. Well built and looks great thus the 4 stars.

I was looking for a bag to hold my laptop accessories. I searched on Built NY's website and nothing in the computer/laptop category seemed to be the right fit. Needed room for charger cord, portable mouse and a few other items. This bag is perfect. Everything fits nicely without buldging out the sides.

Saw someone carrying this on the street and stopped her to ask how she liked it. She raved about how great it was and how it kept items cool for a very long time. Well, if you don't put an ice pack in it, things don't stay even cool, let alone cold. If you put several ice packs in, it keeps things marginally cool. For example, I eat a Slim-Fast meal bar every day. I keep them in the fridge. With three ice packs, it keeps it cooler than just alone in the bag but not even remotely cold. I wasn't expecting it to be refrigerator cold but I was expecting better than a normal insulated lunch bag. The fabric is like a wetsuit and the strap is decent. If you don't care about stuff staying really cold and just want to get a lunch item to work each day, it will suffice. It definitely cannot sit in a hot car, even with ice packs, and keep anything cool for long. Maybe I just had too high of expectation, but I can't really recommend it for anything but items you don't care if they melt.

I love this lunch bag! I have been looking for a lunch bag for such a long time now. The print is beautiful. It kept my food cold (with the use of ice packs) for about 5 hours. The fabric stretches to fit whatever you pack. After I was done, it flattened out to fit into my back pack. I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a lunch bag that isn't bulky.