Verdi Fresh

the good news: verdi is open around the clock. the bad news: prices are high on many items ($ 10 for an amy’s pizza!) and at least some of the staff is incompetent.

Don’t let the ‘organic’ sign out front fool you. If you are someone who truly wants a primarily or all-​organic/​enviro-​friendly shop, this is not the place for you. 95% of the products they sell are generic ‘supermarket’ brands.
For a true organic market, go to the place on the south side of Ditmars just past the ‘Parrot’ European market. I think it’s between 31^st and 33^rd Streets. Otherwise another true organic market is on the north side of 30^th Ave… Sai Organics… between 31^st and 30^th Streets.
If you happen to be passing by, this place might be ok for random items… maybe some Dancing Deer cookies, Talenti ice cream by the front door, or maybe an Amy’s frozen dinner.

In the mornings, I go into Verdi Fresh and they have what I call a «sandwich artist.» You can tell this guy really enjoys making sandwiches and they are delicious.
But unfortunately, 8 times out of 10, I’m stopping in the store at night. And the sorry excuse of a sandwich guy there then is the worst. Today, I walked only to have to wait nearly 5 minutes before I was able to order (FYI he’s made me wait before and he only acknowledged me after two more people started waiting). This guy has and always gives me attitude because he can’t remember what I ordered. Then he goes on to make horrible sandwiches.
I saw a Buffalo Chicken burger option today. That’s a breaded chicken with buffalo sauce, bleu cheese, celery with lettuce, tomato, and mayo (ACCORDING TO THE MENU). I asked him to make it into a hero and he started giving me attitude. Then he went to sliced chicken cold cuts (I THOUGHT IT WAS BREADED CHICKEN BREAST) and asks me what I’d like on as a dressing. I answered, «It says bleu cheese.» He would repeatedly ask me what I’d like on the sandwich until then the end when I realize he didn’t put any BUFFALO SAUCE on a BUFFALO SANDWICH. WTF man? Definitely not the sandwich I walked in to get but I paid for my sandwich and walked out quietly only because I also VOWED TO NEVER GO THERE AT NIGHT EVER AGAIN.
Truth is, I only go there at night because they’re the only place open at night that makes philly cheesesteak sandwiches and takes cards. After this last straw, I’ll be bringing my money to the taco truck up the block instead.

Open 24 hours. Talenti gelato. Surprisingly decent beer selection. Make this your neighborhood corner store.

I dig this place. This is as good a convenience store as you’ll find. They have a pretty great flower selection in the event you are a man who screws up a lot. Beer selection is good as well so it will cover all bases in the event she doesn’t forgive you. :-) Good selection of specialty items as well.

Anything that is open ²⁴⁄₇ and clean looking, automatically gets a star from me. Another half star for the pleasant cashier lady.
Verdi Fresh (under current management) is a deli + convenience store with a «green» theme. You can find some organic groceries, fruits, lots of smaller brand «indie» snacks and other grocery items. The place is a bit pricey but so are all convenience stores. Went there once around 1:00 am, there was a guy tossing some salad and making a burger on the grill.
They also have a good selection of alternative ice creams, made with coconut milk, tofu, etc.
Not too shabby.

I love this place, especially at 3am. Their grill never closes, so I can always satisfy my late-​night egg sandwich cravings! They’ve changed a bit since the Farmers Market moved in down the street. They offer less produce than they used to. They offer a wider variety of groceries now though. I wouldn’t give them 5 stars, because their prices are a little high, but they really do have a diverse offering for such a small place. If you’re looking to make sushi, they have everything you need including rolling mats and seaweed paper (we used to go down to a little Japanese place on Broadway… but no need to do that anymore). We shop here every week. The staff here is always friendly.

This is my go to place for late night junk food. Even though I love how close it is to my apartment it loses one star for being a little expensive. Other than that there is a decent selection of drinks, junk food and produce.

Verdi Fresh is convenient (Open 24 Hours)
It is clean (self explanatory)
It has healthy food options (gluten free and vegan products available).
The deli is better than your average bodega deli (Verdi Fresh has some delicious sandwich selections)
And they have a good beer selection (with season varieties always available).
Credit Card minimum is five dollars (for those who walk around with less than ten dollars on you)
I am at this place three or four times per week. Verdi Fresh is the best incarnation of this space going back many facelifts ago, since before Fox Deli/​Pizza. These guys turn on the A/​C, unlike previous owners, who would make you sweat it out in the summer. Oh gawd, when it was called 31^st Street Market, they used to have that awful buffet in the middle. That was NOT FRESH. Verdi Fresh is ditched that idea, thankfully.
The only knock is that sometimes i’ve bought the fruits or vegetables that are wrapped up, only to unwrap them at home and find them spoiled. I guess that will happen from time to time with organic goods.
ONE-​TWO-​THREE-​FOUR. FOUR STARS

Went in there a couple weeks ago to purchase an iced tea. Thanks goodness I didn’t want any dairy because I’m sure I would have gotten food poisoning. I went to the refrigerator in the back and was immediately turned off by the smell that was coming out of it. I also found all the drinks to be warm. Then my father made the mistake of purchasing milk from them yesterday. I opened the container today and found it to be spoiled. Do not buy any dairy or the like from this place. This place used to be really good. It probably wasn’t the prettiest place but at the least the I could drink the milk. I guess the new management cares more about looks than keeping the food from spoiling.

I have lived in this ‘hood for a little over three years now– long enough to have seen the management change hands. I’ll preface this review by saying up until the past 6 months, despite being within spitting distance of my apartment, I’ve avoided Verdi and walked all the way to Key when I needed something. Now, I’m there almost every day. The general selection is 1000% better AND the vegan selections are officially amazing. Verdi overall is very vegan and gluten free-​friendly in my opinion. If they keep stocking the Alternative Baking Co cookies, I’ll single-​handedly keep them afloat in an economic slump. Great bread selections. I noticed today their non-​dairy (fake dairy) section has expanded greatly– they’re carrying tofutti «cream cheese» and «sour cream,» teese cheeses, and vegenaise. Most importantly, they have SoDelicious icecreams, cashewtopia, wink frozen desserts, and of course tofutti creams. Produce is all fresh, flowers are well-​stocked, and the selection of frozen items (everything from Ezekiel bread to Amy’s pizzas to meat substitutes) is expansive. Happy to have them so close to home.

I recently moved back to Astoria and came back to find this place under new owners. And wow how much has it change they got so much more stuff now than ever. They are a bit pricey but nothing over the top. Their deli does need a little work I went there on a Sunday night the deli guy was no where to be found after waiting about 10 min he finally came out and greets me with a «YO! What do you want? Very rude and unprofessional other than that little incident this place is great and they’re ice cream selection is Awesome!

This store has been around, for many years under different owners or management, in my opinion this convenience store now is the best it’s ever been under its new, current owners.
I was never a fan of the old store, it was a basic corner deli with a bunch of junk food.
However now that it has changed into Verdi fresh, it’s basically turned into a health food store with a ton of organic fresh produce.
To my surprise they also have a bunch of vegan, organic products, tofu and a lot of non dairy ice creams.
It can be a bit pricey if you buy a lot of things, but so are most small businesses that sell organic, healthy products. I understand that they’re expensive for them to buy as well.
So it’s a nice store and is greatly appreciated for the 21^st avenue area being that all you can find on this avenue is bodega type delis that sell nothing but junk food.

Now Under new management and many changes have been made, it’s much cleaner, more organized and has a much better selection .
Organic produce, organic sections .
Deli section could definitely use a makeover though
The service? Well it’s blows, not friendly at all and sometimes in the morning the woman working the counter is in Lala land and you will wait on line forever even if only one person is ahead of you.
Overall it’s a great place if you are lazy to go to the supermarket or to make a million stops in different stores the way I do, you can get what you need in here but be prepared to feel the difference in the price and your wallet !