14th Street Food Market

I stopped in here for the first time the other night when I needed to buy a box of pasta, unsure if they would even have any. Turns out they did, so I grabbed it and went to check out. I was a little grossed out by the place — the smell, the unappetizing-​looking food bar, the general dinginess — and couldn’t help but think that a box of pasta doesn’t have the most secure packaging. But I decided I was being paranoid and went ahead with it. When I got home, I noticed a dead bug (maybe a moth?) stuck to the outside of the box. That grossed me out further, but still, it was on the outside of the box, and I thought maybe I would still eat the pasta, maybe not. My husband poured the pasta into a big, clear ziploc bag so we could be sure no bugs had gotten inside the box. We then could see at least a dozen little white worms crawling around the pasta. Needless to say, I won’t be returning to this place, for any type of product, ever again.

This awful place supposedly offers 24hr delivery within the neighborhood. Good Luck with That. Depending upon the day you call, there is always someone «New» who just started working and doesn’t have any idea how to make that happen. (although there is always 2 people working, one who cashiers and the other delivery guy sitting around doing nothing but playing games on his cell phone). If you’e lucky, Delivery might happen once a week when you’e able to reach a relatively functioning, english speaking person.

I have to review this dingy establishment just for the sheer fact that it is a part of my daily life in some way or another. It’s like someone jumbled a deli, bodega, and hot food takeout place all into one and shmooshed it into a hole in the wall on the corner of 14 Street and 6 Ave.
I work 3 buildings down from this little store so they see me at least once a day whether it be for a morning breakfast sandwich or when I volunteer to make a coffee run so I can get away from my desk. They are very quick at the register and sometimes get flustered when you make specific out of the norm requests and tend to make up random prices if you don’t get exactly what is on the menu, but that’s OK because they are still the cheapest around. As for the hot food, I wouldn’t venture to eat it, even if you are across the street, there is nothing special about it. However, it is the cheapest that I have seen in the area: $ 5 per pound and a free drink during lunch hours.
To summarize, this place is pretty great for what it is and I would highly recommend the turkey egg and cheese on a roll but only if you are walking past it.