Associated Supermarkets

Disgusting! Food (especially meat) is sold past the sell-​by date and most produce is OLD. There are usually 3 or 4 employees in the produce aisle rotating the produce so the bruises don’t show.
Everything for sale seems like it fell off the back of a truck or was purchased at a grocery auction.
The sooner they’re gone the better!

Came here once and will probably never come here again. The prices are average for Manhattan pricing for the most part but the quality of the products are horrible.
The «fresh» mozzarella tasted like they froze them for a while and the chicken breast had a weird texture to them where we cooked them and they still felt raw — we even tried to over cook them and they still had the raw texture.

wow – you would think there would be a clarion call among the employees — BE NICE TO EVERYONE, OUR EXISTENCE IS IN THE BALANCE — nope, the staff continues to be shot/​curt/​rude — time to shut this dump down (they are just as clueless as the old post office minions)

Conveniently located right around the corner from my apartment, I am always stopping in Associated to pick up one or two things. As for comparing it to other New York City supermarkets, it’s very cramped but there is almost never a line to check out which is a major plus.
Since it is owned by Shop Rite, they have a lot of brands that I am familiar with which has me coming back, however I never shop for produce here. It’s not the nicest supermarket, and the staff isn’t so friendly, but it has quality products and the prices are reasonable.
I went yesterday and they packed my carton of eggs on the bottom of a bag with other stuff on top, isn’t that the first no-​no of working in a supermarket?! Luckily they didn’t break.

Finally have had it with this place. I don’t even mind the sometimes less-​than-​friendly staff, but I consistently have food rotting very soon after purchase (chicken breasts that smelled rancid the day after purchase and at least three days before the «sell by» date and a butternut squash has molded two days after purchase — those are supposed to keep well over a month!)
Thought for a bit it might be my own bad storage habits but this only seems to happen with food from Associated — not even the food I get from the farmer’s market rots that quickly.

My go to grocery store of choice in the East Village. I love their gourmet meats and breads. The workers are not always the most knowledgeable, but they are nice. The cashiers are very fast. They need to get some organic apples, though.

Overpriced with prices constantly mismarked at a higher price. You can get cheaper, delicious food by eating out versus buying groceries here.

For a supermarket that serves such a densely populated area with limited space, it doesn’t do a bad job. One thing for sure, their hot food bar has a small selection but the food is really good.

Yesterday after eating a salad bought at the salad bar me my husband and my kid had vomiting episodes and food poisoning. Don’t eat fresh product there. Associated is good just for water soaps and package good.

Going here vs. Trader Joe’s is really dependent on my mood and time of day.
Yes the aisles are narrow and yes the service sucks, but this is a complete grocery store with sub-​Whole Foods prices. I go here when its not happy hour and when I’m in my no-​shame sweatpants. «Hey gramps there are other people that need to walk through this aisle.» No love here. Just trying to get my can of beans and leave.

It’s average. Nothing too special about the place. Not much customer service.

Eh. Not the most freshest produce, but they’ll have the general necessities. Price-​wise, it’s okay, but a little high. Dozen eggs will be around $ 2.69. And a bottle of perrier water (needed bubbles for my wretched stomach) is around $ 2.
Place is small, but it’ll have at least some variation of your basic needs.
Otherwise, there’s a CVS down the street to get household stuff.
Or, heck, just go out to a restaurant and have a bite. Who needs to cook?

There’s a decent selection of grocery items. The aisles are narrow, but I’ve kind of gotten used to that in smaller NYC grocery stores. I used to like the prepared foods (salad bar etc) until I saw them breaking down the salad bar tonight; the area under the storage bins was disgusting.
The final nail in the coffin was the cashier, Alexis. She failed to greet us or even attempt a half smile, even though I said a cheery «Hello!» to her when I started loading my items onto the belt. Having worked as a cashier myself all through high school, I was under the impression that being a cashier required at the very least a basic knowledge of mathematics? Why then, if I said take my $ 120 cash and put the rest (Should’ve been around $ 16) on my debit card (which had a low balance because I keep most my money on a different card), would you say «Oh I have to charge the card first, I’ll put $ 120 on the debit card and *then* put the $ 120 cash.»
Whut. No. You are dumb and maybe you should find another job.
Unfortunately the rest of the staff members, while not as blatantly dumb, are equally rude. I don’t expect a welcome committee each time we walk into the store, but it wouldn’t hurt to maybe act like you *don’t* completely hate your life? Meh. Who am I to judge. All I can say is I will be sticking to Fresh Direct from here on out, I’d only ever come back here in case of emergency.

I really don’t like coming here, but sometimes I have to. The aisles are so tight and narrow and it’s hard to find something random (it took me almost 5 minutes to find honey).
If you are in a hurry, I would skip coming here.
It’s always crowded and a lot of customers are older then 70 and move really slow.
I know, I know, I will get old one day and they have to do their shopping somewhere. Just saying…
The cashiers are a mess. They like to chat with each other and are super slow.
They usually skip the «Hi how are you» part.
And why do I have to ask for my receipt?
Me: May I have my receipt?
Cashier: You want a receipt?!
Me: Yes please, and use some of that paper to throw your chewing gum away.
I didn’t actually say the last part, trying to be a good girl.

First off, lets state the obvious. The people on here complaining about the elderly residents of Stuytown who shop here (and have lived here longer) are just as big of assholes as the rude staff.
Your ‘market price’ apt is part of the reason so many elderly *native* New Yorkers are being pushed out or even pushed into homelessness.
I guess not surprisingly, the contempo-​cavalier bay population of NYC seems to not realize that this city existed before they arrived to study fashion.
Have a heart.
Next time you see that 80 year old woman trying to buy something to eat, consider the financial situation this city has put her in and ask if she needs some damn help reaching or finding something. I can promise you this kind of a small human connection will make your shopping experience much better.
On to the actual store, shop here off peak as it does get crowded and is poorly organized.
The prices arent great, and the staff is every bit as rude as described here.
Its especially difficult to find fresh salad here and I would advise taking a quick look at Exp date on canned stuff. Beer is very expensive.
If you have a big grocery run to do, I would say that its probably better to walk the extra block to trader joes. This spot will do if you need some basic needs and are willing to be a little patient.

Associated stands as the all-​too-​familiar beacon for anyone in the Stuy Town area.
Should you skip this place? Is it worth the extra few blocks to walk to Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods? In my experience, and for most things you could need, the answer is no.
I’ve been shopping here for the last 3 years, and while I can’t say I love it, I have come to appreciate it. Associated has everything you need including a large deli stocked with Boar’s Head meats and cheeses, decent selection of fresh fruit and veggies, fresh freezer meats, and assorted other foods from every culture to satisfy the average culinary genius.
As long as you don’t come here expecting a wild variety of choices or anything overly gourmet, you’re in pretty good shape. The narrow aisles, particularly by the freezer and granola bar section, can get overly packed during peak times, so be prepared if you aren’t someone that likes to be rushed or crowded while shopping.
At the end of the day, the convenience can’t be beaten. And while you may pay a bit more than at other groceries, you also don’t need to walk more than a few steps from your front door to cook yourself a nice dinner.

While you can find most of what you need, the produce and meat/​poultry items aren’t as appealing as they could be and the prices are higher than other groceries. For the area they serve, it would be nice to see some change or improvement in 5 years. There aren’t a lot of other groceries close enough so they are the default store.
However, I do see people that go down to Key Foods on Ave. A & 4^th or even Gristedes on 1^st Ave. Sometimes Duane Reade or CVS have better deals.
It’s just an okay store, and I usually only shop here for things I can’t get at Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods.

The Associated Supermarket in Stuy town is my go-​to grocery store in the East Village. I like to pick up basic groceries at this location while I go to Whole Foods or Traders Joe for specialty items. The deli counter and the cashier service can be hit or miss with most employees seemingly bored or unhappy with their situation. The aisles can also be tight and this location seems to attract an elderly crowd, so be patient. Overall, not a bad supermarket.

This Associated Supermarket serves Stuyvesant Town.
In a mad rush pressed against time, I had to obtain something edible for my contribution to an event. One stop shop for a gallon of Green Tea Ice Tea at a extremely reasonable $ 2.19 is woo-​ho for my budget! Indeed I wholeheartedly agree with previous Unilocalers: narrow tight aisles, bumper to bumper of elbow to elbow room of a cramped rush hour subway car, grinding pain checkout process of eternity wait lines, somewhat overpriced or mislabeled priced items.
Upon leaving this Associated, I felt like an adult size elephant who escaped torture of being aggressively forced inside a sedan car.

Wow.