C Town Supermarket

Just moved to New York, and this grocery was the closest to my house so I decided to give it a try.
My first reaction was pretty amazed by how horrible the produce section was. There was barely half an aisle of produce, and the quality of what was there was horrible. I wanted to buy gala apples and couldn’t find one that wasn’t bruised and bumped like it had been thrown across the aisle.
Beyond the produce there was a good selection of basic grocery items and I was able to get most of what I needed although I did not even look at the meat section; upon first glance the quality did not look good and I do not like looking at raw meat to begin with so I moved past quickly.
I know NY is expensive for groceries, and I have not shopped around yet so I don’t know for sure how this store compares, but from this one experience I would say that C town does have some good deals on certain products, but on others they are far overpriced so its just important to be aware of the prices (which is kind of hard since they are not all labeled on the shelves but i realized they have stickers on all the non-​produce products). I think that if you pay attention to the deals you can get a pretty decently-​priced grocery basket.
Will definitely be trying some other places for my groceries in the future, but I will come back here for the items that they have at cheaper prices since it is so close to my apartment.

Great basic supermarket. Fair prices and Incredibly efficient cashiers and baggers make even long checkout lines go quick. REALLY, really need to start staying open late. Closing at 8 is crazy!

The cashiers and stock people are very nice and helpful but the store just doesn’t cut it. They are very expensive for such a ghetto market.
There is no deli. They close too early and for years they have the wrong hours for their closing time on their website. They have never closed at 9 PM.
The produce is despicable. I have bought cucumbers that tasted like they were sprayed with chemicals. They need better prices and healthy food that doesn’t look like it was fished out of a dumpster.
THEY ADVERTISE THINGS IN THE CIRCULAR THEY DO NOT CARRY. THEY PUT UP SIGNS THAT OFFER STUFF ON SALE THAT ISN’T ON THE SHELF
You also have to fight nearly every time there is something on sale because you know how these stores can be and always check your receipt to make sure you get the sale price before you leave.
NEVER AGAIN

While not as expensive as Associated on 14^th Street, it’s certainly not cheap and the selection is only ok.
I’ve been into this C-​Town a few times and have never been able to find everything on my list at this store, let alone find things at a consistently decent price for the quality.
Today I went in for some basic stuff — vegetables, pasta, tortillas, salsa, avocado, you get the idea.
First stop: produce isle. Underwhelming at best. It’s a sad, singular wall of just decent vegetables and fruit. Yes, the entire produce section is one very short wall. Cauliflower: $ 2.99, looks great and is not the worst price ever.
Broccoli: $ 1.99/“bunch” The bunches are really just one tiny TINY stalk of broccoli, some have a premature second head but I Would have needed to buy 3 «bunches» just to have enough for a small meal. Pass.
Carrots: Options are bagged baby carrots for $ 1.99 (not bad) or giant GM carrots for under $ 1/​lb. Whatever, I’ll probably die from drinking and french fries before the GMO’s do me in. Bought the cheap carrots.
Berries: Sad selection, ok prices. Strawberries at $ 1.99/package, but they’re pretty much moldy mush inside the carton. Pass. Raspberries and Blackberries are $ 3.99/pkg but are the same awful quality. Pass.
Tons of apples at regular prices, nothing special, lots of bell peppers. Good luck finding anything besides super basic produce here.
Avocados: $ 2.50 each, meh quality. Pass.
Second stop: Mexican Food
Guac/​salsa selection: nearly non existent, which is surprising. Was expecting more than Taco Bell salsa in either mild or medium, and one kind of Newman’s own. Guess I’m going back to Gracefully for some $ 6 salsa later, and to Whole Foods for remade guac.
Tortilla: None! I finally found some on an endcap but they were the tiny, white flour kind. Pass. No quesadilla for me tonight.
Third Stop: Pasta/​Frozen/​The rest of the store
Pasta: Expensive — like $ 2+/box for regular dry pasta in a box. Decent selection, and I bought some rotini for $ 2 but I wasn’t happy about it.
Frozen stuff: Eh, decent prices but nothing special. I might stop back here for some cheap ice cream once in a while.
Dairy: Brand name cheese on sale. Section was a mess, with tons of stuff out of place, but extra sharp aged cheddar for $ 2.50 is worth a little looking around.
Vegan stuff: Hahahaha — I found a few fake meat things in the freezer at a decent price, but nothing else. Bought some overpriced tofu. Definitely sticking to other stores for this stuff.
After all of that I my or may not come back to C-​Town. They are a bit cheaper than Associated, but don’t have as much stuff. I did buy a lifetime supply (96 oz) of canola oil for $ 5 though — can’t beat that.

Inexpensive, clean, super convenient. They don’t really have gluten free items or «health food» type stuff, but all the basics are right here in an otherwise underserved (grocery-​wise) part of the East Village.

After years of shopping at ASS-​ociated (notice the spelling), I went to C-​Town because I needed an ingredient that my neighbor said I can get it at C-​Town. This place is on Avenue C so its a little walk for those on 1^st avenue but it is WORTH IT.
Pros:
1. Big Aisles
2. Decent prices, esp. on beer
3. Lots of Spanish food and spices (especially when you are doing one of those recipes that require some exotic Latin seasoning)
4. Nice and friendly staff (I hope they NEVER become rude like ASS-​ociated staff)
5. LOTS of snacks (but Latin ones)
Cons:
1. They do charge a little bit more for certain pastas but its like ten cents or so.
2. Its not open as late as the other one
3. I dont think they have a deli section but they surely have a huge frozen and meat section with deli stuff

Food shopping is so much easier here! Usually not crowded and stocks are pretty full. But many times I tried to get something on sale but when the cashier scans it, it does not show up, so they’ll have to do it manually, so just a note, check when they scan your items!
No complains, my neighborhood supermarket, little change over the years, wonderful!
The staff there are USUALLY nice, what I mean is that, from time to time, they hire some workers that look like you owe them millions of dollars. What did I do wrong?=\
But overall, definitely a recommended place for food shopping!

I love C-​Town! The prices here are much lower than other area groceries. The aisles are easy to maneuver in. They have organic products, and like my friend from Mexico said, Mexican products. The only thing I don’t like is the produce. It’s not very fresh and there weren’t any good deals. I noticed it was cheaper than area stores but it was also not fresh. I would definitely come here for everything else though.

I decided to walk through my old neighborhood this afternoon. Feeling hungry I had to remember where a supermarket was located– at least the one I remember, sort of.
I get here and it seems to be a supermarket in the same location I remember it being, although it’s been over 20 years.
Of course, it wasn’t C-​Town back then.
I went in and was immediately taken aback by the size of the place. I don’t remember it being this big. They had fresh baked rolls and bagels. They had luncheon meats. They had prices I am used to seeing in Brooklyn. Picked up 1 package of Buddig Corned Beef and a roll.
Time investment: 30 – 40 minutes between walking there and buying my food.
Cost of a late lunch $ 1.23
Stepping back in time: Priceless.

I’ve been rolling back my mouse over the 3 stars and then back to the 4 stars for about a minute now. Why is their no half star?! Ugh, technology makes me sick. Okay, 4 stars it is. I like to round up. You wanna know why? I love C Town, I really do. But they are trying to pull a fast one on me! Theyre prices for spaghetti sauce is 1.79. At Associated, it’s 1.69. That’s muthaflippin’ ten sense! They think just because they have lower prices on everything else, they can up the prices of my spaghetti saws! No freakin way. NO WAY. Never coming back here ever agen.
Okay, I’m lying. This place is great. Clean, not crowded like Associated or as I like to call it, ASS… Oh…ciated. Yeah… it sounds the same but my intention is clear.
Oh, i spelled things wrong on purpose. If you didn’t see anything wrong with my first paragraph, you disgust me. Get out of my office.

The prices on everything but produce are significantly lower than Associated on C or any of the bodegas (naturally). Where in other downtown groceries you’ll find yourself gouged on basics (trash bags, ketchup) C-​Town has reasonable prices on all those as well as larger sizes (thus, greater value) for things like sugar, flour, rice. Also, their meat selection is much cheaper than Associated for similar quality.
This is a store for basics, cheaper on keeping you stocked in paper towels and cooking oil, not really the place for snacks or beer, but you can turn around in the aisles and the staff are very friendly.

C-​Town is a bit cheaper than the Ass-​ociated Grocery Stores, and their ailes are apportioned more spatiously as well, though it doesn’t look like it from the outside.
It’s also really clean. Maybe too clean. There was still an ammonia smell in the air when I walked in, though the floors were all shiny and spot-​free.
They have a decent selection of fruits and vegetables, but overall smaller than Associated on 1^st Avenue — they probably chose to space the aisles out for a more pleasant shopping experience rather than have more selections but a more cramped space.
I was a bit disappointed by the snack selection — it consisted only of the ends of two aisles.
The check-​out lines, however, were short and quick, especially for Superbowl day, when I expected tons of people buying last minute food (maybe it was the lack of snacks).
Oh, if you’re a senior (over 62), there’s a 5% discount on Tuesdays and Thursdays, though it doesn’t apply to sale items or alcohol.