Eli’s Market at Grand Central

The Eli Zabar Granola (Original) is really good. Glad they are part of this market.

DO NOT BUY THEIR CHALLAH. I REPEAT: DO NOT BUY THEIR CHALLAH. In fact, to be safe, DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM HERE.
I bit down on a piece of glass inside the challah loaf I purchased from them. I called them immediately and was assured by the manager that her boss would call me the next day as he was out the day the incident occurred. The next day comes and passes, no call. Nice customer service toward your customer WHO NEARLY ATE GLASS OUT OF YOUR BREAD.
They sell disgusting and probably dangerous food not meant to be eaten.

Having gone gluten-​free, the giant (palm) sized macarons were calling my name. but, we dropped by to quickly grab a birthday cake for our boss. We usually go for Zaro’s, but I was getting sick of how thick Zaro’s cakes were… left a gross taste in my mouth.
Eli’s «Happy Birthday» cake was a mix of vanilla with layers of raspberry jelly. It was good. It wasn’t fantastic, but it served its purpose.
I remember picking some items up here and thinking, «this is way overpriced, even if it were to be the perfect pastry.» Especially in NYC? You can get better deals at local bakeries all over town — I have no idea how much their rent is, but the price was obnoxious for some of their bakery items. The pricing on the cake seems par to norm.
You can’t miss it — it’s the first store to your left when you’re walking in from the street side of the market.

A little overpriced ($ 4 foccacia), but the creamcheese and choc chips muffin was delicious, and the foccacia ok!
Update: banana & chocolate chips muffins was good, and the low fat blueberry one too :) very light, which is pretty rare for a muffin.

Let me first start this review by saying that although my mother always told me not to say anything if I don’t have anything nice to say, my mother had said that before she was FALSEY ACCUSED of shoplifting.
While doing her usual grocery rounds my sweet and unassuming mother was accused of stealing food from this horrific establishment. I understand that the staff needs to follow up with any accusation of shoplifting but the manner in which she was treated was absolutely unacceptable. Not only were the two male employees rude and aggressive, forcefully looking through my mothers personal belongings in the middle of the market, but when the staff failed to find the supposed stolen goods they made her prove that she had bought the other items she was toting by parading through the market to ask the cashier to confirm her innocence. After defaming her character and publicly humiliating her, the men barely muttered an apology and quickly walked away. AWFUL DOESNT EVEN COVER IT.
The overpriced groceries of poor quality, combined with the beyond inhospitable staff will have me boycotting this pathetic farm stand for years to come.

Eli’s has a fairly wide selection of breads and pastries considering it only occupies a small corner in the grand central terminal market.
I tried the pistachio macaron which was the biggest macaron I’ve ever had. It was less soft than most macarons I’ve had. Also, it was quite pricy at $ 2.95 for a single macaron.

Prices are a bit high. Bought a healthy whole wheat long roll for $ 1.95. So delicious! They have a good bit of variety of loaves and rolls and they will slice it for you. They also have cookies and other pastry treats. I loved the load I purchased and might find my way back over. Sad the prices are a bit more than I’d like to pay but I guess that’s literally the price you pay for something fresh and yummy’

I needed a few things to grab quickly on my way home the other day and was SHOCKED by how overpriced this place is. I mean, c’mon! Ridiculous.

This outpost of Zabar‘s in the Grand Central Terminal Market is overall a disappointment. As a few others noted, some of breads and pastries sold here are stale and should not be on the shelf still. And whether it is fresh or not, you are going to being an exceptional premium due to the location and the Zabar name.
If you really need to get something here before you board your train, be sure to double check your bread, cake, pastry prior to paying.

I am writing a review of the Eli Zabar — Farm to Table fruit and food stall that has two shops inside the Grand central market. This is not a review for the Bread and Pastry. I have travelled far and wide, bit have never been FLEEZED like at the Eli Zabar fruit stall.
This morning I stopped by to get a small bottle of Lemonade, guess what the price was 5 US$ (4.99 to be exact), damn for 16fl ox of water and lemonade, where the F%^$K did you grow those lemons or is that water Glacial Ice from 2 million years ago to charge 5US$.
What is worse is tasted like horse’s piss… I would just stay clear of anyhting with the name ELI ZABA. I really got scammed! RUN FAST NEXT TIME.

Half price sale of Valentine day’s Sweets/​bread when I dropped by around the noon on ²⁄₁₆.
I bought valentine heart shaped cookie gift set.
Was $ 29.95 …Now $ 14.95 !! …only while supply lasts.

I would have given this place a fourth star, but the sheer volume of young ladies (both in number and noise) from Sacred Heart and Spence soured the experience for me – and I was only getting take-​out. The food was fresh and tasty – from the roasted veggies to the tomato soup. But the blondie and house chips merit special notice. Both were perfectly prepared and incredibly tasty. If you can get around the pods of teenagers to reach your items, you won’t be disappointed.

I need to stop thinking starch and eat more vegetables. But if you have to have starch then this is probably the place to go. Not the cheapest place on earth, but it will fill you up for under $ 10.

If you’re in Grand Central and in need of a quick fresh loaf of bread, or a babka or pastry to bring to your gf’s dinner than Eli’s is a-​ok. They offer a wide variety of fresh and tasty breads, rolls and baguettes everyday. The pastries, albeit on the pricier side, are consistently good and sometimes they even offer a few sugar free options for your friends and family with sugar sensitivities or health issues.
I’m a fan of their olive rolls. they’re always good and great to snag on your way home. The baguettes are equally as good and the service is always snappy!

I have walked past Eli Zabar’s dozens of times, and have always been intrigued by the little signs signifying what time the baguettes came out of the oven.
Well yesterday I decided to stop.
The whole transaction took about 1 minute.
Service is very efficient considering the foot traffic through Grand Central.
As for the product I purchased two baguettes: one plain, one «everything».
The baguettes were fantastic. They have the traditional french shape with long pointy ends, not the supermarket torpedo baguette. This is very important considering the ends are the best part and this shape considerably increases that goodness!
The plain baguette was great, chewy yet crunchy crust and a really nice light doughy inside.
The everything was the same in texture, but it was coated in a mix of seeds and some onion and I could not recommend it enough.
For the $ 3 and change your risk is low.
Definitely a repeat VERY often place for me, as finding a fresh baguette at 5pm is not the easiest thing to do.

When you think of old school, classic New York, you might think of delis and bakeries. Well, decades later, Eli Zabar is still a staple in Manhattan with more cheeses, meats and snacks than ever. With a few locations in NYC, you’ll be sure to find one, or, you can go to Grand Central, which I did as part of my Grand Central Tour.
Since I’m a bakery connoisseur (at least I’d like to think so), I had to go that route and focus on all of the treats they had to offer. Now, they have a wide variety of things from fresh baked breads, to pastries, to cakes, so, it was a little tricky for me to even decide. But, my eyes finally settled on something I don’t usually see in most places.
I got their Hazelnut Meringue Shell. Although its about the size of my hand, it’s light as can be. I’ve made my own meringues before, but none as festive and decadent as this one. It’s light, and the meringue itself melts in your mouth, but the flavor is rich with caramel woven throughout and pieces of hazelnut folded in.

This place is a little odd. On the one hand, the breads look so enticing, the macarons are huge, and the meringues (I got a pistachio one) are enormous and, as I learned, fresh and delicious. They have lots of cool seasonal/​holiday goodies, and it’s conveniently located in Grand Central Market.
On the other hand, the girl who was working the register on Friday could not have been less interested in doing her job, and seemed to be making a point that she didn’t have to ring me up until she was finished chatting with her friend at the adjacent shop. I’ve been to many bakeries in NYC, and the service at Eli Zabar’s was notably rude in a city full of cheerful and enthusiastic cupcake purveyors. It didn’t match up with the quality and style of their offerings. I’d go back anyway, but given how many similar places are nearby, I’m kind of surprised they don’t hire staff that is on par with their competitors.

Eli’s Manhattan: I just can not get over this place. You get what you pay for, sure, but this place insults my intelligence. Every single thing in this store is 30% higher than everywhere else in Manhattan. There is never anyone around to help you if you have a question.
Upper East Side millionaires must come here just so they can walk around with his bag and impress their neighbors. I’m happy with a Food Emporium bag and not impressing my neighbors. Fairway on E 86^th Street is going to put this place out of business when they open!
The bread is great. Eli should open a bakery and close this store.

I LOVE THE GRAND CENTRAL MARKET!!!
I was starving and didn’t want to pay $$$ for airport food, so I quickly ran around the market looking for items to make a sandwich.
fresh burrata? check.
prosciutto? check.
bread… ?? CHECK! Thanks to Eli’s! For a little over $ 2 we got a really generous (pick it yourself) Grand Central Market bâtard (short baguette). It’s the bread that has two spindly ends … don’t let the hardy crust decieve you because right underneath that is some gorgeous, chewy and light mie/​crumb (inside of bread). mmmmm…
We cut it open, put in the meat and cheese… and wow. HEAVEN. Never had such a delicious sandwich for so less. =)

I’ve always loved Zabar’s on the Upper West Side, so seeing them move into Grand Central Market was a treat. Unlike its namesake uptown, this is just the bakery portion of the business focusing on everything from sweet to savory. The two types are mixed but the left side of the shop/​stand seems to favor loaves of bread and small dinner rolls while the right side has a counter with beautiful cakes and pastries. The middle has a nice mix of the two.
On this day, I picked up six slices of their whole wheat bread (packed in plastic). I knew this was going to cost more than your average loaf of bread, but I was going for the freshness. $ 3.50 confirmed I was paying a premium, but frankly you don’t go to a Zabar’s joint to save cash.
I used the bread for a sandwich and it was wonderful. The outside crust was a tiny bit tough, giving a nice satisfying bite and chew when you chew through it. The center is fluffy and soft with a nice rustic flavor. I really enjoyed it and the slices were a good size.
The cashier was very patient, answering questions of several tourists and being very patient as the old lady in front of me insisted on giving her *exact* change.
I haven’t had anything else here yet but I will most likely be back to sample some of their other wares.