Fine Fare Super Market

Manager with glasses is extremely lazy. Routinely closes 20 minutes early and wont allow customers into the store.

As a grocery store that is one block away from my apartment and contains food, drink, and house cleaning goods, it certainly suffices!

I Like This Fine Fare At 42 Ave C Better Than The One At 545 Grand St This Place Is More Organized and Up To date Plus The Cashiers are nice and helpful and Don’t nasty attitudes like those girls who work at the Grand St location.

Dramatic improvements the past couple of years. The store is much cleaner and tidier than it was.
For the most part, I can buy any groceries I want here and am sufficiently happy with the quality. They have great ingredients for Latin cuisine, sort of lacking ingredients for Asian cuisine. It seems like there are 1 or 2 employees max who speak English, so you’re kind of on your own if you don’t speak Spanish and need to find specific items.
That this place has two $$ on Unilocal astounds me; it is the cheapest grocery store I have ever been to. The milk is the only thing that is unattractively priced.
Note: you need ID to make credit card purchases.

This store has improved dramatically in the last few years! Ah, the benefits of gentrification!!! There is now a really good produce section with fresh produce and even an organic selection, truly surprising!
They have a few different kinds of soymilk (all well priced), a good yogurt (had the fancy greek yogurt) and cheese selection. Bread aisle could improve but they did have some organic whole grain bread (not a fan of though). I even found my fav Hummus there too!
The meat aisle is huge, but I don’t buy meat so can’t judge it.
This place really has improved! It’s not at the same level as Keyfood yet, but it’s not ghetto like it was ten years ago. I really hope more people shop there b/​c I like this change and wan’t to support it!
Ave C is getting awesome!

I never use Unilocal anymore, I signed up once and forgot.
This place is so very bad. Goods that last years are expired. I got Low Fat mayo and when I got home and got sick the next day saw it actually expired almost a year before. Yogurt, eggs, milk, bread. All on the the last day or a few days expired. It should not be this way. I got sour cream that was just up to date but must have not been refrigerated the whole time. It smelled so bad and black when opened I had to double bag it and toss it. No great specials and I miss and now have to walk to keyfoods where I used to go when I lived closer.
Really just upset because it is so close to my house and I don’t shop at places like whole foods. I want a regular nice basic grocery store.

I come here because this spot is too close for me to go somewhere else! I come here after the gym and I would buy meats and veggies! After this review, I’ll still be forced to go… lol
Meats — Watch out for the expiration date. some of the meats are very dark and that means its not fresh
Veggies — Get it from them but they are not cheap… the best qualtiy veggies would probably be the carrots… –_​– ehhh
Dairy — your normal variety. nothing special…
NO SMOKED SALMON!!≠(. SIGH**

Use this place when I am in a pinch for some goods. Have found everything I need here and the prices are quite reasonable considering its in the Lower East Side.
They have a large selection with plenty of sales, I buy all non-​perishables here so can not really rate the meat and produce. Service is friendly and they talk to me in spanish. No habla espanol, but I do understand what they say LOl. Never had any problems here.

Everytime I walk in (because it’s the closest thing to my home) I am quickly reminded why I loathe this store. Everything, every little thing is overpriced (and many things from salad to cottage cheese I could purchase more cheaply at whole foods for the same brands). I was so livid when the manager of the store outright refused to accept my manufacturer’s coupon — he said it looked like I printed it which is impossible because I can’t reproduce holographic pictures). And today I bought some seltzer and I was overcharged, so again I had to call the manager over to refund me money and put it back on my credit card for the correct price. It’s always a headache here and you ALWAYS always have to double-​check to make sure the store didn’t rip you off.

You know, for a while I really hated Fine Fare. There were two times that I bought cheese that looked fine in the package and when I got home, it was something like 8 months expired or had mold. My fault for not checking the packaging, but really — 8 months is bad. Their produce also used to be pretty terrible.
However, Fine Fare recently updated their produce section and I really think it has improved significantly. I definitely check the meat and dairy for expiration dates before buying, but I haven’t had any problems or found any expired products since they re-​did the produce section. Something about that renovation must have changed things.
I love to cook, and I almost always shop at Fine Fare. It’s right on my block, so I can’t help the convenience, and it’s pretty cheap. It’s definitely cheaper than Union Market, and I think a little cheaper than Key Food. It is also MUCH less crowded than Key Food and always has shorter lines, too. It doesn’t always have the most exotic ingredients, but it really does have a pretty good selection considering it’s role as a convenient, corner supermarket that doesn’t claim to be gourmet, etc.
Give it another chance if you hated it before.

A funny little supermarket. I wouldn’t even consider this place good for about 60−70% of the stuff you would normally get from a supermarket. The other 30% to 40% though, is a solid selection.
So what’s good about this place? Their household goods and other dry goods etc. are pretty cheap. About 10−30% cheaper than other places, but not uniformly. They also have fairly cheap beers and adequate looking frozen food and ice cream. They also offer some alright looking chicken, and prepackaged sausages (I enjoy their Italian ones). They also offer sales on random things fairly often which can make buying a rather affordable experience.
If you’re not buying those, buyer beware. As others have mentioned, their produce is laughably bad. Maybe 10% of it is even worth buying and whatever produce they offer is typically a good amount more expensive than it should be. If you want solid produce, go to Key Foods on Ave A (unless you don’t care… but you really should), don’t risk it on the subpar, more expensive produce here. They also have a wide selection of meat, but outside of the chicken and sausages, most of it is already going dark (ew) or cut terribly. Who wants an ultra thin steak? I’m also unsure of their ground meats.
The place itself is also pretty interesting. The first thing you’ll notice when you walk in is that this place is freezing. When I went in the summer, I actually wanted to leave because it was too cold! Aisles are alright width. Not too small, but definitely on the smaller end. If you’re hispanic, the place seems a little more friendly as the cashiers seem less friendly and don’t speak English very well, but the hispanic music is rather welcome flair to the place.
Overall, not the best supermarket. Stay away if you want anything fresh. But if you need anything else, Fine Fare is rather affordable and good. I’ll be honest though, if it wasn’t so close, I would not particularly go out of my way.

Best supermarket in New York! For food? No. For the soundtrack! Noventa seis punto tres! La mezcla de Nueva York!
Legit. Great reggaeton. But even if you’re not into Tito El Bambino or Prince Royce, its still a solid supermarket.
Never tried the meat. Wouldn’t risk it. Sorry. They just redid the fruit/​veggie area and it looks almost like Key Food. Good prices so I always buy my fruits/​veggies here or Essex Market. I get my meat and fancier stuff at Key Food.
Latino products? Awesome. Goya, mayo-​ketchup, salsa chipotle Cholula, mango juice, queso cotija, oaxaca cheese, tortillas of course (even blue), arepas (store bought never even comes close to abuela though), oaxaca chocolate (not the fancy rip off stuff for 5 $ for 100g), cervezas el presidente, frozen yuca (for home made yuca fries of course), limes (none of that rip off 2 for 1 $), tomatillos (for home made salsa verde), etc.
99 cent 2 ply toilet paper in 4 packs? check! just like Compare Foods on Ave D.
Its a close tie with Compare Foods on Ave D. Same soundtrack, same basic products. But Compare has tighter aisles and the people can get a little grouchy during rush hour.
Never had problems with the weird people that indeed sometimes hang out front. And since the fruit/​veggies renovation they lost all those cubby holes for confiscating peoples bags and purses. They might still do bag checks but a lot less often it seems. Btw, if you pay with credit cards make sure you have your id ready. Funny no? You steal a credit card and you can’t buy groceries but you can but almost anything else and they’ll never check your id or your signature.

Good for the neighborhood. Not good quality overall but cheap. The vegetables and fruits are often to avoid.

Abusive!
There are poor immigrants standing outside this supermarket waiting to use the bottle redemption where a man I am assuming that works for the supermarket or is a friend of the rude manager is verbally and mildly physically abusing them. I have witness this abuse and was outraged. I brought it to the managers attention who was so rude himself, unprofessional and didn’t give a sh** at how people are being treated at his store. I have now boycotted this supermarket and told my friends and fellow business owners to boycott as well. I will also make the head franchise owners aware of this situation. These people are hard working and don’t deserve this abuse. Shame on them.

Where to begin?
I live around the corner from this place but I really try to walk up to Key Food on Ave A instead.
The produce is pretty crap and looks like it’s been there for weeks and weeks. They always seems to blast the AC so it’s constantly 10 degrees in there.
If you need to ask about something or talk to the manager be sure to brush up on your high school Spanish first, because no one speaks English.
You also need to check your bag with some guy before you walk in, which is annoying. When I say «check» I of course mean leave on a shelf unsupervised. More than often the guy watching the bags just walks off so make sure you don’t have anything valuable in your bag.
Avoid this place unless it’s an emergency.

The grocery industry generally sends it’s freshest food to upscale neighborhoods. Before it goes bad it is repackaged into larger quantities and goes to middle and then lower income neighborhoods. So, two pork chops are packaged for a upscale neighborhood, then repacked into four for middle income and then repacked into eight and called family value for lower income neighborhoods. The meat is still good but it is closer to the end of it’s freshness date.
So at Fine Fair you can get 16 pork chops for cheap but you should eat them that night.
I’ve never had any trouble with the meat, except that they only have thin cuts. The milk goes bad very quickly but they will actually refund your money if it goes bad TOO quickly. Too bad they don’t have paper cartons which makes the milk last so much longer than plastic
The produce is expensive and old compared to Essex St. Market.
But why would you buy detergent, paper towels, yogurt, oj, bread, peanut butter, almond milk… anywhere else. The prices are very good.
I would give it 5 stars for theses types of things.

I live right around the corner from this place, and I’d rather walk the extra blocks over to Key Food to avoid coming here. Their produce section is terrible — the celery is almost always way too flexible to be fresh, the lettuce is brown and soggy, and everything in general looks like it’s been out a few too many days — you don’t fool me, sporadic water misters!
On one of my first (and only) visits, I bought yogurt — and when I got home, I realized it was over a month past its expiration date. Major ew. When I went back to talk to a manager — like another reviewer mentioned — somehow everyone had forgotten how to speak English. I managed to get my point across and was able to return the item, but still… ew.
I still come here sometimes since it’s so convenient, but I never buy anything fresh — and I stay the hell away from the meat. I stick to dry goods and cleaning products, and that’s about it — and I ALWAYS check the expiration dates.
Keep in mind — Fine Fare closes at 10 PM most days, while Key Food is ²⁴⁄₇.
They get an extra star for calling me «mamita,» which is really cute :)

Probably the most disgusting supermarket in the city.
The meat and poultry they sell are awful quality and the prices are higher then most other places.
The pack of chicken breasts that I bought there last week when opened smelled as if it was rotting in the sun for a week. When I went back and asked to speak to the manager all of the employees suddenly lost their ability to understand English. I can’t believe that the health inspectors have not closed that place long time ago.

Bad reviews? Chiiiillll. Fine Fare is amazing.
Yeah, it was my childhood supermarket, but I’m not biased.
Okay I am. You’ll feel very at home here if you speak Spanish and don’t mind Latino music blasting. That’s not the only kind of music they blast, but usually that’s what’s on the radio. The place also has a distinct smell (not a bad or good one) and they always seem to be moving supplies around there… still though, I love Fine Fare. It has a distinct charm that I can’t explain. Good supermarket layout too. don’t know what else to say.

Good deal, with sensible choice, and clearly affordable as well, since it is
as well as well, since I live just East Villige and when you are close and do not have to drag and carry that far.
clearly worthwhile to buy their food there, I often do.