Gourmet Garage

What a shame. Years ago, when this location first opened, yes, a long, long time ago, there were people who worked here & actually cared about helping you. They knew about the products they were selling & it was a pleasant experience to visit & shop at Gourmet Garage East 64^th Street.
Sadly, based on my experience over the last few years, I feel service has gone so far downhill, that I would say it is nearly non-​existent. I can tell you that my visit on Friday, Nov. 20, 2015, had that NON-​EXISTENT SERVICE. NO ONE TO HELP A CUSTOMER. I was buying fresh produce & dairy products, and assorted other items.
Here is a sad example – I had a produce COOKING question, & NO ONE WAS AROUND IN THE PRODUCE AREA, so I thought let me see if someone in the front, at the prepared foods DEPT counter might be able to answer a question. Two people were behind the counter – a man and a woman. The man had large headphones on, like those Beats-​type brand – big – & his back was TOTALLY to the customer, as if he were looking out a window. The woman was near him, turned sideways, and looking at her smartphone. CLEARLY, NO ONE CARED ABOUT ANY CUSTOMERS!!! I stood at the counter silently, for about 15 seconds, literally, –wondering if anyone would notice, they didn’t. I walked away. This scene SPEAKS VOLUMES ABOUT THE WORK ETHIC AT THIS LOCATION!!!
The nicest person I came across was the woman representing a company called Living Intentions. She was explaining about the food items, offering samples, & after my chat & samples, I DID BUY THE ACAI BLUEBERRY SUPERFOOD CEREAL ($ 10.99). A splurge for me, but a healthy one!
(I will use it as a healthy snack when I work late)
I do like the cheese selection at Gourmet Garage, HOWEVER, I work hard for my money, & I prefer to do business with a company that actually realizes that & cares about providing good, if not great (!!) customer service. Just before going to Gourmet Garage, I had bought a few items at Grace’s Market, on 2^nd Ave & East 68^th Street. Service there was very nice, and, much to my surprise, the meat I bought at Grace’s Market was less expensive than at GG, & a 1 Pound cellophane bag of organic carrots was $ 1.99, which was the same as what GG was charging. I think the carrots looked better at Grace’s. I wish I had bought them there! The bags I bought at Gourmet Garage had very skinny carrots! So, I will be shopping more at Grace’s Market.
And lastly, the cashier/​check-​out experience at GG was NOT A GOOD ONE. I wonder if the original owners are even involved with Gourmet Garage anymore – it doesn’t feel like it. OVERALL – At the East 64^th Street location, IT FEELS LIKE NO ONE AT GOURMET GARAGE GIVES A DAMN ABOUT BUSINESS OR THE CUSTOMERS. Really sad, since the concept of GG was such a good one. If anyone in Corporate Gourmet Garage sees this & can update on status, that might be nice. Sadly, I cannot recommend East 64^th Street Gourmet Garage at this time.

I love this store, it is very convenient and has nice produce cheese and meats. More importantly, it is staffed with friendly, helpful, efficient folks. Sherlita is sweet and has a great smile and gets me most of what I actually eat! I come here nearly everyday for drinks, random ingredients and last minute items. Fernanda and Chantiece are always quick and welcoming, they have helped me many times to get the right item for my recipe and share a laugh!

Lots of interesting options that you wouldn’t find at other supermarkets in the neighborhood, great cheese section, and delicious prepared items to take to work for lunch. Sherlita at the deli counter provides great service!

Terrific fruit, good service. Always someone to help with honest recommendations. Great nuts-​fresh and tasty.
Sherlita is great in suggesting prepard foods, remembers what you usually order, always a smile!
T.S.

Forget Whole Foods, Gourmet Garage has wonderful delicacies in a beautiful environment with easy check out lines and good management! It is also less expensive. The deli and prepared foods are excellent and they have a wonderful and accessible collection of cheeses, fruits, vegetables, nuts, coffees, etc! They even make their own low fat mozarella cheese which is the best I have ever had. It is very centrally located and all in all, a wonderful shopping experience!

Great selection of cheeses and coffees. Produce area is well stocked with fresh fruits and vegetables. I find everything here that I need for my own prepared at home meals or an easy store prepared meal from the Gourmet Garage location at E 64^th Street. It’s fun to shop here and the staff is friendly to deal with. Cassidy is my «go to» Gourmet Garage Superstar for the long hot days of summer!

Fernanda Helped me find everything i was looking for. She was friendly. The vibe is so good in this store. She was my Superstar.

Love this place! Great selection of products, delicious prepared meals, hot soups, fresh fruits and veggies. Chastity always has a smile and says «hi» when I am on line at her cash register :-)

great pickles and olives. a good selection of cheeses. Prices are reasonable if one stays away from the prepared foods.
It has gone downhill in the past few years.

I feel like this place is a hidden gem… it’s a great place! It’s quality compared to the crap Gristides up the block (YUCK)!
The checkout staff is blah, lol BUT their products are always fully stocked and super great. Good pricing often times better than Gristides.

The rating is for the prepared foods. Shockingly mediocre to inedible. Can be tasteless. Olive bar is the worst i have ever encountered, anywhere. Dont understand as the prices are high. Soups are occasionally good.

A nice speciality store, interesting tasty food choices, I am fond of the house brand peanut butter (crunchy) which was just raised from $ 4.99 to $ 5.99 but with the increase. Many people do not know there are different qualities of peanuts, try theirs! The garages’ Prepared foods are good also worth looking into.

I can’t believe it took me this long to Unilocal Gourmet Garage.
They have 5 or 6 locations and I shop at two of them — here and Carnegie Hill (96 street).
Great for gourmet goodies — expensive but not horrid.
Small.
Good for catering, too.

A really good grocery store, with a lot of good, like their bread, and fish, then I am one who loves vegetarian dishes, so it gets a lot of it.
Otherwise, it is always good also with home delivery if you do not have time or whether to organize a big party you can always use their catering service.

Yet another example of what’s gone awry.
A nice enough look outside, but when I walk in, there’s poor layout entering and hip hop music blasting. The staff’s all up-​front, talking and ignoring customers walking around. The store itself — selection is miserable. It’s better in the Food Emporium up the street.
Expensive. I appreciate that people like their selection, but it’s awfully random unless you like any cheese and any sliced cured meat.

This place is great! Like a little piece of Euro Market in the City. Who says we need to live in Astoria to appreciate a taste of European markets? Yes, pricey, but way better than ANY and ALL other grocery stores near by =)

Ok, the location is convenient, and I will concede that their selection of organic food and sustainably-​raised meat is pretty good. Beyond that there is little to appreciate about this convenience store-​sized grocery.
You can never depend on an item being there on your next visit. This is especially true in the unmanned meat department, cheese case and produce department. If you try asking someone if there is any _​_​_​in the back chances are they don’t speak English and the person they point to will not have an answer.
If they DO have an answer, its that corporate places the orders and determines when things show up. They also add «we don’t like it either, but that’s the system.»
Did I mention the place is small? I’m frequently mowed-​down by employees wheeling mini-​pallets of broken-​down cardboard boxes, trash… and on a rare occasion… food to be put on the shelves.
Make sure you check expiration dates on everything here. I see expired food almost every visit.
The checkout lines are a trip. Cashiers are expressionless and only open their mouths to tell you how much money to fork over. Never a hello, thank you, or how are you. Oh, the best part? They will start ringing up the person behind you before you have signed the credit card receipt or taken your bags. Now the person behind you is nearly on top of you. Unless the person is mildly attractive, this is the most annoying part of the visit.
One last word to the wise, they have posted signs at the cash registers for 2+ months saying they are unable to accept debit cards because their computers are not working properly. I think it is safe to assume the computers work just fine and that they have stopped taking debit cards.

Pros: Small speciality grocery store, excellent meats, excellent regional items (ex. italian food from Italy).
Cons: Expensive. Smallish.
Good prepared foods, too expensive. The best option in the area.
As Jack Donaghy might say, «Whatcha gonna do.»

Lately I’ve been relying on Gourmet Garage pretty hard come lunch time. They have really tasty small pre-​packaged salads for $ 3.00 that I like to team up with a bag of veggie chips and a cup of yogurt. They also have larger salads with meat for $ 7, but I think they’re worth it. Last week I tried their California chicken salad and was quite impressed (sliced grilled chicken, croutons, calamata olives and sun dried tomato over mixed greens with avacado/​lemon dressing).
Sometimes they have amazing soups, and I’ll throw a small cup into the mix. It’s smaller and much easier to navigate than Food Emporium, and less gross than the local Gristedes– the perfect in-​between in my opinion. The workers are always really nice, and it always seems to be kept freshly stocked and very clean.

Of all the grocery joints in all the towns in all the world, she walks into mine!
I remember all the details: … The fundamental things apply. As time goes by…
In my previous relationship,
, I had counted all the days. Mostly, I remember the last one. The wow finish. A guy standing at the checkout counter with a comical look on his face, because his insides had been kicked out.
Why didn’t I return to DAG? Was it the questionable quality? The high prices? The lackluster service?
It was a combination of all three.
But, why did I go to Whole Foods? After all, I don’t believe in long distance relationships — they don’t work. Did Whole Foods get me on the rebound? Or was I seduced by the long lines of admirers? It couldn’t have been the dessert options… I must have bargained with myself… I find myself much more reasonable to bargain with.
And so I moved from one grocery relationship to another. I am a very cynical person. I don’t mind a parasite. But, I do object to a cut-​rate one. So, I view all supermarkets with suspicion. Gourmet Garage was no exception to my rule. Hmmm… Food everywhere. No sense as to the store organization. Cramped quarters. Ah, freshly made soup! Breads! Wide selection of cheese! Good stuff… But, do I read like the sort who’d eat healthy?
Wait, what was that? A refrigerator door opening? Or, my heart pounding? Could it be the sight of 5 Boroughs Ice Cream that I’ve read about so much lately? It’s practically a guided tour across NYC! There’s Bayridge (Amaretto Amore), Staten Island (Landfill). Hey: I just saw Bronx (Spicy Hot Chocolate), now Jackson Heights (Mangodesh). But, O’ Astoria (Bakla-​Wha?), where art thou? What do you mean ‘discontinued’?!
I am startled by a philosophical question from a young lady holding the excellent French Custard ice cream Crème Cremaillere in her hands (a pint of Peppermint stick and another of Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip). I ponder: Could I forgive someone who did a bad thing only because my «happiness was the only thing she wanted in the whole world»? I push back the pints of Chocolate Suzette and Pumpkin Pie into the refrigerator, «Nobody has ever loved me that much.» And, start to walk away.
Play it, Sam… Play «As time goes By».
That’s when I saw Laloo. Delicious ice cream, and frozen yogurt that makes Pinkberry blush in embarrassment. The goat must indeed make it good. And she has such alluring forms: Molasses Tipsy cake (salty Oatmeal cookie with cinnamon and brown sugar), Pumpkin Spice, Black Mission Fig, Lemon Chiffon, Chocolate Cabernet.
I wasn’t sure what to expect. Laloo turned out to be exotic in ways one could never imagine. And the flavors: Dark chocolate and Cabernet Sauvignon. What a pairing! While the fig — reminding one of a frozen version of a goat cheese and fig soufflé!
I was torn. Laloo: why did you have to come to Gourmet Garage? There are other places.
I am no good at being noble. But, Laloo: what I’ve got to do you can’t be a part of. Each of us has a destiny — for good or for evil. We’ll always have Gourmet Garage. But, I’ve got a job to do too: I need to Unilocal other desserts. Where I am going, you can’t follow. Someday you will understand that. Now, now… «Here’s looking at you, Kid».