Gristedes

I go to this Gristedes because it’s right across the street from my apartment — the ultimate convenience! Beware of a limited product assortment and mediocre service in comparison to other grocers.
I will alway prefer Fairway and Whole Foods over Gristedes but they’re a few blocks away.
Pros — Location and store hours
Cons — Sub-​par produce selection, high prices in comparison to competitors in the area, lack of product selection

Expensive, gross, some staff nice others are awful, good in a pinch for basic stuff, usually in the rain or bad weather cause its close but otherwise not so good. Sad thing is it could be good and its needed over here, but look at the other stores so much better and cheaper, better to go to ctown, Morton Williams, dagostinos which are also expensive but they have everything and its all fresh. Of course fairway too but that’s too crowded and I find it to be a hassle. There is no excuse for the condition of this store and it is very fixable if they were interested

This particular market should be on the list of the five worst markets in the City. The produce is always rotten, the smell coming from the frozen foods echoes bad cheese and worse, and the selection of everything always leaves something to be desired. Two more points of achievement: first, any time we’ve asked the management to see if they can get something, eg a particular but hard-​to-​find brand of soda, as an example, they advise us that it won’t be a problem (they look it up on their computer by the customer service area and advise us accordingly). A day later, a week later, two weeks later, nothing. So either they’re completely incompetent and/​or inept — or they’re liars. I’m betting it’s an equal combination.
And the second part, which is almost laughable — usually a market will put up signage to indicate something, like a box of cereal, is on sale. These imbeciles don’t bother — they just put signs up indicating $ 6.49 for a box of cereal is their «Everyday Low Price.» You’ve got to admire a market that is so arrogant they advertise things that are not on sale.
This place should be demo’d along with the rest of the block and they should pass out marshmallows and cocktail franks so people can celebrate and toast this horrendous place’s demise.

Watch out for expiration dates! After listening to the gentleman in line before me complain about them, I checked the jar of pickles I was about to purchase. Sure enough, they expired in October. Considering I was buying an item with a long expiration date, those pickles must have been sitting around quite a while. Ick!

Maybe this isn’t the most important thing, but this supermarket is like a maze. The produce section is a fire hazard — one way in and out. Very strange.

Always dirty and still overpriced, this dilapidated hole needs to be torn down to make room for a shop that doesn’t belong on a dead end dirt road of some one horse town upstate. For shame, Gristedes. For shame.

Walk an extra block to C-​town or 5 mins to fairway. Don’t waste your money here.
Line:
— There must be 5 – 6 checkout areas, but only 1 is ever open
Basics:
— No problem with the dry goods/​basics but expect to spend an extra $ 1 – 2 vs. the surrounding supermarkets
Meats:
— Go elsewhere
— Low quality and over priced
Produce:
— On par with C-​towns. Go to fairway for the most reasonably priced fresh stuff
Other:
— This place is just dirty. I’m surprised there aren’t rodents running around
— You think that competition would shake things up with fairway and the soon to arrive Whole Foods — nope, this place looks like it was built in the 80’s and hasn’t been cared for since then
— Resting on its laurels
— I make a point not to shop here and walk the extra few blocks somewhere that appreciates my business

This is legitimately the most disgusting grocery store which I have ever stepped foot into, which is really too bad, as it’s so close to my apartment. I’m not sure what the deal is, but the floors, etc., are always dirty. Back when I didn’t know any better, the fruit and vegetables I bought here were actually all rotten within 2 days of purchase. In a super extreme pinch, I may run here to grab a non-​perishable food item (like a box of rice), but be sure to check the expiration dates. You couldn’t pay me to buy milk, cheese, meat, or produce from this place. Also, I walk past this Gristedes multiple times per day and they always seem to have cases of yogurt, ice cream, and other things that should really be refrigerated sitting outside for hours on end… ew. I definitely don’t mind the 5 minute walk to Fairway!

This Gristedes is almost as much fun as a root canal. While its not a bad place to grab a liter of milk and a loaf of bread, this is not a store you buy a week of groceries at. The prices here seem even worse than the 24hr Gristedes on 86^th St, yet offers even less in terms of items and customer service.
While dry goods are fine, I would stay away from the meat aisle. The meat is generally flavorless and the chicken always has a funny yellow color.
As I said before, this is a fine place to grab a liter of milk on the way home or some smaller items, but this grocery will never compete with the larger stores in the UES.

This Gristedes is small and has a strange layout, with a fresh produce section the size of a bookcase with product that looks a bit old. The employees were perfectly amicable, but I’ll be heading to any other grocery store in the neighborhood from now on.

This place is insane. Dropped in here the other day while in the area to pick up a few things and left empty handed because I refuse to get my eyes ripped out of my skull. Now I know why this location has all these one star reviews. Totally overpriced, apathetic employees, and weird tight aisles. It is really THAT bad.
Do they really even want to be in business? Or is this a front to an alien headquarters like in Men In Black?

Overpriced BIG time!!! go to Trader Joes instead… it will be worth it.

OMG! I have never seen an employee with an attitude and very rude before in my life. Her name was Lisa. I live only a block away to the store but I rather walk three blocks than go back to this store. I swear to god that I will never go back to this store again. who wants to go shopping in the place that have such as bad customer service.
Unsatisfied Customer

I’m housesitting around the corner from this Gristedes. And while I am enjoying the luxuries of central air, full digital cable, a doorman, other lovely amenities, it makes me realize how much more lovely my life could be. Should have been a banker. Sigh. But, my inner class anger is somewhat assuaged by the knowledge that the UES has grocery stores even worse than in Bushwick. Na na na na na na!
The only good thing I can say about this place is that they have a wide range of seltzer.
And, WTF is up with charging $ 6.99 for a box of Whippets? I wouldn’t be surprised if they’ve been sitting there for years. Who in their right mind would spend $ 6.99 on Whippets?

Horrible customer service and a very rude customer service associate and exorbitant price$$$$ really give you the impression they are just there to rob you. Go to C-​town or keyfoods!

If you need spoiled milk and don’t want to wait a couple of weeks for yours to go bad, try Gristedes.
You’ll pay a premium for it, but what would you expect for carefully curdled and semi gelatinous milk?

This place is disgusting. Seriously. I used to live at 88^th and York, and I went grocery shopping here the first time I needed groceries. I bought a jar of salsa FOR NINE DOLLARS and a loaf of bread. When I got home, the loaf of bread was COVERED IN MOLD. I took it back, and exchanged it. When I got the next loaf home: COVERED IN MOLD. That was the first, and last, time I’ve shopped at ANY gristedes.
I now shop at the Keyfood, just a few blocks away at 92^nd and 2^nd. The deli meat is the cheapest in the city, and most food prices are on par with what I found in the Midwest grocery stores. The produce is a little sketch though, and for that I visit the Bodega at 92^nd and 1^st.

I was warned about Gristedes when I first moved to NYC, but somehow I couldn’t believe that a grocery store that was everywhere could be so bad. I first tried the one on 8^th Ave in Midtown and it was pretty much a disaster. Granted everythig in that area was overpriced, but if I had to pay that much for groceries, I might as well have shopped at Food Emporium (the king of overpriced grocery). When I moved to the UES, I went to the one on 87^th & York and it wasn’t any different. I found items that I could have bought at C-​Town a few blocks down for almost 2 – 3 times the price at this Gristedes. Plus, Gristedes has a reputation for being dirty, oddly dingy and run by really creepy employees who SO don’t want to bag your groceries. I’d say if you live in the UES around the 80’s, go to C-​Town. It’s not as fancy as Whole Foods or Food Emporium, but if you just need some milk/​bread and other essentials, it has it and it’s damn cheap.

It’s a fine place to pick up a can of soup, or some milk when in a hurry, but it’s not the nicest place you’ll ever shop. I’d recommend walking the extra block to the Food Emporium.
I once heard a story… I’m not sure if it’s true, but it provides the perfect description of how I feel about Gristedes.
Apparently, this girl was in a Gristedes as it got held up. The robbers brandished weapons and demanded that everyone drop, face-​down, to the ground, where they were held at gunpoint until the robbery was complete. The entire time, she claimed, her mind could only focus on one thing. Was it the danger? The paralyzing fear? No. It was this:
«I can’t believe I have to lay on this disgusting fucking floor.»

This is the weirdest supermarket I’ve ever been to. While I have no problem with the chain of Gristede’s supermarkets, this one in particular is about the size of your average Duane Reade. You literally can’t even fit a shopping cart through an aisle. I’ve also been there multiple times where no one seems to be working. It’s a strange operation… haha.