Gristede’s

I went here for lunch. I wanted a sandwich roll ended up walking out the clerk acted as if she was doing a favor. I gave it another try couple days later, with the thought maybe it was a bad day for «her» or maybe I would get a different clerk.
Same experience.

Easily the worst grocery store in the neighborhood. If you can avoid going here, you should. Customer service is deplorable, everyone that works there is incredibly rude and unprofessional. They will advertise sales and then when you go to check out the sales price is non-​existent. I leave there annoyed every time I go and only continue to go since its directly across the street from my building. Grocery shoppers beware: stay away!

Just ordered 3 round cakes ! a review is not even needed — just look at the picture of the cake that they allowed to go to a paying customer. A picture speaks a thousand words. they simply don’t care about customer service here. Looks like a 6 yr old scribbled on the cake in the dark. How I can put that out to my company for a corporate event, I don’t even know. Pathetic.

Like others said … Dirty, dingy, high prices, limited selection and some poor quality items. Bought some fresh dairy items only to find them go bad within a few days. Disappointing.

So dirty. So expensive. Yet so convenient. Save yourself the trouble and order from
. Really. However, I get my produce from Stiles market on 52^nd St. Skip Gristedes all together.

I do not know what people want. This store is just fine. People these days want all the bells and whistles. I go in there and get what I need. If I cant find it I ask and they either tell me where to find it or go out of their way and show me where it is. I do not know what people want. Does everyone have to be on stage. And it is not so dark and yes the ailes are kind of small. Look, I do not live near the store I work in the area. So maybe it is different for those who live nearby and shop for their homes. I just find this store to be very good.

Corner grocery store with a deli and bakery section. Overall good prices. Could use a renovation inside looks run down. Staff are nice.

Like others have already noted this place is dingy, dark and depressing. However, on the plus side the price of their coffee (Sarabeth’s) is the cheapest of all the other stores.
Also, whenever I do shop here (before 3 pm) it doesn’t seem to be all that busy compared to other places like Food Emporium and Whole Foods which are busy all the time. And even when it does become crowded the lines go by pretty fast but the one major complaint I have with this store is (with the exemption of one or two) the «ghetto cashiers».
Granted not all cashiers are known for their courtesy, politeness and manners but the cashiers here have as much cordial social skills as surly, immature, chip on the shoulder, teenagers (not to insult teenagers because some teens are more cheery than this bunch). I don’t know what it is about this place that causes the cashiers to be so angry (the ones at Whole Foods are quite nice or at least professional) but it’s not the customers’ fault. I’m not the one forcing you to work at Gristedes.

Aside from convenience there’s not much else to say about Gristede’s — the overall store needs an update.
Like everyone else mentioned — most of the items here are overpriced with not much variety. It does have most of what you’ll need (meat, cheese, small produce section, snacks, pasta, etc) but again overpriced. It’s a good place to grab a sports drink /​snack for convenience — prices for these are on par with other drugstores and grocery stores.
Tip: There’s a Citibank ATM here if you need cash

If you live in the neighborhood, it’s a decent option for last-​minute basics. There’s not a huge selection, but they stock fresh produce, dairy, pantry, juice/​beverages, etc. There’s a small deli which I’ve never tried, and they have some prepared foods. It’s very unorganized and hard to tell the price of things. Prices are pretty high, so I wouldn’t do my weekly shopping here. You’ll get better prices and quality at Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. But it’s a convenient spot to grab an item or two.

Understocked and overpriced, but if you live in the neighborhood it is convenient.

Luckily, I rarely cook so don’t have much need for an establishment of this ilk, but if I do have a grocery need, this place is convenient and quick, if not all encompassing.
Here’s why I gave it three stars:
As far as NYC supermarkets go, I’ve seen worse. But this one does have its problems… narrow aisles, confusing layouts, limited selection. Naturally, you can’t tell the price of anything because stuff is sort of all over.
However, I do have to say the few times I’ve been here, the checkout moved pretty quickly. What really bumps this up a star is two things:
1) They have Quaker Banana Bread Weight Control instant oatmeal which I love and have never been able to find in a box by itself previously; and
2) The gentleman cashier who works there is super friendly and service oriented.

Absolutely horrible service. I called the store in advance to ask if they had Red Velvet cake I can pick up for my friend’s birthday party. They said yes. I came that evening to pick it up.
The cake was behind a glass counter in the bakery/​deli section. I asked the staff if anyone can give me the cake. The staff told me that the deli staff had left and the deli was closed so no one could sell me the cake.
Incredibly no one was willing to go behind the glass counter, put the cake in a box and sell it to me. The store was empty and there were about 3 staff members hanging out by the cashier’s booth, all of whom refused to provide me this simple service.
Apparently Gristedes does not care for my business. I will do my shopping elsewhere in the future.

This is the closest supermarket to my job that’s not a Whole Foods (don’t get me wrong, I love me form Whole Foods — but sometimes you don’t need $ 20 brie, you just need simple deli American, lol).
Came here awhile back to pick up orange juice for someone and was kind of annoyed by their OJ selection. It’s either $ 7 – 9 dollars for an unnecessarily large container (for someone who lives alone… I get if it’s for families, but yeah…) or $ 4 – 6 for a bottle not big enough to warrant that. Very few actual orange juice options in between here, especially of the Tropicana variety so I just went with «Orangeade». Had real juice in it so I was sold.
The deli here is pretty pleasant. I’ve bought cheese here… lol. Seriously only came here for Orange Juice and cheese because that’s how I aid people with fevers… but I love how the deli area seriously smells like cake. Also, prices are super reasonable for cheese, meats, etc.
In all it’s a well organized and stocked regular city supermarket. Not awful and also not out of this world. Serves its purpose and serves it well.

It’s OK.
They do have organic produce and sometimes have specials.
They have some specialty foods that I can only find here.
Service is OK. Nothing super nice but not horrible.
I come every now and then when I need something and they have organic produce on sale. Next door is Westerly and they never have organic berries on sale. Gristede’s occasionally does.
Overall, good when you just need to pick up a few things or need something special!

Absolutely disappointed in this location.
The general layout of Gristedes is the same at different locations, but this store has particularly narrow aisles and poor service. The store also has a sort of «dark» feeling to it? It might be because the store overall is rather small and it seems like they’ve attempted to pack this small store with the same volume of products as they do their larger locations.
I came here once and hope I won’t have to again.

If this Gristede’s wasn’t across the street of my apartment, I would never set foot inside of it. The lighting feels dim, the aisles are a bit cramped and it just feels a bit dingy in here.
I won’t buy anything here that isn’t sealed (although I will sometimes take a risk and buy eggs). The produce here looks sad, like it has definitely seen better days. The prices aren’t that cheap either, so I buy my produce at Whole Foods instead. They do have a lot of basic staples here and are open 24 hours. So if you need something desperately in the middle of the night, this is your spot. Otherwise, I’d wait until other stores are open in the morning.

Avoid at all costs. Dirty, over-​priced, and weak selection. The food here is literally more expensive than Whole Foods and less than half the quality. Do NOT ever go here. Ever.

Yikes, this is a place to skip. On this trip in I decided I need to change my routine, which was either Whole Foods, Morton Williams on 57^th. The Food Emporium which is pricey, or Westerly’s also pricey but so worth it. I thought, let’s give this place a try.
Guess what, regular places become regular places, for a reason. They’re reliable priced at an acceptable level, have a respectable amount of choices, and are clean.
Gristedes, while not terrible just didn’t hit the mark in any of the categories.
Remember, you are what you eat. Isn’t it worth spending just a little more to get something so much better. You really need to skip this place until they get there act back together, they say they’ve been around since 1888 or something like that, I believe them, and they need to do a rehab.

From the outside, this location shows promise. But then you head through the doors and your hopes get crushed. The aisles are poorly laid out, the lines are horribly long, and the selection of food is actually not nearly as good as other Gristede’s locations. The icing on the cake was the attitude from the staff. Not downright rude, but with enough attitude of «I could give a EFF…» to make you want to punch someone in the face.
Oh well. So instead of doing any face-​punching, I’ll simply shop elsewhere.