Morton Williams

Really only worth it if you are in a pinch for some groceries. Some other reviewers say stay away from the «fresh» produce and that this place is marginally better than Gristede’s, and I concur.
Normally I would say frozen goods are okay to purchase from this place, however after buying two pints of Talenti Gelato that were on sale and finding that the texture of both were gritty, it’s a sign that the gelato was not properly stored. The gritty texture points to the gelato being frozen, defrosted, and then refrozen again. Improper handling in the back and/​or poorly working freezers are to blame here. If these guys can’t maintain their freezers and carry ice cream on the shelf properly, what more for the fresh goods?
It’s worth your time and effort to walk to Fairway in Kip’s Bay, even in the cold.

It’s a supermarket, but compared to others I’ve seen, it’s quite large. There’s a large hot/​cold buffet and a pretty solid deli counter. The items on the shelf are standard, so don’t come here looking for any organic hummus or whatnot. No complaints about the staff, who I saw helping an old man place his groceries on a wheel chair and who helped me at the deli counter. However, I did run into the stale food issue, as I popped open a plastic tin of veggies and an entire apartment smelled of fart for over an hour after. Come here, get your essentials, leave.

I had a ridiculous experience here recently.
Tsk, tsk, tsk…
*numerous sighs*
I know damn well that I went to remedial school. However, the guy who checked me out at the counter apparently did not. He proceeded to argue with me about the price of things on the checkout belt.
He says the shredded cheese I bought isn’t on sale, that it’s only the cheddar flavor, not all the varieties. I say no, it clearly says all varieties on the grocery store flier, which I proceed to show him. He ‘corrects’ me again, even after seeing the flier –_​–
So I facetiously say, ‘That’s funny, cause even the cheddar flavor didn’t ring up at the sale price.‘
He glares at me. He’s CLEARLY wrong, but in his mind he’s right. As I’m about to leave the store and leave my groceries on the checkout counter with no warning to ‘duh-​dee’, he says ‘I’ll go fix these for you, but I’m only doing it this one time.’ And then I add, ‘The tropicana also didn’t ring up correctly as well.‘
First of all, you’re not doing me a favor and I’m not grateful. The effing items are clearly on sale in the damn flier!
Plus, he didn’t even charge me correctly. Now contesting charges with my bank.
Now I remember why I go here seldom and skip right over to the Morton’s Wine & Spirits…

This place is pretty bad, I don’t do my typical grocery shopping here, I’ve stopped by if I needed like, one thing.
And in doing that each time I’ve been weirded out. When I walked in there were three women who worked there talking really loudly and dramatically about some man who just came in and tried to steal something and they had some all out brawl about it.
Everything is all at least 50−80% more than at Trader Joes or Fairway. All products are just normal stuff, they don’t have any organic products.
I think there’s a deli in the back that I see most people at. would not recommend. There are at least a few other options in the area, hell even the Duane Reade across the street may be a better option.

Cordial and helpful staff, very convenient. Have been going here for a year and a half without issue. The liquor store next door is a bonus, too.

Typical supermarket. Glad they’re open at 7 am.

What is wrong with the workers? While shopping there I have witnessed:
1) A cashier say that (next time a customer who just left) entered the store she was ‘going to beat her ass and then kill her’
2) While I was talking to my husband, another cashier said to me ‘you got a problem? because if you got a problem you better tell me…’, she thought we were talking about her, but we were talking about something completely unrelated.
I have countless examples, having shopped there over the last two years. I have finally decided never to go there again… Out of fear of my own safety. Go there if you like that ghetto experience.

Only by necessity do we go here and never for anything fresh — never a good quality. Usually bad in fact. Fine for dry goods etc. Service is appallingly slow and bad, all around.

This is my local supermarket. It has a (mostly) logical layout, wide aisles, a good selection of products, and good turn-​over in the meat and seafood department. Excellent selection of beer. It’s expensive, but all the supermarkets in Manhattan are. They carry some store brands and have good sales.
Unfortunately, there is something wrong with either the milk refrigerator or with their milk handling process. Fresh milk from here spoils 3 or 4 days before the Sell By date printed on the container. Today I threw away a container that was 5 days before its date. (The ultra-​pasteurized stuff seems OK.) I’ve also gotten freezer burned frozen food from here, too.
Milk from every other store in the area lasts until the Sell By date or beyond. I spoke to the managers a couple of times, but no improvement. I buy my milk from CVS or Fairway now.
Very disappointing, since it makes me wonder about their back room food safety handling, and other than that, I really like this store.

Overall, selection is good and the meat department is helpful. The BIG negatives are the overpriced deli bar and the absolutely rude cashiers. They treat you like you are troubling them to check you out. Most are on their cellphones between customers (some while checking you out) and then they just wad up your change and shove it in your hand. Sad thing is they are better than Gristedes price wise.

This is one of the worst supermarkets I have been to. It is dirty cramped and OVER PRICED. I have also bought items that were expired numerous times here. They use antiquated technologies from the 80’s. That need to learn a LOT FROM fairway.

I think it’s pretty clear that the only people who shop here live within a 3-​block radius, and are therefore just out of reach of Fairway, Whole Foods, or any other nice grocery store.
While I concur with all of the other negative comments about this place (unhappy and rude employees, surprisingly expensive, not that clean), I think one particularly negative aspect of this store that has not been highlighted in other reviews is the smell. I want my grocery store to either have no smell or have a slightly positive smell (e.g. baked goods, etc.). This place has a bad and distinct smell that first greets you on the sidewalk and then permeates your entire MW shopping experience. Sometimes I am reticent to eat fresh food bought here due to the the lingering memory of this unpleasant odor.
The one saving grace of this market is that they have a decent and sometimes reasonably priced beer selection.
Like all of MW’s other customers, I do still occasionally shop at MW, despite the aforementioned unpleasantries, as it is right down the block. As bad as this place is, it still beats the Gristedes around the corner.

I’d like to break this review down into two components: catering and general shopping experience.
Catering: Love them. For a recent outdoor picnic event, I needed to find a place that could fulfill an order in a matter of days (because with weather conditions, we may have had to go with an indoor plan B), and offered all the fixings for sandwiches, without actually pre-​building the sandwiches. Have you ever been to an event where you’re stuck with tons of one kind of sandwich because no one wants it, or people unable to eat or picking out ingredients they don’t want? I wanted to avoid that.
Unlike some other stores in the area I checked, Morton Williams provided a clear catering list with estimates on how much it would feed along up front pricing that was reasonable, especially when compared to traditional caterers. I was then able to work with the deli department management to get some items that were specific to my needs. Shredded lettuce and beautiful slices of tomato to go with those artfully arranged cold cut platters? They do that, just ask. Need your rolls pre sliced? They do it too– actually, they offered it! I also needed some sparking juice (in those super nifty champagne looking bottles), gluten free bread, dairy free cheese and other things — all you need to do is roam the aisles of the store before you make your catering order and tell them what you need — if they have it, you’ll get it.
Without having to put in a separate order or deal with multiple folks, I also ordered dessert trays of cookies and fresh fruit platters for the guests. One of the things I like is that there is a bakery right in house with a lovely display, so I knew the guests would be blown away by the tray we received. The cookies tasted like something out of childhood (makes me sad I’m not supposed to eat them!), and although they were out of macarons at the time of my order, the manager was kind enough to provide prepackaged gluten/​dairy free lemon meringues (which I will need to pick up again!) and coconut macaroons (and yes, they knew the difference between a macaron/​French macaroon and a coconut macaroon; just make sure you specify).
All this and they managed to assemble this order super fresh the morning of to deliver it to me at 9:30 am so I could transport it to the event site. The guests were very impressed, and the portions were, to my relief, large enough that many came up for seconds.
I will definitely consider them for future events, and I hope that others will check out this seemingly hidden catering gem.
Shopping: Good. I pop in there usually after visits to the NYU dental school as they are very convenient. They have a good selection of natural and organic products, so I can skip the extra trip to Whole Foods or other organic grocers. I will agree with other reviewers that the layout to find things is sometimes a bit odd (I had to describe where to find the non-​dairy cheese to someone who works there), but it’s not a biggie to me, as every store has a unique layout. Checkout staff are ok — typical for NYC stores in my experience.
Tips: Morton Williams locations have a 10 block delivery radius.
Know before you go — my only less than stellar experience had to do with finding the restroom in an emergency. You have to ask for the location, the door is an unmarked one in the bakery area which could have been an entrance to anything. I didn’t want to walk in to the wrong place, so I knocked a few times, didn’t hear anything, but could not open the door, backtracked and double checked. The staffer that came out of the mystery door which turned out to be the bathroom yelled at me as if I was on a mission to ruin his day.
On the whole though, I’d say this is a very nice grocery store stocked with all the essentials, with the added benefit of a lovely bakery and deli.

This is a grocery store in Manhattan which is not Whole Foods or Fariway. Because of this fact the meat and produce selections are automatically subpar.
It is perfectly accepable to shop here for grocery staples (boxed, canned, frozen, dairy, deli.)
It’s twice as good as Gristedes, which is ridiculously overpriced and further gouges you with up priced scanning «errors.»
I have not had a problem with the cashiers but I will say the stock guys on the floor are less than helpful if you have a question.

Sorry, but this place blows… The worse customer service, ever– and always! Only good thing about MW is the location and decent selection of items; but it’s sooooo bad and not too clean — oi…

Pros: conveniently located next to their wine shop and distribute coupons, although i don’t use their coupons…
Cons: not fresh and the their variety of proteins always change, and SUPER slow and lethargic cashiers… Oh! and it’s more expensive than other bodegas around the corners.
I am giving 1 stars just for the sake of convenience. I’ve picked up rotten potatoes and onions from here… They looked alright on the outside but when I cut through it, even the onions had rotten cores…
Speaking of the cashiers, they are SUPER SLOW!!! They joke around while punching the numbers on the register, very rude, and lethargic. They often get the items wrong on the register, so keep your EYES OPEN! One day, I bought Kale and Romane and the cashier typed in kale for both. I had to correct her and she didn’t know the code for Romane, so she had to punch in like 5 different numbers to get it right. *sigh*
Anyways, I only come here because it’s right across the street from the my place.
I’d rather make a 10 min walk to fairway and get fresh and better stuff than from here.

This is the closest thing to a West Coast style supermarket that I’ve experienced in the city. This location has a pretty decent selection of upscale grocery items. Slightly overpriced, but you can get what you need for a fancy dinner party.
I also hear that they have King’s Hawaiian bread here, but I’ve not been able to confirm this. Anyway, it’s a solid supermarket. I give it 3 stars.

I’m not sure why Morton Williams gets such a bad rap on Twitter. Perhaps people only review a non-​hip grocery store when they’ve had a negative experience. Fact is, this is the most reasonably priced grocery store for those living in the area (cheaper than Gristede’s, and waaaaayyy cheaper than D’Agostino’s), and is a great go-​to for the thrifty in Kips Bay who are unwilling to make it all the way to Trader Joe’s. It’s also good for staples, like oil, sugar, salt, and spices, which will definitely be cheaper here than at TJ’s or (I suppose it goes without saying) Whole Foods.
There’s a pretty good selection here, though the layout is a bit bizarre (there’s a large separate section in front of you and to the left when you enter the store with bread, dairy products, baked goods, juice, etc.). Lots of generic products for sale, which are a great way to save money. A really good selection of frozen vegetables — better than you’ll find at Gristede’s.
I haven’t had any major concerns with the employees, though no really amazing interactions with them either… so if you want to chat with your cashier about how good the stuff you’re buying is, head to Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods =)
I don’t make it here much, but it’s great for reasonably-​priced staples (oil, sugar, salt and the like) and regular grocery runs when you’re not seeking artisanal/​specialty/​gourmet items

Believe it or not, this supermarket, as it stands today, is a vast improvement over what it was in the 90s. That’s not saying much.
Prices are high. Selection is limited. Most of the employees are surly, this is a trait dating back decades, though a few are kind.
Most of the sales are on store brand items.
I’ve stopped buying produce here in favor of shopping at farmers markets around the city.

I agree with the other reviewers that the cashiers here are rude and annoying. The girl I had today was busy refilling the plastic bag holder — which was overloaded with bags — rather than helping me. She didn’t look at me or talk to me at all until I swiped my card. «How you paying?» she asked. «Credit» I responded. She hit a button on the machine, then slowly turned to me and asked «Credit?» I think she was stoned. I then had to ask her not to pack each bag with only two items, and she looked at me like I was annoying her. Hello? I don’t need my seven items in five different bags.
I go there for my cheap meat and other staples. That’s about it. They have a weird assortment of Israeli and British products too.