NYC Grocery Stores Are Not European Grocery Stores

The first time a European friend of mine went grocery shopping in Manhattan, she came back with four items and a receipt for $52. She stood in my kitchen holding it like it had insulted her.

That’s the adjustment. Let’s get you through it faster than she did.

The bodega is your corner shop

Every block has one. Most are open until 2am, and plenty never close at all. Coffee, sandwiches, eggs, aspirin, phone chargers, toilet paper, and a cat asleep on the chip display. The cat is not optional. The cat is load-bearing.

This is your Spar, your Tesco Express, your Edeka. The difference is that the guy behind the counter will make you a sandwich better than anything in a refrigerated case in Europe.

Order a bacon egg and cheese on a roll, salt pepper ketchup. A few dollars, ninety seconds, wrapped in foil. That’s the whole institution in one order. And if you were planning to grab food at 7-Eleven instead, read NYC 7-Eleven is not the 7-Eleven you know first.

What the bodega is not good for: fresh produce. The bananas have seen things. Buy your fruit somewhere else.

NYC supermarkets are small and expensive

There is no Carrefour-sized hypermarket in Manhattan, because there is no Carrefour-sized piece of Manhattan available for under nine figures. Stores are cramped. Aisles fit one cart, barely, and you will do a slow, awkward dance with a stranger in the cereal aisle.

Prices run well above Western Europe, and a normal shop for two adds up alarmingly fast. It’s the thing that surprises people most, so budget for it and you’ll be fine.

The chains you’ll see: Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Key Food, Gristedes, C-Town, Morton Williams. Quality swings wildly between locations of the same chain, sometimes between one block and the next.

Things that will genuinely surprise you

The shelf price isn’t the price. Tax gets added at the register. Most actual groceries are untaxed in New York, but anything prepared, hot or from the salad bar is taxed. The full breakdown is in tipping and money in NYC.

Eggs live in the fridge. American eggs are washed, which strips the protective coating. They have to stay cold. Don’t leave them on the counter.

The bread is sweet. All of it, including the stuff labeled rustic or artisan. Go to an actual bakery and your quality of life improves immediately.

The deposit is real, but nobody chases it. There’s a five-cent deposit on most cans and bottles, and stores that sell a brand have to take its empties back. Plenty of supermarkets have return machines. In practice, most cans go in the recycling, and canners collect them overnight. It’s an entire informal economy, and it’s worth knowing about.

Bags cost a nickel. Plastic bags are banned outright, and paper bags cost five cents. Bring a tote, or carry your groceries in your arms like a person who didn’t plan.

You bag your own. At some bigger stores someone may bag for you, and they’re working for tips. A dollar or two is normal.

Where to actually shop

Trader Joe’s. The best value in the city, and everybody knows it. The Union Square location has a line that wraps through the store by design. Go at 9am or after 9pm, or go to a different one entirely.

Costco. Sunset Park, Long Island City, East Harlem. Worth a membership if you’re here more than a couple of weeks.

Chinatown, Flushing, Sunset Park. Produce at a fraction of supermarket prices, and better. Bring cash and small bills. Don’t be shy. Everyone’s moving fast.

Greenmarkets. Union Square runs Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Real farmers, real seasons, and the best tomatoes you’ll eat in August.

H Mart, Patel Brothers, Kalustyan’s. The international aisle you wished for, except it’s the entire store. Kalustyan’s on Lexington has spices you didn’t know had names.

The actual hack

Buy produce from street vendors and Chinatown. Buy everything else at Trader Joe’s. Get your bread from a bakery. You’ll cut your grocery bill close to half and eat better doing it.

Questions about anything in this guide? Reach MUSEENYC at museenyc.art@gmail.com or @museenyc on Instagram.

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