Top 5 Markets in Astoria
Tuesday August 14, 2007
What the best places to shop for food in Astoria? In a neighborhood so diverse, you got plenty of disparate choices. Chiming in with her take on the best ethnic and gourmet markets in Astoria is guest writer Zora O'Neill of the Roving Gastronome blog. Happy eating!
- Article - Top 5 Grocery Stores in Astoria
- Comment - Where do you food shop in Astoria?
- More Astoria - Astoria, Queens
- Restaurants in Astoria
- Photos of Astoria
Comments
I would be wary of the euro market. many many items on their shelves are well past their expiration date. the fresh stuff may indeed be fresh, but the stuff on the shelves is decidedly not so.
I agree about Euro market, nothing is fresh there and as for trade fair- I boycott them! They are just not clean! You can smell their sidewalks from down the block, they should try giving them a good scrub!
I forgot to mention, Titan is THE BEST specialty grocery store in Astoria. I can’t believe it’s not in the top 5! It’s bright, clean and everything is always fresh.
I admit, Euro Market has some stocking issues (don’t ever come to love, say, the Croatian sour-cherry syrup…because once it’s gone, it’s gone). Still, as a resource, it’s fantastic, as long as you keep your eye on dates.
As for Trade Fair’s cleanliness, I think it’s fine. I’ve never gotten anything ‘off’ there, and I wouldn’t trade it for more superficially clean/sterile places like Key Food, that just don’t have the interesting goods and have downright awful produce (that said, I get a lot of organic stuff at KF). Be careful not to confuse ’slabs of meat hanging up’ with ‘not clean.’
As for Titan, it’s a classy operation, but I didn’t include it because it doesn’t have anything that smaller Greek grocers all over the hood have–OK, except for 20 more varieties of olives and feta. I get better, friendlier service (with recipe tips) from the small Greek guys–no one in Titan has ever seemed remotely excited to have me shop there. Which doesn’t mean it’s bad at all–just not my top choice.
I’ve worked at a catering business for 15 years, and am familiar with the standards for keeping a sanitary establishment. I have to second the notion to be wary of the fresh foods at Trade Fair on Ditmars blvd. in Astoria. Their meat section constantly smells of spoiled meat and bleach. On two separate occasions I had purchased meat there for consumption he same day – and both times I could TASTE whatever foul cleaning products their using ON THE MEAT AFTER IT WAS THOROUGHLY COOKED (most likely they are re-using rags & cleaning solution day to day, so lord knows what is floating around in there), in addition the meat sold as fresh is usually a day from completely spoiled. On both occasions it made me nauseous. I’ve thrown out chicken purchased there after two days in my fridge – if you have ever smelled raw chicken that is past its prime, you do not forget it. They may have an decent selection of exotic items, but its far from noteworthy based on that alone. You can’t eat canned/processed food every day, and there are TONS of cleaner speialty stores in the NYC area.