Gothamist: Market Grossness and the "Three Strike" Law

s

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 16:09:07 -0500

vote #2 for that associated in bushwick. blech. also, the ctown in LIC on 21st street used to be absolutely awful -- inedible produce, huge holes in the floor and buckets to catch the rainwater coming in. not to mention, of course, rat-bitten bags of rice and other food. oh, god. but it's been bought out and majorly updated since. it's not a prize, the selection is small, but it is a thousand times better.

David S

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 16:30:37 -0500

This post remided me of the NYC Dept of Health website for restaurant inspections: http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/rii/index.shtml Over 20,000 NYC restaurant inspection results are available online. Restaurants get points for every violation and if they get over 28 points, additional compliance inspections are required. Here are some examples that may shock and awe: BLT Fish = 24 Nobu = 25 Eleven Madison Park = 22 Some common themes are not having a choking poster displayed properly or food not being stored at the correct temperature, but once in a while you might see some violations related to insects or rodents. On the other hand, since everything is pretty much pre-cooked and pre-packaged, it's no surprise that McDonald's has really low ratings across the city (from 0-4). Check out your favorite restaurants in the city and see what's really in the kitchen!

ak

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 14:50:14 -0500

Oh, yeah--MET on Smith...THAT SMELL! Re that Keyfood in Queens--I had my ATM card stolen there...by a CASHIER.

Constant Dater

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 14:08:39 -0500

Most C-Towns are nasty and depressing. However, the Park Slope one is surprisingly nice. Is there a rule that all Gristedes have to be disgusting? I've tried to shop at a few (mostly UES and UWS years ago) and they always live up to the childish nickname Gross-tedes.

anono

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 12:37:04 -0500

MET food on Smith Street for sure. Upon entering you are greeted with the pungent smell of cat shit, confusing until you notice the cat shitting on the produce. Ahhh! Makes sense now. Disgusting.

Chris

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 12:13:35 -0500

Both the Key Food and the C-Town on Washington Avenue in Crown/Prospect Heights are pretty disgusting. The C-Town just plain smells like ass, all the time. It's that rancid meat odor. Nasty. The Key Food has been undergoing renovations and they're not doing a very good job of it. I went in a month ago and the freezer cases weren't working -- I reached in to pick up a package of frozen shrimp and it felt like it was full of lukewarm liver. Who knows how long it had been that way? Yet they were still selling everything in the cases. Then I went towards the back of the store, thinking I'd only pick up a few necessary dry goods, and one of the new fridge cases was leaking, forming a huge puddle on the floor. I slipped and hit my arm on a stack of milk crates. I left with my pants soaked and a humongous bruise. Probably should have thrown a fit and sued them, but I just vowed not to go back. And local grocery stores wonder why FreshDirect is doing so much business.

Spike

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 11:59:24 -0500

The Fine Fare at Grand Street & the FDR is bad for anything not in a can. The day after the Blackout of 2003--a SUNDAY--all the perishables were miraculously restocked when the rest of the city's markets had nada. Meat, ice cream, everything was in its place. "How'd you refill so quickly?" we asked a manager. "Fast delivery" was the answer. Everything replaced by noon? No way. Runner up: the Gristede on E. 96th & 3rd, under Normandie Court. Green meat and obviously thawed and refrozen goods (bulging packages and smeared--wet--ink). Eww.

Chris

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 11:37:13 -0500

The Associated on West 100th street is probably the grossest supermarket I've ever been to. The frozen food section reeks of vomit and thats probably the highlight of the store.

Chris

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 11:37:04 -0500

The Associated on West 100th street is probably the grossest supermarket I've ever been to. The frozen food section reeks of vomit and thats probably the highlight of the store.

Ari

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 11:23:50 -0500

The Gristede's on East 86th - the mice there aren't even shy, if you go late at night they'll just dart right past you - pretty damn disgusting.

threetoedsloth

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 11:22:55 -0500

While the Associated in my new neighborhood of Park Slope is like grocery shopping at the Ritz, the Associated in my old neighborhood of Bushwick was absolutely gross. The produce was untouchable.

lauren

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 11:16:23 -0500

Vote #3 for the Met Grocery on Smith in Cobble Hill. WORST produce I've ever seen in my life. Really dirty. Gross. Why can't there be a halfway decent grocery store in Cobble Hill/Carroll Gardens???

Astoriette

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 11:11:29 -0500

The Met on 31st Street newar Astoria Blvd in Astoria was always pretty mad. It smelled of rotting meat. It has closed, and signs claim it is soon to be a Staples--sort of a random location for a Staples.

coneykooky

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 11:08:36 -0500

The "Busy Bee" grocery in Greenpoint on Nassau street is NASTY. Rat traps are all over the place under the shelves, and there are open bags of food spilling all over the place. It's a messy disaster and I will never set foot in there again.

anonymass

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 11:03:45 -0500

Gotta second the Met Food on Smith nomination. Absolutely disgusting. Close behind are Key Food supermarkets. There seems to be a mandated grossness quota, plus I think they are secretly market-testing their own scent on unsuspecting shoppers: Expiration.

smitty

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:45:38 -0500

The National Supermarket on 4th Avenue and 25th Street in Brooklyn is gross - it smells like vomit and there is always sawdust all over the floor.

grumpygirl

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:42:45 -0500

all the c-towns are franchises, so each is different: the one in bburg is gross and all the produce is dead, but the one in PS is clean and has great food and better prices. but the worst i've seen is the met food on vanderbilt, right near grand army plaza. you really wonder how these place stay open (altho, now i don't wonder...)

amanda

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:35:01 -0500

The Associated near Pratt Institute in Brooklyn (on Myrtle Avenue) was particularly disgusting during my college years. When they restocked the meat department they would bring the packaged meat out in shopping carts and just leave it in the center of the aisle. It smelled like carrion and rotting vegetables in there, and I'd hate to know how many cases of E. coli were floating around that petri dish of a grocery store.

C-Town Pathmark

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:28:46 -0500

C-Town, Pathmark, C-Town, Pathmark, C-Town, Pathmark, C-Town, Pathmark, C-Town, Pathmark, C-Town, Pathmark, C-Town, Pathmark, C-Town, Pathmark, C-Town, Pathmark, C-Town, Pathmark, C-Town, Pathmark, C-Town, Pathmark, C-Town

J

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:26:33 -0500

I nominate the Met on Smith st. in Brooklyn. Rotting meat, slimy produce, bugs, dirty floors, horrible smell like something just died... the list goes on and on.

jmf

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:22:58 -0500

The nastiest market I've been to in nyc has to be the Key Food in Forest Hills, Queens near 78th Ave and Queens Blvd. For years the whole place looked like a bomb had gone off. At times there was no real flooring (only plywood or cardboard), the freezers where constantly breaking down (only to have the same frozen foods in the freezer the next day), and the worst produce I have ever come across. Not to mention every time it rained, water would drip from about 100 different places all over the food and the floor. This led to the whole market smelling like a rotten fungus covered corpse. They did however have a decent beer selection.

Rocknrope

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 10:17:42 -0500

You've got to love the language the inspectors use to make it sound particularly horrifying: "Rodent activity particularly rampant", "defiled with gnaw marks and mouse droppings." Makes it sound like Willard, Ben, and Food of the Gods had a cocktail party.

PBJ

Mon, 26 Jun 2006 09:54:43 -0500

I've been in plenty of dirty supermarkets around NYC, but the one that suprises me the most in its grossness is the Gristedes on Henry and Clark in Brooklyn Heights. I mean that place is nasty. I've found (very frightening looking) produce in their pharmacy section. 'nuff said.