Food Bazaar on Wyckoff Avenue caters to the needs of Bushwick’s many immigrant groups.
Trader Joe’s isn’t moving to Bushwick anytime soon, but we do have a specialty market all our own. Food Bazaar, just off the Myrtle-Wyckoff hub, is a gigantic supermarket with a world’s worth of groceries inside.
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According to their press releases Food Bazaar supermarkets are designed to look like outdoor marketplaces. The produce section is stacked high with heaps of grapes and berries, piles of avocados and peppers, absolute mounds of peppers. Everything is fresh, abundant, and in astounding variety. I found celery root, lemon grass and an entire section of root vegetables with names like yellow malanga, eddoes, and yampi yam. I also saw my first spiny chayote squash.
If you’re looking for live lobsters, they’ve got them. They live in a tank outside the fresh seafood section that sells whole fish like snapper, mackerel and salmon. They also have salmon fillets and blue snapper steaks.
For those who prefer turf over surf, there is a junior high gym-sized refrigerator room full of meat and cold cuts. The butcher station is completely open so customers can watch their cow’s hooves and pig’s feet set up for display. There are sausages, an entire row of steaks, and half an aisle of chicken — but don’t forget your coats, it’s freezing in there.
Beer lovers, this place will make you swoon. Where else in the neighborhood can you find Leffe, Rogue, and Harpoon on the same shelf, not to mention the Belgian lambic Framboise for us girls. They are also fully stocked in the traditional favorites like Corona, Presidente, Coors Light, Blue Moon and Sam Adams.
The most impressive thing about this supermarket is the towering food pyramids. Cans of beans, juices, and macaroni and cheese are stacked to the rafters. Food Bazaar has over fifteen different types of rice in bags 10 pounds and larger. There are twenty-plus types of vinegar including pear-infused and raspberry balsamic. I also found pesto, cassava bread, nine different types of milk that ranged from canned goat’s to lite soy. They even have turtle food in the pet section.
According to the Bushwick Supermarket Sweep, Food Bazaar is the second cheapest market in the neighborhood. My only qualm is that they rarely have ice cream sales and a regular Breyers 1.5-quart package of Cookies and Cream is seven bucks.
Founded by Korean-born, Argentine-raised Francis An twenty years ago, Food Bazaar’s purpose is to provide a taste of home for immigrants from the world over. The parent company’s name, Bogopa, means “yearning for you” in Korean. So if you’re yearning for a special ingredient or just something interesting to do in the neighborhood, stop by Food Bazaar; you will not be disappointed.
Food Bazaar
454 Wyckoff Ave
718-381-8338
Hours: 7:00am-12:30am Everyday
Diego April 3rd, 2009 at 1:55 pm
There’s also a Food Bazaar at the JMZ Lorimer stop, but while the two stores sell the same items, the one on Wyckoff seems cleaner, brighter and has better ways of presenting food
Dresden April 3rd, 2009 at 2:24 pm
Did you mention 12-packs of Becks for $14? This place is pretty cool.
ricmac01 April 3rd, 2009 at 2:40 pm
I’m often in the Wycoff Food Bazaar and I like it. During winter they have an overhead heater blasting down as you enter the store, which is nice for me but probably a bit uncomfortable for the fresh flowers on display right below!
Dresden April 3rd, 2009 at 3:29 pm
The butcher / freezer part of their store is f-ing freezing. Their HVAC unit must rock. And in during the holiday season, if you buy over $200 worth of groceries, they give you a free turkey.
Jeremy Sapienza April 3rd, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Definitely checking this place out soon! Probably need a car to exploit it to its fullest, though.
Devon April 3rd, 2009 at 9:13 pm
I have to warn everyone that this place is a mad house on weekends and Monday nights. A cashier also told me that crowds are bigger at the beginning of the month because that’s when people receive food stamp funds.
Devon April 4th, 2009 at 3:03 am
I have to warn everyone that this place is a mad house on weekends and Monday nights. A cashier also told me that crowds are bigger at the beginning of the month because that’s when people receive food stamp funds.
Sorry… forgot to say great post – can’t wait to read your next one!
Lis April 4th, 2009 at 9:28 am
My family always shops here since we live nearby. They have an international section that always carries the stuff we need to make our staple foods. It’s always better to stop in early, since most evenings are crazy. Monday mornings are the best; I stop in before work to find them restocking. It’s so quiet and clean at that time!
zack April 6th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
dont forget the birds flying around in this place. haha
R April 8th, 2009 at 9:59 am
If you live in Bushwick and have never seen a chayote squash before, you’ve spent too much time hauling groceries from Manhattan rather than shopping locally. Every grocery store and produce place in the neighborhood has them. In a bizarre fusion of food, they are really curried!
Jeremy Sapienza April 8th, 2009 at 10:31 am
I think she meant specifically spiny chayotes. I had also never seen one until moving to Bushwick.
Janitza April 9th, 2009 at 2:21 pm
I LOVE this place. I’ve grown to love it more after moving to Chicago. Definitely miss all the international fooods available there (I have to treck it to the Puerto Rican hood here to get my Goya products).
Seriously, their selection is amazing.
Valerie April 9th, 2009 at 3:37 pm
I love the FB. They have such a great selection of food that you wouldn’t expect. The cheese isle has recently grown and carries Feta, Brie, Gouda, etc…They also have a huge vegetarian (Morning Star, Boca, etc…) selection. They have definitely been carrying great items recently – more soy milk and brands like Northeast.
Valerie April 9th, 2009 at 3:53 pm
I meant “aisle”…