Brooklyn’s Natural: Know What? It’s Okay
The owners of Brooklyn’s Natural are nothing if not enterprising. The Bogart Street market has a good selection of organic food both packaged and fresh, numerous imported items, a fantastic offering of beers, and, of course, more soy products than you ever knew existed. They make fresh sandwiches and wraps in house. Smoke Nat Shermans? They have them, too.
Sorry, meat-eaters, your choices are pretty much limited to salami and chicken breast. You’ll realize how vegetarians feel trying to shop in most other markets.
The consensus among the loft set is that Brooklyn’s Natural is a ripoff, and for a while I agreed. But when I started boycotting my corner bodega due to its general repulsiveness and walking the 10 minutes to BN, I realized upon buying a spread of items that the prices are fine for what you get — convenience and quality in a neighborhood not known for it. Sure, I can get handmade pasta in Little Italy for 30% less. Yeah, the Häagen-Dazs is a buck more than it “should” be. But you’re paying to have that stuff on your doorstep in a neighborhood not exactly calling out for the likes of Dean and DeLuca.
So, buck up, North Bushwickers — until we can get some competition in here, Brooklyn’s Natural is what we have. And really, it’s way better than not having it.
49 Bogart Street
September 12th, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Khim’s Millennium over on Bushwick Ave is much cheaper and open 24 hours a day. Also, the preferred term for the McKibbin loft area for those who need to maintain their cred is “West Bushwick” (as used here , here and here).
September 12th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
They apparently don’t need to maintain their geography cred.
A watermelon costs $30 at Khim’s, and it’s a far walk.
September 12th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
Wait, where is this place?
September 12th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
When I lived in the hood I shopped here weekly until Kim’s opened on Bushwick…..place is a god send in Bushwick. Best grocery experience to be had in bodega land.
September 12th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Okay the problem with Khim’s is that it’s not local for most of Bushwick. I’m not even sure it’s inside the very generous “Bushwick” borders on the business map.
September 12th, 2007 at 4:49 pm
I think Khim’s is only really convenient for those who live around those first few L stops in Bushwick. It’s quite a hike from our place - heck, even Brooklyn Natural is, which is why we’ve only been there a few times.
September 13th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
What I love about Bklyn Natural:
Dogfish Head Beers. When you get sick of Pacificos or coronas from *Eric’s, it’s worth a stop for some serious craft beer. (*my closest bodega, which I think I’ve personally kept afloat with beer, chips and smokes purchases since I moved to B’wick!)
Coffee beans. Oh hell yes. Good selection. Price doesn’t seem all that much more than elswhere.
Empenadas and sammiches. Damn tasty little $2 treats, and decent sammiches.
Dislikes:
Overpriced but nice produce. I’ll go to Nickerbocker, thank you.
September 14th, 2007 at 4:23 pm
def overpriced but it’s a nice environment. I only shop there for certain things, everything else is best bought at Whole Foods before I get on the L train or on Knickerbocker Ave.
September 15th, 2007 at 10:01 pm
i think it’s a cool place for the area. it’s the only market they have unless they walk to associated by maria park i think.
besides that part of the coolness of living in the remote loft area there - no amenities!
September 17th, 2007 at 11:17 am
Jay, I would say that for a “remote loft area” the hood where BK Natural is in has some decent amenities…..Archive,Potion,BK Natural,Ad Hoc Gallery, Life Cafe, Kings County Bar……not a ton but some.
October 13th, 2007 at 11:49 pm
The place is a local non-organic quasi-healthfood store, with a really marvelous midrange beer selection and everything else about to fuck you over 30% above the cost of Whole Foods.
It is supported by the desperite people of bushwick who really would like some organic/cruelty-free junkfood but aren’t about to travel far from home. For packaged, non-produce goods of a “natural” sort, it is in the end it is your best bet, but it comes at such a ludicrously high price that you are deffiently better off just planning a trip into manhattan than doing this to yourself.
The produce is beligerantly overpriced and worthless as it is. Ignore it. Go there for the afromentioned totally righteous beer selection, all at standard prices, and the prevalace of 30% markup vegan/veg frozen/fried/bullshit capital P Products when in a bind, I guess. They have a sandwich makin/hot food bar, but it’s deffinelty no good to the vegan or vegetarian and as for the meat eater you can do better for less in the area.
Steal freely from them, they have unscrupulous eyes as it goes.
Complete oportunistic bitches doing better than average in a place that has no choice and is somewhat grateful for its late hours and, can’t overstate, wicked beer-related possibilities. Do not buy their produce or anything you can’t live without until tomorrow morning.
October 14th, 2007 at 12:05 pm
“Steal freely from them, they have unscrupulous eyes as it goes.”
No thank you. I would rather vote with my dollar than damage a locally-owned business by stealing. Just because the owners of Brooklyn Natural are successful,and have a large mark up on food, doesn’t entitle you to a piece of the pie. You can’t even justify stealing from local business if you are looking at it from the anti-capitalism/work philosophy of Crimethinc. It’s not like Whole Foods or Walmart where products are insured for loss to a degree. With local business if you steal from a store, your actually stealing from the employees too.
In other words, even their beer selection is overpriced. There is a distribution center on Montrose with most of the same product, at a superior price.
October 14th, 2007 at 7:25 pm
by “unscrupulous eyes” do you mean “korean”?
October 15th, 2007 at 10:01 am
anyone been to the C-town lately by the DEKALB stop on the L? it was getting better and better over the years though I haven’t been there in a long time.
I go to the Associated around the corner from me on Knickerbocker when I have to. otherwise, I brave the lines at Trader Joes before jumping on the L at 3RD Ave.
February 15th, 2008 at 11:56 am
[…] let’s look at the landscape of this one block of Bogart. There’s a grocery store (which I hear now delivers, btw), a coffee and and DVD rental shop, a large gallery that hosts many […]
March 10th, 2008 at 6:28 pm
[…] I propose entrepreneurs trying to gauge demand in a neighborhood for certain services look at what kind of milk is available. As Bushwick approaches the “whole” phase, I look forward to being able to wander into any corner store and get a pint of organic cream for my coffee. Until then, I’m off to Brooklyn’s Natural. […]
June 8th, 2008 at 6:24 pm
I took a look at Bushwick’s whole foods options and found very few. Any ideas on where in Bushwick (along the Broadway strip) would residents like to see an organic foods spot with competitive prices? What products do you want to see?