Bushwick Supermarket Sweep
The weekly sale isle in Food Bazaar, at Broadway and Manhattan, the runner-up for least expensive local grocery store. — photo by Diego Cupolo
It’s easy to spot Bushwick’s unsatisfied food connoisseurs: they ride the subway with one hand on the pole and the other holding a brown paper bag full of groceries from Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods.
While it seems like Bushwick has an infinite number of bodegas, corner stores and dingy places full of expired food, it is also home to a good amount of respectable grocery stores that could spare residents the journey to Union Square for all but the most specialty items. At least 17 major supermarkets can be found inside the neighborhood’s borders or within reasonable walking distance –- not bad considering New York City, as a whole, has lost one-third of its supermarkets since 2002.
For the sake of comparison, BushwickBK.com conducted a simple price survey on the local supermarkets to see how they stacked up against 14th Street’s Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods. Between Tuesday, Oct. 7 and Friday, Oct. 10, I visited every store and recorded the price of five staple foods: a gallon of milk, the cheapest sliced bread, a dozen eggs, bananas and a 15.5-ounce can of black beans (standard Goya size).
I noticed interesting patterns like price fluctuations between stores under the same chain-name. I also found significantly fewer supermarkets south of Myrtle Avenue, which resulted in higher prices for the same products in those areas.
The store with the lowest prices was Junior’s Food Outlets, on the corner of Wyckoff Avenue and Summerfield Street by the Halsey L stop. The five staple foods at Junior’s came to the remarkably low total of $6.86 –- love those wholesale prices! The runner-up for cheapest supermarket was the Food Bazaar on Broadway and Manhattan Avenue, with a total bill of $8.25.
The Bogopa Service Corp. owns Food Bazaar and its sister store, Food Dimensions, both of which turned out to be the thriftiest chain grocery stores, with four locations in Bushwick. Though they sell the same food, the Food Bazaar and Food Dimensions near the Myrtle/Wyckoff L stop have nicer aesthetics than the two Bogopa enterprises on Broadway.
Speaking from personal experience in my northwest corner of the neighborhood, the Food Dimensions at the Broadway/Myrtle JMZ stop has the cheapest beer, and the Food Bazaar on Manhattan Avenue has the best tortilla selection (though they sometimes absorb the poignant stench of the store’s fish market).
The most expensive grocery store in Bushwick is (unsurprisingly) Brooklyn’s Natural by the Morgan L stop, with the total bill coming to $14.51 -– and they don’t even sell milk by the gallon, this is the total bill with a half-gallon of milk. The runner-up for most expensive store is Khim’s Millennium Market by the Montrose L stop, with a total tally of $14.25.
Yes, the above two stores sell organic food and it’s unfair to compare them to regular supermarkets, but black beans go for two dollars in both stores, versus 80-90 cents at most of the other stores — including the Manhattan controls. Not to mention the outrageous $4.49 bag of sliced bread at Brooklyn’s Natural — that can get you a lot of morcilla at La Isla cuchifrito.
To put everything in perspective, the total bill for the five items at Trader Joe’s was $9.05 and came to $12.25 at Whole Foods.
Ultimately, despite bellyaching to the contrary, Bushwick supermarkets are plentiful and the neighborhood’s fresh fruit and vegetable offerings have gotten better in recent months -– three produce stores opened near Myrtle and Broadway in the last year. It’s hard to tell what’s in store for Bushwick’s gastronomic future, but in the meantime, we hope this simple research project will help link residents with the supermarkets that best fit their needs.
October 13th, 2008 at 10:25 am
you gotta watch out with the Bogpa stores.. sometimes they way way overprice certain items.. and sometimes they have “specials” like yougurt that’s regularly $.99 each and “on special” it’s 5/$5… $.05 MORE overall. Also.. I’ve not had good luck with their eggs.. they don’t seem to be up to par. My strategy is a combo of shopping at Trader Joe’s, Food Dimensions and WholeFoods.
October 13th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Food Dimensions by the Myrtle Wyckoff stop is my grocery store, and I am so pleased with the prices. I used to shop at the Associated on Knickerbocker, and not only found vermin in my rice on several occasions but felt like I paid an arm and a leg for basic or below average produce. Food Dimensions has and excellent selection of meat and produce, a pleasant aesthetic, and I think they might actually pay their employees because they say things like “you’re welcome”
October 13th, 2008 at 11:04 am
I look through the cirrculars to see what all the sales are for the week (eek, I’m turning into my mother!). I do most of my neighborhood shopping at Food Dimension and Mr Kiwi - they’re the most convenient for me. Brooklyn Natural just pisses me off. The same organic milk is $1 more than Mr Kiwi and a bag of cat food is $3 more! For anyone who buys Wellness dry cat food, Mr Kiwi seems to be cheaper than anywhere. But for cans I go to NYC Pet on Bedford and stock up. I buy all my Morningstar Farms veggie meat atTrader Joe’s - it’s less than $3 there and they’re for than $4 most other places.
October 13th, 2008 at 11:31 am
This article is simply ridiculous. These supermarkets and bodegas are vile.
October 13th, 2008 at 11:58 am
I was definitely impressed with Mr. Kiwi’s prices. I got the lemon, scallions, and tomato I needed for a fish recipe for $1.30. I got the bluefish, red potatoes and kale from Fresh Direct. I fed myself and the husband a very nice meal for about $10.50.
I’ll have to check out Food Dimensions–cheap beer=very important.
October 13th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Though I’ll NEVER buy meat there again, the Food Bazaar on Manhattan and Bway has an Amazing beer selection. Though not the cheapest beer in Bushwick it’s certainly the cheapest place to get craft beer that I’ve seen (six packs of chimay for 9.99 for example)
October 13th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
What a great feature. More of this please, and less Flavor—fun as that was to snark on in the comments. This is a handy expose. Well done!
October 13th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
The Food Dimensions (we call it Food Dementia) on Myrtle and Broadway started having a really great beer selection about halfway through the summer… 2 dollar 24oz bottles of Sierra Nevada are fantastic and worth spending more on than the 24oz cans of Coors that are such a standby at our place. Mr Kiwi’s is definitely cool for produce, too…
October 13th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
Agree this is a great feature. Gorgeous photo too. Smart idea to go tote up the price of basics. I agree prices are very cheap in Bushwick. They have some of the cheapest milk and butter I have ever seen at C-Town by the Dekalb stop (from a brand I’ve never heard of). Quality, however, is low. We have a CSA box for produce and make monthly treks to Citarella for meat (which I swear is cheaper than Sunac at the Lorimer stop, incredibly.) We also buy at C-Town and the stores that specialize in Mexican products.
October 13th, 2008 at 1:15 pm
I also shop at Food Dimensions off Myrtle/Wyckoff and am basically pleased with selection and price. The produce is pretty good and the room is enormous. For meat eaters, the meat area is also very extensive. I wish they had more Boca products, ie Spicy chic’n patties, but i make it out of there with ridiculous amounts of groceries. Plus, the B 52 runs me staight from there to my house.
October 13th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Diego is a genius, a true journalist, unlike the rest of us hacks.
October 13th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
The Associated on Knicerbocker is very improved from when we moved here. Some of the produce is still bad but most of it is just fine. FOr meat I go to Whole Foods.
October 13th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
I would add that C-Town offers a discount store card. It basically adds all applicable in-store coupons without having to clip anything. There Anniversary sell has some good buy-one-get-free juice sales.
October 13th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
I keep meaning to check out the C-Town on DeKalb because people keep saying how nice it is, but it’s a bit farther than I like to walk carrying groceries. Is it really that awesome? I can’t pass up the 5 heads of garlic for a buck at the Ass, but I got two Florida avocadoes there recently and they were both disgusting.
October 13th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Also, the Ass carries my coffee, Cafe La Llave.
October 13th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
I like the C-Town on Dekalb. I live on Stockholm, so I do not have to travel far at all. Always look out for their sales. I won’t go through my grocery list, but I bought two packs (6 in a pack) of english muffins for a $1.19 and five 16 oz snapples for $3 (60 cents each) as opposed to the $1.25/$1.50 each charged at some local bodegas.
In their frozen food section, I noticed that C-Town had some items that I usually see in Brooklyn Natural.
I haven’t bought any meat from them yet. I usually buy my meat from Whole Foos since it is close to my day job. Like Man said, get the discount store card. Also, always have a look at their weekly coupon/sale flyer.
October 13th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
This article is extremely genius and will become my guide for the rest of my life. In fact, I have been shopping at C-Town on Central Ave and Grove Street. But now I am going to truck out to Food Dimensions, asap. THANK YOU!!
October 13th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
First lesson I learned, check expiration dates !
Otherwise, I was quite happy with my Bushwick dining experiences the week I spent with my daughter…..never left the neighborhood
October 13th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
This
piece
is
amazing.
I’d like to buy you a beer Diego, and five food staples! Ha ha.
October 13th, 2008 at 5:59 pm
Oh - I want to bring up Annie’s Mac and Cheese - it’s become really expensive!
Anyone else a fan who has noticed this?
October 13th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Definitely a very useful and timely article for me, as I was just finishing up a Fresh Direct order when I saw this. I pretty much go between Brooklyn Natural and the Associated on Knickerbocker with Fresh Direct supplementing for a lot of the staples (and generally has cheaper prices than either for a lot of the stuff I get regularly).
What surprised me is that if you compare brand to brand BN is often significantly cheaper than Associated. I’ve been getting organic milk lately, just because the Associated regular stuff is always set to expire in about 2 or 3 days, and BN’s prices are usually about $1 less for a half gallon. Same goes for some salsa that I like that is hugely overpriced at either place, but $1 more at the Associated.
Of course while good information to have, I’m a pretty lazy SOB and can’t see myself walking farther than 6 blocks for groceries, or taking the train.
October 13th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
So since I was on the site I figured I’d post the same basket for FD:
Milk (1/2 gallon): 2.29
Bread (Wonder Bread): 2.59
Eggs: 1.99
Bananas: 0.69/lb
Black Beans: 1.19 (Note, you can get the low sodium for a dime cheaper, but I decided to splurge on the sodium)
Total Price: $8.75 (11.04 if you want to get 2 half gallons of milk) + delivery fee of $5 but as long as you are buying more than 5 items at a time that shouldn’t add too much to the per item cost.
October 13th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Oh, in case it wasn’t obvious the FD in the above post is for Fresh Direct not Food Dimension…
October 13th, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Agreed about the walking from C-Town, it’s nice I get huge containers of juice for 1/2 price but the arms do get stretched if you carry a few gallons.
There meat section is getting better, stopped going to the carneceria but then again I’m also cutting back on meat.
October 13th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
Yeah Pixie, I feel you on your hate for Brooklyn Natural. It’s exploitation.
October 13th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
I just went to some places I had never been to on knickerbocker this weekend.. a fish market, a veggi and fruit store and a Carniceria all in a row (by the park). I got two zucchinis, four kiwis, two cucumbers, a half gallon of soy milk, three apples, a lime, a lemon , a bag of pine nuts, three tomatoes, parsley, and a pound of salmon for $23. The veggie and fruit place had some dry goods too - and the milk. It was really nice….
October 14th, 2008 at 10:35 am
Great posting! I do a lot of shopping at TJ’s but for local shopping Food Dimensions @ Myrtle/Wyckoff can’t be beat. Good produce, reasonable prices, clean, well stocked and nice quick checkout. I find that for quick basics that C-Town on Wyckoff or Associated on Knick are both fine although prices for anything organic or natural can be high.
October 14th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
What about Western Beef on Metropolitan?
It’s slightly outside of Bushwick (though I’m not sure it could claim to be in any other neighborhood either), but the place is cheap if nothing else. They even have their own generic brand that makes everything from pasta sauce (99c) to canned goods (2/ a dollar) and bread.
October 14th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Worked in Western Beef for years.
NEVER shop there.
October 14th, 2008 at 10:52 pm
of course it’s more expensive in bk. most of the sales they make are probably from coronas and rollies - new blog?
October 14th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
i bought a loaf of bread at brooklyn’s natural and the next day i made a cheese sandwich and found my first two slices of bread covered in mold. i went back for a refund and they wouldn’t give it to me, telling me i can only just get another loaf of bread.
i’d like to see the excel spreadsheet with the locations/prices of all of these places!
November 18th, 2008 at 9:56 pm
I see this is an old thread but if anyone checks it out again I’d like to add that I was around when Brooklyn’s Natural opened around 2003 by completely different owners than the current one. It once had wood shelves and was opened by artists and designers essentially, hence the mural outside also. I later worked there in 2004-2005. It was a vastly different store then. As soon as the new owner took over he instantly raised the prices because he saw the newcomers as good as gold who would pay whatever he charged. I know what the wholesale prices on those products are and of course I now shop at Whole Foods and Traders and bring it home on the train. BN used to be a place you could actually buy your weekly groceries and we had a much bigger selection and awesome produce for awhile. It was more like a co-op for a time and I miss it. Sadly it became a generic overpriced “gourmet” store with less organic, healthy and real foods and more high priced desserts, candies, snacks etc… Maybe better than nothing to people now, but it was once the real deal.