New York City Food Stores

Here’s a list of where I buy the ingredients I use on the site. For other stores I’ve reviewed, go to the list of Food and Drink reviews.

This list of New York City stores is now on Google Maps or click the map below:

Asia Food Market
71 Mulberry Street
You can buy a lot of ingredients for Asian recipes at Asia Food Market like sambal oelek and galangal. They have pomegranate molasses, too, and Filipinos will be thrilled to find Datu Puti and Mama Sita items here. The vegetable guy outside the store has kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass stalks, Thai chilis and Thai basil–just ask.

Bayard Meat Market
57 Bayard Street
I once bought an 8-pound pork shoulder here for less than $10. I always get my 2-for-$1 chicken carcass here to make stock. They also have chicken drumsticks and wings, pork chops and flank steak for less money.

Deluxe Food Market
The last time I was there, they thought I was shoplifting pork belly because I had used my own tote bag instead of their baskets to shop. I’ve never been back since and now I refuse to recommend them.

Despaña Brand Foods
408 Broome Street
I buy my Spanish cheeses and chorizos from here. They also have blood sausages and dried pimiento peppers. Olive oil, anchovies, pickled white asparagus and other prettily-packaged food items are also for sale.

Di Palo Fine Foods
200 Grand Street
I make bi-weekly trips here to see Sal. I call ahead if I’m getting my usual Italian load: prosciutto, soppresatta, mozarella, Pecorino, Manchego and truffled cheese. Otherwise, I patiently wait with all the tourists. If you can’t make the trip, they’re now online. Yay!

Dowel Quality Products
91 First Avenue between 5th and 6th Streets
Everything you need that’s South Asian, you’ll find here. They carry paneer cheese and different kinds of lentils or dals. Less expensive packets of spices are also available. In fact, the entire store smells like garam masala. The store’s biggest plus: an unbelievable selection of beers from all over the world.

Dynasty Supermarket
68 Elizabeth Street
I buy a lot of offal here: tripe, pig’s feet, chicken livers, gizzards and hearts. If you’re interested, they also have cow penis.

Esposito Pork Shop
354 West 38th Street
This is where you can buy sausage casings in the city.

Grand Central Terminal Market
inside Grand Central Terminal, 42nd Street and Lexington Avenue
Ever since I started commuting to Connecticut for work in 2009, I stop by here often to buy produce on my way home. Pescatore Seafood has some fresh Portuguese sardines; Greenwich Produce carries all the veggies you’ll need; and Murray’s Cheese has every appetizer you can think of. (2010: I don’t pass through as often, now that I’m back working in the city.)

Han Ah Reum
25 West 32nd Street
All the Korean ingredients you need outside of Flushing, Queens.

Japanese Premium Beef, Inc. – closed
57 Great Jones Street off Bowery
An immaculate butcher that sells Washugyu, a crossbred of Wagyu and Black Angus cattle raised in Oregon using genuine Japanese feeding techniques without antibiotics. I’ve bought beef tongue from them.

Jefferson Market
450 Avenue of the Americas between 11th and 12th Streets
They carry both mild and hot Spanish chorizos. They also sell blood sausages in small quantities for those who just want to try them first. On their blackboard, I saw that they have sweetbreads available for about $11 for a tiny, but decadent, batch.

Kalustyan’s Orient Export Trading
123 Lexington Avenue between28th and 29th Streets
Name the spice and Kalustyan’s will most likely have it. I get my oriental spices from Asia Food Market, but Kalustyan’s carry more of the South Asian and Mediterranean spices that are hard to find downtown. Most packets cost under $3.

Kam Man Food Products
200 Canal Street
Down in the basement, you can find pretty and usable plates for less than what Dean and Deluca will quote. Upstairs, they have smoked tofu and assorted candies.

Sea Breeze Food Mart
541 Ninth Avenue
If I’m in the midtown area, I stop by here to buy fresh seafood. They have octopus, sardines, blue crabs and crayfish when in season. They also carry the regulars: red snapper, mackerel, branzino–all cheaper than Whole Foods.

Sullivan Street Bakery
73 Sullivan Street
I buy all my focacia bread and pizzettas here. The line can get pretty long but the wait is worth it.

Sunrise Mart
29 Third Avenue
All the Japanese ingredients you haven’t though about are available at Sunrise Mart. I buy my wasabi, dashi granules, nori and soba noodles here. They also sell fresh shiso leaves which I can’t find anywhere else.

Union Square Greenmarket
Union Square Park at 17th Street
I’m at the market buying my weekly produce almost every Wednesday morning.
More about the producers I buy from »

Zabar’s
2245 Broadway
When I have the patience to deal with anal Upper West Siders, I go to Zabar’s. I found hickory wood shavings here for smoking pork and chicken. I also buy discounted Le Creuset pots here.