16 Places To Buy Groceries In Kensington

It seems every family needs two kinds of grocery stores: A small store within walking distance of your home stocked with bread, milk, and an array of goods needed for last-minute recipes; and a large supermarket at which to do weekly bulk shopping.

Lucky for us, Kensington has a variety of both.

A summary:

• Most stores, big and small, could use a face-lift.
• With few exceptions, the fruit and vegetable selection is only adequate.
• Even small stores have a surprisingly large variety of foods labeled in languages other than English.
• Some stores, big and small, target specific cross-sections of our neighborhood.
• Most stores also have a surprisingly eclectic beer selection.

The larger grocery stores in Kensington typically have cheaper prices, a larger variety, and parking.

Foodtown
382 McDonald Ave, Mon-Sat 7am-9pm, Sun 8am-9pm
It anchors the west side of Kensington and feels like a neighborhood store, as locals both shop and work there. The butcher–Foodtown employees an actual butcher–is old-time friendly, referring to female customers as ‘sweetheart.’  The shelves are well stocked with produce, dairy, and grocery items. Behind the registers is a wall featuring seasonal goods and, come summertime, you’ll find charcoal and s’more fixings. One Yelp reviewer also pointed out Foodtown’s “ABSOLUTELY AMAZING CRAFT BEER SELECTION. Not kidding.” Foodtown has a small but free parking lot.

Best for: neighborhood shopping

Bangla Nagar Grocery
87 Church Ave, 24/7
Down McDonald Ave from Foodtown is Bangla Nagar, which caters to another cross-section of our neighborhood. It stocks a full line of groceries as well as bushels of lentils, sacks of rice, and cuts of halal meat.

Best for: Indian, Pakistani, and Bangladeshi specialties

Ideal Foodbasket
710 Coney Island Ave, Mon-Sat 8am-10pm, Sun 8am-9pm
This supermarket sits on the opposite side of Kensington, bordering Ditmas Park. When Ideal switched from C-Town, the owners said basically that the store is the same, only the name has changed. The lone Yelp reviewer claims the stock is the same, but that the prices have actually gone up. Although the parking lot is free, making a left from or onto Coney Island Ave is not for the faint of heart.

Best for: everyday groceries

ShopRite
1080 McDonald Ave, 24/7
This is arguably outside of Kensington, but easily accessible via car or train. ShopRite is literally a step off the F train at Ave I. Stepping inside is like shopping in the wide aisles of the suburbs. A shopper can find any cereal imaginable, but the produce section is less than what one would hope for in such a large space. Still, the ample parking garage is luring, and if you can shop during shabbos, you will avoid some of the crowds.

Best for: suburban experience

Gala Apple International
4120 18th Ave, 7am-10pm daily
Natural light spills into the store. The fresh produce selection, which isn’t extensive, at least looks appealing. A colorful wall of Eastern European hard candy separates the deli counter from groceries labeled in Russian. The deli counter includes a sushi bar, fresh Hungarian feta cheese, and smoked fish.The beer selection is extensive and the dairy freezer full. Reviewers on Google Plus caution customers to check expiration dates.

Best for: Kosher and Russian specialties

Met Food Markets
430 18th Ave, Mon-Sat 8am-9pm, Sun 8am-8pm
I’m not sure why anyone would shop at the Met when Gala Apple is two short blocks away. The store is dark and doesn’t smell too great. The minuscule produce section is often picked over. The detergent aisle smells strongly of dyes and perfumes. But, even though it could use a face-lift, the Met is well swept, mostly well stocked, and kept clean.

Best for: working with what they have.

Foodland Market
204 Cortelyou Rd, open 7:30am-7pm daily
I almost missed the Foodland as its main sign is hidden behind a tree. The outdoor fruit display is darling and welcoming, almost. But the one door, which acts as both the entrance and the exit, is less welcoming. Being on Cortelyou — about halfway between some of the other larger markets — it’s certainly helpful if you live nearby.

Best for: locals

Small grocery stores are for grabbing ingredients needed for tonight’s meal or for picking up picnic food on the way to the park. Kensington is full of small stores that are more than delis but not quite full-fledged supermarkets.

One Stop Market
626 Caton Avenue, Mon-Sat 6:30am-9pm, Sunday 7:30am-8pm
Neighbors site One Stop for its convenience and nice beer selection. For being a small store, they pack in a lot of nice, fresh produce. I’ve found that, when no other store has a random item, One Stop Market will. Just before Thanksgiving I found cranberries when all other stores were sold out. Most recently, they had charcoal and lighter fluid before any other stores. The sign out front claims “Best Subs in Town.” From their deli counter, it looks like they might.

Best for: amazing finds

Golden Farm
329 Church Ave, 24/7
Kensington’s most controversial grocery store. In 2011 Local 338 helped organize a strike against the grocery store to help improve wages and conditions for its workers, and Golden Farm became something of a poster child for mistreated workers. Yelp reviewers went back and changed their glowing review to negative ones. The pressure seems to have worked. The Kensington Community Supporting Golden Farm Workers is temporarily suspending the strike while negotiations continue. As far as product, Golden Farm may have the most extensive fresh produce array in the area.

Best for: shopping in controversy

New McDonald Fruit Corner
128 Church Ave, 24/7
Standing on the triangle where Church and Beverley meet, it can sometimes feel a bit busy with people pushing past, but the large selection of inexpensive fruits and vegetables that you can grab on your way home from the Church Ave F/G subway stop is hard to beat.

Best for: after-work produce needs

Photo via Yelp

I & D Interfood
502 Ditmas Ave, 24/7
The biggest surprise I discovered in my grocery store research was the deer head mounted in I & D. This store doesn’t specialize in game, so the animal head stood out. I & D does have a nice selection of dried fruits and nuts, cheese, and fish.

Best for: decor

Y&F Produce
424 Ditmas Ave, 24/7
By far Y&F takes the cake for pleasant setup. The fresh fruits and vegetables, of which there are plenty, are laid out in an attractive, easy to access manner. The counter help is friendly. The store is well swept. Even the back of the store near the bread and dairy case is well lit.

Best for: produce

Ocean Mini Mart
3917 18th Ave, 24/7
This is more of a glorified deli than an actual grocery store. Obligatory oranges and apples are shunted off into a corner. But a fresh produce store is opening across the street, and both the Met and Gala Apple are just down the block.

Best for: boxed groceries

Shabuj Grocery
423 Cortelyou Rd, 8am-12 midnight daily
Advertising live fish and halal meat, the store is smaller on the inside than it appears to be from the outside. There isn’t much in the way of produce, and I wouldn’t feed my children the fresh fish sold here. But it does carry basic groceries and imported spices.

Best for: Indian, Pakistani, Bangladeshi ingredients

Madina Halal Meat
517 Church Ave, 10am-8pm daily
Specializes in halal meat. “Halal everything,” the employee said. The store is clean and light and smells like a butcher. A carcass was laid out on the back butcher block waiting for customers to order a specific cut.

Best for: halal meat

Mexican Grocery & More
326a East 2nd St, 9am-10pm daily
I first brought my college roommate here when she was visiting and wanted to make her mother’s enchilada recipe. Walking into Mexican Grocery is like walking into a holiday — pinatas hang from the ceiling and the store smells like creamy chocolate. Still, if you want to create authentic enchiladas, you’ll find all the ingredients, including meat and cheese.

Best for: Mexican spices

A new store on the corner of 18th Ave and E 5th is building bins for fruits and vegetables. We’re hopeful it will be a good addition to the neighborhood.

Did we miss one of your favorite places to shop for groceries? How do these ones stack up for you? Let us know in the comments!