By Laura Weiss
The newest Westside Market opened on Thursday on Broadway between 97th and 98th Street, and Upper West Side food shoppers thronged the store for a first look at the produce, the prepared foods and the salad bar.
The neighbors seemed mostly pleased, but being New Yorkers, they of course had to kvetch.
“The aisles are too narrow like every other supermarket on the Upper West Side,” said Salvatore who was pushing a cart down the canned goods aisle.
“The produce is a very good price,” he said. “The canned goods, not so good.”
“It’s much better than Gourmet Garage,” allowed Merrick, a personal chef who was clutching a package of rosemary, of the specialty food store at 96th and Broadway, which closed in December.
“I like the dairy because there are many yogurts,” said Jessica, age 11, who was shopping with her mom, Diane.
Outside the entrance, owner John Zoitas and Ian Joskowitz, the store manager of the 110th Street Westside Market, stood beaming (below).
But will it quiet the disappointed shoppers who were devastated to hear that Associated Supermarket a couple of block away is closing? Check out the comments on our story about the closing.
Laura Weiss, a West Side Rag columnist, is a food writer and journalist. She’s the author of Ice Cream: A Global History (Reaktion Books). You can also find Laura on twitter at @foodandthings.com, or at https://www.foodandthings.com.
I’d rather have this than the pretentious “Gastronomie” place over on Columbus. Any day of the week.
I am very happy that this store is opening, replacing an unneeded Duane Reade which had replaced a Sloan’s (remember them?). They habe great employees, decent prices (way better than the overpriced Gristedies) and I have always found what I came in for.
I wish westside market would include every ethnicity in their establishment.The employees are 90% latino.Every race should have an opportunity to have regular income.
I wrote a comment earlier today,but i see that this website censured it.That’s o.k. ,there are other social media outlets that will allow me to voice my opinion without censuring the truth!