I am tempted to give Morton Williams a review of two stars like the overall score but that would not be taking into consideration the neighborhood. If anything, I feel like a two and a half stars would be appropriate. That being said, I think the negative reviews are due in part that Morton Williams is about as expensive as Whole Foods but way less selection than a Whole Foods or even a C-Town. But the prices and selection are what they are because of location. They are right by Columbia University. In terms of supermarkets in the neighborhood, it's on par with Apple Tree, which I would consider three stars but definitely not as good as Westside Market or H-Mart in terms of selection but that's the tradeoff for the proximity to campus. To be fair I haven't done a ton of shopping (I've mostly bought protein bars out of convenience) and personally if I lived there I would walk the extra 6 blocks to Westside Market for the fresher produce and better selection of goods. The times I've shopped there, I was processed fairly quickly. read more

See all

In spite of the fact that dogs are not permitted in food stores by NYC Health Department regulations, when I was shopping this Saturday there was not one, but two dogs being led around the store by their owners. Security did nothing. If this store ignores this Health Department regulations, who knows how many other as they also ignore, with respect to food safety, etc.? read more

bought four small tomatoes and they charged me 10 dollars. I regret I didn't keep the receipt.

I have been ordering their sushi for quite some time now. But today im out of luck. I found some plastic inside of the sushi roll they probably have a new sushi person. ‍ guess I won't be getting sushi for a while anywhere other than that, i have no complaints. I think their prices are reasonable considering the location. And the employees are friendly & nice. read more

Morton Williams - Sushi with plastic inside the roll - Grocery Near Me - New York, New York

Beware! They often charge more at the register for items than what is listed on the shelf. The consistency of price discrepancies suggests to me that Morton Williams certainly is violating consumer protection laws. read more

I wrote to management to this location today. After years of coming to this supermarket when I am unable to go to another location - I have watched spoiled food and expiration dates. We are going through the COVID outbreak. All supermarkets around NYC, have a 6 feet rule with lines to ensure the safety of customers and employees. Employees here do not all wear masks or gloves. My past two visits, I have seen mold growing on the plant based meat products, old meat, mushy and soft lettuce. In addition, they do not have a wide selection and they are completely over priced.! The management was not friendly, professional or apologetic when I had sent them an email. It seems that they do not believe in customer satisfaction here. When you work in the food and service industry, the way customers are spoken to should be done in a professional manner. I noticed the manager specials are very rare and reading some of the other reviews on yelp, I am not surprised to see the overall low rating that they have received. Staff always seems incredibly miserable and unhappy here. I have never been to a supermarket where the employees are as negative and unfriendly. UPDATED REVIEW APRIL 17, 2020, I still feel the same way as I did a couple of weeks ago. Nonetheless, I noticed that they added signs outside to protect the shoppers, employees and most important, seniors. I was really happy to see that they organized a line outside. Please note that the person at the door will not allow two shoppers in the store together (even if they are in the same family - one needs to stay outside). I noticed some more manager specials. The cashier was friendly. I was really happy to see that they were aware of what was happening during this scary time. read more

Avoid this place at all costs. The items are overpriced and the selection is subpar. The ownership is awful (just see what the owner spews online) and the majority of the staff are often extremely rude. read more

Incredibly disgusting place do not shop here. Customer service is terrible. Employees watched me and followed me around as I am a frequent customer in this place. I do not recommend at all. read more

Stopped in for a quick grab and go lunch. Got the Hummus Avocado sandwich, seeing that it was vegan. I'll give this store credit for having a decent selection of well labeled vegan items, but the sandwich I got literally did not have any avocado in it whatsoever. Disappointed. read more

Morton Williams - Grocery Near Me - New York, New York

See all

The food is always expired and old. The prices are super expensive and insane. The staff and management have nasty attitudes and are always causing some problem, wasting the customers time and energy. The smell here is very bad like sewage. Overall, i suggest avoiding this location to save yourself a headache. read more

I am also surprised by the low ratings from others. Maybe I have not frequented this place enough yet? I normally just come and grab whatever I need and go. I don't wander around for hours and nor do I make that much contact with its cashiers. I mostly come here for its sale items. Every week, they have several items on sale that I am interested in. I normally only buy stuff that are on sale here. Because as noted by others, their items are priced pretty high - obviously because of its location. I give this place 3 stars. Plus 1 star because they offer cash back option if you use a debit card. read more

Employees here do not wear masks The manager Myra will not enforce the rule. Furthermore if you call them out on it they will straight up ignore you and act like you don't exist. I'll be taking my money elsewhere where employees wear masks considering the nonsense here. read more

Morton Williams - The owner just denies everything. EMPLOYEES DON'T WEAR MASKS HERE. - Grocery Near Me - New York, New York

See all

This grocery story is robbery. I had to buy snacks for an event, and a pint of blueberries was 10 dollars.... everything else was expensive, but not so obviously as the fruit (their fruit section is quite small as well). Given its proximity I'll probably go again, but only because I'm not spending my own money. read more

This has definitely got to be the worst experience I've ever had at any establishment. The staff here is vial, get ready to be treated like absolute garbage. How do they manage to hire the worst type of people? The only way they stay in business is due to the number of students that need to shop here. Stay as far away from this store as you can. There is something dark going on and its not okay. Not only were they rude to me, but to my puppy too. I know there's a no dog rule, but i didn't know where else to place him. They have some serious issues here. When I left a group of 7 female students came to my aid since they saw what happened. DO NOT GO TO THIS STORE. read more

Their supermarket has everything you need and it's in a very convenient location. The people there aren't very talkative in the morning but they aren't rude and they don't really mess up and orders or transactions so that's always a plus. You get in and get out which is all you really need out of a supermarket. Their fruits are usually fresh and reasonably priced also. read more

Morton Williams - Just bought a bowl of fruit to complete my breakfast and it's only $3.14 compared to Pret Manager's $5 - Grocery Near Me - New York, New York

Yesterday i was buying in this location at about 1PM and i never felt so bad because i was treated, i was looking for a meat that is on offer and they didn't have it, when I went to the cashier (very friendly by the way) she tells me to talk to the manager for a raincheck. the super market was super busy and only 2 cashier working on the line, so i went to the office and when I knocked on the door, and there was a lady inside which I don't know if the is the manager or the owner and she gave me a angry face just because i interrupted while she was talking on her cellphone. Its not my fault that they don't have what the supermarket was offering on special, I'm not planning to visit this place again because if she did that to me, she might do the same thing to every customer that will ask her a question about a product that its on a weekly special and i will not recommend this place to my family & friends. When that person learns how to treat a customer nicely then i will give a five star review read more

VERY expensive, TERRIBLE service, and some of their freezers was at room temperature when I last visited. Not to mention that they always have panhandlers right outside. In the end I would rather walk numerous avenues before going back here again, what a mistake. Oh, and I even notified an employee that their freezer was broken ... and she looked at me like she could care less. I can only imagine how sick people will get buying their groceries from here. read more

Just stopped in to buy a salad for lunch. Opened it up at my office and the whole thing was rotten and inedible. Like, they probably had it sitting out unrefrigerated for days. Super gross. Never shopping here again. read more

Constantly peddles spoiled and rotten meat. This is the second time I purchased spoiled pork here. Also incredibly expensive. Avi the business owner is here harassing reviewers when he should be concentrating on even the most basic things like sell-by dates. Avi, get off the computer and manage your store! For the prices you charge even the smallest amount of attention could go a long way. Someone is going to get sick and they'll do more than a nasty review. read more

NEVER AGAIN! One of the worst customer service I've ever experienced in my lifetime l. I'm visiting New York, and by staying with a friend close to this store, I made it my groceries shopping choice. After getting all the items I was looking for in those little shopping baskets with wheels, I brought them to the cashier. Not knowing how these things go, remember I'm from California, I grabbed the basket, lifted from The floor and put in front of the cashier, to make the items easily accessible to him. The first response I got from this RUDE cashier was: "Get the basket and put on the floor". My first thought was "How Frickin Rude! Maybe because I'm not from here" so, I got the basket and put on the floor, and, you'd think the rudeness would end there. So, this rude and uneducated 20-something man with long curly Afro-type hair man said: "Now, get your items and put them back on the belt" That's when I realized that this man and this establishment couldn't care less about any kind of customer service or for the people that shops there whatsoever. For a second I thought that it was a joke, just to realize, by looking at him, that he was being serious about that. If I had an employee giving that kind of attitude to my customers, I'd be probably out of business and if one day I see a review like this about one of my employees, HE'D BE FIRED IMMEDIATELY! For a grocery shop that charges what they charge, a little bit of humanity and a minimum of emphaty would be nice. But that's just me. Maybe the people that run this establishment is not intelligent enough to understand what "customer service" means. As for me, I'll never forget what the Morton Williams brand mean: RUDENESS! They'll never see a penny from me again. read more

I'm not sure why its 2 stars as an overall. I've been coming here for 2 years and I like this place. I often stop by for lunch as a grab & go to take back to my office. I've tried their prepared foods, sandwiches, sushi, and hot meals and they are all good. Here some options for some grab & go food: 1. They have a good selection of small meal containers that cost between $2-$4, which will serve you will as a small meal or side. Some are (off the top of my head) - Pesto tortellini, quinoa salad, bean salad, flat noodle pasta. 2. The sushi. The sushi isn't that expensive and compared to other sushi restaurants that're around the area (i think there are like 4 or 5 within a 2 block radius), is comparable. 3. The rotisserie chicken - Probably my favorite choice. You can get a 1/2 chicken with potatoes or rice for $6, you cant beat that. If you are not in the mood for carbs, you can just get the 1/2 chicken for $5...again, a price that cant be beat. If I'm really hungry, I sometimes get the 1/2 chicken and a small side container that I mentioned earlier. read more

Morton Williams - 1/2 rotisserie chicken meal - it comes with rice or potatoes - Grocery Near Me - New York, New York

I am so sick of this store that as of last night, I have decided I have had enough! I never going to step foot into this store ever again. I don't care that it's small, this NYC after all and space is limited. I don't care that it's a bit pricey, again this is NYC and things cost a lot. I have no problem with their selection. I often find products that I don't see anywhere else in the city and I like that they feature brand new products to try. The problem is that everybody working in this store, cashiers, stock and deli people have been trained to be as rude and nasty as possible to the customers. If there is a problem, they not only NOT admit they are at fault, but they behave as though you are the stupid one. During the pandemic, there wasn't a lot of people coming in, so they had limited staff, but now that the colleges are back in session with a full student body, you would think that they would add more people. Well...last night they had 4 cashiers, one working the register and the other 3 just jumping around (the long line wasn't enough to convince them to open another register). When I [finally] got to the front of the line and paid for my items, I was supposed to get 2 cents change. The cashier just moved on the the next customer. When I asked for my change, she did not apologize or explained what happened, instead said loudly to her manager (more than once) in Spanish referring to me 'she wants her pennies'. I know what you are thinking. Why is she making a big deal over pennies? That's not the point. This is MY change and it wasn't up to this women to decide whether I wanted it or not. If she did not have the coins in her register, find I would have let it go, but at least give me an explanation. She did not offer me a bag, she did not give me a receipt and she didn't explain why she did not give my change. I have to say this is not the only Morton Williams I've been to where the staff was rude. I guess this company just doesn't care about it's customers. read more

Eh not the best grocery store for several reasons. 1. Expensive 2. Subpar produce 3. SUPER narrow aisles so people cannot stand back to back if looking at the opposite shelves of the same aisle 4. Staff are not very friendly, talkative or smiley 5. Selection of groceries is VERY limited 6. Overall small space There are some pros: 1. The $8 sushi is pretty good for the amount and price. It's much cheaper than the sushi at Cafe East in Lerner Hall. 2. Super convenient for Columbia University students 3. Open 24 hours Great for picking up something late night or early morning or if you just need one thing that you're missing! read more

A little supermarket store with thin aisles and thinner deals... you can find all of what you really seek in food here, although you will pay a premium for some of it. There are some interesting local brands in here, too. Expensive, but available 24-7, at least. Staff is nonchalant and not very talkative except to yell at each other. read more

Decent sales on certain grocery items. Expensive for everything else. Avoid the chicken dumplings. Very retch-worthy read more

If you shop here, watch out you don't get rooked at the cash register. Unfortunately, I'm a somewhat regular shopper because of this store's convenient location. Usually I'm just picking up milk, but now and then I'll pick up a few other items on special for the week. About 50% of those items ring up at the regular price, not the sale price. In other words, the managers don't bother to program their computers to ring the bar code at the current price. If you're not watching out, it's easy to miss. Yes, they fix things if I object (as others have noted, without apology), but I'm really tired of their deceptive advertising, with a circular and signs on items advertising prices that are not what the cash register claims. I am letting others know to watch out. read more

Great location, mid/high prices, terrible customer interaction/service. Just moved here recently and figured I'd give Morton Williams a try. I went around 6:30pm/7:00pm earlier today. Not a busy time as there were less than 5 customers. There were only two employees near the deli, one stocker, and one cashier from what I could tell. As I was shopping through one of the aisles, an employee rendered a rude "EXCUSE ME." Mind you - I apologized as he continued quickly to one of the back rooms and of course there was no response or acknowledgement. Brushed it off and continued shopping. As I got to the checkout, the cashier asked me if I had a bag. I told her that I think I have one and that I would look through my backpack for it. I put the basket of groceries on the conveyor and she said "Take the basket and put it on the floor. It doesn't go here." My initial thought was making it easier for her to get the groceries while I sifted through my backpack for the bag. But from her demeanor, she did not like it. So I put the basket on the floor, grabbed the items and placed them on the conveyor. Found my reusable tote. She rang everything up and as I was leaving she asked me if I needed the receipt. I politely declined. I wanted to just pay, leave, and never come to this establishment again. I think what would help this establishment is some customer service training, anonymous people coming in to see how they interact without them knowing, and some way of holding them accountable. For the price of the products... common decency and some kind of sense of integrity ( whatever that may be ) is something to consider... I do not see myself supporting Morton Williams in the future. read more

On Tuesday night August 30th shortly after midnight on my way home from work I stopped by the 116 street Mortin Williams to pick up some snacks. I paid for my purchase, I put my receipt in my canvas bag, on my way out I walked past the security guard who was sitting near the door looking at his smart phone, while at the store, I never saw him once look up from his phone. As I left the store, on my way home, I could hear someone behind shouting something unintelligible, I did not think it had anything to do with me, why would it? To be honest I thought it was a drunk Columbia student or a panhandler who was off his meds and was having an episode, at that time of night in that area it's not that uncommon. As I turned to go down my street at 114 street, the shouting continued, when I turned around to see who it was, it was the security guard from the store. I walked over to him and asked him if there was a problem? He just said: 'vamo, vamo", and motioned me to go back to store, I was calm and compliant, I tried to show him my receipt that was in my canvas bag, but he just shook his head, he did not speak a word of English, he just, kept saying: "vamo, vamo", over and over, than he put his hand on me. I told him not to touch me, I walked back to the store to speak with the manager with him following behind, I was pissed off to say the least, I have never stolen anything in my life, and I do not like being accused of something I did not do. Inside the store I asked the cashier who was at the register who rang my items up if she recognized me, she graciously said 'yes', and told the security guard that it's "okay, it's fine" that I paid, I showed the security guard my receipt as proof that I paid, he did not even bother to acknowledge it or me, or apologize, he just gave me an attitude, when I told him offt, he followed me outside and threatened to fight me. I have been a loyal, and "PAYING", customer at the 116 super market for nearly 30 years, even before the name change some 20 years ago. The people at the store may not know my name but they know who I am, I am always polite and courteous with them, and most seem to appreciate that. I don't appreciate some lazy, monosyllabic oaf who can't even speak a word of English or correct Spanish behave that way, I don't deserve that treatment, no one does. Like many long time customers I shop at the 116 Street Mortin Williams because it's convenient. I have put up with shoddy produce, registers that are often not on-line, in sync with sale prices, one has to always keep an eye on the register screen so as not to be over charged, and sometimes even put up with rude cashiers. I emailed the head office, I doubt I will hear back from them. I'm done with that store. read more

Great staff at the Columbia Morton Williams but ownership has no respect for these people and looks to destroy worker morale at every opportunity. This surely impacts how they relate to the customers and not in a good way. This market's been in Morningside Heights and in the shadows of Columbia for a long time. No it was much better place before Avi Janet bought the store, and will again be once Janet is gone- which can't be soon enough! read more

Horrible service at the deli counter. The one guy there is ok. but the girls behind the counter are rude and have bad attitudes. Don't even think about asking them to make you a sandwich or slice up some cold cuts. The nasty look you get from them just for asking them to do what they get paid for is horrible. read more

The deli prices for heros & sandwiches are expensive and don't include anything but the bread & meat . So its $7.99 for just the meat & bread. The hero bread was not fresh, it was hard. You have to pay 50 cents extra for lettuce & tomato. I had better sandwiches & toppings at West Side Market. read more

I hate this store. I mean. I HATE IT. But yet I shop here. Why? Well, it's 1 block from my apt. Annnd i'm lazy. It's overpriced. (1 doughnut for $1.70??Really??) and it never has what I want. Israeli pickles? Nope. My fave Margarine, Earth Balance? Nope. Coconut Milk? Nope. Orange Marmalade, sweetened with fruit juice? Nope. Nice, helpful staff? Nope. A layout that makes ANY kind of sense whatsoever? Nope. (I've been here almost 20 times, half of which I left in disgust. The other, I begrudgingly pay up for something *close to* what I was searching for) So in closing, Just don't go to thins place unless it's the closest to you in which case good luck. you'll need it. read more

This is another one of those businesses that got the surrounding community up in arms. What used to be here was University Food Market that was partially owned by the guy who also owned Mama Joy's (sniff). He got tired of running a business and sold UFM to Morton Williams. Morton Williams had the gall to offer lower salaries to their new employees (UFM's old employees). It was a whole thing for people with too much time on their hands, because it was obviously MW's fault for being a union store and not hiring these new employees at their old salary. Why no one got angry at the former owner who didn't do any bargaining for his old employees before selling off the business, I'll never figure out. As to the improvements to UFM after Morton Williams took over the space: there were lots of them. Like more than one cashier and actual computer registers. The aisles are still tiny, but they're well lit and clean. UFM wasn't dirty. Dirt you could sweep away. UFM was grimy with the dirt of 30 years in business ground into the floor. The prices are still the same, i.e. more expensive than if you walk 5 blocks south, but since Morton Williams is open at all hours, the students well take advantage of that. read more

C-Town got me thinking about Morton Williams and the more I turn it over in my head, the happier I am to live in Harlem instead of the UWS. Expensive is the first word that comes to mind when I think of this place, but second to that I think of "open all night." It's a struggle -- when you know you can't go without some stupid little thing you can't find at the bodega, it's nice to have a place to go, even if it is a schlep (3AM food coloring run, anyone?) Otherwise, there are very few things I'll step in here for during the day. Soda (and beer) are more expensive than at the corner store. I stopped buying 2-liters of Pepsi from my bodega for exactly this reason: the price hopped from $1.75 to $2.00. What makes MW think I'm going to pay $2.21 when Rite-Aide and Duane Reade sell it for just about $1.50? Bread, meat, produce: all way too much. What's more, they're such a tiny store that they can't even carry generic brands, effectively locking you into buying something you didn't want in the first place. No, I don't want gourmet sandwich bread from Pepperidge Farms. Have you seen that bread? It's the size of a swollen deck of cards. The only solace in the food MW stocks is that it's not poor-quality. Last two points: the sushi here is a mistake. It's my fault for ever thinking that supermarket sushi should even be, you know, not stale and over-chilled, but I'll learn. The sandwiches fair a bit better and I've been guilty of buying one or two, knowing full well I could go down the street for a REAL sandwich at about the same price. Actually, shame on me for ever buying anything except Pirate Booty from MW. Thanks for taking advantage of all those Columbia students because it's not like the rest of us suffer in the process. Unbelievable. At least the place is clean. read more

Having moved back to NYC from California, I definitely miss the huge, mega-chain supermarkets and their selections and prices. Unfortunately for me, Morton Williams is the closest market to my building. Unfortunately because: - The prices are beyond ridiculous for both fresh fruit/veggies and non-perishables. The prices are comparable to Whole Foods (though they're not organic), if not more for certain items ($1.89 for a can of evaporated milk is nuts). - The majority of the cashiers are miserable. I didn't think it was possible to express so much misery in a 2 minute 99% non-verbal transaction. It's like each customer they ring up is their mortal enemy, and they get ruder by the hour (the ones who work at 3AM are way worse than those working at 3PM). - They have an okay selection of things, but not everything that you might need (their over the counter medicine, health and beauty products are confined to a tiny section, and of course, are like 1.5 times what you'd pay at Duane Reade). There are only 2 positives: - It's 24 hours. - It's clean, well lit and ventilated (nice that they blast the AC during hot days). read more

I only buy one thing here...they have a $5 salad-bar like dinner area. For $5 you pick the meats and sides you want, and they pack your container to the brim. I never weighed it, but it feels like those 5lb dumbbells that girls use. It's MAD food SON! The only bad thing is I once saw them Windexing the sneeze guard...on the food side. WTF? I asked for the stuff on the bottom and bought it though. Windex tastes bad. read more

Morton Williams - Storefront - Grocery Near Me - New York, New York

Extremely disappointing. I saw buffalo wings ingredients say: bbq sauce, salt, pepper, hot sauce, pepper, garlic. It tastes so bland!!!! I must have read the ingredient list 10x to be sure that the only ingredient wasnt chicken. Absolutely nothing on there. read more

Tonight I went to my local Mo-Wills to pick up some ice cream and get cash back, honestly that second part was the main purpose of my trip. 1st cashier: quite rudely notified me her register is closed and to "Move down!" 2nd cashier: Half way through ringing me up gets into a verbal fight with a coworker. Over the furry of "Best check your estrogen levels!" and "Don't you talk to me like that!" I tried to tell her I need $10 cash back...which ultimately fell on deaf ears. When she was finished ringing me up and I notified her I still needed $10 cash back she told me they "Don't do that." Only they do...cause I've been shopping there for the past six months. If you want to feel uneasy at best, and occasionally homicidal, then make this Morton Williams your neighborhood stop for marked up groceries. read more

The cashiers here are rude. Usually it's a basic rude that I can ignore, because unfortunately this market is convenient for my commute. But tonight the cashier put my watermelon on top of the berries and spent her time showing the manager photos on Facebook. When I asked for my receipt I got an eye roll and she tossed the receipt in my direction. No more. I don't care how convenient they are, I will walk across the park to Best Market. They are pleasant there. I'm done with this place. read more

I basically only ever go here to pick up something for lunch or dinner, and for that, it's okay. - The baby carrots are really cheap here. Pound for pound, I think they're the same price as regular carrots. - There's a good selection of tasty apples, bananas, and the like. - They have a pretty wide selection of the "Macro Vegan" prepackaged $5 entrees - they're not in the deli section, but rather in the back in the endcap with the humus, near the dairy section. I could live on these for weeks at a time. The yogurt and the drinks are slightly more overpriced than they would be at a neighborhood bodega, which is certainly a little irritating. read more