There are a number of similar names for this small, but mighty, establishment floating around on…read morethe internet: Ninth Avenue International Foods, Ninth Avenue International Market, International Grocery & International Food, Ninth Avenue International Grocery, or just what's written on the sign: International Grocery. Whatever the actual name, it seems that this Mediterranean specialty store has been open since 1947, run first by the Smitsis Family, and then the Karamouzis (including brothers Sotiris, Dinos, and Panayiotis). The Karamouzis moved it a few doors north to its present location in 1983. The neighborhood around the store has evolved a great deal over the years, but inside, old world charm persists. Everywhere you look there are bulk bins, barrels, and sacks brimming with: - Spices: all the staples needed for Mediterranean, Indian and North African cuisines, including za'atar, dried tamarind, cloves, allspice, rock salt, cumin, coriander, turmeric, paprika, red pepper, black mustard seed, etc... - Dried fruits: pineapple, apricots, raisins, figs, diced orange peel, dates, etc... - Dried nuts: cashews, macadamias, almonds in every form, walnuts, pistachios, etc.. - Grains, beans, lentils, and flours - Coffee I love that International Grocery has stuck with bins and barrels for all these years. Bulk bins were the norm when the store first opened and are so much more environmentally friendly than the ubiquitous single use plastic packaging we see nowadays. Environmentally conscious folks are increasingly coming around to appreciate bulk bins and I wouldn't be surprised if they became the hot "new" trend in coming years. If you stick with something for long enough, it comes back into fashion, right? The wonders don't end with all those glorious bins, however. Far from it. Improbably, all of the following (and more) also neatly fit into a store the size of a suburbanite's two-car garage: - Olives -- about 10-15 kinds by my last count, but I've seen even more varieties at times. I love my crisp, green Castelvetranos and black Kalamatas; the Progeny loves her pimento-stuffed Manzanillas. - Antipasti (mushrooms, artichokes, giardiniera, gigantes plaki) and preserved lemon peel - Feta (Bulgarian, Greek) and other cheeses - Tzatziki and other spreads - A variety of fresh and packaged pastries (baklava, kourabiedes, koulourakia) and halvas - Olive oils, pomegranate molasses, carob molasses - Pita breads and pasta - Rose water - Amardeen (an apricot leather used to make a Syrian drink of the same name) Prices are quite fair and the owners + staff are kind, generous, gentle and gracious. When my 10-year old privately expressed interest in the orange peel to me, one of the owners overheard and offered her some to try. They didn't look at all askance when she delightedly opened various bins to sniff the beautiful aromas within. (I did teach her to waft the smells to her nose by hand a la chemistry lab, instead of sticking her head into each bin.) As much as I detest the areas around Port Authority -- it's one of the dirtiest, smelliest parts of NYC -- I do go out of my way for International Grocery and will for as long as we're both around.

Given the high quality of products, excellent personalized service and magical ambiance,…read moreInternational Grocery is a necessary fixture from old New York that i hope will continue well into the future! Try something from their wide range of olives, excellent cheeses, babaganouche, hummus. Treat yourself to the best dates in the city - awa baklava!!! Of course, there are spices galore, arranged in barrels, offering old world charm and earthy fragrances! Everyone working there is a gem. Thank you International Grocery!

Had a delightful conversation with the owner of this small, attractive looking deli. Turns out, the…read moreguy is a former CPA/Accountant who decided he had been a "bean counter" for far too long ... so he decided to take a risk, and opened this cute Italian deli "around a year ago.." Anyway, after umpiring a well played 14U baseball game in Yanticaw Park, I found myself hungry for a filling Italian sub. I consulted Yelp! which highly recommended Salumeria Regina ... which certainly sounded Italian to me! lol Anyway, since the place was pretty quiet (it was after 2PM) I wound up chit chatting with the Owner (see above.) I actually wound up ordering a Salumeria Salad, which was akin to an Italian Chef Salad, only with Salami and Ham. Truth be told, the salad was a wee bit disappointing, because it was sorely lacking a few standard Chef Salad staples, such as a little sliced turkey or roast beef, maybe a second kind of "contrasting" cheese, a hard boiled egg, and possibly some olives or peppers, something to give it a little more variety. I did ask to substitute Arugula for the traditional Iceberg Lettuce; and add sun-dried tomatoes, so perhaps it was my own fault for substituting other ingredients. The salad was packaged in a nice sized container, but it was dominated by fresh Mozzarella, which was, indeed delicious. Next time, I will definitely try one of their more popular sItalian subs, which had been my original idea!

I was looking for imported pasta and found this place hidden away in Nutley. It's a small…read moreauthentic Italian deli tucked away in the land of Italian deli's. First off the pasta was great. Tired of buying pasta made here with too many ingredients. There were plenty of options. The pasta I bought tasted great and had only three ingredients. It was also pretty easy on the wallet, I expected to pay more. I also bought a loaf of fresh bread which I enjoyed. I will be back to try the sandwiches and deli items. The place smelled great. There are plenty of other imported Italian items which I'm going to try as well. Looking forward to coming back.

Decent Indian market with a good amount of basic staple food items and fresh produce. They do have…read morea variety of frozen veges and rotis .Overall kept clean.

Visited for the first time today and felt that their roti was rubbery. Also the tiffin portions of…read moresabzi & paneer should be more. It was busy & not a lot of cashiers.

Tiny tiny little shop that has crammed in there so many different items that you can be in and out…read morein minutes. I found a good brand of the Salgam drink, Pismaniye that wasn't too sweet, a few different types of halva, Turkish coffee, and beans aplenty. If you don't have the spoons to deal with a big noisy market, come here for the oasis of quiet and get in and out quickly.

Alhamdulillah Allahuma Barik Really appreciate this meat…read moremarket. Small but good May Allah bless you all - Ameen

I gave 4 Stars as I have limited experience with authentic Polish food…read more BUT this is a great place for almost all of your Polish-themed needs. This is one of 2 locations in Garfield. Easy to get to; Off street parking. Friendly staff. We went for the hot food; great lunch deals; $9.95 gets you an entree, mashed potatoes, and 2 sides. The meat stuffed cabbage was very good. The cheese & potato pierogi were good; the Kielbasa ( sausage) was just OK. There were many choices ( breaded fish, pork, vegetable items, hot\cold salads) However this place has so much more. a butcher shop, a bakery section ( the doughnuts were very good), aisles of authentic food products ( beer, soda, sauces, pickles , hot dogs, and so much more) Soups, frozen foods that were prepared onsite. Polish greeting cards; many magazines and news papers from Poland. the place was packed with so many items. Very impressive.

They need better kielbasa, Polish Pickles, and Sauerkraut…read more The service and ambiance are good, but I'd rather pay the tolls to drive to Greenpoint for much better Polish food.

I have been an irregular shopper at this since 2012. This has been my go to Indian grocery store…read morebecause it's right next to NJ-17 Northbound. I primarily go here for Maggi noodles, Maggi sauce, Indian spices, pickles, curry powder, snacks and sometimes sweets, yogurt, basmati rice and mango lassi. Items have fairly decent price and have a good variety of Indian brands. This store used be dark and old. But they have done a renovation after which its appearance has improved significantly. New front signs, new floors, aisle markings, new fridges were added as part of renovation. But still the shelves in vegetables area are way outdated. Vegetables and fruits also don't appear appealing to me. So I stick to the non perishable items. In all these years of shopping here, I never had any problem. Staff are friendly and helpful usually. Checkout lanes are usually fast. Hope they keep doing well, so I can keep doing my desi grocery shopping from here.

they increase the prices so frecuently, every time the prices are high, one week you go an the next…read moreweek the price is more expensive. not good.

I would have given it 0 stars if possible but I do not have the option here. It is shocking to…read morevisit a grocery store in USA which sells international groceries, specifically Indian grocery and you experience racially biased comments from an employee of the store, you may ask what's the issue. lemme explain what happened. I have shopped from here countless times just because I liked this grocery store very much. Last week I brought a packet of Basmati Rice , I will add a picture of it with description below. When my mother was trying to cook this rice we found stones in the same and the quality of rice is no where close to what we term as Basmati. This morning I went to the store to shop for more items but I forgot to get the rice , its picture or details and as a good Samaritan, I just explained to the female employee of the store what happened. To this she says" what can I do about it " in a very rude and disrespectful manner. So , I asked can you please give me the contact of the owner so that I can talk to him. Her response "You will not get his contact" . Then I was like "could you please be a little less disrespectful to your customers" . Her response "We are respectful only towards our GUJRATI customers" . That is when I revealed that I am Gujrati myself, which kind of shocked her. I even know Mr. Devendra Patel who is the owner of this store but I have lost his number from my phone. Mr. Patel if you are reading this. Please do leave a comment below, I would like you to address to this matter. I think we have done enough business together and the least that we expect from Shree G store which plays devotional music 24/7 is to treat their customers with some respect no matter what color, race, cast, creed, nationality or language they belong to. This is the worst case of racism that I am putting forward here. I highly suggest look into the matter before there are more unhappy customers and you start losing the business which is already on a downfall. I really want you to understand the pain that we had to go through even thou I have been a loyalty card holder, member of the store and have provided enough of my hard earned money to it. The least I expect is some respect for your customers. Yours Truly, Dr. Hrishi Pathak (Paramus , NJ)

Zero stars. THIS STORE IS A SCAM. All shoppers BEWARE of…read morethis store!! They have a pathetic customer policy and WILL NOT RETURN any items in spite of it being mentioned in their receipt. They lie TO YOUR FACE. DISGUSTING STORE AND DISGUSTING SERVICE. They are disrespectful and dishonest. I wish I had read the reviews before visiting this gross store. Such a bad experience. Such kind of behavior leaves a bad impression about our Indian community. NEVER GO HERE. EVER.

Excellent spot. 1)…read moreThey mainly sell lots of Turkish items. I especially like the Turkish sausages and cheeses they have. 2) If you want Halal meat, they have all the types. 3) Overall, it is a nice Turkish spot.

We love purchasing meat from Oz because of the very high quality of service and the fair price of…read moretheir meats. The staff takes a great deal of care in cleaning, preparing, and packaging your order. They actually trim away unwanted fat etc., before weighing your meat! This is a very big deal to us! The presentation of their meat products always look fresh and enticing! We will always go to Oz for all of our meat needs!