Foodtown

Their bags smell like cigarettes, prices shown don’t make any sense, self check out is always broken or screwed up.

Okay, I don’t understand the negative reviews. Maybe you guys are from the suburbs, or from places WAY further out in Brooklyn where it’s basically the suburbs, but the selection here is EXCELLENT for a local supermarket. They basically have everything you could want (with exceptions, it’s still a local food store in Brooklyn). This is not a Whole Foods or a Fairway, and you’re not in New Jersey. Deal with it – this is the best you could ask for.
It’s clean, people tend to be nice, they have good sales, the prices aren’t outrageous, and it’s a pleasant experience. These are all things that places like Key Food, C-​Town, etc. are not.

This is one of those small supermarkets, so you have to automatically expect less from the start of your shopping trip. The prices here aren’t that cheap unless you only shop according to what’s on sale. The aisles can feel very cramped on the weekends or at night and that makes this store annoying. There isn’t the greatest selection of anything and it’s particularly a shame when it comes to low salt/​reduced sodium cheese: they don’t seem to have any, so I might as well die thanks to this store that I’m dependent on. The produce department often has fruit in terrible condition and I have to settle for apples that look like they’ve been dropped on the floor a few dozen times. Is that how they try to push their organics on their customers? I honestly think so. I’ve also noticed that they sometimes end their sales earlier on some items than what their circular says. So, if I go on the last day of the sale for some mozzarella cheese, it’ll come up at regular price when I’m being rung up at the register. They’re a bit too sneaky and yet they’re doing better in life than I am, so I feel ripped off by this store. I’ve also dealt with vindictive cashiers who either purposely or completely absent-​mindedly put their nasty fingernail marks into my apples in the past on a few occasions. They’re low-​class people who want to act ghetto, as if that’s supposed to be a compliment…

I am new to the neighborhood and just a few blocks away from Foodtown. I was blown away by the size and the varied options in here! You can make your own fresh peanut or almond butter, they carry products you’d find in Shmole Shmoods or Trader Joes. The produce is always fresh and their olive bar and cheese selection is massive!
I am so happy this is right off the train station AND they have a parking lot. A good, local supermarket is a bare necessity in any neighborhood, but they are so rare it feels more like a luxury — this Foodtown certainly fits that bill.

Snowstorm. When I call they say they will be open for another 1.5 hrs. When I get there 20 min later, no one is being let in. Wonderful. I avoid this place because I trust what Unilocalers say about this shitty store. I guess I won’t be fooled twice.

Having a supermarket nearby is great and all but it’s so expensive! I would rather go to any of the other stores around Church Ave but some things you just cant find elsewhere. I personally havent had a bad experience but then again I know what I want and I just walk in, grab it and go.

It breaks my brain how stupid people are who work at this location. It physically hurts. I just left the store and have to scream type this into my phone while the emotions are still fresh.
I cannot understand how people here are so fucking stupid. I went to the store today to return bottles and pick up a couple items and I just wanted to scream at every employee I encountered. From the employees ignoring me at the front to the manager who is the bottle police.
Every time I visit this this location there is some level of stupidity that is even worse than the last time I went. I was gonna stop going completely.
In fact, I don’t know why I keep going. I really don’t. Is it some masochistic reason? It’s not necessarily fun for me to get so angry at stupidity. It’s not even the most convenient place to return bottles because they are so stupid that everything takes longer and is more complicated because they don’t even try to think or use common sense.
Cashier: «Is it 86 or 89 bottles?»
Me: «89. I was there when he counted them.»
Cashier proceeds to ask another worker in Spanish to look at the number.
You think I’m trying to swindle you out of 15 fucking cents?
Can you subtract my bottle refund from my overall total? «No sorry.»
Jesus Christ. If you decide to patronize this place, I hope you possess the patience of a preschool teacher.
If you do, they have ok selection and it’s a relatively clean store.

It’s pretty small but nice. The workers are a little rude and talk among themselves. They have a deli to get sliced cheese, ready to eat hot foods, organic food. Avoid cashiers and check out on the self checkouts!

Extremely disappointing, consistently so…
Every time I approach the cashier to buy my items I get nervous because they’re always so obnoxious or ignore you completely…
I went in to return some bottles, the manager called up to the front register to alert the manager on-​hand. She was fine, however as I approached, the cashier responsible for opening the register and hand me my change gave me the most OBVIOUS eye-​roll exasperated expression; For the moment I let-​it-​go, she handed me my change, I said, ‘Thank You’ and she just ‘looked’ at me and immediately turned her head to talk with the manager about something completely unrelated.
It was then that I confronted her about basic forms of courtesy i.e. saying «You’re Welcome» after a CUSTOMER says ‘Thank You’ (of when ANYONE says ‘Thank You’ for that matter).
Naturally I was looked upon as the problematic and ‘irate’ customer.
I’ve WORKED at a Foodtown when I was a teenager, like 75% of the Cashiers here, and I UNDERSTAND the amount of people that flash by you throughout the course of one shift, not-​to-​mention weeks, months and years on end, but I was still capable of being nice and, at the very LEAST, ACKNOWLEDGING every customer I checked-​out («Hi, how are you?») even if I didn’t care, it is a BASIC courtesy.
My point is: I KNOW what the working experience is FIRSTHAND and these people/​children are just rude assholes.
None of the produce is ever fresh, whenever I ask someone if they’re out-​of-​stock on a particular item (in one astonishing case, Sesame Oil, which the middle-​aged manager looked at me like I was some Upper West-​Side Yuppie asking for something so ‘exotic’) they’re short with me, as though I have no right to inquire or that I’m wasting their precious time. Kensington overall isn’t the most human friendly place and it’s establishments such as this that substantiate such a claim.
Years ago, before they renovated the place, they had pigeons flying around INSIDE the store and multiple bags of rice were BITTEN through on the corners… unacceptable then, unacceptable now. Fuck this place–

Well stocked supermarket, whose exterior boasts a small clocktower. Although most of the aisles were full of boxes. I found what I was looking for and the wait time went quick. Can’t complain.

I hate going here. Selection is limited. The majority of the employees are rude. They don’t know how to say excuse me when trying to get by you. The only words they mumble to you is «club card?» when you’re at the register. I try to use self check out when it’s open so I can avoid the bratty teenagers (wow I sound old). But even that can be frustrating.

I was skeptical when I heard Foodtown (thought about C-​town and Keyfood), was the only supermarket that was near walking distance from my apartment but I was WRONG. I love this place! It’s changed a lot inside and it usually has everything I need! It’s spacious, has fresh seafood, AND awesome deals. I would say this supermarket is definitely better than the C-​Towns and Keyfoods I’ve been too.

The grocery stores in the suburbs where I grew up are open 24 hours. I move to NYC, and suddenly its like I back in the 19^th century. I would be at this Foodtown every day if it were only open until midnight. Instead, I’m here maybe once a month. So it gets one star until they start keeping it open later.

It is easy to walk to, unlike any other one-​stop market in Kensington. We go here about every six weeks or so when the other high and low end markets we go to seem like too much of a chore.
But: tonight I brought home a hunk of fresh mozeralla, (with an expiration date 12 days in the future) which seemed like the type of not-​wonderful, but pretty good fresh mozerella I have bought at large markets in the past.
Once opened, it was mushy –somewhere between fresh mozerella and tooth paste. Maybe like ice cream, but not particularly cold. When i sliced it, it tt had no internal grains; the interior slices were wet and smooth like the exterior, and felt slippery like raw tuna. I smelled it and detected no off-​notes. so I decided to try a piece and was revolted. It tasted like a sour margarine, albeit a little chewy, like it had someone else’s bubble gum mixed in. .
I have heard that while no cheese stands up to freezing very well, some fare better than others. I don’t actually know if what I put in my mouth contained what it said on the package (milk, enzymes, salt, etc). But I suspect that the hunk I had came from powdered milk and was then stuck in a freezer for a few weeks. Or something much worse.
My trust in this place is shaken. Which is too bad because I usually come to this place for their protein and produce. What else is not as it should be?

This place is the absolute worst!!! From the organization of goods to the lack of any care from the employees. I can’t even tell you how many times I’ve asked someone who works there a question only to be met with a look that I can only sum up as «why are you speaking to me» or «I have no fricken idea».
The prices are horrendous and the deals are literally scams. They trick you into thinking your getting a great deal by labeling the rack with a certain price but read the fine print as it’s going to cost you 1000s of points on your card — and if you don’t qualify for the deal bc you don’t have enough points, it gets rung up as full price and the cashier will say nothing to you.
I cursed myself each and every single time I’ve stepped through those dreaded doors from the small, fly ridden produce section to the horrendously overpriced frozen goods. The only plus this sad excuse for a store has is convenience in proximity. However, I was shown the light that is ShopRite which is only a mile up the road! Make the trip! It is SO worth it.
Foodtown, you will probably never have my business again. For lack of better words you SUCK and if you want any shot at being successful with happy customers, retrain your employees and cut your crazy prices.

I live a block away, when they fix up this store i was like thank god, and then the prices went up by at least 20% every thing is over priced in this store, express line, is slow motion line, the salad bar yuck, only one manager in this place knows what his doing he only works regular hours morning when every one is has at work, their special really suck, super super over priced, only shop here for emergency other wise i go to shoprite

Foodtown is a very pleasant place to shop. Most places in America are shifting towards Megamarkets, but Foodtown retains a «boutique feel». What does that mean? Really pleasant checkout staff. You can tell they screen for «pleasentness». Aisles are reasonably wide, and I rarely see things get out of hand during peak hours. All of the Meats and Produce are fresh and well tended to.
Foodtown is well thought out, well taken care of, and is a great core to the Kensington community.

Standard city supermarket. This one is the closest to my fiancées place so we go a lot to stock up. I would say that it’s probably not the best supermarket but gets the job done.

This is the supermarket that’s near my friend Ingy’s house. I’ve come here a handful of times with both her and with friends on the way to her place. In my opinion this is Kensington’s BEST supermarket and I’ve been to at least 3 in the neighborhood.
Foodtown is an incredibly well lit, well organized and amazingly stocked food haven filled with all sorts of fresh produce, ethnic foods/​spices and an ABSOLUTELY AMAZING CRAFT BEER SELECTION. Not kidding,
I have found beers here that not even the most frou frou specialized beer retailers carry! All types of seasonal beers & ciders, independent domestic breweries, Belgium/​German/​Latin-​American imported brews, IPAs/​Porters/​Lagers/​Stouts — SO MUCH HERE, finding something new here that I’ve never tried is always a treat.
I also love how they have one of their aisles sections (I believe it’s aisle #2 actually…) is actually labeled with «GOYA FOODS» — this made my little Rican heart a’ flutter.
«Goya si es bueno!» and a super market in a non-​Latin neighborhood that stocks shelves full of the stuff has to be «bueno». This was perfect so I could introduce my friend to delicious Bacalaito fritters and we got Goya Olive Oil and one day she’s gonna have low-​sodium Adobo in her cupboard thanks to me… one day.
Prices here are generally also pretty reasonable, this isn’t an Associated — but it’s not a Food Emporium, I’ve never pointed at something here and exclaimed, «that’s ridiculous?! WHAT!!!» so that’s a definitely plus. So um yeahhhhhh… Kensington’s Foodtown is the shizzzz.

I went shopping for a few specific things.
At 8:30 p.m. on a Tuesday, their self service olive bar was wrapped in plastic. The seafood deli was closed. I wanted certain meats, but they weren’t there and there was no help. I walked up front and asked the cashier when they were closing.
10 p.m.
The cashier was nice enough to suggest I unwrap the olive bar and help myself, but there were 15+ bowls of stuff and no spoons. Sorry, but that’s just asking for cross contamination.
I don’t quite get how a modern supermarket in the heart of Brooklyn is so anti-​customer friendly. But I’m guessing the owners don’t care about service, only profit.