Key Food Supermarket

As you can tell from the rest of the reviews; the staff at this Key Food are terrible. The horribleness ranges from the cashiers to the management. They are openly hostile to the customers. When shopping here I put in headphones and do not talk to anyone while in the store. Seriously rude people. But… I live next door, so I continue to go.

I come here if I need quick commercial things otherwise I go across the street or to TJs. The main gripe though aside from being grody is the staff and the manager.
There is a few cashiers that are nice but there are some specific younger ones that are slackers, lazy, gossip all day and the manager stands there and gossips right along with them while customers stand there waiting to be rung up.
Typical unprofessional management promoting unprofessional behavior.

This grocery store is near my house, and I come here to buy heavy items like soda or milk. Otherwise, I reluctantly shop here. The produce aisle is a tragedy. They like to mist all the produce, but unfortunately that just helps the rot — so if you buy it, prepare to use it same day. Generally, their fruits are sad looking, bruised or rotting and extremely over priced. Most of their items are not fresh, due to lack of shoppers. Prices are outrageously high, unless it’s on sale. I wish all the time it would just shut down and let a real grocery store open up — FH is very expensive area and we desperately lack a real affordable type of grocery store. The cashiers are generally rude, inattentive and not happy to be there.

I’d always gone here because it’s so close to my place but now I can’t. The people there so nice too, it really sucks that I can’t really go here anymore. So… they always have expired things. I saw milk there in the front that was a month old. I literally pulled my phone out to check the current date because I was in complete disbelief. Any and all produce I’ve ever bought from here has wreaked terribly in my fridge. Then the final straw came when I bought a small salad from here and had the runs for the rest of the night and the following day. I really liked this location but will have to call the health department to have them investigate this store.. People’s health and food safety is far too important to make such careless mistakes.

I shop here only because it’s convenient. I could deal with the cramped aisles and general disorganization of the store, but the main issue is that they are trying to sell expired food. They actually hide the fresh stuff way behind the expired or soon-​to-​expire items. This is especially true with dairy products and «fresh» produce. Management also doesn’t pay attention to what customers are buying, because often products that sell aren’t restocked for many months.
I really wish a better store that’s in walking distance of Austin and QB would open in the area.

I’ll give an extra star because there are some genuinely nice people who work here, from retirees to kids and in-​between. Unfortunately there are a handful of cashiers, all kids, who talk and flirt with each other throughout the checkout process and don’t pay attention to the job. Today I was given the wrong change back by this kid who had been talking to another kid even while (wrongly) counting the money I had given him and then he argues with me with feigned certainty that he had counted correctly (he had already dashed the change I had given him into the register, my vindication lost in the denominational stew). I feel ridiculous getting so angry about it, but at least I let it go after a brief, if terse, back and forth. But now I’m out thirty seven cents!
In all seriousness, the real issue is the expired food everywhere, as virtually every other reviewer mentioned. And whatever you do, don’t buy boxed Mac and Cheese here, no matter the expiry, because the cheese is always dried out for some reason like something seeps into the packaging from the dank air. In fact, buy one box just to see what I’m talking about (kidding not kidding).
Management is inattentive, the place is generally filthy and frankly I give myself one star for shopping here at all, let alone two and a half years. That ends now.

Horrible place selling old rotten molded items.
Do not return
I brought a bottle beverage still wrapped in its protective seal and which I opened it there’s a ring of mold inside.
Stores should have a common rule to not sell expired goods.
Never coming back. Report to bbb.

I come here out of convenience. They can’t compete with Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, or ANY Asian supermarket.
They have circulars by the door. Shopping carts are just somewhere that you just have to track down. Their produce section is somewhat tattered and you really would have to be selective. Their meat section is fine. Prices are okay especially during sales.
Their best sale? Water.

I go to this store weekly now after I discovered that it has been renovated and it has been better.
My only concern is that the bread section had a lot of expired bread, by a week. The produce is pretty much roughed up here as well.
The stuff here overall is pretty good, you just have to look at the expiration dates on your items you’re buying, and make sure there is no mold etc.

Incredibly rude staff, old produce, and pricey. Most of the Key foods in the area are sub par. But this one is the worst mostly because of the staff. Best bet in the immediate area is Orchard Fine across from the Kennedy House building on Queens Blvd.

I usually do not shop at this store due to poor customer service, but today had no choice since I needed a few items and this particular store was in the area of my other errands. The cashier was the rudest I have ever encountered — would not pay attention and ignored my questions no matter how polite I asked. She truly had a chip on her shoulder. She was not willing to put in my phone number to pull up rewards program even though all other Key Foods in Forest Hills are more than willing to do this. I gave the number three times, but she just couldnt get it and kept asking me over and over to repeat it, so when I said lets just forget it, she turned in a huff. I had to ask her to double bag a heavy water, and she refused and had someone else do it. I was pretty upset with her rudeness and told her so. I am not sure why management does not step in and train cashiers properly and teach them how to respect a customer. Although in this case, this cashier obviously has gotten away with this behavior and her bad attitude will be hard to reverse. I suggest they put her in the freezer to stock and not have her in front to interact with any customers.

The manager of this Key Food has treated me inappropriately with a lot of suspicion and a good amount of anger. I will not return to this Key Food unless I have an emergency.
So listen to this review upper management — you’re losing business. I see many bad reviews, as well as others who have had most negative experiences with this manager…
And by the way, while I’m at it, I noticed Amy’s soups are ridiculously overcharged at over $ 5 a can, whereas they should be priced at over $ 3.

Not the best Key Food, but not the worst. At least it was a quick in and out.

A lot of negatives with this store. It’s surprising that after all these years the place is still around and especially in this neighborhood!
First, beware of EXPIRED food! After a couple of mistakes, I have learned to always check expiration dates on everything!
Finding fresh, crisp produce here is like playing the lottery. Terribly kept produce area too.
The staff, especially the female cashiers, are sooo RUDE!!! Just bought some groceries and asked if she would be able to break a $ 100. She said yes. I thought it was courteous of me to ask beforehand. When she handed me my change she just put it in my hand without even looking at me AND she didn’t even count it out! REALLY?!
I always try to bag my own groceries at this store because they just throw everything in one bag! Really? Who puts Lysol with tomatoes???
The only reason this place gets any business is because of it’s location. This is the only reason I stop here on occasion. After today’s experience I wish I had just walked all the way to Natural on Austin St. At least there you get what you pay for… Quality!

Worst store. Worst staff.
The checkout aisles are too small for strollers, carts, wheelchairs. The food is commonly rotten and moldy. The neighborhood deserves a better run place.
This store survives on the elderly who obviously don’t know what fresh food tastes like anymore.

This Key Food should be shut down by the Health Department. I took a picture of the very moldy bialys they had on sale today. They were completely green covered in fuzzy mold. How disgusting. When I pointed them out to one of the workers, he threw them on the floor, mocking me for making him do something.

Yuck. I thought I had said goodbye to the ghetto supermarket when I moved out of the Bronx, but apparently a relative of it decided to slum it out in Forest Hills. The floor looks like it hasn’t been cleaned in ages and everything has a tired, worn out look.
The prices are so-​so, the meat and vegetables rarely look fresh, and the deli case salads look unappetizing. When I lived on Ditmars in Astoria, I thought the Key Food below the N train was shabby. That looked like Whole Foods compared to this. A shame that it’s the only convenient market for someone on the south side of Queens Blvd walking home from 71^st st.
I suspect the only reason it has stayed in business so long is because most of its customers are elderly and shop here out of habit. For the under 70 crowd, however, I’m sure it’s driven many residents to order from Fresh Direct or drive all the way to Trader Joe’s.

Not Happy with this location. I got looks because I was using my EBT card. Please check your receipt before leaving. I was charged full price for something that was on sale. Some items were expired especially in the meat section. Go else where.

Like others, I tend to go here because of the convenience. And every single time I walk out of there I question why I return.
I went in today to buy some fresh rolls. Upon opening the glass door that houses the bread, a big fly flew out. At further inspection there were gnats all over the bread and even some small bugs directly crawling on them.
This grocery store feels like one giant mistake yet stays in business because there aren’t great alternatives nearby. Everything about this place is absolutely disgusting.
I have decided to officially stop supporting this branch, effective immediately.

I just moved to town and after visiting this grocery store I was worried that I would never again be able to find fresh, delicious produce or meat ever again.
Produce: Prices were so-​so, there was a lot of bad produce sitting out. I had a hard time finding too much that we could buy that wasn’t bruised or had flies on it.
Meat: The coolers that the meat was sitting in had flickering lights and made me feel like I had just crossed into a horror movie. The meat itself was gray… yes, gray. There was a fish on a piece of styrofoam that had gross black water in the package with it… we did not buy any meat here because it was so bad.
Freezer section: Well surely they have to get the freezer section right, right? Things were really unorganized, but I was able to find some familiar breakfast waffles and pierogi. Too bad that the boxes looked as though they had thawed and had been frozen again (they were bloated and mishapen).
Dry Food: Decent selection. We bought a few things here.
Service/​cashiers: Our cashier was actually pretty nice. She helped us to get a key food card and was generally pretty friendly. She’s probably the only reason I didn’t give this place a 1.
In short — for dry food and the occasional emergency purchase this is an OK place to stop but I will go elsewhere for the majority of my grocery needs.