NetCost Market

This is paradise on earth. I love smoked fish and caviar, and I left here with a car full of it. Thank God this place exists. I can’t wait to come back again next weekend.

I love this place. The veggies and fruits tend to be a bit higher than other markets but the deli and fresh meat department are amazing. The cheese aisle has so much variety and way cheaper than if you were to go anywhere else. I frequent this place several times a month, I stock up on items that I can’t find anywhere else

Not sure why they have 4 stars but what more can you ask for in a grocery store that is clean and organized?! Great selection of produce and a variety of different name brands so you are bound to get one item on sale. The staff is friendly so I can’t complain when I come here.

This business violates people with disabilities law. The entrance with handicapped chair is unaccessible. They block your carts. So you cannot take your groceries to your car. The service is rude. Just like back in ussr.

Rich variety of food and produce!!!
Not cheap but one can find a really good food! Deli is very good! Fish caviar salads very fresh!
It also has some european produce, choco cakes etc.
Bakery is nice too! The best cake that they have is called «lakomka/​pcholka, (with almonds) smetannik»! Amazing taste!

The end-​all be-​all coolest food store in Philadelphia, except maybe for DiBruno’s. Of course it’s like 8x the size of DiBruno’s. This is a big, gorgeous supermarket catering to the tastes of Russian, Ukranian, and other European emigrees, but unless you have the boringest, most close-​minded interest in trying new foods in the world, you will find lots of great, yummy, cool stuff here to buy. Even if you don’t like anything interesting, the prices on good fresh breads, and even more so the prices on produce will FLOOR YOU they are, for the most part, so competitive and impressive. I bought a whole pineapple here, about 2 months ago, for one dollar. That is not the standard price — it was a special — but still! And things like lemons and limes are several for a dollar, often a fraction of what you pay per piece for these in regular supermarkets. And they have neat selections of vegetables, like orange beets and 2 colors of Kohlrabi.
The cheese section is amazing. A competitive price on Rembrandt and Prima Donna goudas (very delicious, high end goudas — yum, again), and you have never seen so many varieties of feta, — fresh feta, yet — in your life. If you worked at a feta museum, I bet they’d have less feta variety there — Bulgarian, French, Romanian, Israeli, Turkish, Greek of course, and on and on and on. Had to be like 10 to 15 types in the case. Just … yum!
The bakery … the bakery is honestly dangerous bc there are so many delicious things there — breads and pastries — that you can easily find yourself later in the day after a trip feeling a little ashamed of your carb/​calorie consumption. But amazing fresh bread. And they’ll slice anything for you. I also love these cookies there that look like large versions of my grandmother’s German Kipfel — powdered sugar, melt-​against-​your-​teeth flaky, buttery dough, and a little jelly in the middle.
The white fish salad was very good, and very well-​priced. ($ 6.99 a lb. I think it was.) Also from that prepared foods case I got some beet and parsley salad (see — healthy! Totally cancels out the calories in all that cheese, right?) …
At Christmas they have the neatest selection of chocolate Santas and also chocolates shaped like lady bugs, animals (several cute versions of sheep!) and other neat shapes in decorative foil-​design wrappers. I am familiar with these types of decorated variations on the more familiar santas/​easter bunnies, from visits to Germany. It’s a European thing. And a lot of the chocolates are German. Some are from elsewhere, though, and though some of these are still tasty, be wary of buying some of the mixed (very cute) bags and decorative boxes of chocolates and candies made in the former Soviet states, unless you are just buying them for the cuteness factor to give to kids who will not know the difference and just think the presentation is cool. Some of the Eastern-​block chocolates are pretty lame, probably based on low standards that go back to the Iron Curtain years when consumers didn’t have much choice.
I could go on and on, but I will run out of allowed character space, probably, and all this talk of food is making me hungry for a snack, anyway.
Oh — one caveat — there is no public bathroom. But if you are pleasant, and offer to buy something, they have been known to let you use the Dunkin Donuts bathroom nextdoor w/​out requiring you to even buy something. Otherwise, the Home Depot at the other end of the parking lot won’t even blink about using their very nice bathrooms. (Bel’s Market, this store’s major area competitor, does have a public bathroom, which was quite nice after a remodel a few years ago, but since has become perpetually trashed and gross in a don’t even know where to comfortably put my purse down kind of way. I’d much rather use the Home Depot bathroom, than bother with a bathroom in this supermarket, if it were to turn into anything like the icky situation at Bel’s has devolved into.)
Ok. Enough said. For now.

Love the location and the selection. The place is always so clean with very friendly staff. I went there at 1am before an it was still a pleasant experience. The cheese selection is very overwhelming but great at the same time.

STAY AWAY FAKE CAVIAR!
I do my grocery shopping in Netcost every now and then. So far, I loved it for an opportunity to get imported Russian food, but this time I’ve been totally pissed off by sneaky stuff they do over there. On a week of New Year, they put a promotion for canned red caviar 3 for $ 10 (regular 3 for $ 20, 50% off). So cheap! The legitimate comment would be «there is only free cheese in a mouse trap». And that is so true, but lately Russian Ruble dropped almost twice compare to US dollar. And here was my explanation: since Ruble dropped, the caviar could cost cheaper. As you could assume that was not a case. Once I opened a can, I could say there is something wrong: caviar is too red (looks like it has artificial dyes), each single caviar is two times smaller in a size than it’s suppose to be (not salmon caviar?), once I put a bit on crepes — it resulted in huge amount of weird juice. Also caviar by itself was not springy at all. And taste… ew! Not what I knew before. When I looked what was written on the can — nothing wrong: product of Russia, Sakhalin (where it’s suppose to be produced). But distributed somewhere in Brooklyn. I wish I saved a receipt.
So the bottom line is when shop in Netcost:
–make sure you save a receipt
–returns could be made within 48 hrs
–take a moment to read where particular item comes from
Good luck!

Well known to every Russian in Philadelphia is Netcost Market, a supermarket that specializes in Eastern European foods. Its a market we may have imagined when we still lived in Russia had markets actually stocked food instead of the basic staples like bread and milk. This is destination shopping for every foodie in the know and daily shopping for the thousands of Russians who live in North East Philadelphia. While some items cater strictly to their Russian clients, there is something here for every taste and appetite.
The first sensation you feel when you enter this store is strong smell of hearty black bread and dill. There is an entire row of jarred pickled foods and a fresh dill bar. Here you can find 4 or 5 kinds of pickled mushrooms, a few varieties of pickled eggplant, tomatoes, watermelon rind, and even pickled sardines. There is an entire smoked fish section with a choice of cold-​smoked or hot-​smoked fish of your choosing. The deli case has both traditional favorites like Boar’s Head and unique Russian items like cured Salo. There is a caviar station with at least a dozen varieties of caviar sold by the ounce and canned caviar ready to bring as a gift to a special gathering. While caviar is not cheap anywhere, you’ll find the cost is a small fraction of what you would pay elsewhere.
The store is a unique cultural phenomenon. Here you will be surrounded by a sea of people, some with hardened Eastern European faces, some dressed like models with high heels. Everyone speaks Russian and will assume you do too. As an outsider it may sound like they’re yelling at each other. The signs are in Russian and the loud speaker announcements are only Russian as well. This store is a must visit for the adventurous foodie.

Only grocery store I go to in philly! Not only so they have American good but Russian food as well! They have everything I ever need.

Best Russian grocery store in Philly. Big variety, good prices and staff.

My wife is originally from a FSU country so we go here about once a month and blow about $ 200 on all kinds of goodies. It’s generally more expensive than Bell’s but is located in a nicer area and the premises are well maintained. If you like trying out new foods I highly recommend this place. I always get a good laugh when they have euro techno playing … unh tiss unh tiss…

As the main competition for Bell’s Market, I had to check it out. Newer building, more brightly lit and offering a larger prepared foods section. Like Bell’s, this store is a veritable worldwide food tour. I could spend hours at Net Cost roaming the aisles looking at the exotica while trying to design suitable recipes to make the newly discovered ingredient shine. Juice selection appears to be smaller than Bell’s but the pickle bar is larger. My purchases to date have been limited to pre-​packaged items, so I cannot comment on the employees’ willingness to assist customers or their facility with English. I look forward to providing an update that addresses those issues.
N.B. Be aware that the parking lot is a little challenging to navigate and some drivers make slick moves as they search for a spot.

Going to this grocery store is like going on a vacation to a foreign country! It is a trip. Everyone there is Russian, shoppers and employees, even the intercom telling the specials is in Russian. A lot of the signs and foods are also not in english. But I don’t go there to buy bananas on sale — I go there to gawk at the crazy foods (and some people — some of the women are dressed like 80s hookers). I always covertly take a few photos of cow feet, head cheese, ice cream with hammers and sickles, a million kinds of sausages.
I also buy a lot of random crap because most of this stuff is super cheap. There’s half an aisle devoted only to pickles (and pickled watermelon!) and they are about $ 2 a jar. Also, the candy section is out of control, it is huge! and they have bulk candies as well.
I’ve read some reviews that Unilocalers were intimidated by the deli or bakery staff. It is intimidating because the names of the items are foreign (in name and in look) but everyone there has always been very nice and patient, even if their grasp on english isn’t perfect — they seem to be fine with ‘us’.
The deli counter is always mobbed, so i’ve never bought artisan sausages or cheese. There is even an olive bar!
Netcost is the size of a small Acme, so it’s not a mom and pop small specialty store. I always end up spending at least an hour in here just browsing. We do end up buying a lot of assorted stuff, much of which we have very little idea what it is. But it is all very inexpensive and that is half the fun.
So i dont go here to do my ‘real’ grocery shopping, but I buy lots of odd snacks, fresh bakery items, weird jarred stuff ($ 1.20 for rhubarb jam!).
If you find yourself in the NE do yourself a favor and take the trip!

Hello comrade. I’m going to tell you what to expect when visiting for the first time. The store smells like dill. You probably have never seen this much pickled, cold smoked, and cured items all in one place before. There’s an entire aisle dedicated to fruit juice. Sea buckthorn juice is very viscous and sour. There will be gross dudes and attractive women dressed to the nines throughout the store. Five inch stilettos and grocery shopping just happens here. Try not to smile or show any emotion on your face, you’ll stick out and might bring attention. Ordering anything from the deli is very intimidating if you can’t speak the language.
I go to Net Cost every other month and I still haven’t had a clue. I think I need a Russian chaperone.

What more can be said about this place that has not already been said? Net Cost pretty much has it all and has become a money printing business for the owners. Once they arrived on the scene years ago, Net Cost put all of the local mom and pop Russian mini-​markets in the area out of business. I was there today (12÷31÷13) and it was a zoo — mobbed!
Since the Somerton location has been doing gangbuster business from day one, they are planning to open a second Philly location in Spring 2014 at Blue Grass Plaza where the old Shop’N Bag used to be (right behind Casino Deli). I predict they will do well there as well.

Decided we would check out Russian North East Philadelphia and wanted to go to a Russian supermarket. This was a last minute unplanned adventure and I wasn’t sure where to go. Again, Unilocal to the rescue ! I found it through Unilocal and Unilocal got me here. The selection of Kvass is awesome! Admittedly I don’t like Kvass but Levin in Anna Karenina discovers it and if it’s good enough for him, it probably should be for me. Lots of smoked fish, desert items and Birch Juice! and pine nuggets! Lots of tea and keffir! It was fun. Ukrainian candy, Lithuanian cheese and Uzbek rice– you can’t get these at 7 – 11!

So I feel compelled to update this review for several reasons:
1 — the general rudeness level of the staff has gone up — the tellers are generally listless and couldn’t care about their job but are mostly friendly –the deli staff are gruff if you don’t speak Russian — I am too the point where I really don’t go near the deli unless I have a Russian speaker with me (I understand and can speak elementary level Russian) — too much hassle for mediocre foods. Sometime I make a game out of it and ask for things in English and then answer the gruff responses with a sweet perfectly pronounced Thank you in Russian. Petty? Maybe but it makes it tolerable. And there there is the management which are outright rude — this leads to #2
2 — don’t try to take any pictures — for some reason this is taboo — which gives the impression that they are trying to obscure something about the place. I took one picture and got accosted by the manager who just kept telling me «no pictures» in Russian. I know this person can speak English — I’ve seen them do it — but he refused to and just droned on. I left.
3 — selection changes — tea/​coffee section reduced a good bit — but still a larger selection then anywhere else in the far Northeast part of Philly.
4 — they now have a discount card like all the other supermarkets in the area.

A very nice, clean Russian and eastern European oriented supermarket with friendly, helpful staff. Some of the staff only speak Russian, but if you don’t they will direct you to those fluent in English. This place is quite large and has a good selection of produce, a huge deli, bakery, all kinds of cheeses and dairy products, tons of Russian and east European chocolates, all kinds of wonderful things. And unlike the Russian stores in NYC, you can easily drive to this one and they have a large parking lot, in fact it is in a highly automobile oriented strip mall land area of northeast Philadelphia (the Russian neighborhood on Bustleton), so driving is your best option to get here. I came with a list of stuff my Russian friend in Virginia (which does not have full sized Russian supermarkets like this) wanted me to get them and the staff were very helpful in locating the products I needed and identifying what was best. What I don’t get about this place is the amazingly uncreative name and the fact that nothing about the name, sign, or external appearance reveals to one in any way that this is basically a Russian grocery store, I would think they would want to advertise that better…

After having lived in post soviet land and Istanbul for a number of years, I have an affinity for eats that are hard to come by. And they’re pretty much all here… beet salad, red pickled cabbage, xachapuri, potato/​mushroom cheese wraps and ravioli, soft farmer cheese ‘salad’ with herbs, chorchella (totally not spelling these things right), borjomi, tkemali (spicy, red and green, I’ll take all three, thaaaanks!), the better variations of baklava, little smoked fishies, lobio salad, ayran, egg plant salad done right, turkish pide bread, small halva treats with sesame seeds…
There’s a decent section of organic produce and hard-​to-​come-​by dairy (ayran, pequea yogurt, kefir cheese, etc).
The bakery section…
I don’t see myself staying away for any sort of extended period.