Ideal Food Basket 410 Montclair Avenue, Bethlehem, PA 18015

"The southside needed a new grocery store! Ideal Basket was long overdue. Ahart's was disgusting and the health bureau should have shut them down many years ago. The city should be ashamed of themselves for allowing Ahart's to remain open thru the years. With that, the owners of Ideal Basket gutted/remodeled the building's interior. They also added a new parking lot. They offer many Hispanic/Caribbean foods and also non-Hispanic/Caribbean items. The store is owned by the same owners as C-town on 3rd Street in Bethlehem. So it's kind of C-town however, much bigger with better parking. I visit for my meats and last minute items. I find their meats affordable and fresh. As for pricing on additional items, they are a little pricey. It is about supply and demand. I am sure if there was competition on southside with additional larger grocery stores, Ideal Basket would be more competitive in pricing. I like it's clean, they have the products, and you do not have to drive across town to grab last minute items. As for customer service, most of their employees speak English as a second language however, everyone is friendly. I think the manager's name is Emilio and I always see him helping customers. I have also noticed more cashiers that do speak English fluently. The store seems to be trying to cater to everyone from Spanish speaking to non-Spanish speaking customers."

"I like it. Clean, and the food items are excitingly exotic and high quality. Quite pricey for the area they chose to set up shop in, however. If you're a local, don't make it your default grocery store, but definitely stop in for the odd ethnic item once in a while."

"Somewhat an improvement over the old dirty store. Prices are outrageous! They are gouging the poor southside people who have no where else to go.They have items not priced. Items on shelves are not in the right place, the price label is not for that item. Look down 2 or 3 items to find correct price tag. Stock people apparently don't care. 2 items reasonably priced, 3 others I bought over-priced but I didn't have time to go to another store. I spent under 10 dollars. I would have bought a few more items but they were way over priced so I will get them next time I go to Price Rite or Giant. Sorry I won't be back."

"Not perfect, but SO much better than Ahart’s. For one, it doesn’t smell like rotting food and mildew the way Ahart’s did. The selection is so much larger and the store is so much nicer. Meat, deli, and bakery looked great, but produce was hit or miss. There’s a very large selection of grocery items and prices are about average. I’m really glad this is here instead of Ahart’s."

"Great store! Very happy to go in! I will shop here many times. They have everything you need. Deli, kitchen, beer, etc. The store is clean and well stocked! The staff was quick with my check out, which I loved. Parking was easy. Very very happy to have this store on my way home!"