Food Universe Marketplace

"Food Universe must be in the running to be the worst grocery store in manhattan, which must put it high in the running for the entire east coast, if not the continental US. Spoiled, moldy produce. expired products on the shelves. everything in the freezers is burned, if not clearly thawed, spoiled, and refrozen. i wouldn’t dare order anything from their deli counter - not that it’s ever staffed. the only reason i ever shop here is in an emergency, and i always regret it. stuff from the shelves straight in the trash, it’s insane the one and only redeeming quality of this place is they have a decent selection of cold drinks. like literally any bodega. i’d rather shop at a bodega. gods i hate this place"

"The draw for this supermarket is the chilled beer room at the back. The selection is huge, including craft bottles and tallboy cans. The rest of the store is hit and miss. Most items are overpriced. Their inventory scanning is a mess. Items in the freezer often get ice and freezer burn. And up until recently, they would sell expired items, but that seems to have have stopped. It is Inwood's best beer store. That's about it."

"I only go here if I absolutely need something, or for the (actually decent) beer selection. Products are horrendously overpriced, and the cashiers make up random prices on the spot if an item rings up without a price in the system. Not to mention the horrible attitudes of most, not all, of the female cashiers, who will complete the entire transaction without a single word to you - if you're not white or Spanish-speaking. A shame that this is the only supermarket within reasonable distance in this part of the neighborhood."

"The good: The staff is mostly really nice. Always extremely helpful. Good for shelf stable stuff like soda. Convenient. The bad: The dairy and freezer isle smells unpleasant. The ugly: I bought ice cream that was on special. All cartons had melted and refrozen and tasted sour/inedible. There are frequently manager specials with large orange stickers on them. I bought some rice pudding, and noticed it had no expiration date. When I went back, I checked several items that also had this sticker, and they were all MISSING EXPIRATION DATES. Is that legal? All of the other food has them. Super shady. I'd like to feel confident shopping here, but will only go for things that are fairly shelf stable. I hope they get it together, because it could be a nice little grocery store. I know times are tough, but cutting corners like that is no way to conduct your business."

"If you need a good beer selection, this is a decent spot—but produce, meat, frozen, and shelf items are almost always out of date and/or moldy. I check in every few weeks to see if they’ve turned things over (it’s sooooo close to my place) but always the same."