A Bazaar Food Find

By Eso Romero 

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, it’s time to start planning the big meal! It’s been my mission to hunt for decent bargains in LIC that don’t compromise the quality of the food. Since I moved here, I’ve been familiar with a few of the major grocery markets, primarily Food Cellar near Gantry Plaza and Key Food on 21st and 44th Drive. Food Cellar is incredibly over-priced and Key Food is more reasonable, but the quality of their produce and meats is not so great. 

In my search for yet another option, a fellow parent at my children’s school told me about Food Bazaar. Open for almost a year now, Food Bazaar is located on Northern Blvd., previously a Pathmark. It was my first time there and I was blown away by the size of this place! There’s a large parking lot (not that I have a car) and it is open 24/7. If I had the time, I could’ve spent hours here, browsing the multiple aisles of food from all over the world. No exaggeration.

The appeal of Food Bazaar for me was that it was a happy medium between Food Cellar and Key Food. The aisles are spacious, unlike the cramped aisles of Key Food, and it has a much lower price point than Food Cellar. For example, sweet potatoes at Food Cellar cost $1.49/lb and at Food Bazaar, they cost $0.49/lb. Though Food Bazaar does not have the high-end gourmet vibe of Food Cellar, it does carry some of the very same products for less: there’s the Applegate and Al Fresco brands of no-nitrate meats, grass-fed organic meats, organic vegetables and fruits and gluten-free products as well. Because the targeted customer base seems quite diverse, the variety of produce is much more extensive. I noticed nopal, batata, all kinds of peppers, pear cactus, chayote, starfruit, persimmons and Florida avocados, to name a few. 

The aspect of Food Bazaar that outshines both Key Food and Food Cellar is the incredible selection of various ethnic products and ingredients. They have entire aisles devoted to different cuisines: Argentinian, Greek, Polish, Japanese, Korean, Dominican and many more. And if it wasn’t enough with the extensive produce section, there’s also a butcher, a seafood counter and a deli. If you have a car, clear out your trunk and head over there. You’ll come home with a treasure trove...right in time for Thanksgiving!