Greenbay Marketplace Inc.

This marketplace is terrible. Although they have a lot of products I would say 20% to 30% of what they sell is organic while 85% to 95% of what they promote is that they are organic. I got a fresh juice from there the other day and every single vegetable looked old, each fruit was changing colors, and then I saw the girl go grab extra spinach from the marketplace and did not care to rinse it and blended into my juice. There used to be a local grocery store around the block called C town which closed and since it’s closed their prices went up even more.
I got an organic tomato for $ 5. I would say that their pricing is 25% to 30% more than whole foods for their products.
Lots of people say the same thing as they’re walking in and out of the store SO EXPENSIVE! However, everyone seems to go there for the convenience. So if you need something and you need something quick then I would recommend this place but if it could wait plan a trip to any other organic or regular supermarket and save a lot of money.
The staff is great and friendly however the owners and the family members that help run it are extremely rude.

Really used to like this place, and I could be totally imagining this, but it seems like prices have risen quite a bit lately. Love that it’s open 24/​7, but I’m able to find pretty much anything they sell there — even the organic items — somewhere else in the neighborhood for a good deal cheaper. I think all of their expansions have finally caught up to them, and as a result, they’ve had to jack up prices. Just my theory. If true, it’s unfortunate!

I liked this market before but today is the second time when they sold me a spoiled squid, a while ago it was a spoiled fish and I don’t really understand how is that possible not to check on something you sell. Those guys are absolutely careless, they don’t know what js happening in their own store. It’s not a cheap store by the way which makes this situation even worse. And when you return something they look at you like you’re an idiot and start asking question why you brought it back… Well, I guess they just lost one more customer…

Alright. I’ve given this place plenty of tries, and I’ve just experienced the last straw. Their dried, boxed goods are fine – the prices are what they are, but they’re fine. They’re prepackaged and you can trust them. But their prepared foods? Buyer beware: their produce is always a day or two away from spoiling, even if the date says otherwise, and I have SERIOUS concerns about hygiene since I just found a dead ant in some pre-​cut mango and pineapple. Now, I’m a pretty easy-​going person and I’m not easily bothered by food things, but this is too much. I’m done with you, Greenbay. It’s bad enough that your stock is never consistent and you’re always re-​stocking during the early evening rush hour, but insects in your food? Seriously? Where’s the DOH on this?

I really love greenbay and feel grateful to have an organic/​natural market that is big like this one close by.
They have a very big selection of produce, which is 98% of the time very fresh due to the high traffic of shoppers. Plenty of organic options.
Also many vegetarian/​vegan items.
They have an onsite cheese monger and butcher– both with nice selections.
For the most part, they are on par with whole foods prices, and of course more expensive than trader Joe’s. They are clearly a family business so I don’t mind paying a few bucks extra for the location convenience then schlepping from TJ’s or Whole Foods.
They have a good selection of salad/​hot bar as well. Fresh sushi and deli as well.
One of their great perks is they are open ²⁴⁄₇ and from what I’ve seen, open on Holidays as well.
When I first started coming here the employees were quite rude, but this has definitely changed over the past year and they are much more friendly than before.
Again, very very happy this Market is in Astoria!!!

In terms of selection and quality, it’s okay. I haven’t been particularly wowed by the produce, although I am grateful that this place exists and that they have certain products that you can’t find at the local Trade Fair or C-​Town. The re-​stocking staff is generally nice and helpful.
The main issue for me is that you have to be diligent about double-​checking what you’re being rung up for. The past four times I’ve been to Greenbay, I’ve either been wrongly or doubly-​charged. Last month, one of the cashiers entered my green cabbage as $ 4.99/lb rather than $ 0.69, and nearly charged me $ 13 for it. This past weekend, they double-​charged me for chicken sausage. They don’t do it intentionally, but I think they can be careless.

I really really want to like Greenbay Market and I do (sometimes), it’s just there are times where I find myself wondering if it’s worth it. Though it’s really close to my apartment, it’s open ²⁴⁄₇ and it has a great selection of food so I end up going there a lot. I mean there’s endless types of butter, protein isn’t too expensive, there’s a wide variety of stuff and I love that it’s all organic. The staff are pretty nice. I like that they have so many varieties of veggies, fruits, teas, etc. Their cheese counter is amazing and the butchers are pretty nice. If you’re gluten free or vegan, they have lots of products for you, which I think is nice (though I’m neither. carbs and bacon 5ever). They have cheap filling sandwiches which are good, despite the fact that it takes some time to get them.
The reason why it only gets 3 stars? Because every time I buy fresh produce or dairy? It ends up in the trash within the week because it goes bad/​moldy. Even before the darned thing hits the expiration date. It’s true. I would buy milk and it says it expires say two weeks from the day I buy it. The mouth of the milk container would start smelling around the 3^rd or 4^th day and by the 7^th day the milk would be gloopy. Like when I poured it down the drain it looked like yogurt. Ew. Maybe it’s my fridge temperature, but it’s strange how fast the milk goes bad. The milk I buy from C Town or Trader Joe’s lasts a longer. In a pinch I’ll pick up milk here and try to use is ASAP by making ice cream or something, but other times I’ll go to C Town down the street. Another time, I bought some berries, I ended up picking through the container and throwing out moldy berries the day I bought them and basically throwing them all out the next day. We’ve ended up with moldy protein products too, that was weird and kind of gross.
They don’t sell pork products, which is kind of a downer. Also the stuff they stock tends to be inconsistent. So you can go in one day and buy a specific product and the next day find that it’s not there.
Finally, the pricing isn’t very consistent and sometimes some things are just ridiculously overpriced. You can get a half gallon milk for $ 2.99 or European butter for $ 3~$ 5 or even half a pound of ground beef for like $ 4, which is not bad. But as a home baker, I’ve noticed that the prices for baking supplies and other dry goods are absurdly high. Flours can be upwards of $ 6 (with almond flour being $ 14), chocolate chips are $ 6 to $ 10 depending on the brand, the eggs will have a price tag for $ 3.49 or something, but when they ring me up they show up costing $ 5, frozen dinners are ridiculously priced too. The Amy’s burritos which are like $ 2 at Whole Foods are like $ 6 here. For a frozen burrito. I mean it’s not much, but considering that you end up throwing out half fresh produce you bought because it goes bad so quick.

As another reviewer said, this place is the «Whole Foods» of Astoria. I don’t do all of my grocery shopping here (mainly because it is a little pricey), but this place is perfect for the random speciality items you might need and can’t find at a typical grocery store.
PROs:
–They have many dairy free items, vegan items, and gluten free items.
–They also sell fresh pressed juices and many of their pre-​made meals are delicious.
–They do a good job of listing all of the ingredients on their pre-​made items. Which is nice for people with food allergies.
CONs:
–Items don’t always ring up at the price they are listed at.
–Several times I’ve gone in and their card machine isn’t working so you have to pay with cash or leave your stuff behind.
Overall, it’s nice to have a speciality store like this one in Astoria.

Every other time I go to Greenbay I regret it. I really don’t know why I keep coming back. Maybe because it is actually fairly clean and well lit, probably because it is 24h and very conveniently located.
I haven’t really experienced the rudeness that other people on here have reported. Some of the cashiers in fact are quite nice. What I can confirm, however, is rapid and even premature spoiling of produce. I’ve been mischarged, overcharged at least twice — after checking out, walking home, I’m sometimes a little incredulous of how much I spent (call it Whole Foods syndrome), only the items I purchase aren’t numerous or individually expensive. Upon inspection, at home, the receipt reveals a mistake: overcharge of produce or mistaken duplicate of an item. In recent trips I’ve closely watched the monitor as I’ve been rung up. That seems to have mitigated the issue, or otherwise they have simply taken note, reading their Unilocal page, that their customers have wizened up.
I’d give Greenbay one star because it’s angered me more than any other establishment I’ve been to more than once. Giving it two stars because that way I at least don’t feel like so much of an idiot for going back from time to time. The one true positive of Greenbay, besides convenience, is that they do have a great beverage section — everything from stumptown cold brews, lots of coconut waters, to all kinds of kombucha (basically, drinks that you may not be able to find elsewhere in the immediate area).

This store is incredibly well located and so I keep giving it a shot but I’ve had my last bad experience. Their prices are higher than almost anywhere else in Astoria (a few months ago they were selling Tofurky sausages for $ 10 when they sell for $ 3 at Trader Joe’s)
Today I decided to stop by after the gym to buy bananas for a post-​workout smoothie. They are .20 more per pound than anywhere else in Astoria (like Trade Fair) but because they supposedly take ApplePay I decided to stop by since I don’t bring my wallet to the gym.
I was told that there was a $ 5 minimum for the transaction. In the past, twice ApplePay wasn’t «working» when my transactions were near $ 20. And every time, the cashier gives you attitude.
For the high premium you charge over other places in Astoria you should be more flexible and offer better customer service. After four bad experiences I’ll be shopping elsewhere.

I’m here on a near-​daily basis for fruit, vegetables, fancy cheese, premade quinoa and sushi. Great selection of chocolates from all over the world as well. Borderline obsessed with this place.

I’ve had great luck with their produce, and I find they stock a lot of hard-​to-​find specialty grocery products and I really appreciate that.
But the pros end there. The seafood is completely flavorless and the group of men in the back always make me feel extremely uncomfortable when I go to ask for help on anything. I always feel like they’re laughing at me for some reason… I also have to say the counter help at the deli is useless. I ordered a pound of roast beef and half a pound of swiss, had to reiterate my order three separate times for the girl handling it, and then ultimately when I got home to make myself a sandwich I realized she’d given me corned beef. The thought of having to go back there with the deli meat and explain myself was not worth the $ 11 I paid for it.
In a pinch I’ll get grocery items here, but otherwise I stick to their produce and buy everything else from Fresh Direct.

For the most part, this place is ok. Good selection of produce which is pretty fresh most of the time, a bunch of organic products if you’re into that, a sushi bar, etc. Let’s also not forget their delicious line up of foreign chocolates.
Not only that, but now they have a brand new store across the street where they can expand their natural products selection (vitamins, skin care, etc) even more. In other words, Greenbay Marketplace is not doing too bad for itself. Which leads me to this:
WHY in 2015 are you still requiring a minimum to use a credit or debit card?
Let’s break it down: Just about everything in an organic store is going to be expensive. So chances are the vast majority of your sales are going to be over $ 5 per transaction. Maybe the bodega on the corner could get away with requiring a minimum since most transactions are going to be under $ 5 (but again, MAYBE. It’s 2015. WHY are we even still using cash? It’s stupid. But I digress…)
So I come in to pick up some cilantro for a chicken avocado burrito dish I have in mind and happen to see a banana bread clifbar I’ve been wanting to try. It’s been really hard to find that flavor, so I’m excited. Get to the register and the total is $ 3.38. I go to use my debit card and am stopped. $ 5 minimum. Check my wallet and there is $ 2. Because I refuse to support this practice and buy more stuff to reach the minimum, I put back the clifbar and just take the cilantro, which at $ 1.49 I can cover with my $ 2 cash.
I did a quick bit of research, and the average cost per credit card transaction is 2%. SO! Instead of losing .07 cents on the $ 3.38 transaction, they lost $ 1.89 since I put back the other item. How on earth is this a win for them?
I want to say «get with the future», but really it’s «get with the present!» I mean, Greenbay accepts Apple Pay! For a store raking in lots of moola on expensive organic food, they can absolutely afford to drop the archaic credit card minimum.
Another tip for Greenbay: When an athlete is hungry, and you deny said athlete food, you’re probably going to end up with a bad review on Unilocal.:)

My biggest upset with this place is how overpriced they are. In a way that I feel is taking advantage of people. You can go to MANY other organic stores in Astoria and spend a decent amount less for the exact same thing.
I’ve noticed them increase prices on items that seem to be selling by twice as much. Twice as much! That’s disrespectful and dishonest. There are other organic stores in Astoria which do business in an honest, respectable, ‘community aware’ manner. Sai Organics on 30^th ave keeps their prices reasonable. As does The Natural Frontier on Ditmars.
This place has a great selection and a wonderful atmosphere, but be reasonable and respectful with your prices. Take care of your customers. We are a community, and every business that comes in and jacks up their prices moves us closer and closer to becoming the new gentrified and overly priced Williamsburg.

This place is very dangerous.
Pros: Fantastic variety of organic and specialty items. Yes, I could search for the same European items in this store at that (Astoria does have an amazing diversity of shops) but this place is the Whole Foods that Astoria doesn’t have. Like a much smaller, slightly more expensive version of WF. And they keep expanding, now with a cheese section and butcher section. Save my wallet — please!
If you’re a foodie like me DO NOT walk in here without a plan. 5 different kinds of European butters?! I walked in for milk and spent $ 21 and I held back.
Cons: So today I bought something that was priced as $ 3.79 on every bottle and was charged $ 5.49. I didn’t realize it till I got home. I would normally be THAT person and bring it back to squabble but today the 10 blocks, 2 avenues and snow is not gonna be worth it.
Watch out for incorrect pricing.
Also, what may be here one week may not be here again. I noticed they’re running low on my instant nescafe individual packets. .69 people! Don’t judge. Doesn’t look like they’re going to be refilling anytime soon.
So if you’re looking for something specific or want to make an impression on someone with a nice gourmet basket, then stop on in. But I would avoid this place for everyday shopping.

First the good — they have a ton of gluten-​free and organic food, plus their frozen section has a great selection of vegetarian foods, especially pre-​packaged meals and meat substitutes, if that’s what you’re into. They also have a pretty wide selection of cheeses, which I haven’t actually bought yet but they look yummy. It’s not cheap, but what do you expect for natural and organic food?
However, I’m only giving them 2 stars because their produce is terrible. I’ve been three times and every time I buy produce that looks fine, but when I bring it home it’s mostly rotten. It’s especially frustrating because I purposely go there to buy organic produce even though it’s more expensive, but I wind up just throwing it away. Really disappointing.

When I don’t have time to stop by my favorite spot Trader Joe’s when I’m heading back from Long Island I hit up good ol’ Greenbay market in Astoria. It consistently has a pretty good selection of organic fruits and vegetables (based on season of course) and other healthy options.
I must say their cheese section does not disappoint me. I mean it’s no whole foods but you can find a variety of different funky cheeses here, which I’m into.
They also have a prepared foods bar that has everything from veggies to pasta to proteins. The food is pretty good, nothing out of this world but it gets the job done for a busy night when you don’t feel like cooking.
I also appreciate the selection they have in the frozen section. I can always find gluten free options andddd Graeter’s ice cream for my down home Cincinnati fix.
Greenbay is a solid market if you are looking for organic options at a decent price. You can find everything you would need to make a healthy and gourmet at home dinner.

I absolutely would love to hate Greenbay Marketplace (GM) because they are obnoxiously overpriced for the neighborhood they serve. Not only do I not hate GM, I’m a frequent customer. Virtually everything they sell – organic or otherwise – may be found and bought for less at stores situated within about five or so blocks from GM. But in my humble opinion there’s isn’t another store that offers all that GM offers in one location. So if like me you enjoy Periere’s bubbles be prepared to shell out on average 20% more at GM ($ 2.40 v. $ 1.99).
So why pray-​tell do I keep subjecting myself to heftier price-​points you may ask? Here’s the dictionary definition of my madness:
Con·ven·ience
(knvēnyns)
noun
1. the state of being able to proceed with something with little effort or difficulty.
So there you have it folks: Convenience. Convenience makes «El Cheapo» (as I’ve been recently Christened by a reader of my Flo Café review) do things that he otherwise wouldn’t do; like pay a hefty premium for goods.
GM has lots of very good and premium organic stuff all under one roof. So much so that I would do a wholesale disservice to GM if I attempted to put together a partial list. But instead here are the typical listings found on my ‘honey-​do list’: truffle pecorino cheese, USDA prime steaks, organic toothpaste and smoothies. You simply can’t get all this stuff in any other market. Moreover, their primo-location’s rent can’t be cheap. So if I like being able to do one-​stop-​shopping (and I do) then I must shell out some more shekels; and I do albeit begrudgingly.

I have been living in Astoria for some time and Greenbay has turned into an incredible surprise for the neighborhood. First off, they have doubled in size and started offering meats, seafood and a deli section. I like to think of the place as a mini Whole Foods, just without the high ticket price.
The staff is nice, but not super friendly. They seem to rush you at the register, but who can blame them. The place is busy and there is lots to do. Be sure to stop by for sandwiches to-​go and their hot buffet line. I certainly do after a late night in the office.

I just got home from this supermarket. I bought some cooked food at the food bar. I couldn’t finish it and I got the little box. The salmon looks so good and flavored nice but it’s so dry. I literally drink water to wash it down every single bite. The organic quinoa salad is not though.
The organic items is doubled the price so I don’t even have to look for organic signs. I like organic produce because I just got off of a cleanse and want to put good things in my body but my choices was very limited. I will tick to whole foods and trader joe’s.