Ragtime Gourmet Marketplace

I don’t really know why you are wasting your time reading this review, you should be on your way to Ragtime right now!
The food prepared here is top notch. Everything they make is delicious and fresh. I’m a big fan of their bread too. There marinated mozzarella balls never made it home I usually eat them in the car, that I’ve gotten smart and get 1 pound for the car and one for the house.
The supermarket portion is great for the Italian specialities you can’t get somewhere else but for the normal stuff go to a supermarket I’m sure they just carry it for the convenience but it’s defiantly pricey but whatever it’s cross bay Blvd and Howard beach everything is pricey.

Well to start things off, i have to say it must be good since I’ve eaten from here 3 times this week !!
I came for a sandwich and left with a sandwich… plus a rice ball, antipasto and stuffed peppers. The sandwich i chose was The Paisano which is a combination of mortadella, sopressata, prosciutto, imported provolone fresh mozzarella and roasted peppers. Its a full deli with tons of imported meats and cheeses so you can pretty much order whatever your tummy is screaming for !!
Every single thing was absolutely delicious, they also have Hot foods too but i havent tried them yet. One of the guys i work with tried the meatball hero and said it was Absolutely Incredible so ill take his word for it since everything else that I’ve tried was very good !
There’s also a full butcher, market for groceries and a bakery BUT i asked the girl if they were baked there in store and she said NO they get delivered from another bakery. I wish they baked their own pastries but hey its not my market !
SO WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT COME HERE HUNGRY BECAUSE BESIDES THE TASTE EVERYTHING LOOKS DELICIOUS AND YOU WILL END UP BUYING ALOT MORE THAN YOU CAN HANDLE !! Lol enjoy

Ragtime… what is this a laundromat? This place does not match its name! Once walking Inside — you’re in Italian Market amazement!
As soon as you walk in to the right you’re greeted with cakes, cookies & Italian pastries. Walk to the left and your have aisles of groceries & Italian delicacies.
Walk passed the aisles and you’re in Deli heaven. All the meats, cheeses, prepared salads to «ready to go» packed food that all you have to do is heat up at home your little heart desires. They make sandwiches & they don’t upset. You get your money worth! There’s even raw meat for your BBQ needs.
I saw a review about the cashiers aren’t the friendliest… that person is correct, they aren’t. But, I’m not looking to get a massage, just to pay for my delights & leave! Parking is available but scarce… So between that and the name– they lose a star. But come & enjoy!

Love this place! I don’t know why there are so many negative reviews. I come in here at least once a week, and everything is always delicious. The lines can be a little long, but that’s a good sign! There is one lady in particular in the deli section that always makes me the best sandwiches, and is super friendly.
Love this place and I will continue giving them my business!
By the way– I’ve never seen this place «dirty or smelly», it’s always clean.

Went for a to-​go sandwich for the flight back to LA; this place is just a few miles from JFK airport in Queens. It’s a gourmet supermarket with a nice bakery, fruits & veg, meat counter, and deli counter. Upscale but not pretentious, just good quality stuff.
Ordered the roast beef and mozzarella hero…
The friendly counter guy wrapped it in three layers and it stayed just perfect, all the way home. Absolutely great sandwich by the way. Sesame seed egg-​based hero roll was unexpectedly fantastic. The perfectly pink and delectable roast beef was about as good as it gets (and I’m really picky about my rb), an enticing large portion but not some gluttonous insult. Reminded me of the great roast beef houses in Boston, same quality. The mozzarella was great but not as memorable as the roast beef or the bread.
Highly recommend this place.

I’ve been to Ragtime a few times in the past, and I am just not impressed and it seems to be going downhill. I don’t see the hype of it. The cashiers aren’t the happiest, workers seem to be disrespected by management, and they are pretty overpriced. Trying to find parking here is ridiculous, there is not getting into the parking lot. I’ll stick with other delis in the area.

What happen to this store? Ragtime was always the place for top quality food and service. Don’t know why it has changed but it’s sad. The employees don’t wanna be bothered and if you interupt the «manager» while he watches tv to complain, you’re sure to be ignored. I don’t give ragtime much longer you have lost my business and one by one you will continue to lose customers.

I don’t understand the negative reviews, I would say this is the best Italian deli in Howard beach. Of course, anybody can slice Boar’s Head cold cuts, but the house-​made turkey and several types of roast beef are also excellent. Prepared foods are generally terrific, they have the best tuna and red skin potato salads in the area (and I’ve tried them all!). I also recommend the eggplant salad.
We’ve also ordered meats from the butcher for holiday dinners, such as stuffed, seasoned leg of lamb, fresh pork roast, and veal roast, and have never been disappointed.

The food at Ragtime is great, but the customer service behind the counter SUCKS. I have worked in hospitality management and customer service industry most of my adult career, and everytime this woman behind the counter helps me, i get a stank attitude. Im sorry, but if you dont like working with people, customer service is NOT for you. I ordered a panini, but i wanted to get a few things tweaked to it, granted i got what i wanted, but i felt like i was being annoying because i didnt want what was exactly on the sandwich. I AM PAYING for YOU to make my food… do it with a smile on your face and say Yes, ma’am instead of being obnoxious about it. definitely not called for. I also got a ½ pound of red bliss potato salad. I asked for it with not as much sauce in it… she says.“i cant help the situation with the sauce” …its not that hard to take a slotted spoon, and ring out a little bit of the sauce. not a big deal. I love coming to ragtime, but not when you have rude people working there.

This is Howard Beach’s supermarket. It has a tremendous selection of staple items with a special focus on products that the local Italian community needs and wants. They have been around for a long time and know what they are doing. Great cold cuts, sandwiches too!

While I think that Ragtime is a cute little Italian deli/​grocery, I get really annoyed with the high prices. Their prepared products are nowhere near as good as Valentino’s in Ridgewood, and they’ll charge between $ 10 and $ 12 a sandwich. I’ve never really seen anything on sale, and their produce and frozen sections are extremely expensive. If you have the money and no other grocery alternatives near you, I guess it’s okay. However, you can find most of what they have at Waldbaum’s, to be honest.

Wonderful deli. Sandwiches are great! Would reccomend the Paisano and Howard Beach. Store is very clean, the prices aren’t terrible. Staff isn’t friendly but are helpful and definitely not rude. Meat, cheese and bread selection the best in Howard Beach!

I had to leave a star but it should be zero stars. If you want an overpriced salad with brown lettuce, or a crunchy egg salad, or stale fruit cups then this is the place to go.
They have pre-​made salads and fruit cups by the beverage case. DON’T BUY IT !!!
In the back at the deli counter its a large assortments of foods that are not always fresh, the crunchy egg salad is also in the back. They have too much food prepared to sell in one day. A lot of the food is sold the next day.
Go some place else, save your money, time and stomach.

Great sandwiches. A must stop place for sandwiches on the way to the beach.

This review is for the grocery section, not the deli in the back. Never go to the deli in the back. The market part, however, has a very good selection of canned, jarred, and packaged foods imported from Italy — real imported foods that are marketed to the European market, not the usual «made there, packaged for here» stuff. And its cheaper than at Buon Italia in Chelsea or Eataly [shudder].

While I have seen Ragtime for years when here in NY visiting family, we never went in until this past April 2012 on our way to JFK. We were leaving for Europe, we hate airplane food. We were pleasantly surprised but the delicious, huge sandwiches we got.
So this time on our way to the airport to go home, we stopped in and it was actually my first time in the store (last time I waited in the car). the place is clean and impressive. I could not believe the grocery selection, the bakery selection and of course my favorite was the deli. I swear if I had more room in the suitcase I would have bought way more. I anticipate that our sandwiches on the flight tonight will be amazing and everyone around us will be jealous.
Why only 4 stars? The service was horrible. We were being helped by a younger woman with a long blond ponytail. If you go in avoid her. I noticed that in the time it took her to make 2 sandwiches (about 25 minutes) the other staff saw 2, 3 or even 4 people depending on the order. I would say management really needs to do better training with her. You cannot take 5 minutes just to walk 10 feet. It pisses off the customers needing to catch a flight and everyone else.

been here a few times and a few times i had a serious case of the runs right after eating rag time heroes. looks to be semi clean to me. the «fresh baked bread» is in a word «bad» maybe hire a new baker i don’t know.
the deli people stand around grab-​assing and gossiping and when they finally notice you standing there they make sure you feel that not only is your order a nuisance to their day but you should read the board and order off it not tell them to change the sandwiches to your liking i.e.:adding mustard, changing cheese type, or leaving off lettuce. you know all real difficult things to do.
the place smells pretty bad almost like that sweaty bum foot. I guess with all the cheese types on display and for sale but open a window or turn on a fan. i’m not a cheese guy and know nothing about the stuff but it seems the cheese doesn’t sell very well in this place. maybe deep six the cheese and see what happens.
the parking lot is a rubiks cube AVOID IT. make the right hand turn and park on a side street in front of someone’s house. the place also has a newsstand next door by the same name but the reading selection in the place is on par with the checkout stand at path mark. WTF?
a bakery? a sandwich shop? a gourmet deli? a supermarket? they do all four badly.
the only people who like/​support this place are the locals who grew up in howard beach and were weened on this stuff.
AVOID THIS PLACE… unless you need to lose 8lbs in the next 24 hrs.

I have had sandwiches here and they have been pretty good. Nice bread and fresh Boars Head cold cuts. The «paisano» was a nice and tasty sandwich.

place is filthy, avoid it, they are a ‘market’ technically so they don’t get the same inspections by the board of health