Bell Bates Company

So sad that Bell Bates closed this month (June 2013). RIP Bell Bates you will be missed.

Juice bar, vegan gluten-​free sandwiches, snacks, dry goods, fresh produce right on chambers can’t beat it! Great place to stop for lunch. The prices aren’t too bad.

I’ve been on my health food kick all week. I found a great healthfood store in Brooklyn near my FT job, but now I’m in lower Manhattan at my PT job and I needed to find the same. So I took to Unilocal to find a place that juiced veggies and had healthy eats. The first place that came up was Bell Bates, so I figured I’d try them today. The address on Unilocal has it a block in the opposite direction, so after realizing it wasn’t on that block I started looking for the address and I was sucessful.
Super quiet and dimly lit establishment. There were barely any patrons. After I went through the maze to find the juice counter to order my veggie juice, i placed my order and was delighted to see that they too had soy chicken patties. I order one to go with my carrot, apple, spinach and kale juice. The guy behind the counter wrote the prices of my order on a piece of paper and told me to pay and come back. When I did, my order was ready.
Usually when I order juice, I like to watch to make sure they put an adequate amount of greens in my juice. I do this because it takes more time to juice spinach and Kale AND it’s more expensive to juice them, because you have to use more of it to get any juice. So a lot of establishments don’t use a much. My juice was orange, and tasted like apple. It weren’t for the little green foam at the top, I wouldn’t even believe he put any greens in it at all. Major fail. Also, my soy pattie wasn’t as great as the spot i found in Brooklyn. It’s ok at best. Probably won’t buy it again.
I am going to do a little more research tomorrow to see if there is another store in the area that juices veggies.

A wonderful neighborhood health food market.
Excellent selection of coffee beans and spices.
Tons of bright, crisp produce.
Fresh and delicious juice and salad bars.
I needed to restock some of my less common spices. With fresh carrot ginger cucumber juice in hand, I found my spices here, at great prices.
Overall: Happy girl. Vitamin A RDI in check. Spice drawer restocked.

Hella impressive place for health-​conscious. Prepared foods and bulk products. It IS better than Whole Foods because its personal; compact; and uncrowded.

I agree Bell Bates is nice, and it’s got a calming atmosphere because it’s generally empty of shoppers. But Whole Foods is killing BB. I used to go here every weekend for the excellent produce and healthy food, but as BB’s customer base gravitated toward the splendiferous Whole Foods, BB’s produce section shrank to almost nothing (sad old withered overpriced organic things) Penelope J is right: If you need an obscure herb, BB is your go-​to store. But how many obscure herbs do you need? What’s really strange is that BB hasn’t done anything to try to compete. They still shut their doors at 7:00…too bad if you work for a living, and they’re closed on Sundays. How do they stay in business with that huge store in the middle of Tribeca?

Hidden gem! its on a side street so it’s easy not to know that such a place exists in the area. I would choose this place over whole foods any day!
great selection and at great prices + i love supporting family run and operated establishments, they really care about what the consumers want.

Bell Bates has a great juice bar with a wide variety of options to choose from as well as vitamins, books, sandwiches, wraps (try the Wheat Veggie jamaican patty!) and a variety of healthy grocery, dairy and frozen items. The fact that this is close to work is a big plus considering the lack of healthy options we have in the immediate area when it comes to lunch. They have a cashback program where in you get 5 dollars back for every 500 dollars you purchase (hey, at least it’s something, right?) and the folks there are super-​cool-​friendly. Quick Tip: If the line gets abnormally long by the register next to the Juice Bar, try the register at the other side of the store (by the vitamin counter)…and while you’re there, you can buy a lottery ticket (yes, they sell them as well). Hey, you never know! ;)

By far one of the leading health food stores I’ve seen in the metro New York area. They have such a diverse range of foods, vitamins, supplements, and spices. If you are looking for a hard-​to-​find item, chances are you will find it at Bell Bates. I recently have become very health conscious, and if you like freshly-​made vegetable/​fruit juices, their juice bar is top-​notch! I had an excellent experience there due to their knowledgeable and helpful staff. A definite gem of a store in Manhattan!

I love this store. Whole Foods used to be my go to place for herbals, but they do not have the obscure herbals I need. I called and found pleurisy root and Camu powder. Their prices are reasonable, and the employees really nice. I’m giving it 4 stars because one of the employees made a little snarky comment I didn’t like. But, other than that I love this store.

I got sick of the long lines at Wholefoods and now shop here for my healthy snacks. This store has a calming effect. My favorites are the dried mangoes. However, Wholefoods does have more variety and a very liberal return policy.

This is a great little health food store with friendly staff and a variety of hard-​to-​find natural and organic items… and the shopping experience is MUCH more pleasant than Whole Foods.

Love the juice bar!

I will never try to shop Bell Bates again. They are supposed to open at 9:00 A.M. I like to shop before work, but Bell Bates CONSISTENTLY opens late — 10 minutes, 20 minutes, but today a full 30 minutes. When I tried to complain to the manager, he was very rude, telling me he was on the phone!
The workers were all there before 9 — why not let them open?
Anyway — not worth the wait, or the rude help.
From now on I walk the extra 4 blocks to Whole Foods.

Bell Bates is unique — and particularly for the Tribeca neighborhood. I’ve been going since the mid-1970’s (before Tribeca was so chic and expensive) and one cannot beat the value and variety for spices, natural foods, and herbal and homeopathic products. The store’s move, expansion facelift have improved everything about its service. Knowlegeable staff, willing to order things that aren’t in stock. Now they even have a «frequent shopper» card, but I have no idea whether it will ever make a diff for me.

I don’t know what I would do without Bell Bates. I’ve been shopping there for over ten years and even big bad Whole Foods can’t keep me away. It’s always a fast, friendly shopping experience and you don’t have to scrutinize to see if something is organic and gmo-​free like you do at Whole Foods. Prices are comparable, sometimes less. Great deals. They are always updating their stock and are happy to try a new product that you recommend. The food and juice bars are great and there are three fresh soups every day. The entire staff is friendly — from the owners to the people stocking the shelves. Matthew, who you’ll find behind the vitamin counter, is incredibly knowledgable and patient. I trust his advice before most Western medical docs! Five stars, no question.

When i was little, my mom would drag me here during her lunch hours to get random healthy things. Echinecea, Charcoal, Vitamins, tea, etc. I thought this place stunk something awful– like healthy stuff. But when i got older, and a little more wiser, i walked into this joint for some natural herbs to fight a nasty cold.
The staff are so freaking smart! Ask them anything and they will pull out several things that would help you. I needed garlic and lots of it (did you know its a natural anitbiotic?) and along with the garlic they sold me some other stuff. I forget. But as i started to walk around, I found healthy snacks. Like the stuff you cant find at the bodega. BLUE CHIPS! yes! Veggie Chips! Vegan hot «dogs». And when i kept walking around, i eventually ended up at the salad bar.
I am usually not the kind of person to load up on overpriced salad bars but this price tag came with some healthy benefits. Chik’n nuggets, free range chicken, quinoa salad, roasted veggies, Vegan salads, etc. I felt guiltless loading up my plate with all these awesoem thigns to eat! And they were quite tasty too.
Now, would i ever give up a free range chicken breast for a slab of Terriyaki glazed Tempeh? Not on your life buddy– but its nice to healthify your diet every now and again.
I like it here.

I never knew this place existed — and it is not too far from my job — until I discovered it on Unilocal.So thanks to the Unilocal community I have been to this little gem of a store.
For Manhattan it is definitely a big health food store. I went the first time just to take a look and stocked up on some stuff. Some items were cheaper than Whole Foods — that is nice that a little store can do that.
I went back because I had to try the buffet. I was pleasantly surprised. It looks just OK — but it tasted wonderful and fresh. I wish they had more veggie selections — like more actual vegetables — like a raw salad bar or grilled veggies — but they do offer a decent selection. Everything I had was great — and filling. Most things were also vegan — including the mock meat dishes — so great for me.
Really — I loved everything I tried. So be sure to try this place for your self. It is a decent deal as well.
They also have cool and unusual items as well — things you will not see in your average health food store — so really — check them out. : —)

My co-​worker lives for their filo dough eggplant parm. wrap and Jamaican veggie patties. The workers are usually very nice.
I’m vegan and work down the street, so I’m here almost everyday.
They have a great assortment of pre-​made eggless veggie power sandwiches and Thai noodles, pretty good prices.

5 stars for being this good in this location. My requirements include trail mix, Clif bars, Nature’s Path cereal, and sliced bread from The Baker — they’ve got a great selection of all of these and at great prices. Can’t think of anything missing except longer hours.