Compare Foods

They usually have what I need and I haven’t had a problem with produce not being fresh or anything. My first complaint are that the check out lines can really build up and they usually only have two out of the three registers going. The other thing that really really annoys me is that they always have huge boxes of items in the aisles! They are in basically all of the aisles, which makes the tight squeeze even more narrow. I’m always having to dodge people and wait to let people pass. The boxes also block half of the products on the shelves. How are we supposed to go grocery shopping and get what we need when boxes are blocking everything?
That said, I never come here for a lot of things. I usually just come in for a few things that I know they have. For what it’s worth, I think they have a pretty decent beer selection, but it’s annoying that that’s what they chose to take up a whole section of shelving.
**Update on 2÷7÷16: came in to get things to make brownies and they don’t even have chocolate chips. Extremely disappointed. One star. Cashiers are NOT friendly.

This place is disgusting. There was mold all
Over the grapes just sitting on the shelf and no one cared, I bought an avocado and the next day it he mold on it as well. I mean really disgusting. Avoid this place as much as you can it isn’t safe.

Expired food, inflated prices, and the rudest cashier of all time? What’s not to love??! Except literally every single thing about this place.

Terrible. I went there to pick up juniors cheesecake for a last minutw party plan. There was green mold all over the cheesecakes in the desserts section. I took out about 5 of them and placed it on the register so the manager could see. I don’t know how often they check the food there. The cashier said they change the cakes every 2 weeks. Which probably means every month… The bread they sell is past the expiration date. Com’on! Really? Everything is about $ 1.00 overpriced. Except the drinks section. The deli guy gave me a soggy hero. Wet bread dude? Yuck! The cashiers are rude and careless but checkout is fast. Price is wrong on a lot of items so when I get to the register they claim it’s a different price. Wtf! Get it together over there. Sucks it conveniently a block from my house.

They have an aisle of packaged foods that is dedicated to the Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, hipster set. The prices are OUTRAGEOUS.
An 8oz container of almond butter is $ 8.99. That’s more than $ 1 an ounce. Gas is $ 3 a gallon people!
However, if you just come for peppers, onions, rice and beans, it is really fairly priced. I just don’t buy any meat here.
I’ve walked out with a bag of vegetables and potatoes and cooked for 4 for under $ 20.
Also, ignore the complaints about it being hard to navigate the aisles. It doesn’t take much effort to say, «permiso» and the dudes will move stuff and let you by.

When I moved to Brooklyn I loved Compare Foods. Coming from the Upper East Side, my grocery bill was practically cut in half. Over the past year though, the quality here has gone way way down.
I’ve purchased a six pack of beer with one bottle completely empty with the cap placed back on, maple syrup with a hole in the bottom, expired burger buns and milk, I am constantly surprised at the disappointments from shopping here. I don’t like to bash small businesses, but I do think with a little more attention to quality, Compare Foods could rise back up to being an acceptable grocer again. For now, I’m ordering Fresh Direct.

I actually like the quality of this grocery. Prices vary from more expensive to less than my regular store. However it pisses me off when the entire isles are blocked for stocking in the middle of the day. Can this not be done at night after closing? I had planned to buy a few days worth of groceries and just got stuff for tonight because I couldn’t navigate around the store and the guys will. not. move. out of the way. Plus the cashiers always have an attitude every time I’ve been here.

Somewhere between «meh» and «eh,» but it’s your local market and doesn’t present itself as anything more than that.

I’ve watched this store change over the last 10 years as the ‘hood gentrified with yuppies, buppies and Pratt students. The good thing is that you can now recognize cuts of meat and that Crisco’s Lard product placement (and possible volume) has become less prominent.
However, the bad is that prices are sky high because they are taking advantage of not only the demographic change, but also reaming those that use Benefits subsidy cards to buy their groceries. These days I see students and pseudo-​Billyburg hipsters whipping them out… WTF?! So, the regular out-​of-​pocket Joe or Josephine gets screwed.
Also, if you buy deli meats/​cheeses, your risk of contracting some horrible salmonella or similar bacterial infection is very high. All the prepared foods are kept uncovered as well as many of the deli meats. I’ve also seen them cut off the rotten casings of cold cuts and have the balls to keep it in the case for consumption. Today is 11÷12÷13, there is a super-​gross section of Mortadella in the case has looks like a massive chopped up toe… the outside was rotting so they cut it off and it’s still in the case. Oh… and that big leg of Proscuitto… it’s been in there for over 2 months and it usually sits face down in the case unwrapped in some sticky slime. How has the health dept NOT shut them down or not investigated them for price gouging?
Hope springs eternal…

In this corner: C-​Town on the corner of DeKalb and Taaffe. And in this corner: Compare Foods. DING DING DING, FIGHT, WINNER: COMPARE FOODS!
Compare Foods is a perfectly good grocery store, full of Products. The foods they sell are comparable, and that’s it.
Seriously though, the produce is good and the prices are good and there’s a White People Ethnic Foods aisle that has the stupid organic crap that I like.
When I’m entertaining, I like to order from FreshDirect, whose quality and convenience is unbeatable. But if I’m just trying to get some pasta and a box of pudding mix then Compare Foods is where it’s at.
$ 10 card minimum.

This place doesn’t really deserve a 2 star rating. This store is around the corner for me and I drop by here almost daily and so do a lot of my friends.
I mostly stick to cornflakes, various spreads (peanut butter etc.), milk, eggs (8x free roaming for 4.99), some fresh produce (tomatoes, mushrooms, potatoes, onions), various canned produce (veggies, beans etc.), drank, chips and occasionally bread. I’m a vegetarian so I ignore the meat/​fish section.
The cashiers are friendly and generally less distracted than those at other places, prices are pretty comparable to other nearby supermarkets (and include tax) though the cookies are a bit expensive, the fresh produce section is fine overall and they have good specials /​discounts from time to time.
The other options in the neighborhood I know of are: Pioneer, Chestnut, GreenFresh and the various delis. Haven’t tried Associated and C-​Town. I have started going to Scratch down on Bedford for real bread though.

Hmmm, Compare Foods is AIGHT.
Last night it was so hot, I was famished and too cheap to order take out so I decided to visit Compare Foods. I had never been to this chain before so I didn’t know what to expect. However, I did not expect for this «supermarket» to be so damn small! Aisles were narrow, corners were tight and there were products in every inch of supermarket. Jeez! Well, there were some shelves that were completely bare due to weekly discounts on select items.
Anyway, I came mostly for veggies, fruit and a few other staples. I would NOT trust their meat or fish department. You’re better off going to Pioneer, PathMark or an actual fish market. The vegetables, although several cents more expensive than my normal go to supermarket, looked just fine. I loved how fresh everything looked, especially the basil, thyme and green/​red lettuce. Actually, the veggies and fruits looked better than those offered at Pioneer which always seem to be half rotting before you reach the check out line.
19 items for $ 32. I was shocked at how low the price was considering I paid for blueberries ($ 2.99) and raspberries ($ 3.49) which are normally expensive as hell. I was also thrilled to find a place that finally sells Japanese sweet potatoes. (the ones sold here also look better than Pioneer.) No more harassing my mother to buy me some at the Brooklyn Co-​op!
I would only come back if I was in a bind and needed to restock my veggies and fruit supply. Scratch that, I would come back for only veggies and fruit, especially that jasmine sweet potato, YUM!

Compare Foods? Compare your mother. I am still fuming from the fact that I somehow spent $ 44 here last night on… nothing. Regular grocery items that would have cost me half the price at any of the other local groceries. I rue the fact that I was too lazy to cross Dekalb and go on over to GreenFresh. I suppose it’s karma.
The produce here sucks, but somehow I managed to pick out a mostly-​not-​wrinkled couple of tomatoes, a very waxy cucumber, and a head of greenleaf lettuce which was perfectly fine. Along with these obviously very rare and exotic foods, I bought a jar of pasta sauce, Morning Star Farms fake «chick’n» nuggets, a tin of Café Bustelo, a bag of tortilla chips, hummus, a box of hot cereal, a jar of pesto, and a Vitamin Water. Are you KIDDING ME? FORTY FOUR DOLLARS?! I basically wanted to die and I might have even choked a little when the cashier told me the total. I definitely did a double take.
This place is fine, with the exception of the produce, which is unacceptable. It’s like a mini Associated — but way more esspensive. I usually just stop in here for a bottle of water or something so I had no idea, when I decided to get groceries last night while doing laundry, that I was going to be so very shafted. This is BedStuy, son! We’re not rich people!
If you want my advice, run across Bedford to the other side of Dekalb and hit up GreenFresh. They have way better stock for way less price.
Super sad face.