One thing visitors quickly discover is that Upper East Siders take food shopping very seriously.
This is a neighborhood where people debate butcher shops, fish counters, bakeries, and prepared foods as intensely as they debate sports teams. In many parts of New York, grocery shopping is a chore. On the Upper East Side, it can become part of the day’s entertainment.
Butterfield Market remains one of the neighborhood’s great institutions. Whether you are shopping for a dinner party, picking up lunch, or looking for something special to bring to a friend’s house, it is difficult to leave empty-handed. It has the feel of a place that understands exactly what its neighborhood wants.
Citarella has long been a favorite among serious home cooks. The seafood counters are among the finest in the city, and simply walking through the store can be enough to inspire dinner plans. It is polished, reliable, and very Upper East Side in the best possible way.
For seafood lovers, however, one of the neighborhood’s best-kept secrets remains Roy’s Fish Market. Some people come for the fish. I come for the takeaway sushi. Better yet, I call ahead.
One evening I stopped by around 7:45 pm hoping to pick up some sushi before they closed at 8 pm. The only person in the store was behind the sushi counter, working briskly, meticulously preparing beautiful pieces of sushi for customers who had ordered earlier. When I asked if I could still order, he politely explained that he had another hour or two of work ahead of him.
That was all the endorsement I needed.
When I am looking for a serious piece of meat, I head to Leonard’s Sea Food & Prime Meats. My usual targets are the dry aged, prime porterhouse or New York strip, both of which I rank among the best steaks in the city. Over the years I have also taken home excellent duck, whole fish, prepared salads, soups, and plenty of things I was not planning to buy when I walked through the door.
First opened in 1910, Leonard’s butchers still dress in white shirt and dark tie, protected by white aprons. Orders are still scribbled onto butcher paper before being handed off to the cashier. Nothing about the experience feels optimized. Everything about it feels focused on quality.
A fair warning: it is not cheap, but the value proposition is excellent.
And then there is Fairway. Calling Fairway a grocery store feels inadequate. At its best, Fairway is an experience. Some can be turned off by the noise and the overwhelming energy of the store. I love it.
The produce seems to stretch forever. The olive and pickle bar is massive, and the cheese selection can overwhelm even committed foodies. Every aisle contains something you were not planning to buy until inspiration sparks. It is slightly frenzied, occasionally overcrowded, and endlessly entertaining.
In a city increasingly filled with polished, curated grocery stores, Fairway still feels wonderfully chaotic.
