Pusateri’s Fine Foods

I got a slice of the napoleon cake and it was stale. I expect a fresh slice not an overnight pastry for that price.

Service is absolutely terrible. Of the few times I’ve come here to grab cakes/​pastries, I’ve always had to try pretty hard to get the attention of someone to assist. And when i get to the checkout counters, the staff seemed annoyed that they could no longer stand around to chat. Also, their lattes/​matcha lattes are weak and flavourless.

They have a nice selection of pastries, but omg, please do something about the flies! Some interesting items but usually super overpriced compared to other places. On top of that, customer service is CONSISTENTLY bad!!! I’ve never been there once without seeing some employees chatting and ignoring customers. Never ever a friendly face there… :s Even the manager sucks and doesn’t seem to care. Pretty disappointing for something that is supposed to be a «high-​end» grocery store. So when I ever need something, I’d rather drive to Whole Food’s that offers a much nicer experience for half of the price! :)

I’ve had a few bad experiences with Pusateri’s over the years however the most recent one has solidified the fact that I likely won’t every shop there again.
I purchased a loaf of Leah’s Sour Cream Loaf which had a best before date of 5 days after the day of purchase. Got it home and tried to slice it and it fell apart, the topping stuck to the bottom of the cardboard loaf pan it was baked in and could not be scraped off and when we tasted it, we noticed it tasted really, really fishy. Into the garbage it went — $ 9.99 down the drain. I sent an e-​mail to Pusateri’s immediately that night and 5 days later have not heard back. Their customer service is sorely lacking.
On the same day I bought the Sour Cream Loaf I also bought several other groceries. The snap peas, which had a best before date of a week out, were dried out and tasted really old. They too went in the garbage as they were not edible. I also purchased some pre-​packaged organic lettuce which I noticed was all brown and shrivelled once the package was opened — and it tasted bad.
While Pusateri’s does have some lovely fruits and veggies, and prepared foods, this last experience will be my last visit there. Anyone wanting to do a bit of shopping at Bayview Village would be much better off going to Loblaws which is at the other end of the mall.

Picked up a chocolate ganache carrot cake from them this week. Heavenly! I wish they put a layer of cream cheese frosting inside or offer it on the side. Otherwise, I would give them 5 stars.

I used to think that the pastry section has the best items and it’s more appealing than some bakeries. The variety of cakes and sugary treats and the precision on the decoration of some of these pastries is remarkable. However, I recently purchased a Vanilla Cake with flower decorations for Mother’s Day, and although it looks well decorated unfortunately it did not meet my expectation of freshness.
This is a super expensive and upscale grocery store.

Mixed feelings about this place. Yes, they have some specialty foods, and yes, I do realize that carrying those foods (with their limited consumer market) makes their products more expensive. I would assume, however, that given that «Fine Foods» is in their name, their produce would be fresher. The chayote melons ($ 2.99/lb) and their bell peppers (didn’t check the price on these) would not have wrinkly skin. That being said, they have these little desserts with hazelnut meringue and chocolate starting at $ 1.99, I believe. I haven’t tried them out, but they look amazing.
Bought Heinz apple cider vinegar here today. For $ 2.99, I’ll say not everything here is too expensive.
BTW, I believe that in their bakery section, their bread pudding is $ 6.99/lb, whereas in their ready-​made foods section, it’s $ 7.99/lb.

We like this location for their desserts, sandwiches and take out food items. We love their red velvet cupcakes although once in a while they are dry. Their red velvet cake is often dry so we stay away from them now. Carrot cake seems to be better in the last few times we bought.

Closer to home than the Avenue Road location and replicates that small European market feel, but unfortunately the service here really leaves a lot to be desired.
As an upscale grocery store, they stock a huge variety of specialty items and it can be a delight wandering the aisles and seeing all the things you can buy. Standard supermarket items are obviously marked up here, but there’s a Loblaws at the other end of the mall for your everyday grocery shopping needs. Although the small market feel does feel nice, it also means that navigating the store with your trolley can be quite difficult.
There’s an impressive dessert section, as well as a very appetizing prepared foods counter. Unfortunately, these require interacting with their staff, who are the surliest and most unenthusiastic supermarket employees I’ve ever encountered. It makes shopping here somewhat unpleasant; I’d much rather go to McEwan, where the staff are consistently friendly and helpful.
Valet parking is offered, but not free. You would think that they would be willing to throw in complimentary valet service when a bottle of olive oil can cost more than a paycheque.

Usually, you can’t trick me into overpaying for anything. I am from China, and I travel to Vietnam among other places, I know what things should cost. So, when I find myself at Pusateri’s, I often ask myself; «what the hell happened?»
Why is there valet at a grocer?
Why does the trollies look like they were designed for fairytale sized people?
Why does some of the costs for certain olive oil & vinegar costs more than my monthly cell phone plans? What is this New York?
The same cut of beef somewhere else (raised the same way) costs a fraction of what this place charges. I had less expensive steaks cooked for me in restaurants rated on how well their waiters were groomed. But Mr/​Ms. Pusateri would want me to pay the total sum of my first job’s daily wages for quite literally a piece of bloody cow. So I bought one! I cooked it upon arriving home because I wasn’t gonna let that 20oz of seventy dollar steak spoil for another minute. And lo and behold; it tasted like every other dammed steak I had. I hope that cow suffered.
The thing with Europeans is that if something is deemed ‘good’, then for them it must be labeled with a price which reflects the arrogance of which it was produced. I don’t blame them, this is the very fabric of Western philosophy.
If they were to resell an apple they’ve purchased from an budget Asian grocer, what they would do is hire a detective to investigate the origins of said apple, then consult an apple specialist (and I don’t mean those ‘apple geniuses’) to describe the importance and the tedious methods passed down from generations of apple growers that would confuse even the very farmer who grew that apple, then hire a figurative writer to carefully word the apple specialist’s description, then finally commissioning an advertising firm to justify why this 49cent market value apple is priced a dollar each at their boutique shoppe with immaculate lighting.
Pusateri’s is the epitome of this Western philosophy.
I FORGIVE YOU!
I love the pastry section where there are overpriced cakes of most variety. I usually start here, while I make my way to the overpriced cooked food section for my overpriced prawns, and overpriced fish. Sometimes I find myself browsing through the overpriced exotic teas, contemplating but never purchasing it because I don’t dream sipping on these bourgeois leafs of splendor. I always enjoy picking up a packet of the overpriced sushi only because it’s made with brown rice, then having a ball throwing the freshly overpriced juice into my basket (because I don’t make enough money to ever dare to fill a trolly here), before making my way to the meats section and getting myself some moderately priced veal sausages.
I then make my way back into the pastry section and ending up buying a twenty dollar apple pie just prior to making a dash to the cashier because if I purchased any more, I wouldn’t be able to make the rent for the month.
With all this money I’m throwing at Pusateri’s, they still have it in their hearts to charge me money for their plastic bags, but hey, these bags are black, and is totally worth the money, because black bags with their logos remind me of how much I love the place! A small price to pay for positive energy.
I think in the future, I shall go with the full experience and rent myself a Benz, buy a high class hooker, and finally enjoy the luxury of the valet parking without the valet guys stare me down with disgust at my domestic brand automobile.
Maybe I’ll even hire a photographer to document the occasion so I can lie to my kids about what a baller I was not.
«Look kids, Daddy was G, he shopped with not mommy at Pusateri’s!»
There is fresh fruit and vegetables here all neatly arranged, and I always make sure they stay that way. I pretend they are flowers in a field, nice to look at, with a severe fine if picked.
I really hope Pusateri’s would start to implement gun wailing hard criminals in their customer service department to get interactive with the shoppers, adding to the authenticity of the experience of shopping here.

High end grocery store, high end prices, sometimes moldy products, and not so good customer service.
The market itself is small, intimate, with an European feel to it. Despite its smaller scale operation, they carry a lot of products. They sell excellent black coffee and got quite the impressive selection of desserts.
Other than that, the customer service leaves you desiring less. We’ve asked where products were located and were responded with less than enthusiastic finger pointing by the employees. We’ve purchased moldy bagels here and were given no apology for our bad experience. The manager was not a friendly guy.
Not too impressive given the high prices they charge. Next!

This is not an everyday shopping place — I prefer the large grocery store formats where I don’t have to fight for aisle space or bend my body in awkward shapes to avoid hitting someone just because I want to get a loaf of bread. That being said, great place to pick up knick knack, dining for one or two chi-​chi meals kind of place.
My favourite is still the Avenue location for its quality products, but now that McEwans is open, I don’t shop at either Pusateri’s location. I don’t know which Pusateri family owns this location, but I believe it may be owned/​operated separately from the Avenue store.
I picked up freshly squeezed orange juice because I am super lazy to squeeze my own. I also picked up fresh pasta, meat sauce, salad, and chicken… the cost was $ 50 and change which was expensive for everyday items. But you know what you’re walking into.
Great ready-​made items available but I think you can do a lot better in general. There are maybe some ‘unique’ food items that you can get here, although, I haven’t bought into it yet. And the space is something I can’t forgive. I want my grocery shopping experience to be pleasant and roomy and calm (dream on Charlotte?)

A very trendy grocery store in the Bayview Village Mall. It prides itself on great pastries as well as fresh produce. They have many interesting and lesser known brands of food that are quite good. (At least the view I tried were good.)
I only wish it was not so expensive… but the cupcakes becon me…

Out of the 3, this Pusateri supermarket is the biggest. There is parking in the mall parking lot and it’s right across from Chapters so I’m always happy.
I bought a few things from here I regretted – like their freshly squeezed orange juice. I’ve had freshly squeezed OJ before… and it wasn’t so sour and tart. Just saying.
The prices are absolutely prepostoerous but then again, they cater to the wealthy and not average Joes like me :). Still, for regular people, coming in for a few things won’t break the bank.
Skip the cheese. I bought some and got really sick. I don’t think it’s fresh.
They have buttery, soft miso black cod in the hot food section of the deli. It’s like $ 34.99/lb so expect to pay between $ 9.00-$ 12.00 for one tiny piece. The sea bass is addictive too (same price).
As well, they have yummy salads that I haven’t seen before. They also sell great pastries like their cream cheese cheesecake brownie ($ 2.95 I think) and red velvet cupcakes. They have truffle oil at around the same price as Whole Foods, and okay coffee.
But between Whole Foods and this place – I say Whole Foods is the winner. :)

Out of the three locations, the Pusateri’s at Bayview is my favorite.
It’s close to home and because it’s in a shopping mall — I can check out other joints in the mall and parking (free!) is plentiful.
The café by the baked good area makes a killer latte; forget the Starbucks in the Chapters as there’s no comparison. My current addiction is the red velvet cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory. It’s $ 5 for a slice, but oh-​so worth it.
There’s also a ready-​made food area. When throwing parties, you’ll find me in this section buying entrees to serve my dinner guests. Their pinwheel sandiwches are perfect for an afternoon tea party. I also like their macaroni and cheese so if I’m in a pinch for lunch, I’ll buy a pack.
There’s a seating area outside of the grocery store so you can buy lunch or a snack and enjoy it right away.
Staff are very helpful and generally seem to enjoy working here.
There’s a cashier from Newfoundland and she has Nfld themed jewellery and nails … love it!
Four stars.

This is my go-​to place for chocolate gourmet gift baskets. So pretty and presentable!
My clients love these during the holidays and are great last minute gifts for house warming parties or when visiting friends. It really does add a touch of class when you go the extra mile in taste and yes… price.

I read the news today for Pusater’s on Star. Not this location. So I think I write something to show my support as a long time fan. (I know how childish it may sound)
I «discovered» Pusateri’s location like 3 years ago, saw a advertisement on the door promoting «the world most expensive ham» from Spain of course. I got very curious and I went in.
At the moment I stepped in, I was like WOW, although the Yorkville location is really small, their layout and everything is exactly what I like. (not the most expensive ham part tho).
Later I start to come to this place regularly, sometimes I picked up a nice loaf of bread, (you know those raisin with the walnuts), nice croissants they picked from best local bakeries, those fresh orange juice they made in store. I bought chocolate cake here for friends baby shower, I buy brunch here and I took my friends came from other cities here too.
Pusateri’s is one of the a few locations I have in Toronto, that whenever I step in, I just feel happy all of a sudden. I also appreciate their effort, besides concentrating on fine dining, to bring the local gourmet into their supermarket. The other day my friend just updated with me there was a wonderful shortbread in a small store on Queen and the next week I found it in Pusater’s .
I am always willing to pay for good fresh food, but not interested in expensive items. However, once I tried the grapes just felt like they can melt in your mouth and I kept on buying papayas from Hawaii.
Anyways, I LOVE THIS PLACE, now I move to bayview, I am glad to see it is in my neighborhood too.
I know how bad that news can be for food industries, I also believe if something was done wrong, somebody should be responsible and the problem should be corrected. However, I will really really hate to see this place go down or even. close down one day. So I think I just write some words for it.

I love this Pusateri’s location!
Never too busy and everything organized and clean. Dessert selections as good as it can gets! Great desserts from all the pastry stores around town!
The sitting area is one the best I been to! I wondering if it belongs to Pusateri’s or Bayview Village? Comfortable seats with thick cushions! The only complain maybe the staffs that maintaining the area… they came over the minute you ready to leave and just wiping and making sure everything were in place! They really like to take it easy…

This is a nice branch of this high end grocery store. Albeit its not as big as the flagship store on Avenue but it is far better than the small and very tight Yorkville location. Plenty of isles to browse, full of interesting items some hard to find some regular stuff.
The meat and prepared food section is quite good though quite expensive. The dessert section is where it really shines carrying items from the local dessert legend Pusateri.
Its off from the main subway grid though it is on the Sheppard line. It should serve the nearby residents well who can afford to shop this kind of stores.
3.5 stars over all.

There have been gargantuan ads in Bayview promoting this place for over a year, so it was a bit of a shock to pass by this evening and suddenly see the crowds packed into the freshly-​stocked aisles. I’m really interested to see how the competition reacts. Aux Délices Café de Bayview, Lettieri Espresso + Bar, & the newly-​renovated Loblaws are all going to take a hit — especially if the crowds I saw today keep coming back. Now that Bayview’s Haute renovation is nearly done, the high-​flying hoi polloi will be back in droves.
There is a newly-​renovated seating area just outside Pusateri’s; it looks like a good spot to enjoy my own personal-​size lemon meringue pie, which is around $ 12 here but perhaps it’s worth it. I’ll have to try it just to make sure.
Overall, the stock here wasn’t as exclusive as I thought it would be. I spotted many products I can buy at Loblaws (although Pusateri’s valet parking makes it decidedly more convenient for drivers). Still, the ready-​made foods look appealing. I probably won’t buy much here since it’s so pricey, but it’s fun to ogle the massive dessert case. There is an impressively intimidating aisle replete with rare oils and vinegars, although Loblaws tried setting up a similar section at at this location a few months ago.