Y&Y Green Organic

I wasn’t a fan for the longest time. But then the renovation put more variety into the shopping experience here. I’ll still frequent other markets in the area. I don’t see myself hiking up from 21^st just to shop here, but getting off the train will find me considering stopping by a whole lot more. Fresh sushi!

Greenbay Market recently renovated and expanded — if you tend to eat healthier, their selection is now as good as Key Food (where I used to go), and the prices are as good (if not better). I love the new store’s spacious feel, their amazing collection of chocolate bars, all the fresh produce and the fact that they had everything I wanted. I got friendly, neighborly service and banter when I paid. Soon you’ll be able to go here for your meats too (right now they just have sausages, salami, etc), as they will be adding a butcher.
From now on, I am not going anywhere else for my groceries.

New store in town… SO far it looks promising but construction while the store is open doesn’t fare well with me.

Greenbay is our go to health food store.
They always have fresh produce and food items at reasonable prices. They have everything from produce, cereal, coffee, bread to miso soup packets! The only problem I have with this market is that I do not think they are staffed enough to have people keep check on their produce. I went in the shop once for sweet potatoes and picked up a mushy gooey one off of their shelves. That could be enough to turn other people away. But with a little patience I was still able to find good ones from the bunch.
The sushi bar is a great addition too. Who cares if the seaweed salad has high fructose corn syrup? Just don’t get it. When Jess and I stop to buy stuff for dinner here post gym we appreciate the sushi bar. I have no shame in splitting and eating a sushi thing on our way home. It keeps me from being a hungry monster before dinner. Thanks for having sushi Greenbay!

Greenbay Market is great. I usually stop in after a workout and always find what I’m looking for.
Their selection of everything from produce, spices, teas, cereal and granola, to sushi, olives, and dried fruits and nuts is awesome. Their prices are competitive and not jacked up like Key Food, and their customer service is helpful (but they don’t always offer a smile.)
It is a bit crowded and cramped in the store, but they appear to be expanding.
They are definitely one of the best places to go if you’re a healthy eater, health food nut, or have dietary restrictions or a special diet (gluten free, vegetarian, vegan). I fall under all of those categories.

I came here today for a juice/​smoothie and ended up getting «Freshest Fresh» and a thing of sushi. The place was stocked with a lot of really great foods and produce. I’m sure I will like it more as I come back more often to visit.
The smoothie was pretty good. It was pretty expensive at $ 5.99, but it tasted good and was probably incredibly healthy for me.
The sushi on the other hand wasn’t that great. The rice was dry and I think that’s the main pitfall of any sushi that sits in a fridge for a while. But they seemed to have been making fresh sushi while I was there so I didn’t think it would come out that way.
Anyways, the fruit and produce looked pretty good. I would come back for juice and the other unique products they have inside. Don’t be fooled by the outside! I used to think it was just a fruit stand! It’s pretty incredible inside!

Big big fan of this place — I think they are called Greenbay now? Great option that provides a much-​needed respite from the general shittiness of C-​Town and Key Foods. It’s a tight space as others have mentioned, but I appreciate how attentive the cashiers are: when there’s a line, it’s all hands on deck. I’ve found a number of great products that aren’t available in other grocery stores in my hood. Prices and fair and everything is super fresh.
The one thing that makes me scratch my head is the sushi section. It’s an external vendor renting the space, and I was stunned and horrified to see that the seaweed salad has high fructose corn syrup. Ah! NOT COOL. I told that to a Greenbay Market cashier, to which he shrugged and said «oh, I didn’t know.» That’s the only reason I had to knock it down from 5 to 4. If you have a healthy establishment, you really should not promote products or vendors that use terrible, unhealthy ingredients.

So I was looking for Greenbay Market (it’s current name) and fount this is the very same place with a different name. I think I was coming here when it was named Y & Y. Anyway, this is by far one of the larger, though mid sized, natural and organic markets for basically fruit, vegetable and healthy foods market in the Astoria area. Why are they so good? Because their fruits, vegetables and miscellaneous goods are usually and mostly fresh. The fruits, vegetables and the miscellaneous goods are also in a broader variety. For example, most places have Blueberries and other berries on sale in the Summer for $ 2.50 (when they are in season) but this place has it priced like that year round. The prices on their vegetables and fruits are basically priced right, not that much higher for such quality, specifically for a place that is considered organic or natural. Next door is Greenbay’s all apple stand (I forget what they call it), many varieties of apples, this makes me think their produce are straight from the farm or orchards. This is one of my local spots: picked up some bananas for 79cents a pound (not cheap, right in the middle), beets at $ 2.7X for a 3-​in-​one-​bunch (there’s bigger ones by the LB, radishes and some other stuff to throw in my juicer.
At this market this is what you can get besides what was mentioned:
spices, cheese, milk, organic pasta, iLLy espresso in jars, coffee beans, chips, cookies, extra virgin olive oil, like I said miscellaneous goods
In addition to a good variety, there is also fresh made sushi by an Asian dude.
In addition they have a juicing stand where for $ 4 or so, you can get a combo of apple, carrot and (forgot the third ingredient). But there are other combinations basically.
The staff is prompt and courteous. Visiting will actually trump my description, particularly because basically their variety in veggies, fruits and miscellaneous healthy foods would be appreciated for one of these markets (organic & natural). You’ll have to be local to understand the lack of chains like Whole Foods around these parts.

Greenbay Market is really convenient being only steps from the Broadway platform off of the N or Q trains. Really convenient! It carries a nice variety of organic and specialty foods and produce for such a small shop. It seems like boutique grocers like Greenbay are popping up all over Astoria lately. I am a big fan of this movement!
Greenbay is heavily merchandised for it’s current space. Thankfully, it looks like they are expanding. Sometimes it can be tricky to maneuver some of those tighter, packed spaces when it’s semi-​busy. Associates there are kind and helpful.
Prices are reasonable and comparable to the other grocers in the area, especially Bravo International who just raised their prices a dollar storewide. The only complaint I have about Greenbay is about the bread, maybe more of a tip, actually. On more than one occasion (about 3) I have purchased bread from Greenbay only to get it home and discovered it was molded on the bottom. It’s sad because they a really lovely selection of artisanal breads available. I would recommend double checking the condition (bottom and top) of all breads before purchasing.

*Note this is a review mostly for the sushi, but I’ll mention other things too*
I usually stop by here after work when I’m craving sushi (which is almost every single day). But, but, but, that’s a grocery store, Mister! Why yes it is, yes it is. But honestly, it’s one of the best sushi places around, oddly enough. They always advertised that they had sushi with a huge, somewhat tacky banner, and having tried other grocery store sushi (which are ALL ordered from the exact same place), I avoided the temptation for a while.
One day I was looking for Tikka Masala sauce so I went in to check out their groceries. They unfortunately did not have any Tikka Masala sauce, but they did have boxed Palak Paneer (for about $ 2, that’s a great deal!). Then to my surprise, I saw the sushi. Now, I am a HUGE sushi rolls person — I hunt down sushi restaurants that serve interesting, creative rolls. I was really surprised by their variety here!
I have tried almost every single one of their rolls, except for the Kiwi Roll and the Dancing Mango because I think having fruit on top of sushi is kind of weird. The Fashion roll is one of the cheaper ones ($ 6.95 I believe) and it contains three different types of fish: tuna, salmon, and white fish I think. Their Dragon Roll is pretty good, but my favorites are the Volcano Roll (has spicy tuna on top) and a couple others that I can’t remember the names (sorry!). They have the Titanic Roll which is white fish and black caviar, and that’s all I can remember atm. All the rolls are under $ 10 and are relatively cheap compared to anywhere else in NYC.
Standard rolls are also not bad (California Roll, Philly Roll, Shrimp Tempura Roll, etc) and very very cheap. I had sashimi for the first time the other day and it was great! The salmon especially was extremely fresh and I enjoyed it. The white tuna was a little bit off, but I think that’s kind of normal since white tuna is a weird cut. Anyway, if you want fresh, cheap, to-​go sushi, this is the place to go!

I LOVE this place! I am here at least once or twice a week. The owner is very friendly and he’s always there working as hard as everyone else.
They have my favorite yogurt here and it’s cheaper than anywhere else (though I probably shouldn’t make this known, because I don’t want the price to go up). They have a sushi bar, and everything in it is always super fresh. They’ll make your food to order if you want, too. Their olives are the best. I haven’t found better olives in Astoria, and you can scoop them yourself. Produce is always fresh and prices are pretty cheap. They also have a fantastic chocolate bar selection. Sometimes that’s the only reason I go!
I never really get any boxed products here, but they seem to have a good selection of healthy, organic, vegan, and gluten-​free products.

This is the best fruit/​vegetable stand in the area, and they have a great selection of organic and ethnic specialty products. Good quality, decent prices, open ²⁴⁄₇. Sometimes you’re walking home at 3am on a Saturday and decide that’s the best time to do some grocery shopping.
The biggest surprise here is the sushi. I’m someone who’s disgusted by even Whole Foods sushi, but I tried the sushi here on a whim, as I saw it being freshly prepared. Pretty darn good, and cheap! They even do brown rice rolls. I have a sensitive stomach and have never gotten sick from it, so it gets my seal of approval.

I think they’ve been renamed Greenbay Market.
Out in front, I immediately helped myself to organic strawberries — $ 2/​box! Organic raspberries — 2 for $ 3! WHATTT’SSS uuuupppp! …Even if these are extremely ripe and must be eaten ASAP, that’s a great deal.
Also, heeding Unilocalers’ advice, I got their sushi — I would not ordinarily get sushi in a grocery store. I had the tuna avocado roll — it was fresh and quite good!
Overall, I’m impressed with this little shop.

This is my place for affordable sushi! I love the fancy rolls but they can get really expensive, here it’s no more than $ 9.95! Sometimes I will just stop in to grab a roll for dinner but I have been getting into the habit of ordering. I love that each specialty roll comes with a little seaweed salad. Prefect!
Only thing I wish is if they had a website I could order from, Grubhub and Seamless should hop on that!

I’ve been coming here a couple of times a week for 6 months, and loved it for a long time. The store is visually appealing, the prices are better than Bravo and Key Foods, and there is a cool variety of healthy products in the back of the store.
But I’ve been noticing two bad things lately. The apples and pears look nice on the outside, but they are mushy on the inside. Ugh, disappointing. I will have to wait until this batch gets sold/​thrown out and hope the next shipment is fresher. Secondly, I’m not charged correctly for the apple prices. I might pick one that is 10 – 20 cents cheaper than some other variety, and then I look on my receipt, and I see that I’ve been charged for the more expensive variety. Not worth throwing a fit over because I like the cashiers, but still slightly annoying. I recently went to Key Foods on 30ave and bought their apples and wished the money was going towards Y&Y.

The convenient location makes Y&Y a pretty regular stop for me. I love that the fresh fruit is out front, luring you in as it ripens. They have a pretty great selection of organic foods (and non-​organic if you don’t care too much like me.) Variety is great for the size of the space. However, freshness can be hit or miss — I’ve come in and bought perfect peaches and other weeks had to shoo away swarms of fruit flies hovering the overripe plums.
The best pro for me at Y&Y is that they carry Crystal Barkery pide bread (its Turkish I believe) and its the tastiest bread everrrr. Bravo used to carry it, but now I can only get it here when I need my carb fix. The fresh mozz in the back is also a nice touch. Service is always fast and amiable — I never have to wait very long and the prices are fab if you buy whats in season!

²⁴⁄₇ fruit.
Yum.

A commonality in marketing and media today is the use of the words «green» and «organic.» Applied to everything from coffee shops and napkins, to cars and kids’ toys, it’s misleading to those who don’t realize what qualifications are required (or not) to use these words and how they can be rendered meaningless with rampant overuse.
Though Y&Y dances that line, they do carry a fair amount of certified organic products, from produce and pasta to cereal, jams and juices. With «Green Organic» in the title, you would expect more of those in the produce section. In the dry good area, there store is overflowing with organically labeled products, from Yogi and Traditional Medicinals Teas, to R.W. Knudson Juices and Arrow Head Mills Quinoa. They also offer tons of spices, cheeses, preserves and chocolates.
Improvements could be made in the availability of locally sourced products. There are tons of local farms, dairy producers, chocolate makers and more that Y&Y could reach out to and feature in their store.
Until then, I’ll continue to shop here on occasion for organic produce and some of the more rare products not carried at the larger groceries in town.

I’ve been meaning to write a review on this place for a while now, but honestly kept forgetting. Unfortunately, today’s visit gave me reason to get on it…
Let’s begin a ways back. I first walked by this place on opening day, and had a nice little double take (it seemed like it went from nothing to full open in one day). The gorgeous layout grabbed me and pulled me in. Once in I discovered a wealth of fresh, delicious, affordable fruit and veggies. Not just that, but in the back was a smattering of organic cereals (nah), and other essentials (milk and eggs, etc). Speaking of milk, if you purchase over $ 15, you get a free ½ gallon of cow juice.
Now, most of my visits to Y & Y have been very favorable. Recently though…
Working for the Food Network, I come across many recipes that I desperately want to try. In this instance, a homemade strawberry lemonade garnished with mint was begging to be created to cool off the recent brutal heat and humidity. So off I went to Y & Y to gather the ingredients. I went for a box of strawberries, but quickly noted that MULTIPLE boxes had moldy berries. Eww. Next the lemons. Tiny and tough; clearly not for juicing. Bummer. Ok, grab the mint and agave syrup and off to C Town for the rest.
For the record, C Town (which I normally despise) had huge juicy lemons (: D), and very fresh strawberries. So this wasn’t a matter of just a bad or out of season crop that was delivered to everyone.
Two days later, the unrelenting heat and humidity still gripped the city, so I wanted to make the amazing drink again. I decided to try Y & Y again, because I’m sure the moldy strawberries would have been discovered and disposed of. NOPE. STILL THERE!!! The moldy strawberries were still there.
Now, I’m not writing them off forever; their prices are vastly cheaper than that of C Town. I’ve shopped here several times and never had a problem like this until recently. So Y & Y, if you’re reading this, get your act together!

I’m giving it 4 *s, not really so much that I think it’s a full 4*s, but Astoria needs an organic market. Let the yuppification and gentrification of Astoria commence full force!
You can get large bottles of acai juice for about $ 6.29. It’s cheaper than Key Foods.