Patel Grocery

Patels is an ok little store. Fine for staples like rice, lentils, fresh curry leaves, and rotis. Small selection of other veg; they do usually have fresh tindolas. The people that work there are very nice. However the store is a bit dingy and some of the spices seem old. For example, the jaggery and ghee didn’t look so hot. It is a perfectly adequate fill in for when I can’t get to Jackson Heights or Hicksville. There aren’t really aren’t any other options in Brooklyn. I guess if there were this would be a three star review.

Your meals are bellow average, and terrible. Depends upon everything you get. Was with my buddy from India and that he confessed that its nothing like it ought to be.

Roti’s are truly awesome. But doesn’t have a lot of vegetable groceries

Great little store for Indian staples. It’s not nearly as comprehensive as Patel Brothers in Jackson Heights (doesn’t have a ton of produce) but it has all the lentils, rice, spices, and dry goods you need for Indian cooking, a small assortment of vegetables and fresh curry leaves, and some frozen foods — and it’s much closer for those of us who live in Brooklyn than the stores in Jackson Heights or Murray Hill.

This kind of store makes Brooklyn so special!!!
I was looking for some spices, and happen to found this store near work. At first I thought it a Mexican grocery (hello, Patel!!), but once I got in I realize it is an Indian store.
It has all kind of spices, sauce mix, beans, rice, flour you need for cooking Indian food. They also carry frozen and fresh roti, nann etc. Will definately put this store in my favorite «authentic grocery store list».

In the last couple of weeks I’ve visited what has felt like every Indian, Pakistani, or Bangladeshi grocery I could find in Brooklyn. I was easily able to find many ingredients to make meals from scratch. But I was still looking for boxed Indian entrees and frozen pre-​made dishes to have as quick dinners. I did some research online and someone somewhere suggested Patel Grocery. It was a bit of a trek for me on the subway but sure enough I found what I was looking for (and some things I wasn’t) — a great variety of premade meals as well as fresh produce, fresh and frozen paneer cheese, dosa mix, and friendly staff. And yes, it is literally right by the steps to the R train so once you get there it is easy to find.

Really good — fresh and aromatic — curry leaf in the refrigerated case, as well as a small but good selection of the type of veg you’ll only find in an Indian grocery, eg. avarakkai. I’m a middle-​aged S. Indian woman who likes to cook, relatively new in Brooklyn, was out of curry leaf and didn’t want to trek all the way to Jackson Hts to get it. This is a small but solid store, and I was impressed by how fresh the curry leaf was. Usually in small stores the veg is pretty bad, here the avarakkai was stellar.

I’m so glad I found this place (thanks, Unilocal!). I recently returned from a trip to India and promised my friends that I would cook them a meal inspired by my travels. At Patel Grocery I found everything I needed and more to accomplish this task. I was especially glad to find pre-​rolled chapati dough, and every spice blend known to man. They even had a small produce case where I could get the tiny eggplants I thought I would have to go to a fancy grocery store for. And I’m sure they were cheaper at Patel’s. I also picked up some Gulab Jaman that they had sourced from a bakery in Queens. My friends are going to have to roll themselves home if I have anything to say about it.
I also really appreciated that I didn’t have the staff of the store on my back as is sometimes the case in small stores like this — I could browse at my leisure and not feel pressured or weird or anything. But when I had a question and was ready to check out, the young woman who helped me was helpful and sweet.
One more thing worth mentioning — it could not have been easier to get to Patel Grocery from Park Slope. Just a few stops on the R train, and the store is RIGHT next to the 53^rd St subway entrance. Given that I was prepared to go into Manhattan or Queens for ingredients, I’m so glad I checked Unilocal first.

Awesome Paratha varieties and all spices, etc at a good price — this store is extremely helpful, especially as I’m a student from India and need Indian stuff at affordable prices.

Recently moved to the neighborhood and needed a local source for Basmati rice, spices, pulses, sandalwood soap and neem toothpaste. Found all that and more at this cute, family run shop. And the prices are good, too.
Patel is going to be part of my food shopping runs from now on.

Lovely, family run, dusty little Indian grocery with all the dry goods I need for Indian cooking — cheap spices, basmati rice, imported mango drink, lentils, plus frozen and fresh paneer, a few specialty vegetables, and some sweets trucked in from Jackson Heights. It’s not that easy to bike here from Park Slope, as the 5^th Ave bike lane doesn’t go far enough, so taking the R train is better.

The scent of this shop flirts with your senses as you walk the aisles. This family owned place has a wide array of spices, lentils and rice with everything else you need for South Asian cooking. It is a haven for anybody who cooks Pakistani or Indian food. A must-​go for the Brooklynite!

I’ve been cooking my way through Raghaven Iyer’s 660 curries — currently in the low twenties — and I wouldn’t have made it past #4 without Patel Groceries, a fine purveyor of Indian dry goods right off the R train.
With wholesale spices, a dozen types of paneer, and lentils galore, Patel’s is a one-​stop shop for anything spicy.