Parrot Coffee Grocery

Excellent neighborhood resource for specialty products from Central Europe, the Balkans and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Parrot Coffee’s shelves and counters read like a best of list to the aforementioned cuisines. Parrot’s offerings aren’t revolutionary. What makes them special, however, is putting these regions comestibles under one roof when normally you might have to travel to a few places.
Need some good kalamatas and israeli pickles? Head here instead of going to Titan Foods in Astoria for the olives and then a Middle Eastern joint for the pickles. Hungarian salami sliced to order and dried fruits and nuts in bulk? Come here and grab both instead of heading to Euro Market on 31^st street and to Patel Brothers in Jackson Heights. Lots of whole bean coffee of acceptable quality, fresh pitas and simit breads, good candy, snacks, halvah, tahina, paprikas, mustards and an impressive dairy fridge.
Yes, if you’re looking for certain individual items you can go to a few different places and get better quality stuff, but you’ll have to travel at least 15 minutes by car from Sunnyside to obtain them and make multiple stops.
Friendly staff and good opening hours make this place a staple in the neighborhood. Thanks Parrot, keep up the good work.

My wife and I used to love this place, until one day when I purchased a product that had an expiration date TWO months passed! I went back to the store and they were gracious about allowing me to return it, that’s not the problem… I was in the store the other day and saw the same product on the shelves, thought to myself, «Oh great, they got new stuff!» Nope, what they had done was wipe off the expiration date on the cap, you could still see the smudge on a few of them… so I know grocery stores do this all the time, but this is still UNETHICAL, especially for the fact that I alerted them to it, and the owner said she would remove the product! So now, sadly we are forced to boycott this store, if they are willing to do that, who knows what other nefarious things they are doing there… shop at your own risk!!!

Liked this shop a lot, with a nice international selection; one of multiple locations apparently.

I love this place! Delicious spinach pastries and homemade dips and salads! Good coffee selection! Also, whenever I need a speciality item that I can’t find at any other grocery in the neighborhood, Parrot has generally got it.

I love their selection of dried fruits and nuts, along with the olive bar which always has a great selection. I haven’t bought any of their homemade food, but it does look good and fresh

We love the store, we travel from central NJ to buy Romanian foods. Good quality and reasonable prices, friendly staff.

Love these guys! Friendly, local grocery. Great selection of East European and Middle Eastern gourmet goods. Large selection of fresh, bean coffee, olives, Turkish candies and treats. Unusual selection of cold cuts. Absolutely the best baklava this side of the Mediterranean!

The Parrot has an amazing selection of international products all in one place, from Turkish goodies, to European teas and two types of Sriracha. However, their pricing is a all over the place — some things are well priced (i.e. fruits and nuts) and others inexplicably cost a few more dollars than anywhere else (i.e. oil and hand lotion?). Because of this I only buy certain items from the store. Also, because it is so small and only has one register, it’s really a place to grab a few things v. doing a bulk of your grocery shopping.

pros: this place has a nicely edited selection of whole bean coffee, good greek olive oils, italian espresso coffee, Greek instant coffee for Greek frappes. european pasta, european baking ingredients and herb teas. Great chocolate babka cakes. Take out soups, home made spinach pies, chicken cutlets and baklava. Turkish breads and pita. Lots of fresh feta type cheeses, thick goat yogurt. Truffle oil, Manuka honey… European laundry detergent even. For a small store, the carry a lot of good stuff. I can pick up take out after work because they stay open late, and often, they save me a trip to Astoria.
I love that they carry made in Germany Nivea (much better than US stuff). They have a v. small section of european cosmetic products — drug store type things. I wish they would expand that a little.
Cons: I have been going there for a while and I have NEVER had a cashier that knows what she is doing. Either they can’t speak english and they can’t understand when you ask for something (like spinach pie), or they can’t explain anything.
Cashing out is always a scary experience because I know something is going to go wrong and you can’t argue with them because they can’t express themselves. Plus, they can be kind of rude — like somehow it’s MY fault they dont understand English or dont know the merchandise. God help you if you need to question the price of what they rang up.
The coffee purchase is always a weird thing too — they have a nice selection of good whole bean coffee at the front. A sign says you must take 8oz minimum — but how do you know how much you are taking since there is no scale next to the coffee display? I have been reprimanded by the cashier that I didn’t make the 8oz minimum, but when I ask her how I would know how much my coffee actually weighs, she can’t answer me but waves her hands around a lot. Very useful.
Then after I pay for my coffee beans I ask for them to grind it – they have never heard of a percolator so they dont know what grind I need. What am I supposed to do? I ask for a chart so I can point to what I want — no such thing.
Oh and they want me to have my coffee beans ground before I pay… why didn’t you mention that BEFORE I paid you? and where is the coffee grinder anyway? the grinder by the coffee is broken. That causes more confusion.
Nice store, they take my debit card, but they really need to hire cashiers who know how to help customers and speak English because every time, I walk out of that store in a bad mood.
Get some decent staff and I’ll upgrade your rating.

Good European store. Big selection. I love European cookies, chocolate, pickles, jams. They got this all!

I’m sad to leave a poor review for Parrot Grocery store. I’ve been a loyal customer for years and I don’t even live in the neighborhood. I usually come for their homemade foods, especially their meatballs and soups. They are somewhat inconsistent with their recipes, but the flavor has always been good.
However, they are now making their meatballs 50% smaller and charging the same amount. It may sound like a small, meatball drop in the bucket, but to me… it’s the principle of the action to a loyal customer…“me”. Unfortunately, the flavor wasn’t very good either and it was overcooked. I guess trying to squeeze a little more profit margin has hurt the quality of the foods.
I’ll still go there for the Italian roast coffee beans and some of the other interesting processed meats and nice feta cheeses, but I’m definitely ball-​disappointed and I’m assuming that this process trying to increase their margins will continue to affect other food areas.
Yes…times are tough, but good meatballs at a reasonable price is timeless…

In this hood it might just be groceries, but in many other circles Parrot Coffee would qualify as so much more. Armed with plenty of ethnic goods and imported items, they also feature an array of locally made stuff that anyone can appreciate. Sunnyside already has a lot to offer, but Parrot Coffee is an added bonus and a major win for the hood.
First off, is there a more impressive variety of spinach pies here? How about eggplant pies? Various shapes, sizes, burekas, etc. you name it, they have it. The same goes for their stellar selection of cheeses, which includes several different kinds of feta and offered at prices that definitely don’t break the bank. Another score for the cornucopia of meats and sausages, all quality and limited in inventory.
Then there is the actual coffee itself. While they don’t serve lattes and cappuccinos, they have enough beans in bulk from various regions of the world. Buy them by the pound, take em home and ground up a fresh brew for yourself. Who needs chain coffee when you have this as an option?
And because they’ve been so popular and successful, Sunnyside is merely one of several stories in western Queens. There is a lot to love about Parrot Coffee Grocery and I find myself learning, as well as discovering something new and fantastic with every subsequent visit.

This is a place I discovered walking Queens Blvd on my way to classes at LaGCC a few years ago. It has a large selection of coffee beans, including flavored, which is what drew me in to begin with.
There is an olive by the pound bar my husband likes and a wide selection of treats, candy, and frozen goods.

This is a Eastern European (Romanian, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, Macedonian) and Turkish market. I am not sure why the call it Parrot, but I found the same brands here that are in markets in Istanbul.
This place is, quite literally, filled to the brim with affordable and hard to find goodies. Taramasalta? Sure. Turkish coffee? Why not. Every variation of butter and cheese as well of the intersection between the two? Yes! I have taken all of my friends here, not one has left empty handed. Everyone goes back.

Wonderful Eastern European store with tons of grocery items, a really nice deli selection (garlic ham is my newly discovered favorite) and even some interesting beauty items. Very pleasant staff, and prices are so low you’re tempted to try everything!

1) They frequently sell expired food and one time when I went back the same hour because the caviar, which I’ve purchased before with them, was clearly expired and definitely «off» they didn’t want to return my money or let me exchange it. I had to argue with them for 10 minutes about how this was bad business practice and downright wrong before they would return my money, packaged with a few nasty words from their manager.
2) I’ve many times seen flies buzzing around and actually landing on the cooked meat that they have in the glass case for cooked food. Gross gross gross
3) Their halva covered in chocolate tasted off. Again I asked to exchange it for a fresh one and they were downright nasty and rude. They finally exchanged it but not before a struggle.
Whatever happened to customer satisfaction?
P. S. Don’t forget to check all the expiration dates from that store… and even then…

Start off with my negative: the coffee here is not good. Period. As some advice to those lesser-​familiar with quality coffee – oily beans almost ALWAYS means the coffee has been overroasted. Unlike Baruir’s a few blocks down, that is absolutely the case with Parrot’s beans.
So, that’s where the star has been lost. Everything else is excellent.
You want a huge selection of really good cheese, like goat and feta? They’ve got it. Crazy-​cheap prices on nuts? They’ve got it. Excellent halva and other Middle Eastern pastries? Oh, yes, they most certainly have that, too.
Couple all of that with the homemade pitas, great selection of Eastern European and Middle Eastern groceries, and the fresh olives, and you’d have a 5 star place to shpatzir (mmm, Yiddish).
But damn those beans, Parrot Coffee. 4 stars.

Reaffirming most of my prior review, I want to upgrade this place as I have continued to come here and find the service consistently helpful, patient, and kind, and also relish the addition of some excellent items on the homemade snack bar. Check out the sunflower seed crunch, yogurt peanuts, and chocolate covered pretzels: the fifth star is because the chocolate is actually good-​quality dark chocolate! For five bucks, you get a nice snack pack that will easily last the work week.
Top quality values here:
* Homemade pita (unlabeled) – this is the best thing in the store! But usually sold out by afternoon :-(
* House blend coffee
* Feta cheeses, $ 4 – 8 by the pound
* Homemade spreads (fridge section)
* nuts, snacks, and dried fruits (available self serve; check out the ~$ 5 boxes)
Still can’t recommend the olive bar as consistent and since tasting is not allowed or courteous; I still don’t usually buy here, unless I will eat a lot in a day or will cook with them.

When I miss some specific Romanian treats I go there. I love it cuz it’s the only place where I find my so loved ROM chocolate (though, it only happens rarely; as I understood there are people who buy whole boxes of it :|).
It is a bit pricey in my opinion, but it’s the only place where I find Magura, ROM, Poiana, Eugenia (Romanian sweets), carnati Trandafir (thick sausages), and branza de burduf (salty sheep cheese) all under one roof.
They have not only Romanian stuf, but Turkish and Russian as well. Try the chicken spread, or Turkish sweets, they won’t let you down either.
The salespeople, and unfortunately mostly just the Romanians, could send people off more nicely; they always seem to be in such a rush.
One more thing; they also sell cooked Romanian food (like stuffed cabbage, schnitzel), which is good, not like mom’s food, but good.
The space is tiny and the isles narrow, I always end up feeling like an elephant in a china store.
But definitely my sweets location.
P. S.: they even had must!!! (sweet fermented grape juice, right before it turns into wine)

I guess I will write another review here since someone deleted or flagged my last one, which is BS.
When I lived in Sunnyside I came here pretty much every day to get mineral water. This was the first place that had many different water in queens.
After coming more often, I made a decision to do all my shopping here, which is more like how your shopping is done in Europe which I love.
Other highlights of this location is the coffee, much better roasting and blends than the one in Astoria. Also they have better olives.
This is by far the best market in Sunnyside for pretty much all your needs, except veggies.