Natural Garden

Pretty good selection of food. It would be 5 stars if they have prepared foods to grab and go.

I called to find out if they carried a product today, and the man couldn’t understand what I was asking for, «better than bouillon,» so he hung up on me. I called again, someone else answered, I asked the same thing and got hung up on again after he said curtly, «no, we don’t have that.» I called back to tell them it’s not only rude to not check, but even ruder to fucking hang up on me without saying bye or making sure I need anything else? «No, we don’t have that,» –would dial tone if this was during landline to landline days. Screw this place.

I remember when this place first opened. It has come a long way! Best features are the enormous selection and plentiful stock of certain items, and not just a few. Open until midnight! Hell yeah. I am surprised at what I can get here now, not to mention for how much. The original dudes running the joint weren’t the most personable people, but even that has changed. I think I’m gonna go take a walk there now actually.

I go here but I really don’t like this place. Here’s why
1) Workers are not all that nice. They tend to be grumpy or rude or both.
2) Vegetables suck. They look awful and most look like they are dying .
3) Overpriced. pretty much everything they have is overpriced.
4) I also don’t trust their «organic» sign. Organic or non-organic…all the vegetables look like they need to be thrown out.

I loved this place until a certain man began working here.
Please know that everyone here is so sweet and wonderful, except this person with the shittiest attitude towards customers. Just as a descriptor so other employees are not affected by this review, he is a slender, medium-​height, Caucasian man with glasses.
I do my groceries at Natural Garden at least once a week. One day, my loaf of bread went bad before the expiration date. I stopped by and asked if I could bring back the rotting loaf and get a new one. The sweet lady was fine with it. The man said, «Well, you don’t have a receipt, so no. That’s that. We don’t know if you bought it somewhere else.»
Sure. I returned 10 minutes later WITH MY BANK STATEMENT, proving I shopped there TWICE in the last 11 days. The lady kindly gave me a new loaf. The man looked at my bank statement and said, «ok.»
Me: «Why are you so rude?»
Male clerk: «Because policy’s a policy. It doesn’t matter.»
Me: «You’re in customer service, it would behoove you to be nice to customers, and remember faces.»
Male clerk: «It doesn’t matter.»
Me: «When did you start here? You’re being very rude.»
Male clerk: «I’m sorry you feel that way. Stop being rude to ME.»
I left.
I’ve worked behind a counter for 3 years; I understand policy’s a policy, but one other (better) way you could have handled it is something like, «Oh, hey, yes I recognize you, and you even brought your bank statement? Thanks so much, sorry for the inconvenience. Here’s your loaf. See you again!»
I’m not trying to fucking rob your deli. Why would I come up with an elaborate plan to save $ 2.99? You should not be at a job where you have to interact with customers; you’re not good at it.
I’m so sad that I won’t shop here while he is there.

Not a bad option if you live in the neighborhood. Decent selection of natural and organic packaged groceries. The fresh produce section leaves something to be desired in my opinion. Prices are reasonable, however the best prices I have found on Natural and Organic products is at Natural Frontier Market (LIC, Astoria, Prospect Park).
I came a bit out of my way to go to Natural Garden based on the good Unilocal reviews. I probably wouldn’t go out of my way again to come here, but certainly a decent option if you are already in the neighborhood.

Fair to low prices, friendly owners, awesome selection of natural food items and beer. Also they’re open pretty late, so a super convenient stop for holistic shoppers in the Greenpoint area. One request… there is a huge wall with vast selections of oils, vinegars and condiments, but for some reason there is only one barbecue sauce. Would love it if you carried more, especially Woodstock Farms.

i love this place. the couple that works there are my favorite and the beer is as good as it gets around here

good selection of beer, organic products, and snacks. and the people who work there are always quite nice to me

Not only does this place have a great beer selection, but they have some of the best-​looking produce on Manhattan Avenue. I love this place. They seem to have everything I’m looking for as a food-​loving vegetarian in terms of tasty groceries, a good ice cream/​gelato selection, and they a good amount of frozen food/​dinners as well. Their produce is separated by organic/​not organic so if you feel like not spending the money you’re not forced to buy organic. Awesome.
They also have lots of Kind/​Luna/​Cliff/​Whatever bars, a big selection of bath and body products, and lots of yummy non-​beer teas and other drinks.
The main cashier guy I see there is always pretty nice, and they’re open until midnight, which is pretty great for Greenpoint. And they take credit cards, always a plus in my book.

i like this grocery store but the «kind old indian man» grocer is a super dick to me for some reason. im always polite and say my pleases and thank yous but sometimes he’ll throw the pen at me to sign the receipt or skip my bagging and make me do it myself while he pushes my stuff to the side to check out the dude behind me (the only dude behind me. not like there was a long line…)
ive been going here for quite some time cuz the prices are good for organic produce but man, every single time, with no avail, the old man treats me like complete shit. wtf?!

This place is great! Large beer selection! Anywhere from the typical American beers, Russian beers, British beers, & of course Polish beers! I practically spent my whole entire time in this store deciding on which beer should I buy. The place looks pretty clean.
If you’re a beer fan… you’ll definitely love this place!

I’m grateful that this place is 2 blocks from my house. Selection is decent, although they have THE biggest selection of Bob’s Red Mill flours/​grains that I’ve seen anywhere, including Whole Foods. Prices are about on-​par with other natural/​health food stores. Gluten-​free selection is great, better than Trader Joe’s. They also have a nice stock of healthy frozen foods and non-​dairy (and dairy) ice cream at reasonable prices. Their produce selection leaves something to be desired, but for that I go to the McCarren Park Greenmarket, Rachel’s, or Manhattan Fruit Exchange.

I’ll always have a place in my heart for the Garden. How can you not love the kind old Indian man who never rests from working the counter?
Credit or debit?
Decent selection of healthy/​natural foods, surprisingly below-​par selection of produce. Great beer selection. Strange music often playing in the store.

Dieser Laden ist eine Mischung aus Bioladen, polnischem Supermarkt und größerem Kiosk. Das ist schon ein besonderes Erlebnis. Neben den eher hochpreisigen Bio-​Produkten (von z.B. Annie’s) gibt es viele sehr günstige Produkte aus Polen, die auch die konventionelle Supermärkte noch im Preis schlagen, trotz Import — unheimlich.
Wer auf der Suche nach europäischen Süßigkeiten ist, wird hier fündig. Viel Schokolade steht zur Auswahl.
Polnische Süßigkeiten können lose zusammengestellt werden.
Besonders erwähnenswert ist die wahnsinnig große Bierauswahl. Laut eines Zettels an der Tür die größte der Gegend — das mag man gern glauben! Wirklich beeindruckend — nicht möglich sich in kurzer Zeit durchs komplette Programm zu testen ;) Neben regionalen Bieren, z.B. aus der Brooklyn Brewery, gibt es auch Sorten aus diversen anderen Ländern, natürlich auch aus Polen!
Der Laden selbst ist irgendwie urig, sieht von außen nicht direkt wie ein Supermarkt aus, mir hat das Einkaufen hier durchaus Freude bereitet!

Pricey at times, but a bountiful selection of quality beer, exotic foodstuffs. Also a fair supply of needed and expected yuppie household items. Certainly not a one-​stop market for all cooking needs, but one will find niche favorites. Excellent late hours! Now if I can only get the cashier to like me.

My man and I call this place «Garden 2», because it stays open later and has a similar selection, for what he and I like to buy. Their polish cookies are priced right, their Indian bar is pretty decent, and they know us, which makes me feel right in my heart.

Where I primarily do all my grocery shopping, it is actually cheaper than the Associated on Manhattan with more of a variety for organic and natural foods. And yes, I agree, the beer selection is excellent. I’m also a fan of the staff, they know me now which I find pleasantly comforting.

I’ve been living in this neighborhood for a month now. I go to Natural Garden for snacks after all the other stores close at 9. They have a good variety of snacks and beer, but most of the food looks like it’s been sitting there for a looong time.
The prices are a bit high and, like everywhere else, they won’t take credit card for any purchase under $ 10 (against Visa’s rules). This led to an unpleasant experience last night:
I went in around 11:30pm to buy a big bottle of iced tea. The total was $ 4.39, so I took out my wallet and flipped through my cash. There were four $ 1 bills and a 10. I hand the cashier the $ 10 and he hands me a couple coins in return. I tell him I gave him a 10, not a 5, and he flat out denies it. He points to my reciept where it says I gave him a 5. I tell him it’s his mistake, not mine. Two other customers are watching as I explain he’s going to lose business if word spreads that the store is stealing from its customers. Eventually, he stops arguing with me and rings up the next person. I stand there on moral principle, unwilling to leave without my $ 5. He points out to me that the next customer handed him a $ 20, as if his sudden attention proves I was wrong.
He then opened the register and I looked in. There were apparently two stacks of tens! He put my $ 10 bill in the stack of 5s. He quickly grabbed it to give as change to the next customer, hoping I did’t see it. He realized he made a mistake at that point, but he still wouldn’t admit it. A man in line behind me had been watching the argument and also saw the 10 in the 5 stack. He got my back at that point, and the cashier sheepishly gave my $ 5 back.
What have we learned from this drawn out, boring story? I assume the cashier made an honest mistake in thinking I gave him a 5, but he didn’t handle the situation well. If they had followed Visa’s no minimum rule, this confrontation wouldn’t have happened in the first place.
After getting in an argument like that, I won’t be going back there for a while.

Great selection of fresh fruits, veggies, Indian food and beer. Good prices on deli meets and cheeses as well as most of the other items in the store. Like Heather D. said-​many different types of beer other than Zwyiec, so many in fact, that’s probably where you’ll spend most of your time in the store, trying to decide which beer to buy.
I’m a fan.

If we can call The Garden «The Hippy Store», we can call Natural Garden, «The Hippy-​Wannabe Store». That’s not necessarily a bad thing. Because not everything has to be organic. And the prices are cheaper. Especially their beers on sale.
They’re open late hours. (I think they close at 10:00, not positive) but when everything around it is closed, it’s still open. Also they have various bulk candy you can buy by the pound, and lots of European sweets. (big big boxes of Rafaello for instance)