Gentile’s Foods & Market

After reading the other reviews I have come to my senses a bit. Perhaps because it is right across from the Met and next door to an Eileen fisher and I was starving that made this place perfect at the time. I spent $ 18 but I don’t find it any less expensive than anywhere else in New York, and I live in queens! When I am ready and willing to go out and eat something here I try not to think about the price and instead, presuppose it’s ridiculous inflation — just have fun instead.
My sandwich couldn’t even be made for me (I wanted roast beef) because the guy had already cleaned everything up. Whatever, fine — I just stared at Van Gogh for two hours you can’t ruin my appetite. They were freshly made pre prepared sandwiches and I grabbed a turkey one with Swiss and honey mustard on rye. It was a damn good sandwich people. The mustard with honey and spice flavor was bomb. The Swiss cheese was sliced super thin like lace on too of my turkey. I got some fruit and gluten free cookies to go with it.
This place is also impeccably clean. And their selection offers something different than most bodegas; however I don’t find that unique to any other kosher deli in the city.
I’m not giving you five stars but you don’t need it — you don’t need my money or my reviews.
This is not my go to kosher deli yet. But that sandwich really was good.

I walk by Gentile’s on Madison a lot and I finally decided to go in and buy a couple of things for lunch. I purchased a couple of items which cost me $ 34. I was flabbergasted.
Also the man at the register was kind of off-​putting. I asked for my receipt and he told me he already gave it to me so I assumed he meant it was in the bag, because he certainly didn’t hand it to me. When I got home I wanted to see exactly how much I overpaid for each item but there was no receipt in the bag.
Never again. It’s a little less convenient but way more cheap to shop at Fairway.

1 STAR FOR CONVENIENCE: It is on my corner and it is the only place within 4 blocks to buy a roll of toilet paper or any other toiletry. They have pretty much anything you might need in a pinch.
1 STAR FOR QUALITY: EVERYTHING they carry in here is quality. From the produce to the sandwiches to the soups. All great stuff and they staff is very knowledgeable about what they carry They have a full line of higher end snacks that you won’t find everywhere too. Burnt hard pretzels are my go-​to here.
1 STAR FOR FRIENDLINESS: The cashier is always friendly, the owners alwasy seem to be around and the workers are usually affable. You could literally walk in, shout out a questions like ‘Do you have any heirloom tomatoes?” and would get at least 2 people responding to you instantly.
THE DOWNSIDE: They are only open until 6pm at the latest. You are paying for convenience but everything is more expensive in this neighborhood.
You have to realize that this is the heart of the Upper East Side. There is a $ 90 million mansion as well as mayor Bloomberg’s townhouse on the block across the street. This place knows its clientele and caters to them. They do an incredible amount of house accounts and delivery. It seems as if the actual in-​store retail sales are just a bonus. This place is in the exactly location where a place like this could exists and serves the community around it well. What more could you really ask for from a store?

Gentile’s is a gem that grows on you as you go back again and again, as I have for 20 years. If I want 15 packs of paper towels, I go to a supermarket further east. If I want good food, I go to Gentile’s. If I need a roll of paper towels and have no time to walk a ways, I pay for the conveniences. If I want inedible tomatoes or wilted lettuce, I go to a major grocery. If I want dependable excellent produce, I go to Gentile’s. You get what you pay for. Jay N clearly doesn’t run a business that takes credit & debit cards. The fees are prohibitive for small purchases. It’s like giving the merchandise away. The staff are wonderful to people who treat them like people. People who are rude to the staff while spending next to nothing get the natural human response.

I live just a block away and while I knew the prices were off the charts high, I’ve tried shopping here for quick and simple things in order to avoid walking two long blocks up in order to shop; I think Gentile’s realizes this which is why they throw any sense of customer service and fair pricing out the door.
The last straw for me was walking in and buying a few items totaling about $ 17. With only $ 5 in cash, I attempted to use a debit/​credit card. The counter lady grimaced at me and said «Oh we only take those for purchase of $ 25 and over». I smiled & told her I didn’t have enough cash and would just put the items back. Her reply was «Good, okay». This immediately annoyed and offended me and I asked her why she would rather lose a sale than accept a credit card purchase. Her reply was «Sir, we get people who call us on the phone and spend $ 5 thousand a month, so it’s okay». SERIOUSLY?!?
I’ll never be back and will raise a glass if I ever hear of this place closing down. Businesses like this don’t deserve my business or yours.