Pomidor

If you don’t cook at home go to the «Pomidor» its the closet things to home.
Zosia is fantastic (THE COOK)…They make Ridgewood happy.

In recent years, this part of Ridgewood has become increasingly Polish and otherwise Eastern European so there are interesting Bosnian, Egyptian, Polish, and Romanian businesses continuing to overwhelm this previously predominately Italian neighborhood. It is wonderfully diverse with a good number of Latinos and a sprinkling of Asian families who seem to blend quite harmoniously. Pomidor opened I think almost two years ago and is clearly successful and I’m guessing part of that is because its ready made food to go service offers large portions of satisfying home cooked Polish meals which seems to appeal not only to its Polish customer base but to the larger community in which it operates.
The deli menu has its mainstays but has enough rotating options to make it fun just dropping by to see what the Polish momma’s have cooked that day. Almost anyday you can find a selection of breaded cutlets, fried or baked fish, stuffed cabbage or mushrooms or peppers, french fries or pierogi, mashed potatoes, sauerkraut, beans, pickles, and great soups (cucumber is my favorite but borscht on Friday’s is savory also).
The only complaint I have about Pomidor is their inconsistency on pricing. It all depends on who is working and I go there often enough to know how each person charges. If you get a standard lunch plate (which by the way is easily enough food for two people) almost all these family employees will charge you $ 7.00. This is up from open month prices of $ 5.50 which has gradually inched up .50 cents every few months. I used to eat their almost every day but now at $ 7.00 per plate its just not that special of a deal. If you substitute fresh fries for the standard mashed potatoes it’s $ 7.50 per plate. But then start making other substitutions and then its a big mystery unless you go frequently enough to know how each person likes to price the plates. I was OK with the unpredictability until a few days ago when I was charged $ 11.50 by one employee for a plate almost all the others would charge $ 7.50. Its the great pierogi substitution. The difference between the $ 7.50 plate and the $ 11.50 plate was about 4 pierogi’s. You see the plate is a main course plus a side (standard mashed potatoes) and a side salad. I made the mistake of saying YES to an order of pierogi rather than a SIDE of pierogi. So I was charged $ 4.50 for the main course, $ 4.50 for the pierogi and $ 2.50 for the cole slaw. Ouch! I paid without complaint just because I’ve been shopping there since they opened and have been amused by the progression of their pricing and interaction with the neighborhood.
All being said, I still eat here about twice a week and I just have to be careful who is working to know how I will be charged. I cannot speak to their groceries since I usually only but their meals to go. I guess the food is nothing stellar but definitely satisfying enough to keep me as a regular customer. However I hope their practice of raising prices .50 every few months isn’t going to continue. Sometimes I wonder if they even noticed that at least I stopped eating there almost every day when they slowly went from $ 5.50 to $ 6.00 to $ 6.50 to $ 7.00. I grew up in my grandfathers neighborhood market in South Texas where my grandmother and mom made lunch every day and it seemed the entire neighborhood came to buy lunch. Pomidor feels like you are going to your Polish grandma’s kitchen for lunch. Unfortunately, grandmas kids seem to be forgetting that building a loyal customer base of neighbors means not pushing the price point past the limit where it’s worth cooking at home again. Hey Pomidor, at $ 6 or $ 6.50 I’d probably be there every day. At $ 7 or $ 7.50 you see me once or twice a week. At $ 11.50 you lose me. Those peirogi are good but not worth $ 1 each.