What's so Fair about Fairway?

Fairway Market is coming to town this fall. They are setting up shop in the Harbor Point Development at the corner of Market and Canal Streets. The Fairway site describes it as "one of New York City's most lauded and beloved food emporiums for more than 75 years." Ok, so what do other people say?

Yelp reviews of the Upper West Side store tell me that the produce is top notch. The store emphasizes organic products and humanely raised meats. Reviewers ding it for being too crowded and some less than stellar customer service, but most reviews are very positive. Several entries begin "Oh Fairway, how do I love thee?" Prices are described as fair, although some produce prices are more than expected. Noteworthy products include fresh crushed peanut butter, rare cheeses, cured meats and prepared foods. This location (not sure about others) is open until 1am! Sweet.

The Harlem location gets even better Yelp reviews. One review described it as "Quite possibly the best grocery store in the world." Another review described the store providing jackets to customers so they can walk into something called the Cold Room. Apparently the Cold Room is a giant refrigerated room filled with beer, soda, meat, ice cream and other frozen food. Pun sorta intended - that's very cool! Might be a nice way to shop in summer. People also say good things about the store's olive bar, baked goods and European specialty foods.

New York Magazine doesn't have any customer reviews posted, but its own write-up is equally glowing. It begins "For many Upper West Siders, life without Fairway is inconceivable." It goes on to describe the store as "an indispensable culinary resource." Hard to get more warm and fuzzy than that!

The Citysearch reviews are a slightly less stellar, with most of the critical comments revolving around surly customer service and crowds. Still, most of those reviews say nice things about the food offerings. Reviews from Insiderpages are excellent.

You can see the opening of Fairway Paramus, NJ from last year on YouTube narrated by Dan Glickberg, a fourth generation owner. They also have a YouTube channel where you can gain more insights into what they do and who they are (wanna learn from the defending East Coast Champion Mellon Picker? You got it!). It's all pretty charming, and gives you the impression that the place is very family friendly. They keep that impression alive locally by sponsoring this year's Big Apple Circus in Stamford.

So now I officially have high hopes! Looking forward to checking out our new neighbor.