A Guide to NYC Restaurants Now Selling Groceries

One of the more interesting aspects of the current crisis is the morphing of restaurants into institutions that do so much more, selling seasoning mixes, delivering cocktails and bottles of wine — and using their foodstuff sources to become de facto grocery stores. Yes, sometimes the groceries closely resemble the ones they once used to make our meals, but they have also sometimes used their connections with wholesalers and farmers to offer a wider variety of high quality products. Some restaurants are delivering produce and other groceries, including in weekly installments, while others offer contactless pickup for locals living in the neighborhood. The selection at these restaurants are largely more limited than local grocery stores, but for those struggling to get delivery times from bigger players, it’s both a possible alternative and a way to support a beloved local restaurant.

Here’s a guide to some of the restaurants now offering produce and other groceries. Warning: Demand is high right now for grocery delivery across the city, so lengthier delivery times and changes to the offerings may occur. For more information on how to get groceries now, see Eater’s bigger guide on current options.

For delivery

Jeffrey’s Grocery: This cozy spot near Sheridan Square, known for its oysters and cocktails, has fulfilled the promise of its name by now offering a carefully curated selection of groceries, for either pickup or delivery. These include eggs, sourdough bread, avocados, Maldon sea salt, canned Spanish tuna, Stumptown coffee, wine, beer, fruit and vegetable boxes, and spring lettuces. Additionally, there are prepared foods like hummus as well as full trays of lasagna, among other things.

Mekelburg’s: With two locations in Williamsburg and Clinton Hill, Mekelburg’s has partly transformed itself into a grocery delivery and concierge service. It features meats, cheeses, personal care items, and housewares, in addition to its sandwiches, which include porchetta, meat loaf, and banh mi sandwiches, among others. Wine, beer, and cocktails to go.

Bourke Street Bakery: This Australian bakery is taking orders for sourdough bread and also a “bread + essentials” biweekly delivery. The essentials can include milk, butter, kale, carrots, onions, potatoes, broccoli, oranges, apples, bananas, strawberries, a loaf of bread, four croissants, a muffin, coffee, and four avocados, according to one report, for $80. Sometimes all the scheduled same-day deliveries are marked sold out, so keep checking back.

Panera Bread: This bread-based cafe will deliver groceries from select locations in Manhattan, Queens, Brooklyn, and near New Jersey, including produce, dairy, and bread. Check the nearest location to see if it’s participating.

The Butcher’s Daughter: The NYC cafe mini-chain has transformed all three of its locations into “Butcher’s Bodegas,” selling all of its regular menu items along with bread, olive oil, granola, pasta, and pancake mix. Order by calling any of the locations or through Grubhub, Uber Eats, Caviar, and Postmates.

Colonia Go: Offering a Latin pantry from Colonia Verde, a Fort Greene restaurant, items available for delivery include skirt steak, ribeye, marinated pork chop, frozen arepas, flour and corn tortillas. Frozen pão de queijo to be baked at home, and even a kit to make chilaquiles. There are natural wines at retail prices, and the option to donate a soup to a staff member at Brooklyn Hospital. Keep in mind there’s a $50 minimum on delivery orders.

Just Salad: Many Manhattan locations of this salad chain are now offering meal kits and fresh produce, in addition to prepared green salads, for pickup and delivery. The program is called Just Grocery, and includes grains, beans, seeds, bread, vegetables, fruits, and proteins such as skinless, boneless chicken breast, hardboiled eggs, and tofu. Same day delivery service is promised.

Dig Inn: This fast-casual restaurant chain has its own farm in Chester, NY that provides vegetables, and the company is delivering $26 boxes that typically contain seven to nine of them. A recent weekly selection ran to broccoli, green kale, cauliflower, avocado, watermelon radish, purple daikon, purple fingerling potatoes, and parsnips. Other staples such as milk, eggs, and flour are also available.

Purslane: This ethically conscious catering company — which is part of the same company that owns popular restaurants and bars Rucola, and Rhodora — has a zero-waste philosophy and is now shipping both a weekly CSA box and a prepared family-meal. The $50 box from Lancaster Farms is available through a subscription service.

Taiyaki: This ice cream purveyor with stores in Chinatown, Williamsburg, and Flushing has established a platform for the delivery of Japanese groceries by truck, so for those missing their nori, wasabi, kewpie mayo, tofu, frozen shumai, soba, and Nishiki rice, this may be the place. Contactless delivery promised to Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Nassau, with a call ahead to residents of apartment buildings without doormen. Orders over $75 are free, and $9.99 for others. Orders placed Thursday through Sunday will be delivered on Wednesday. Orders placed Monday through Wednesday will be delivered on Friday.

Mimi’s Hummus: Ditmas Park Middle Eastern mainstay Mimi’s Hummus has always peddled staples like prepared salads, bread dips, sauces, sweets, and cheeses, but now in addition to its regular menu plus beer and wine, it has also started stocking fruits and vegetables, which currently include eggplant, fennel, avocado, zucchini, and corn. Pick up at the restaurant or delivery via Caviar and Seamless.

Lea: In addition to wood-oven pizzas, pastas, salads, and snacks, Lea in Ditmas Park also stocks Italian groceries that include five pound cans of San Marzano tomatoes, faro, quinoa, dried beans, several kinds of fresh bread, cheeses including burrata, caponata, fresh and dried pastas, as well as beer and wine, all for delivery via Caviar.

Tannat: Inwood is not rife with grocery delivery options, but this wine and cheese bar is inaugurating a grocery service structured as a food coop, whereby shoppers, communicating by email (tannat.coop@gmail.com), sign up for a time slot, and fill out a chart to preorder certain perishables, then appear at the appointed hour for their 15 minute shopping spree. Minimum commitment per week: $50.

Hill Country Barbecue Market: One of the city’s most prominent Texas-style barbecues really has turned into a market. While before you could get beef, pork, and turkey‘cue; salads and other sides; and Texas style desserts; now in addition to delivered beer, one can also get such groceries and dry goods as toilet paper, paper towels, olive oil, corn muffin mix, Quaker oats, potatoes and onions, and Rotel canned tomatoes and green chiles, presumably to make chili con queso. But hey, where’s the Velveeta? Scroll down to the bottom for list of groceries. Pickup or delivery by Postmates or Delivery.com.

Mottley Kitchen: The South Bronx neighborhood cafe put together a box of groceries for delivery that includes the ingredients for 6-7 meals, plus extras. The box sells for $150 apiece and delivery is available on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday between 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

For pickup-only

The Elk: This West Village coffee shop has reopened, offering its usual caffeinated beverages and beauty product, but now also displays shelves of groceries and household item, the latter category including cleaning products, paper towels, and toilet paper. The new food items run to fruit sold from wooden crates, lots of pasta and sauces, olive oils and vinegars, and gluten free chips, among other groceries.

Barano: Partnering with Hudson River Valley farmers, the Williamsburg Italian restaurant Barano will provide subscriptions of four weekly boxes at two price points: $44.40 and $68.00. Boxes will contain vegetables, eggs, and apples, varying as the season progresses. Orders made by Wednesday can be picked up at the restaurant on Saturday.

Cervo’s: This Lower East Side Spanish restaurant offers contactless pickup once a week for provisions such as tinned fish, chicken stock, olive oil, and wine. There’s also a weekly Lancaster Farm Fresh box filled with organic vegetables and eggs for $45. Pre-ordering starts at noon on Thursdays for pickup on Saturday. Warning: the CSA box tends to go quick. 43 Canal St., between Orchard and Ludlow streets, LES

The Fly: Bed-Stuy rotisserie chicken destination the Fly, which is owned by the same team as Cervo’s, also does a weekly contactless pickup store with She Wolf bread, ready-to-roast chicken, and a similar $45 CSA box from Lancaster Farm Fresh. Pre-ordering starts at noon on Mondays for pickup on Wednesday, and the CSA box tends to go quickly here as well. 549 Classon Ave., north of Fulton Street, Bed-Stuy

Fort Defiance: This Red Hook bar and restaurant has turned into a contactless general store, including a $28 CSA vegetable box from Lancaster Farm Fresh. Other groceries like raw chicken, ground beef, garlic, scallions, butter, and sugar are also available. A portion of the sales go toward the Fort Defiance Employee Fund. All orders must be made online; pickup is available from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. 365 Van Brunt St., Dikeman and Coffey streets, Red Hook

Glady’s and Mo’s Original: The renowned jerk emporium (Glady’s) and ramen shop (Mo’s) now offer contactless pickups on Wednesdays and Saturdays at the Prospect Lefferts Gardens location. In addition to the standard bill of fare, the venues offer Kewpie mayonnaise, Sun ramen noodles, sesame seeds, homemade miso, all-purpose flour, chicken stock, dashi kits, steamed buns, jasmine rice, and overproof Jamaican rum. Check the website for deadlines on placing orders. 453 Rogers Avenue, at Lincoln Road, Prospect Lefferts Gardens

Olmsted: The ambitious Prospect Heights restaurant is now operating a specialty grocery store called Olmsted Trading Post. Produce from suppliers such as Norwich Meadows Farm are available for pickup, as are sauces and baked goods from the restaurant. Hours change; check the restaurant’s Instagram for the most updated details. 659 Vanderbilt Avenue, between Prospect and Park Place, Prospect Heights

New Shanghai Deluxe: When the virus hit, this classic Shanghai restaurant at the corner of Mott and Bayard closed for two weeks, but then reopened up as a vegetable market. Display bins offer baby bok choy, leeks, cilantro, and other predominantly green vegetables, in addition to potatoes and mushrooms, both fresh and dried. Phone: (212) 566-4884. 50 Mott Street at Bayard Street, Chinatown

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