Official Ridgefood Grocery Shopping Guide!

Ridgefood Grocery Shopping Tour

Last summer we hosted the legendary, once-in-a-lifetime Ridgefood Grocery Shopping Tour. Here, finally, is our long-awaited roundup of all the places we visited. The good news is: since we waited almost a year to write this post, it’s summer again, which means it’s the perfect time spend a leisurely, sunny Saturday afternoon checking out all these amazing places!

(See below for the Ridgefood Grocery Shopping Tour Map)

1. Ridgewood Youthmarket

What it is: Farmer’s market
Location: Ridgewood Remembrance Triangle (Myrtle & Cypress)

Ridgewood Youthmarket

Ridgewood Youthmarket

The tour group—including me (Mollie), occasional Ridgefood contributor Ari, guest Instagrammer Alaina, and special guests Anne and Stephen—met at the Ridgewood Youthmarket, a seasonal farmer’s market that sets up shop in the Ridgewood Veterans Triangle every Saturday. Last year at the market, we scored kohlrabi, orange & yellow carrots, and kale. The market is open from 9am–3pm, now through November 22nd.

2. Mt. Everest Grocery & Deli

What it is: Indian & Nepalese market
Location: 5609 Myrtle Avenue (between Cornelia & Cypress)

Mt. Everest Deli

Inside the freezer at Mt. Everest Deli

Next, we headed to Mt. Everest—a quintessential Ridgewood establishment in that it looks pretty mediocre/shady from the outside, but then once you get inside you’re pleasantly surprised by what it has to offer. Ignore the cat-pee smell and explore the aisles; the Indian food is in the back. And be sure to check out the freezer, where you’ll find homemade momos, paneer, and other Indian & Nepali delights.

Stuff we bought: frozen roti (Stephen), cilantro chutney (Ari)

3. Fancy Fruit

What it is: Fruit & vegetable market featuring Italian and other European products
Location: 56-11 Catalpa Avenue (near Myrtle)

The group quickly cruised through Fancy Fruit, an indispensable and uber-cheap greengrocer just off Myrtle Ave. I stock up on produce here once or twice a week and rarely spend more than $15. Also, check out their impressive dried pasta selection (and their simple and excellent Mamma Lombardi’s tomato sauce is a staple in our house).

Fancy Fruit

Fancy Fruit

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Announcing the Ridgefood Grocery Shopping Tour! 8/31/2013

Ridgefood Grocery Shopping Tour

Hello, loyal reader! We here at Ridgefood have been digitally leading you around Queens’s most accessible polslavomexidoreanese neighborhood for a while, but now it’s time for us to give you the opportunity to follow us around in person!

That’s right: We’re giving a tour.

And not just any tour, but a RIDGEFOOD GROCERY SHOPPING TOUR. Have you always wanted to go into that Arab bodega and buy the groceries in the back, but you’re not sure how to use them? Do you need a step-by-step introduction to the glorious wonder that is Parrot Coffee? Do you know which fruit stand sells pristine Halal meat in the back? Are you confused about which Polish drink syrup to buy? Do you want to walk around the ‘hood, talk history and recipes, and eat sausage sticks from Morscher’s with the ladies of your neighborhood food blog on a sunny summer day?

THEN THIS TOUR IS FOR YOU. Continue reading

Crepes and Waffles and Another Ridgewood Bar Crawl

Don’t forget! The second Ridgewood Bar Crawl, brought to you by the Ridgewood Social (née Ridgewood Meetup) folks, takes place this Saturday night. New stops on the crawl include Eros Cafe and Polish German Club House, as well as Parlay (aka the former Hi-5, so it’s not NEW new). We seldom make it out to bars in the ‘wood, so the crawl is a good excuse to go totally wild. Just kidding (?).

RSVP here, or just show up! Scroll down for a map of the crawl route.

Naleśniki Gofry

The crepe & wafflerie is adjacent to a bustling stop on the Q58 bus

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Everything We Ate at the Taste of Ridgewood

Last week we attended the Taste of Ridgewood, the first-ever food fest benefiting the Ridgewood YMCA‘s Strong Kids Campaign. We ate, we drank, we chatted with local Ridgefolk. Here’s our photo recap:

Taste of RidgewoodClockwise from top left: Vietnamese iced coffee over crushed ice, coconut tapioca pudding, and a summer roll from Bunker (we forgot peanut sauce – oops); vegetable samosa and cilantro dipping sauce from Nepalese Indian; and foufou & okra (foufou are like dumplings) and grilled fish & attieke (fermented cassava that resembles couscous) from Bed-Stuy’s Abidjan. Continue reading

Taste of Ridgewood: Your Unofficial Guide

Taste of Ridgewood

Happy Spring! The Ridgewood YMCA gave us the final list of 20 restaurants participating in the Taste of Ridgewood on April 11th. Cuisines represented include West African, Indian, American, Bosnian, Vietnamese, American, Fitness, Tex-Mex, Nepalese, Pastries, Japanese, and German! We think … Continue reading 

Taste of Ridgewood to Benefit YMCA’s Strong Kids Campaign

Taste of Ridgewood

There’s just one day left to RSVP for the Taste of Ridgewood, a food-fest fundraiser for the Ridgewood Y’s Strong Kids Campaign. The complete list of participating restaurants hasn’t been revealed yet, but so far they’ve confirmed: California Pizza Kitchen, a pizza … Continue reading 

Get Drunk and Meet People at the First-Ever Ridgewood Bar Crawl


View Ridgewood Meetup Bar Crawl in a larger map

This Saturday, neighborhood social event coordinators Ridgewood Meetup will host the first-ever Ridgewood Bar Crawl. The event kicks off at Cozy Corner Tavern, a dive bar that touts its outstanding cheesesteak ($5.95). The full 10-bar lineup is below, and you can RSVP on Facebook. We’re not terribly familiar with bars in the ‘wood, so we chatted with Sarah Feldman, Ridgewood Meetup’s founder, about the crawl. She plans on trying the famed cheeseteak, so we’re eager to see if its deliciousness holds up even at the first stop of the night, pre–extreme drunkenness.  Continue reading

Snax by Mollie at the Ridgewood Flea

Ridgefoodies! We’ll be selling various baked goods at the Ridgewood-Bushwick Flea tomorrow at the Onderdonk House! Come say hi and enjoy some snax (by Mollie). So far we’ve baked: black bean, butternut squash, and queso fresco empanadas; Secret Recipe Brownies; and cardamom-lime rice krispy treats. In the morning we’ll prepare chocolate chip banana bread so fleagoers can enjoy it warm. Free mini-Palmona (made from San Pellegrino Pompelmo, $1 at Paula’s Deli) if you mention Ridgefood!

Vander Ende-Onderdonk House

1820 Flushing Avenue [map]
(718) 456-1776

Paula’s Deli (CLOSED)

5533 Myrtle Avenue [map]
(718) 497-7815