Something exciting is happening inside the city’s supermarkets, bakeries, spice emporiums, Italian grocers, butcher shops, and Korean delis: They’re becoming eating destinations of their own. Shops like Kalustyan’s, Casa Della Mozzarella, and Marlow & Daughters have long bridged the divide between market and cafeteria; now that tradition is carrying through to an entire generation of spots that are more than stores but not quite restaurants, either. They offer the freedom and flexibility we crave in the summer, when we plan ahead as little as possible and do the bulk of our eating on sidewalks, in parks, or, in the case of one place on this list, inside a butcher shop that cooks whatever you want on-site. The dozens of businesses here are a fraction of what’s available throughout the five boroughs, of course, but taken together, they demonstrate the range of eating opportunities — the bougiest Tribeca farm stand, a Guatemalan deli, a weekends-only tamale destination to nurse a hangover — that keep everyone in this city so well fed.  — Alan Sytsma

Among the city’s many Erewhon aspirants, this maxi-mart with a smoothie bar has the best claim to the throne. Graphic-designed to Instagrammy perfection, long on health crazes and status ingredients — it’s like a little oasis of Silver Lake in Soho. Lamb-and-beef meatballs are a nice pairing for wild-rice salad dotted with peas, and pints of Harry’s Berries strawberries are available during the season, just as they would be out West. 365 Canal St.; happiergrocery.com

This Guatemalan bodega-slash-restaurant is for midtown deliveristas what Punjabi Grocery & Deli has been for downtown cabbies: a much-needed rest stop. Here, there’s pan dulce from Brooklyn’s Totopan bakery, Guatemalan snacks and sodas, and dishes such as nourishing chicken soup with spiral pasta and pork chops in a thin tomato sauce, plus the holy trinity of rice, beans, and macaroni salad. On the way out, snatch a tamale or a smaller fresh-corn tamalito. 168 Lexington Ave.; delielchapincito.com

There is no better place for pandan: Available sweets include pandan pudding, pandan noodles in coconut milk, pandan jelly, pandan crêpes — you get the picture. The market also sells shaved ice and mango sticky rice that’s made to order. A to-go container arrives warmed by freshly scooped rice; it’s sitting next to sliced mango that’s cool and fragrant. A little bit of coconut milk, drizzled from a ramekin, finishes things off. 81-16 Broadway, Elmhurst; instagram.com/patamarket

Don’t shop for groceries on an empty stomach, the saying goes; at Jubilee, that’s the point. During lunch inside its Fidi store, construction workers from nearby office towers crowd around a hot bar for $10-per-pound helpings of galbi, spicy tteokbokki, and stewed squid. In Greenpoint, construction workers from nearby condo towers crowd into the ground-floor café for Buldak-brand ramen and paper lunch sacks of foil-wrapped $2.25 smashburgers. Multiple locations; jubileemarketplace.com

Behind a worn-in blue awning in Lenox Hill is a space just wide enough to fit, on one side, a counter displaying salmon fillets, swordfish steaks, and Dover sole on ice. On the other side is a single file of customers waiting for sushi from the chef in the back. Roy himself makes maki and nigiri for 100-piece platters while assembling individual servings as well. Waits for walk-ins can stretch to 60 minutes, so do like the neighbors and call ahead to place your order. 1138 First Ave.; 212-838-3587

The red-sauce brigade may call it “Staten Italy,” but Staten Island is also home to one of the city’s largest Sri Lankan communities. You’ll find Sagara perched near the top of a hill overlooking Manhattan. Browse the shelves for red rice, dried kooni (baby shrimp), and Rupee beer. Deviled pork belly is fried until very crisp, then tossed with shallots and bell pepper, while the lamprais is a medley of a meal wrapped in banana leaf: turmeric rice, a fish croquette, hard-boiled egg, eggplant, onion chutney sweeter than caramel, plus vegetarian or meat curry. It’s takeout-only these days, but the owner offers tea to anyone who has to wait. 98 Victory Blvd., Tompkinsville; instagram.com/sagarafoodcity

Chef Flynn McGarry selects everything here, including the old-fashioned tableware and lamps and uncommon nonperishables sourced from small farms. The kitchen added full dinner service, with reservations, this spring, which is good news since pastries and schiacciata sandwiches (mortadella with pistachio butter is a signature) sell out by the afternoon. Crusty sourdough loaves are sold all day long, as are groceries — the same dressings, spreads, and pickles used throughout the café’s menu — and a selection of eye-pleasing Greenmarket veg of the moment. 181 Mott St.; gemhomenyc.com

In the back of an otherwise unassuming Fourth Avenue Mexican deli is an entire wood-paneled taqueria serving tender lengua and suadero crisped on the grill. The refrigerated salsa bar carries pico de gallo, puréed guacamole, a seriously smoky roja, and more, so customers can drench burritos, quesadillas, and tacos by the scoop instead of using whatever fits into a dinky plastic container. 706 Fourth Ave., Greenwood Heights; 718-369-7508

The family-run market follows a tried-and-true model: fresh fish for home, fried fish for now. Jumbo shrimp are battered thick and puffy, but the kitchen takes a lighter touch with catfish, breaded with tartar sauce on a roll. A move a couple years back gave space for more tables. Customers dive into lobster rolls and fried whiting with Old Bay fries. 348 Nostrand Ave., Bedford-Stuyvesant; instagram.com/shipwreckseafoodboutique

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You know about the famous Atlantic Avenue original. Next time you’re in Industry City, make a pit stop at the second Brooklyn location. Build a picnic with ground-chicken pies and homemade baklava in cashew or hazelnut iterations in addition to the usual pistachio. This is also the only Sahadi’s with a liquor store. Get a bottle of Lebanese rosé to go with gooey cheese-and-za’atar flatbreads that are warmed on the turntablelike spinner grill. 52 35th St., Bldg. 4, Sunset Park; sahadis.com

At this flower shop and Korean convenience store, a large table filled with assorted dishes — japchae, tteokbokki — takes center stage. Kimbap and fried chicken are made to order, and you can get a container of homemade kimchee plus a couple of plants to take home. 512 Nostrand Ave., Bedford-Stuyvesant; bestkoreantopfoodsweetflower.com

The freshness of the onigiri here is made evident in the snap of the cucumber inside the “California roll” version. After shopping for Japanese staples like Kewpie and S&B wasabi powder, pick up a few of the rice balls and then get a bowl of steaming rice — the Hawaiian is packed with a fried egg, furikake, and griddled Spam — and some craggy chicken katsu with squeaky pickles and curry. 17-11 Grove St., Ridgewood; instagram.com/minimartnyc

Instead of stalking Greenmarkets for Andrew Tarlow’s whole-wheat sesame loaves, head to his bakery and weekday lunch counter. Yes, it’s in a “food hall,” but there are still good reasons to go: the full array of She Wolf baked goods (including hard-to-find pizza bianca) plus basil-heavy niçoise salads and anchovy sandwiches. 141 Flushing Ave., Brooklyn Navy Yard; shewolfbakery.com

The gourmet emporium carries bottled nonalcoholic Cipriani Bellinis that are a welcome alternative to Phony Negronis. They’re picnic-ready as is but easy enough to spike with a bottle of cheap prosecco. 254 Bleecker St.; murrayscheese.com

Manhattanites now have access to this outer-borough Uzbek grocer’s bounties at the Greenwich Village store, and newbies should take note that when the hot bar’s chebureki beckon, it’s important to show a little restraint. It’s easy to get more food than any one person can eat: flaky samsa with pumpkin, spicy carrot salad, fresh-baked breads, plump manti, juicy lulya kebab, various salads, and huge amounts of the famous rice pilaf called plov with beef or lamb. Just go slow. It’s open every day; you can come back for more. Multiple locations; instagram.com/tashkent.supermarket

On Tuesdays, this café transforms into a farmers’ market with herbs, lettuces, and sprouts from its own farm. Even those who don’t make it on market days can find bundles of ingredients plus orange-yolked eggs and pristine ready-to-eat entrées inside. Arnold Palmers are fresh-made for the summer, and chicken salad is mixed with crème fraîche and homemade mayo before it’s topped with halved red grapes. Tuck some into a sourdough loaf from the counter. 227 W. Broadway; rigorhillmarket.com

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This family-owned Mexican bodega turns out some of Brooklyn’s best tacos and tortas. Barbacoa is made on weekends, which is also the time to find tamales on the menu from 7 a.m. until they sell out. The masa is soft but structural, encasing saucy chicken mole, chicken rojas, and pork verde. 532 Fourth Ave., Gowanus; reyesdelibk.com

Unlike Madison Fare, its rival in the UES fro-yo wars, Butterfield Market has yet to go full yogurt. Its two locations still feel like high-end Trader Joe’s dupes: Both stores have smoothie bars, sushi, grab-and-go salads (not to mention the yogurt), and underrated ready-to-bake portions of macaroni and cheese. Multiple locations; butterfieldmarket.com

Produce is a specialty with displays spilling out onto the sidewalk, inviting passersby to pick up a 12-pound watermelon, tissue-wrapped citrus, or muscat grapes. Inside, Mediterranean and Middle Eastern pantry staples — tinned favas, canned pickles, three-liter jugs of olive oil — overflow. Don’t neglect the bulk section’s Turkish pistachios, which are always fresh and snappy. 130 Church Ave., Kensington; 917-893-9191

Chirashi is the move at this stylish Japanese market: The house special is a combination of uni, ikura, a rotating fish of the day, cucumber, and shiso. Sodas are seasonal and made to order, and you can pick up a jar of pickled plums to take home before you check out. 5–35 51st Ave., Long Island City; instagram.com/mogmog_lic

10 Instant Picnics One-stop feasts for those days when it’s 80 degrees outside and you need a perfect spread right now. Illustration: Clay Hickson 1. Prospect ParkGrab plastic clamshells of kimchee and radish muchim with tubs of spiced labneh and nutty muhammara, plus savory Syrian pastries, at Dukan Syko Marketplace (214a Prospect Park W., Windsor Terrace; dukansykomarketplace.com). 2. Central Park (South)Before setting down a blanket in Sheep Meadow, stop by 67 Gourmet (194 Columbus Ave.; 67wine.com) for goat Gouda, rabbit and pork pâté, and chrysanthemum kombucha. 3. Central Park (North)In East Harlem, Dalila’s Tacos (126 E. 103rd St.; dalilastacos.com)—until recently known as El Tepeyac Food Market—sells red and green salsas, lime-heavy guac, house tortilla chips, and an assortment of conchas for dessert. 4. McCarren ParkKrajan Polskie Deli (160 Nassau Ave., Greenpoint; 718-389-4289) has kept the neighborhood stocked with headcheese and jarred beets for years. Get some pickles, a tub of Polish vegetable salad, and a few types of pierogi. 5. Fort Greene ParkAdd anything at all to a famous “chopped sandwich” from Farmer in the Deli (357 Myrtle Ave., Fort Greene; instagram.com/farmerdeli1). Meat, cheese, chips, or cookies are fair game to be hacked up and slid into a hero. 6. Astoria ParkOf all the Greek options here, few make for a better picnic than Athena Gourmet Market (23-38 31st St., Astoria; athenagourmetnyc.com) with its bricks of saucy pasticcio, toasty koulouri, and piney Mastiqua sodas flavored with sour cherry. 7. Brooklyn Bridge ParkSahadi’s is across the street, but go to Oriental Pastry & Grocery (170 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn Heights; orientalpastryandgrocery.com) for Aleppo-dusted pita chips, pickled turnips, mango nectar, and fresh baklava. 8. Flushing Meadows Corona ParkA few blocks from the Lemon Ice King of Corona is the Colombian bakery Matecaña (48-04 108th St., Corona; matecanabakeryandrestaurantny.com). Get to the pastry case for empanadas, buñuelos, and pan de coco. 9. Little Island and Hudson River ParkHead downstairs at Chelsea Market (75 Ninth Ave.; chelseamarket.com) for laminated baguettes at ALF Bakery, perfect vessels for creamy ricotta or marbled blue goat cheese from Saxelby Cheesemongers at the next stand over. 10. Sunset ParkStart with sardine bánh mì and condensed-milk avocado shakes at Ba Xuyên (4222 Eighth Ave., Sunset Park; 718-633-6601), then fill out the meal with jackfruit chips, cuttlefish jerky, and pandan honeycomb cake from a foil tray.

Just what this minuscule market is doing on a Fidi side street, we’ll never know. With Italian being spoken by four different customers on a recent afternoon, it hardly seems to exist in New York at all. Best Sicily is a little outpost from Old Country importers with excellent pantry staples (Siracusan lemon marmalade), but the highlights are pressed focaccia sandwiches, softball-size arancini, and sweets including olive-oil cake and gorgeous bomboloni. 87 Beaver St.; bestsicily.com

These two Brooklyn shops — in Williamsburg and Greenpoint — are the places to go for cheese-board assembly owing to the markets’ “orphan” cheese baskets, made up of small sampler cuts. For lunch, get a tuna sandwich filled with capers, white beans, and lemon. Multiple locations; campbellandco.nyc

Fans know chef Hooni Kim makes the city’s best jjajangmyeon. His restaurant Hanjan may be closed, but the chewy Korean Chinese noodles, fermented black-bean sauce, chopped pork belly, and peas for a pop of freshness, are available at his shop in Queens. Supplement the dish with premade banchan and top-notch kimbap or other dishes from the kitchen, including tteokbokki and double-fried chicken wings. 528 49th Ave., Long Island City; littlebanchanshop.com

Though it shares its space with a burger restaurant, the butcher shop is where you want to eat: Get in line and, when it’s your turn, let the butcher know you’ll be staying there. It’s $10 more per pound for anything you want, cooked on the spot and served with salad. Add on some fries and a tall boy of beer. It’s a far cry from Keens, which is exactly the point. 60-15 Woodside Ave., Woodside; ottomanelli.com

A block away from Maria Hernandez Park, Foster is like a mini Murray’s Cheese, butcher, beer shop, and café. Come for links of off-kilter sausage (Nashville hot chicken, beef negimaki); stay for sandwiches like creamy stracciatella cheese with Calabrian chiles and pickled peppers. The surprise highlight is the top-tier, albeit pricey, fruit, much of which comes straight from the Hunts Point Produce Market in the Bronx or local cooperatives, such as Lancaster Farm Fresh strawberries and super-ripe green plums. 215 Knickerbocker Ave., Bushwick; fostersundry.com

The small shop is a go-to for stacks of freshly baked injera. There are, additionally, all the requisite ingredients for Ethiopian and Eritrean cooking, like berbere, shiro, and green coffee for roasting at home. Fresh, crisp sambusas are available under a heat lamp throughout the day. 2100 Amsterdam Ave.; nunubaltena.com

The best part of a gourmet grocer connected to a bar is that you can shop and drink a beer at the same time. If you are sitting down to eat, get potato wedges to go with your Heady Topper IPA. Mekelburg’s is practically a celebration of the humble spud — tots, curly fries, and the locally famous salt-baked variety are all here — but the thick-sliced wedges, an abundance of fluff inside crisp-fried skins, are the best. 319 Kent Ave., Williamsburg; mekelburgs.com

The sandwiches are dead simple — mortadella and artichokes, tuna salad with egg — but the focaccia is unbelievably airy and the bread-to-filling ratio is, simply put, perfect. Stop by on a Friday or a Saturday, when the market stays open later, for aperitivi in the utterly charming vine-walled backyard. 206 Garfield Pl., Park Slope; unpostoitaliano.com

A great name and they never close: Sip on the Russian Yellow — with papaya and peach — or the minty watermelon Pink Life while shopping for aloe vera and tomatillos. 5317 Broadway, Woodside; instagram.com/juicenbeatz

There are two locations of this best-in-class Woodside Thai market, and each stocks frozen pandan leaves and jars of green curry. In the back of the store on 61st Street, there’s also a counter to eat dishes cooked from the kitchen. Moo ping — pork skewers — are carefully grilled, while papaya salad is full of heat and crunch. More prepared foods are sold near the register, like sticky rice with dried shrimp or sweet fried pork fragrant with cumin. Multiple locations; 3auntiesthaimarket.com

This artisanal market stocks both yuzu vinaigrette and dish pods, but the reason to go is its turkey sandwich: smoked breast, arugula, manchego, Peppadews, pickled shallots, and harissa mayo all rolled into a baguette. It can be paired with some Riesling or Chardonnay from the wine shop next door. 242 Wythe Ave., Williamsburg; depanneur.com

Founded in 2011 by Khalil Rafati, a former addict who developed his first smoothie for patients at his sober house, SunLife now counts 11 locations in and around L.A. It touched down in New York this spring. If you vibe with its raw ingredients, designer supplements, and soft spirituality (the merch reads “Be Here Now”), you’ll love the Million Dollar Smoothie, which has raw-cashew butter, raw-plant protein, maca, olive oil, and (bovine) colostrum, the first milk from newly producing mammary glands. As you wait for your smoothie to blend, browse shelves of high-protein beef jerky (jalapeño flavor) and homemade paleo granola. 482 W. Broadway; sunlifeorganics.com

Since brothers Joseph and Franco Caputo took over their family’s half-century-old Italian deli a couple of years ago, they’ve made only small adjustments, all subtle enough that fans might miss them: Franco prepares the tiramisu with Valrhona chocolate, and there’s more tinned fish on the shelves. The new sandwiches also fit right in: The Feast is sausage and peppers with onions and fresh mozzarella. The Lo Spuntino is an Italian combo finished with Pecorino Romano and black-pepper vinaigrette. 460 Court St., nr. 3rd Pl., Carroll Gardens; caputosfinefoods.com

Spanning a full block from Mott Street to Elizabeth, this is like a hectic hallway filled with just about everything: Stop for roasted pork, fresh vegetables, and a snack of spring rolls. Then track down a tray of egg tarts from the bakery and dumplings to cook at home later. 79 Elizabeth St.; 212-925-5766

With its chrome stools and white-jacketed workers, Missy Robbins’s “market” looks, and acts, like a bar in Milan. No wonder so many people stay for baguettes stuffed with slices of cotechino or shredded artichokes tucked inside toasty sesame rolls. It’s fine to do the same (especially when the back garden is open), but you can also take everything to go, along with packages of tagliatelle and bucatini, made right in front, that are wrapped in tissue paper with as much care as a new Baby Birkin. 46 Grand St., Williamsburg; misipasta.com

If it’s 3 a.m. in the East Village, get a giant sandwich at this 24-hour deli. The Abraham is a mung-bean burger with kimchee, tofu, cucumber, silver noodles, seaweed, apple, and avocado, finished with green-chile sauce. The store sells nearly a dozen flavors of Pringles to pair with it. 94 Ave. B; 212-677-3131

This is both a distribution center and a restaurant with caviar martinis, lobster rolls, and — crucially — tastings. Flights of different six-gram dabs come with blini, chips, and various accoutrements. Add a glass of Champagne, find a favorite caviar, and buy a tin to take for the road. 77 Commerce St., Red Hook; pearlstreetcaviar.com

On a busy weekend day, this fruit market can go through more than 3,000 green coconuts, which are hacked open by machete and poured directly into half-gallons and quarts to order. (If coconut water is what you want, pay inside and get a receipt, then wait your turn.) But people come to Labay for more than just that; it’s also one of the city’s most reliable, super-seasonal sources of Caribbean fruit, and neighbors know to stop by for fresh tamarind pods, soursop, and guava. 1127 Nostrand Ave.; Prospect–Lefferts Gardens; labaymarket.com

A north Brooklyn icon, Edy’s remains our favorite spot for Middle Eastern specialties including shanklish cheese, rose water, and Jordanian za’atar made with coriander and mint. Sit at the homey corner table for chile-crisp labneh toast with pillowy mini-pitas. A pyramid-shaped box of pineapple Bonjus is too fun to pass up. 136 Meserole Ave., Greenpoint; edysgrocer.com

Of course a Brownstone Brooklyn Spanish boutique is a dependable spot for olives, jamón, and those giant tins of superthin potato chips. The newer Gowanus storefront has indoor seating, where you can test out boquerones with a glass of wine or snack on squid ink enriched with piquillo peppers, onion, and tomato that’s spooned over white rice. 252 Third Ave., Gowanus; mercadocentralnyc.com

This two-location chainlet’s Grand Central–adjacent outpost is the spot for onigiri: Rice is formed, seasoned, and balled around seafood like grilled eel and salted cod before being wrapped with seaweed and plastic, all behind the display. Get the Spicy Bomb filled with salmon, spicy tuna, and kombu, and nab some Spam musubi before catching your train out of town. 370 Lexington Ave.; katagiri.com

Illustration: Clay Hickson Not every location of the much-loved Korean supermarket is the same. The East Village one (39 Third Ave.) has better herbs and Asian produce than the neighborhood Wegmans, but it’s cramped. The same goes for Koreatown (38 W. 32nd St.), which is convenient but narrow — it’s most useful when you just need to get something quick and get out, or when you want to visit the K-beauty store, which has skin care and makeup. You can do the same at the store near Columbia (2828 Broadway), where there is also a full-service fish counter. The Upper West Side location (210 Amsterdam Ave.) has the best produce of any H Mart. The first-ever H Mart, in Woodside (59-18 Woodside Ave.), finished renovation in 2023. It feels small, but we did find fruit-shaped Hong Qi ice cream and Tokyo Banana sponge cakes — popular Chinese and Japanese desserts.

The mustard-rich chicken-salad sandwich was an instant hit when Winner’s bakery opened in 2020, but it’s at the newer butcher shop, 15 blocks north and two avenues over, where containers of that same salad can be purchased to go. It’s best when shoveled into a ripped piece of sourdough — also available at the butcher — instead of spread into a proper sandwich. 192 Fifth Ave., Park Slope; winner.nyc

An Italian delicatessen attached to a full restaurant: bellissimo. Focaccia sandwiches are filled with prosciutto and mozzarella, and Pan di Stelle cookies line the shelves along with other pantry staples like Casa Firelli hot sauce, which is made in Parma with balsamic vinegar and dried porcini mushrooms. 136 N. 7th St., Williamsburg; grantorinonyc.com

There’s no Dimes Square without Dimes. The original restaurant is going strong, and so is this little grocer, where you can bring Dimes’s mindful-but-not-annoying-about-it staples home. Load up on plastic containers of the restaurant’s mango-topped white-bean salad and almond-butter-slicked sesame noodles. Every store in the world now carries designer tinned fish, but Dimes Market’s selection (little scallops from Spain; smoked trout from the Cervo’s house brand, Minnow) remains one to beat. 143 Division St.; dimesnyc.com/market

Queens Boulevard is always jammed with traffic, and this Indonesian grocer is always jammed with food. There are classic rice dishes like nasi lemak and nasi uduk, fried duck with mango sauce, deep-fried tofu, chicken coated in garlic and scallion, and an abundance of sweet kue such as the steamed, spongy cake called kue bika ambon. Two days a week, the grocery turns into a restaurant with the city’s hottest table (there’s only one) and always-changing menus that include dishes like bakso laksa with springy beef meatballs, stuffed tofu skin, and coconut-milk broth invigorated with chiles. 8512 Queens Blvd.; instagram.com/indojavagroceries

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