Whole Foods NYC Opens its Midtown East Location on 57th Street

Entry into Whole Foods Market on 57th Street in NYC.

Residents of Glenwood's luxury rental apartment buildings, The Bristol and The Bamford: your life just got a whole lot easier. At least, the food-shopping part of your life. That's because Whole Foods Market in NYC has their newest location on 57th Street between Third and Second Avenues, in the also new 1.5-acre mixed-use "campus" that will soon be home to 59-stories-worth of condo residents and TWO new schools, PS 59 and the High School of Art & Design. Whole Foods is often accused of being overpriced (it didn't earn the nickname "Whole Paycheck" for nothing), but we've found that there are plenty of bargains to be had in all categories here–always go for the 365 Everyday Value house brand, for example, especially with staples like milk, and OJ–and if you're savvy it can be much less expensive than chains such as Gristedes. 

Whole Foods’ Midtown East Opening Night with a Local Focus

Anyway, we went to the new Midtown East Whole Foods on opening night (though missing Mayor Bloomberg's "bread-breaking" opening-morning party), and although this is by no means the biggest or flashiest Whole Foods in town (at 38,000 square feet, however, it's no slacker either), there are several unique touches here that are worth noting. Like, for instance, there's a definite locavore emphasis at the new Midtown Whole Foods, even more so than usual, and we spotted lots of our favorite local brands here, like Liddabit Sweets, Anarchy in a Jar, Brooklyn Brine pickled everything, Mast Brothers chocolate bars, and Sigmund's awesome pretzels. 

Sushi bar at Whole Foods on 57th Street in Midtown Manhattan.

Whole Foods Fights Hunger in NYC with Salad Bar Donations

More important than excellent Liddibit caramels, though (maybe): in conjunction with the opening of the new Midtown East location, Whole Foods announced that it would be donating 57 salad bars to NYC public schools all over town, to the tune of more than $300,000. The timing of the Whole Foods' donation is more than coincidental, of course. In fact, there's a whole education-and-art theme to the store's decor–chalkboard drawings of famous artists hang throughout–as befits its location next to the two new schools: PS 59, which will now have 730 students, and the High School of Art and Design, which will house 1,400 students. And in the bright and airy Whole Foods cafe upstairs (a great and comfortable place, by the way, to get a quick, reasonably priced lunch or dinner… just bring your sushi or salad bar feast or hot food or whatever up here), the tables are all illustrated with Whole Foods branded riffs of famous paintings. Welcome to neighborhood.   

Seating at the 57th Street Whole Foods cafe.

Whole Foods Midtown East Location Details 

The new Whole Foods in Midtown is located on 57th Street between 3rd and 2nd Avenues, and is open every dfay from 8:00 a.m. until 11:00 p.m. For more information, take a look at the Whole Foods website, here.  

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