Thinking of moving to Riverdale....

[Catherine C in NYC]

I've been looking at apartments in Riverdale, but I'm wondering what the food situation is like. Are there any particularly good restaurants? Are there good places to shop--particularly for fresh produce, meat and fish? I tried to do a search but don't seem to be coming up with much that's very recent. What is the food scene like? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

[Striver]

Critical question: do you have - or exoect to acquire - a car?

[Catherine C in NYC]

We don't currently have a car but we would get one if we moved there, yes.

[Striver]

That's good - Riverdale really is a bedroom community, more suburb than urb, and a car is virtually a necessity.

There aren't a lot of dining choices in Riverdale, but there are a few good ones. Siam Square is a very good local Thai restaurant, and it's fusiony specials are sometimes outstanding; Leibman's is a good local Jewish Deli; the recently opened Greek Express is surprisingly good for gyros, felafel, various spreads, etc. Golden Gate is good for a 1950's Chinese-American time trip (great spareribs, but avoid anything you wouldn't have found on a C-A menu circa 1956); the other Chinese restaurants are no better than OK.. Beccofino is a nice local Italian place in north Riverdale, if you don't feel like going to Arthur. Truly, though, for most of our "real" restaurant dining, we head into Manhattan.

There's a good fish store on 235th, and a liquor store with a small but decent range of wine selections. There are two bagel places (one kosher, one not) that are both pretty good - and the one on Riverdale Ave (Rolen) has lox, whitefish, etc. There's an Italian bakery across the street from there (Palumbo's); we don't love the pastries, but the bread's OK (and a new place, Jay-Bar, has opened up the block which carries some breads from Arthur Ave. bakeries, and other "speciality" items - it's pretty small though, and not a lot of selection).

Down on Bway and 234th there's a supermarket that offers cheese, produce, and miscellaneous items that's better than anyplace in Riverdale proper (but parking there isn't easy, and the big Staples lot across the street is tow-happy if you're a non-patron).

That said, we use our car to do our weekly food shopping at Harlem Fairway, which is less than 10 minutes away, and to go to Arthur Avenue for the variety of Italian delis, bakeries, butchers, etc. that fill that area.

Another option is to head north on the Deegan, within 15 minutes there's a Stew Leonard's (I'm not a fan, but some folks like it) and a Costco, if you're a member.

Hope that helps!

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Siam Square
564 Kappock St, Bronx, NY 10463

Beccofino
5704 Mosholu Ave, Bronx, NY 10471

Golden Gate
3550 Johnson Ave, Bronx, NY 10463

Greek Express
3733 Riverdale Ave, Bronx, NY 10463

[Catherine C in NYC]

Thank you-this is helpful! I suspected the Harlem Fairway might be the best bet--but at least it sounds like there are some neighborhood options.

[Margaretbx]

There are three good local places to shop: Garden Gourmet, on Broadway and 234th (the Staples has stopped towing, but I always find a parking spot on the street anyway), the stop and shop across the street, and the Foodtown on Broadway and 231st st, which has an amazing selection of beers. There are a number of local greenmarkets (two near Montefiore hospital, one in Poe Park, one in Botanical Garden, and one in Inwood)

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Garden Gourmet
5665 Broadway, Bronx, NY 10471