Barzini’s, the 24-hour grocery store at 2451 Broadway (between West 90th and 91st streets), has been the topic of some online message board dialogue recently. Over the past several months, a number of customers have accused the market of mislabeling expired items and overcharging their credit cards.
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“Confirmed! BARZINI’S changes the best by dates and misleads its customers about product freshness,” wrote one Nextdoor user in a September post. “I peeled off their fake sticker and the original packaging stamped date stuck to the bottom of it.” Based on the pictures shared in the post, it’s unclear if the user has a real case of expiration with evidence. The same user – “Mr Cooper” – shared a very similar post about a year earlier, in August 2021. (Perhaps he stuck it out with Barzini’s due to a lack of other options, but maybe Mr Cooper will say goodbye once the Key Food opens at 88th and Broadway.)
One response does a good job articulating what others appear to have noticed for some time now: “It’s sort of fun to watch people realize this. Selling expired and near-expired food has been Barzini’s business model for decades. I’ve always suspected they buy near-expired food from other grocers or distributors, then see if they can clear it (or fudge the dates). This works for some people. Others are horrified. You’re now in on the neighborhood secret!”
If you go by the comments, you’d count a lot more people complaining about Barzini’s than supporting them. Nextdoor, similar to Yelp in some fashion, could be seen as a place where people go to voice their frustrations over songs of joy. But at what point does it start to become glaringly one-sided? Well, Barzini’s has a shoddy two-and-a-half out of five stars on Yelp. The majority of reviews are one star.
On December 9, however, one customer started a positive thread titled “An honest shopkeeper: Barzini’s on 91st Bway.” Here, a story is shared by a customer who bought a “bunch of grapes” for around $12 the day before. While she didn’t get a receipt, the next day she noticed when checking her credit card statement that instead of being charged $12, she was charged $42.78. “I was shocked when he immediately said he would refund me the overcharge of $30 … Thank you to the manager of Barzini’s and I am a customer for life.”
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Others who’ve noticed similar overcharges haven’t been quite so positive about the experience.”Their modus operandi is to overcharge in that manner,” responded one user with a similar story. “Enough people do not realize it so they make a lot of extra money that way. Amex does not require a receipt-they will take your word for the overcharge. Of course they will refund you graciously, as they are fully aware of the reason for the overcharge- I was overcharged $70.”
On December 9, another Nextdoor thread gets into a credit card billing situation. “When checking my Amex statement, I found 5 charges from Barzini’s that were on dates which I have been in New Jersey taking care of my parents. I was not even in the city. I called Amex and reported the charges. They have changed my card # and are looking into fraud.”
A Discussion of bogus Barzini’s charges also appeared in a Facebook group called “Being Neighborly, UWS, W60-90.” On October 25, a member of the forum wrote, “PSA: A friend of mine went to Barzini’s this past week and bought an item for $2.55. She was given a receipt that said $2.55, but her credit card was charged $22.50 … This evidently has been going on for months and people have already called it to their attention, but it continues to happen.”
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ILTUWS has been monitoring these discussions for months. Following accusations of selling mislabeled and/or expired cheese on September 19, we visited Barzini’s at around 11:30 p.m. on September 21. We found no evidence of expired or mislabeled cheese at the time, but based on the history of comments, that’s not to say it doesn’t happen there.
The cheese we happened to inspect was about a month away from expiring.
Once posts about credit card issues started, we went back to Barzini’s on Thursday, October 27, and spoke to the manager, Parvis Abde, who said he didn’t know of any issue with their cash register and credit cards. When the comments kept coming in, we checked in with Abde again on Friday, December 16, this time on the phone.
Abde said he remembered when we visited in October. We discussed the visitor who bought the grapes and then came back without a receipt and got credited. He admitted there have been credit card issues at Barzini’s.
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“We had an issue in May. The lady gave her credit card and her credit card declined, and we did it again. So, she came back and said she was charged two times.” Abde said they looked into the matter and “if American Express does not give you credit let me give you money back. And I did a couple other times and I’m sorry for that. I don’t know what to do we try to change our machine. To have an updated better machine. We don’t have an experienced guy behind the register.”
We asked Abde if the credit card issues will go away with this new system. His response was “Yes,” while noting the newly updated machine went into effect “two weeks ago.”
As for the bad cheese, “That was not accurate either,” claimed Abde. He said that someone called the health department on the store and the “health department came to me and they checked me out and everything, they don’t see nothing.”
Abde continued, “It’s not a brand-new store. It’s an old-fashioned store, it’s one of the old times. If you need to make it 100% right, you need to spend tons of money and there’s no money … We don’t want to borrow money from bank and put the money in a store then close it and go. That’s the problem. There’s a lot of issues today … Honestly, it’s very, very difficult to make everybody happy.”
The last time I was in Barzini’s I was on line in the dairy section waiting for the next register and watching at least two little grey mice run around in between the yogurts. Even got a nice picture of one. Which is too bad because they have really good tahini.
I used to walk by there every morning very early on my way to the gym and watch them pick moldy berries out of berry cartons with a chopstick and put the cartons back on the stand for sale. Their shelves are often filled with expired items. I used to run in only in a pinch–now I won’t buy anything there.
So glad other options are available. Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods get all my business. I question anyone’s sanity that buys meat/fish or any prepared foods there.
i can’t comment on the expiration dates but the overcharging is absolutely accurate based on our experience over the past couple of years. it has happened to both my husband and myself multiple times. we always check our accounts now after shopping there. they’re always very apologetic but this is obviously more than an accident.
“MULTIPLE TIMES”?..Close them down..They,re Crooks..Report them to the city somebody..Please..”Ilovetheupperwestside.com” should send the info to the city..Barzinis is taking business away from honest UWS business..MOULD? MICE?and endangering customers health.
I’ve been overcharged many times, especially with produce. I now make sure to take a picture of each produce price sign when I pick out the item, watch what the cashier charges, and oftentimes correct him to the right price.
Knowing the produce issue, I’ve been very keen to collect the credit card machine receipts each time its charged since it’s very easy for them to type in the listed price on the register, but use another, higher amount in the machine.
Thanks for this investigative work ILTUWS!
Are you going to REPORT them since you have been “OVER CHARGED MAY TIMES?
WHY do you continue to shop there..They are obviously out to SCAM their customers
Are you going to REPORT them since you have been “OVER CHARGED MAY TIMES?
WHY do you continue to shop there..They are obviously out to SCAM their customers
Barzini’s used to be one of the UWS’ best markets. Now it has gone to the dumps: expired food, overcharging, mice and rats running around the floor and shelves, etc. It is a wonder they don’t have so many violations that they have to shut down.
MICE, MOULD, Overcharging, expired foods!..Why is this place not closed down?..Some one PLEASE report them t the city Health Department
I moved around the corner from Barzini’s in 2001. One of my first trips there, they had for sale a plastic milk jug where the milk was completely separated because of its age. That jug was there for over a week. My next trip there was 10 years later. The canned goods had expired dates on them. That was my last trip to Barzini’s where everything is rotten. I go to Broadway Farm instead.
Broadway Farm is a great place to shop with a wide variety of foods..Their produce is always fresh..
True, but they are often referred to as “Rip-off Farms” because their prices are high (not necessarily gouging, or even overcharging, just high).
Barzini’s is a Fabulous specialty grocer with an amazing assortment of wonderful items. This kind of post is ridiculous, and the most negative and unbalanced story I’ve seen about a food store ever. They continue to have fabulous cheeses and delicacies that Trader Joe’s, a company that notoriously doesn’t care about Covid safety, nor their worker’s safety does not carry.
I’ve been an upper west sider for 40 years, if you want to see overcharging, and advertised specials that are never there, check out what used to be “FAIRWAY” on 74th street. This Shop Rite is just wrong. Buyer beware.
Barzini’s is a great place for a lot of things. In NYC, it’s a joy to have them import Pomegrantes, and all the other specialty foods they offer. Every single store on the upper west side has mice and rats all the time. It’s time to charge developers a huge fee for pest control, instead of having them dig up all the rats to make buildings like 200 Amsterdam Avenue, a 56 story monster, which Helen Rosenthal and Scott Stringer allowed to happen in an area that was zoned for 26 story story building with rats running around it’s basement and outside.
Mary Ann:
Are you suggesting that ALL of us are lying? That we are somehow in cahoots to take down Barzini’s? I am glad your experience(s) there have been good, but clearly they have not been for the rest of us. I, for one, am going to formally report them to the Department of Health. I hope others will, too.
Very glad you enjoy shopping at Barzinis.
However Pomegranates ..seem not to be their problem..The problem is the MICE. The MICE and the MOULD , the continual OVER CHARGING and expiry dates..We must insist they “Clean up their Act.
or REPORT and shop elsewhere.
The lies emanating from Stringer and Rosenthal are a different issue..Politicians, what would you expect? Betrayal….
I hold my grocery provider to a higher standard
Thank you
Very glad you enjoy shopping at Barzinis.
However Pomegranates ..seem not to be their problem..The problem is the MICE. The MICE and the MOULD , the continual OVER CHARGING and expiry dates..We must insist they “Clean up their Act.
or REPORT and shop elsewhere.
The lies emanating from Stringer and Rosenthal are a different issue..Politicians, what would you expect? Betrayal….
I hold my grocery provider to a higher standard
Thank you
Rats? Mice?? Roaches????
Oh my.
Since the city has been using this scaffolding everywhere- causing a garbage and organic offal central repository, drilling up Amsterdam Avenue for months now (with its disruptive effects on parking, street cleaning and sanitation) and the now 8 month “dig” between the Wise Towers that looks like a set of some town in North Eastern Ukraine, WHATS a Few Rodents in an always open food joint?
You get overcharged everywhere you go, but Americans bitch at only the more obvious. Ask yourself why gas costs $3.29 across the street from $4.12/gallon.
Barzini’s just got a “Best on the UWS” medal for local markets and I think their cheese tables rival those in Paris or Amsterdam.
You wanna trade that for the benthically generic sludge they sell prepackaged and shrink wrapped from Trader Joe’s, Key Foods or Amazon? Feel free but let’s not talk comparatively about the differences in goût and crema between their fromages, please!
Hey- the best cheeses get BETTER the more age they got on them… just like this old GRUMP, here.
Stop bitching, UWS’ers and HAVE A MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPIER NEW YEAR!
Hey fellow WICK, thanx….and..”BITCH(ers)..with deep pockets…Different strokes for different folks..HAPPI-HOLI-DAYS and a Cheery 2023 enjoy!..This isn’t Ukraine.
Barzini’s is a family-run business and decades-old institution of the Upper West Side. The comments here pressing for a closure of this business so that another Trader Joe’s or Key Foods, etc., may take its place are sorely disappointing. Rest assured, each time a big-ticket grocery store opens up in the vicinity of a Barzini’s or any other family-run business, the risk of that business being wiped out entirely increases tenfold.
I cannot begrudge people for choosing where they shop. I can, however, point out that the mentality of “taking down” a business – especially one that is family-run – is something that requires a level of introspection that the above blog post could have but fails to grapple with.
None of this is a surprise, I haven’t shopped there in years. Their biggest problem is they’re open 24 hours. So when are the able to conduct a deep clean? That would be never. They need to clean up their act.
There is a problem in the fact that Barzini’s does not itemize each purchase on their receipts, providing only a total. That makes “mistakes” hard to detect.
I’d be more upset at the habitual overcharging of my credit card. That’s just theft.
I’ve been shopping in Barzini’s for 20 years, 3-5 times a week on average, and I’ve seen one mouse, and no mold. Mice and other vermin are a Manhattan problem (the dirtiest stores I’ve ever seen were the Gristede’s on 86th and 96th, that, thankfully, are both gone). Barzini’s carries items that you can’t find anywhere else (others have commented on their cheese selections): for example, tell me where else I can find fresh (unboxed) arugula. And so much more.
*************************************************************Food “IS THE STAFF OF LIFE”” and..a “wise shopper” shops wisely …and safely.
After catching some noticeable discrepancies in price vs. charge, I always ask for both the register and credit card receipt, and when I get home, I make sure items match what’s on the register receipt. A few weeks ago, the register receipt was 23.54, credit card receipt was 54.23. The owner is always lovely and refunded the amount with a sincere apology for his mistake. But it wasn’t him. It’s always the younger man at the register to the left of the entrance on your way out. Cashiers on the other side never make these ‘mistakes.’ If you keep to the register closest to the ice cream, you won’t have this problem.
They do carry some wonderful products you can’t find anywhere else, and the indoor produce is often fresh and beautiful, with a good selection of organic, a great variety of mushrooms and fresh herbs, various brands of kimchi at much better prices than Zabar’s, etc., etc.. I feel for the owner/manager. What Mr. Abde implies in that final quote is very revealing. Maybe there’s no way he can remain in business in the neighborhood without cutting ethical corners …. I choose to go there, less often now, and paying close attention.
I got an egregious overcharge yesterday. The cashier – probably the owners’ son/nephew – intentionally called the next customer over before my receipt came out in order to create a diversion, then slyly grabbed my receipt, crumpled it up and threw it away. It all looked suspicious so I checked my phone (Amex with Apple Pay and I get alerts for charges) and it was $77 for $34 worth of groceries. I alerted him and he feigned confusion. Two of the owners immediately brought me to another register where they confirmed the overcharge. They were apologetic but not really, because they knew they were caught and just wanted to brush it under the rug. Sure, they have some unique things and they’re convenient, but they’re also unfriendly, crooked jerks. Enough is enough. Why would you give money to someone who is intentionally stealing from you??
DISGUSTING!..Please please SOMEONE with proof,( which this customer has ) report them to the BBB…………………………………….
The BETTER BETTER BUREAU. This should not continue..
I have reported them to the NYC Department of Consumer Affairs.
i had a similar experience there
I wasn’t going to post the photo of the mouse in the yogurt but considering what they did to Paul, here it is Barzini’s:
https://imgur.com/a/NBMrTw1
Awwwwww! Cute little mousy seems lost. But then, maybe the store is offering it as extra protein with your yogurt. ??
Thank you…A truly caring and responsible thing to do..
I haven’t shopped at Barzini’s since December of 2022, and this month I had 3 fraudulent charges on my credit card.
I don’t believe you.
Barzini overcharged me $20. They refunded it cheerfully, but I made a note not to use my card there anymore. It was the young guy by the door who ran the charge. I noticed him bent over and squinting at the card machine and I honestly wonder if he can see what he’s doing.
To the author, if you’re still reading this: the picture of the cheese you show above has you fooled, too. The label shown is identical to the labels. Barzini puts on their store packaged goods like salads. Barzini’s put that label on the cheese. The original expiration date was probably stamped around the inside rim of the package, where it would have been factory stamped, not stuck on, and it would have been accompanied by a lot number as all dairy products have. Barzini’s MO is to remove the original factory stamped expiration date and put a sticker with a new expiration date.
They’ve been doing this for a very long time, and they clearly have you fooled too.
The picture of brie posted above has a best-buy sticker that was put on by Barzini’s. It’s the same sticker they use on their “fresh” (yeah, right) prepared foods. Arc de Triomphe stamps its best-buy date on the side of the side of the bottom half of the product package, which as you can see has been conveniently cut off and then resealed with staples.