Just when you thought it was safe to go to the grocery store…

One downtown resident posed the question on JCList: Will Downtown Ever Get a REAL Supermarket?

“You appear a snob: Pathmarks local and it’s cheap. And you aren’t royalty.” reponds another resident.

Maybe we’re a bit snobbish, or maybe we just like food. Either way, here’s what we think of the local supermarkets:

A&P
The cleanest of the three supermarkets, A&P is a large store with a good selection. A&P has a great selection of foreign foods, and essentially stopped going here because of poor management. The checkout lines are far too long. The cashiers never seem to know what they are doing, and every time we’ve gone there we are left thinking that they are in a perpetual state of crisis. Compared to other, suburban A&P’s, this store is awful.

Selection: B
Cleanliness: B+
Overall Experience: B-

PathMark
The very first thing we noticed when we entered the store was that the whole place smelled like garbage. This odor is not what you want when you are shopping for food you hope to consume. The fresh produce seemed pretty good, but again, we were so turned off by the stench, we wouldn’t buy anything that wasn’t pre-packaged. We like the fact that there is a Bank of America in the store, but that really isnvt enough for us to fall in love. The store seems a little dirty too, which may account for the smell. We like that there are self checkout lanes in the store, but wonder if perhaps they should have worked to fix the other problems plaguing the store before installing such high end technology.

Selection: B
Cleanliness: C-
Overall Experience: C

ShopRite
This behemoth seems to be the mainstay for downtown Jersey City. It is easily accessible not only by car, but light rail and can easily be walked to for many residents. Produce at ShopRites around New Jersey have never had the best reputation, as far as we are concerned. Our local ShopRite seems to fit the profile, sometimes having high quality produce, sometimes selling half rotten vegetables. As long as you are flexible, you should be able to find something that is fresh, but there is never a guarantee of finding what you are craving. The product selection is decent, though they could stand to have more high end items, like gourmet cheese. The gourmet cheese hardly is. The highlight for us is that in the back there is a liquor store where wine and spirits can be bought. ShopRite would probably be improved by adding some self checkout lanes. The little televisions on each line are a bit of technological excess, but doesn’t help make the line any shorter.

Selection: B-
Cleanliness: B
Overall Experience: B