How many people get excited to go to the grocery store? Count me among that number, as going to Guercio's, as often as it happens, so often counts as a highlight of my day. See, when I visit, I know that I will bet getting the best produce and some of the finest Italian specialty goods that money can buy for a pittance of what the same things would cost me at Wegman's (if even available), let alone an importer in Brooklyn or a D'Agostini's or Zabar's in Manhattan. More than that, I know I will be in and out quickly thanks to the staff's pride in efficiency. More than that, I leave with the knowledge that I have spent my some-odd dollars and some-odd cents patronizing a fantastic local business of historic proportion.
When Guercio's arrived on the scene, it was one of many such stores on or near Grant Street, a newbie, a latecomer. As the city emptiecd and so many residents fled the suburbs, people began to see it as a straggler, a holdout. The neighborhood population and its remnant's affluence declined, and Guercio's transformed itself into a wholesaler of import, stocking the kitchens and larders of the city's best restaurants. And so it endured, slowly and steadily expanding until the city came full circle. From latecomer, to straggler, to outpost, to institution, Guercio's has endured because it does what it does very, very well.
Occupying the combined confines of several adjoining buildings, Guercio's can best be imagined as divided into several sections: (1) produce, (2) fresh items, (3) grocery, and (4) deli. For me, the highlight of the Guercio's is its produce by far. They source and package almost everything themselves, and their offerings are of fantastic quality and superb value. Avocados are a dollar each, when they could otherwise be found at $1.29 apiece at Trader Joe's and yet more at Tops and Wegman's. Mesculun runs at less than $4.00 a pound. Arugula remains high at just under $11.40 a pound, but I must impart that their arugula is the tastiest leafy green I have ingested since leaving Japan nearly five years ago, possessing all of the spice and crunch that encyclopedia entries long insisted it possesses, that actual offerings from Whole Foods and Wegman's have so often refuted. From fresh basil to eggplant, leeks, scallions, fruits of all type, Guercio's has it covered.
The next section of the store, what I have labeled "fresh items" consists of an amply stocked cheese refrigerator and a wide assortment of baked goods. I can't speak well to the cheeses section, but the baked goods section is singularly distinctive. Along with stocking locally produced breads of all sorts and sweet treats both locally produced and imported from New York City, they have also continually stocked long Luigi rolls, a multifold improvement on the roll offerings available at any other local grocery store. Marvelously doughy on the inside yet ever so slightly crunchy on the outside, these 75 cent each delicacies make the perfect canvas for any sandwich artist, are so good that I have often found myself chowing down on them alone with just a tad of olive oil.
The grocery section contains all the staples, although it admittedly doesn't possess the redundancy of the much larger markets. However, the breadth of its Italian goods aisles, replete with an array of pastas, sauces, garnishes, sweets, meats, and so on surpasses the selections of any of its competitors. And it offers many of these items at breathtaking prices. Some items, like sauces and pastas, actually are produced in-house as well. Among sauces, the dandelion tomato and portabella mushroom tomato deserve special distinction. Their selection of generically packed couscous and nuts number among their better grocery items. Continue through the aisles, and you may also be surprised by the sheer number of locally produced items, from Gondola tortellini to Pasta Peddler linguini, and so forth. Lastly, Guercio's has also recently dedicated ever more space to items of Southeast Asia, catering to an increasingly large neighborhood constituency helping to fuel the Grant Street renaissance.
Sadly, I cannot speak much to the deli section of the store as I don't regularly eat cold cuts, but I must comment that aside from canned meats and bacon, the deli counter is the only place in the store to offer any kind of meat whatsoever, providing the usual staples, some excellent capicolo, and individual sausage links (I believe from Mineo and Sapio's, a local Italian sausage maker).
Honestly, you have probably already tried many of Guercio's produce and cheese offerings at restaurants such as Tempo, Mother's, Hutch's, and Left Bank. You probably thought to yourself, "Wow, this is excellent. This is incredibly fresh. I wonder where they get their produce from." From Guercio's. Do your belly a favor and stop by. Guercio's isn't "five star for Buffalo." This West Side institution would earn five stars no matter what city it was in. read more