Bazaar On Beacon Street

Reviews 12

A

A Private User

Highlights of review: good selection, horrible customer service. Visited the Cambridge St store in February 2009. The selections of Russian and Eastern European foods is pretty good and would merit 4 stars (clearly, no comparison to NYC stores, such as Net Cost Market in Brooklyn, and prices are about 15 to 20% higher than in NYC, but pretty good for Boston/New England). The customer service, though, was horrifying, in the best traditions of Soviet retail. The cashier, Valentina, was apparently too annoyed that she had a customer to ring up to distract her from chatting with a couple of guys making Borat-like "sexy talk". So she refused to ring up/bag the groceries by taking them out of a shopping basket, and made me take them out of basket first and put on the counter, which made no sense whatsoever. She continued on a power trip by lecturing me on how difficult her work is, and how she is here to ring up groceries and not take them out of baskets, as well as a difficult shift ahead of her when the customers would be buying things. The only reason I didnt tell her to stuff it is I didnt want to waste the half an hour I spent shopping already. If the owner/manager store reads this - please consider Valentina to be #1 candidate for your staff redundancy program! I doubt Ill be back soon, unless cravings for Russian food/candy get stronger...

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A

A Private User

Beware when buying perishables here. I bought two packages of cottage cheese here two days ago, one of which turned out to be a big blob of mold, and another one was NINE days past the expiration date. I realize that it was my fault for not checking the expiration date and trusting the management to do that for me, but come on, not noticing that your diary products are way past the expiration date is just unacceptable. I tried calling the manager many times to let them know that other packages may contain mold as well, but the manager didnt pick up the phone. I also left a message, but again, nobody returned my call. I live too far away to go back to the store and bring the products back, so it would be nice if they were responsive to customer complaints instead of ignoring them. Also, several months ago I bought some herring here that I also had to throw away because it was already rotten. This place is good for many ethnic foods, but definitely not perishables.

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A Private User

I dont know about what happen with MF0106 but I had a completely opposite experience. I loved shopping at Bazaar, and think it is the best European Food store I have been to in Boston. There selection is great and prices are really cheap, especially for things like produce and berries, which is way less than Stop and Shop or Whole Foods. My parents are from Eastern Europe so I also love the prepared food section where everything is tasty and reminds me of home cooking. But my favorite is the candy!!! They have SOOO many Russian candies, I always get something different and its always an adventure. Lastly, I have to completely disagree with MF0106 about the service. When I came in I didnt know where to find anything and the owner was there and showed me around and made recommendations. They were very helpful and polite. It must have been a different person though because the English was fine. Anyways, I really recommend Bazaar, I love shopping there!!!!!

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A

A Private User

What may seem like a bargain to you is only an appearance. It looks like scales in that store are set to make the food items weigh in heavier than their real weight! I shopped there several times and was surprised at how light some items felt compared to their weight on the price tag. Then I decided to ask them to re-weigh the items in question. And to my greatest surprise I was asked to leave the store!!! When I insisted on re-weighing the items, some woman who claimed to be the owner started screaming at me in very high pitched broken English that I should not be “making a scene in front of other customers” (or at least that was what I gathered from listening to her very heavy accent). And then, I was literally pushed out of the store. The words that echoed behind me were that they didn’t need customers like me. I wonder why.

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Josh Trubow

The Bazaar in Allston is a nice Russian market with a small assortment of fruits and veggies, plenty of interesting grocery items, and a pretty nice prepared food section. I am not Russian, and dont eat that cuisine very often, but there are certain things that I would only come here to get. One of them is a dried salted fish that my girlfriend enjoys, and they seem to be the only ones that have such a thing. They also have a very good prepared eggplant dish and beet salad. If you are in the market for any Vodka for the favorite Russian in your life, they stock a variety of options to choose from. Most of the staff speaks Russian, but they are able to help you in English as well so dont be intimidated! They offer parking in the back of the store.

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Wendy & Lem Kusik

I have shopped here many years. Their food is delicious, well made. Today I am writing because they have one staff member who thinks she still lives in Russia and can be insulting. The younger staff are very cordial and helpful. Today, as a very nice Russian customer was giving me some nice suggestions. The lady behind the counter, she is older, blonde somewhat solid, became irate, that this nice man was helping me with some choices. Yesterday, she insulted my adopted russian born daughter because she didnt know Russian. However, the food is well made and well priced. I like going there, but was quite concerned that a staff person could be so insensitive . This is not true for any others I have met during my years there.

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Nadia G

The best store for Russian and Eastern European food and merchandise in Boston to my opinion. The only tiny thing, they scanned one item twice when cashing me out. And that happened twice, which is probably understandable, they are always pretty busy. So checking your receipts wont hurt :) and one of the girls that used to work in deli department was very rude :( good thing she is gone nOw :) we do love this store! :)

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Rob Hnasko

The brown walls and brown floor remind you of a utilitarian business from the old world. Great pricing and huge selection of imported Eastern European goods; mostly Russian, Ukrainian, and Polish. Also sells Beer and Liquor. Fresh bread that they will slice for you. Large deli of pickled foods and fresh meat and pastries. Free Parking with easy access from Cambridge St. or Allston St.

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A Private User

Great Experience. The only hope to get some stuff I got used to in Russia. Excellent prices for most of the stuff. Be careful with the meat products though. As everything made in NJ has MSG inside :D Choose an alternative from Canada instead.

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Anita Kalniņa

Good food from all over eastern europe, including sweets, cakes, candy, berries, kelbasas, meats, piroshki/dumplings, salads, drinks, spirits, and teas. Huge selection. Dont buy vegetables there though - not fresh.

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Miro Kushvaliev

Great place to get some Eastern European or Russian foods. The alcohol selection is very good as well. They have tried to maximize the space as much as possible and the layout is a bit quirky. Great little store.

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A

A Private User

A great store! People that work there are very friendly, the selection is good, and the products are usually of good quality. Their bread is baked in store daily -- highly recommended!

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