Chelsea Market
On a trip to New York, our hotel happened to be almost across the street from the famous Chelsea Market! You know we had to make a special trip to take a look for ourselves. Food, grocery stores, wine shops, coffee bars, old school barber shops, and so much more! I think we could have spent days wandering around, but you can’t be scared of a crowd!
About Chelsea Market
A block long and a block wide and just a short walk from the Hudson River in the area of Manhattan known as the Meatpacking District, Chelsea Market has become in just fifteen years one of the greatest indoor food halls of the world, with more than thirty-five vendors purveying everything from soup to nuts, wine to coffee, cheese to cheesecake. Attracting 6 million national and international visitors annually, it is one of the most trafficked, and written-about, destinations of any kind in New York City. Chelsea Market is a neighborhood market with a global perspective.The area has always been the locus of food in the city, beginning with the Algonquin Indians, who traded their game and crops on the banks of the Hudson River at this same spot. The trains of the High Line once served the wholesale butchers who lined the streets beneath the tracks and cooled their provisions with blocks of Hudson River ice, and the National Biscuit Company established its factory—now reclaimed as the Chelsea Market—here to take advantage of the butchers’ lard in the nineteenth century. This long history—and the stripped-down brick architecture of the building—gives the Market a unique character. For foodies and even casual tourists, it is possible to enter the Market at one end in the morning and not exit the other until lunchtime, without ever growing bored—and certainly without ever going hungry.
First of all, if you are a food lover, this is a place in New York you need to plan to spend some time at. It’s okay if you’re staying somewhere without a kitchen because most of these places offer food ready to eat or sweets to take with you! Ramen, tacos, steak, sandwiches, soups, sushi, and so on; you name it, chances are, one of the places inside Chelsea Market has it for you!
If you’ve watched Food Network, chances are you’ve seen Chelsea Market on several of their competition shows as the contestants will go shopping. Well, that’s because above the market are office spaces for Food Network, the Oxygen Channel, MLB.com, and even Google and YouTube! Of course we kept our eyes open for our favorite chefs but we were hard pressed to find each other, much less pick out and get near someone famous with all the people coming and going. Not a complaint, but I know some folks aren’t terribly fond of crowds of strangers.
A few of my favorite places:
There are places to get a quick bite to eat, and there are places that offer dining tables if you want to stay and relax a bit. Plenty of folks would hit multiple shops to pick up different things and leave, going back to the office or their home. This is a huge space full of vendors selling mostly food products, but also other things for your home, for parties, flowers, and more.
Chelsea Market is open most days 7am to 10pm and on Sundays from 8am to 8pm. Be sure to check their website for information about holiday schedules and special events. You don’t want to miss this iconic New York landmark!
Sounds like a fun and interesting market to visit. Lovely photos!
I would absolutely love to go there. I think it would be fascinating to see all of the different products.
We’ve not been to Chelsea Market. It sounds extra exciting at the holidays, if I get a chance, I’m going! Lucky you!