Arthur Avenue Retail Market

Arthur Avenue once did its trading from pushcarts. In the 1930s Mayor Fiorello La Guardia's city government began moving street vendors into enclosed markets, and in October 1940 Belmont got its own. Built with help from the federal Work Projects Administration, it was one of eight similar markets in the city, and it took the carts off the street and put the vendors under one roof. More than eighty years later it is still the center of the neighborhood and the place to see Arthur Avenue at its busiest.

Inside, it is a working market rather than a food hall, with butchers, produce stands, Italian groceries and counters that have outlasted most of the city's food trends. Mike's Deli has stretched mozzarella and built heroes here since 1951, and the Bronx Beer Hall pours New York State craft beer, so the market works for a sit-down lunch as well as for shopping.

Saturdays and the weeks before big holidays are the busiest, with lines at every counter. Weekday afternoons are calm enough to ask questions, taste things and leave with more than you planned. Bring a bag, because you'll be carrying cheese and bread home.