Tashkent Supermarket, the largest Central Asian food retailer in New York, has opened a new branch in Manhattan's West Village, drawing crowds with its hot bar offering dishes such as plov, samsas and manty. The store, named after the capital of Uzbekistan, has become a must-visit spot for food bloggers and curious New Yorkers since its launch in March.
Founded by Odiljon Tursunov and his family after they arrived in the US in the early 2000s, the first Tashkent opened in Coney Island in 2012, shortly after Hurricane Sandy. Unable to find traditional bread and halal sausages from Uzbekistan, they created their own supply chain, which now includes five retail locations in New York and a wholesale sausage company and slaughterhouse in New Jersey.
The supermarket caters to the large Central Asian and Eastern European diaspora in the city. According to Misa Khayriddinova, head of accounting and human resources at Tashkent, locations in Forest Hills, Coney Island and Brighton Beach serve Uzbeki, Russian and Ukrainian communities. The West Village site, however, also introduces new customers to the flavours of the former Silk Road region, from hearty meat-and-dairy dishes of nomadic traditions to rice-based dishes like plov from settled areas.
Popular items include manty (dumplings filled with minced beef and pumpkin), chak-chak (fried dough with honey syrup), and kompot (fruit drink). The hot bar, with its illuminated trays of dishes, has been featured by social media accounts such as sistersnacking and babytamago, and even received praise from mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani for its manty.
With more than 1.2 million people from former Soviet republics living in the US as of 2019, Tashkent Supermarket continues to expand, bringing the tastes of Central Asia to a wider audience while serving its established immigrant customer base.
