Union Square Greenmarket

Around 140 stands go up on East 17th Street on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, and the chefs shopping them are on first-name terms with whoever is restocking the Thai basil. Lani's Farm is the stall Willa Moore names in her Infatuation piece, and they sell soup beside the greens. Rogers goes every few months and says the fall is the time.

Why go

Moore's line is that it is not a competition and this is the city's best farmers market anyway. The chefs are the tell, and so are the people she calls chef groupies, who turn up for tomato season and have been raising a sourdough starter for years. Ramp season fills this market, and the chefs plan around it.

Order this / avoid

Buy: whatever is at the front of the season, which is what the chefs are here for.
Avoid: the wrong day. Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday are dark.

What locals & experts say

Willa Moore, The Infatuation, 5 June 2025: It's not a competition, but the Union Square Greenmarket is the city's best farmers market.1 She describes chefs who have the proper knowledge of ramp season, and are on a first-name basis with the people restocking the thai basil over at Lani's Farm.
Ruth Rogers (The River Cafe, London), 2026-05: I also like the Union Square Greenmarket. That's very New York to me. Seeing the produce, the farmers, the seasons changing, it tells you a lot about the city.2

Good to know

Days: those four are Moore's June 2025 count. A market calendar moves, so check GrowNYC before a long trip.
Operator: GrowNYC runs it.

Verdict

should-visit — Ruth Rogers says many of King's ingredients come from the greenmarket, so you can eat the result at King, on King Street. Willa Moore's June 2025 piece is the only published account I have found, and it is a favorable one. It is a market, so plan it as a morning.

Union Square Greenmarket.