Citarella is regarded as a top food Mecca in New York City and the Hamptons. It is a destination for the discerning. Joseph Gurrera purchased the vintage Citarella in 1983. Mike Citarella created Citarella in 1912 on Broadway & 164th Street in Harlem’s Sugar Hill section of New York. A jewel of a store where fish was piled high on marble slabs, sawdust scattered on the floor and dedicated employees were quick to help customers. That store eventually moved south to its present location at Broadway & 75th Street where its reputation as a reliable seafood market has grown together with New Yorkers’ ever-discriminating palates.

Joe started developing his decades worth of seafood experience as a child working in a family-run seafood shop. He continued in the business and began purchasing top quality seafood demanded by his customers from NYC’s famous Fulton Fish market. During the early eighties, Joe pioneered the selling and shipping of the finest fish and shellfish to California’s culinary hot spots. A few years later he acquired a wholesale operation in the Fulton Fish market giving him access to the best seafood available.

Joe deeply appreciates impeccably fresh fish and shellfish, recognizes his customers’ needs and satisfies them. As a result, Citarella grew along with a broadening selection that includes equally pristine prime meats, fine prepared foods, smoked fish, gourmet groceries, pastry and produce. To house our fine products and prepare our delectable
housemade foods, we operate a 80,000-sq. ft.
facility in New York.

To complement our successful Upper Westside store, we opened our second operation on the Upper East Side in 1997 and a third and fourth followed in the Hamptons – East Hampton and Watermill. Opportunity knocked again for our stores in Greenwich Village and Harlem.

Citarella To Go, operating in East Hampton, offers great quality breakfast, lunch and prepared food items in a ‘quick-service’ fashion.

In 2005, with much excitment, we opened Tutto Italiano by Citarella. an Italian speciality shop filled with artisanal Italian products; fresh pizza, house made mozzarella, mouth watering fresh foods and groceries.

Citarella Online is proud to offer our fine foods and ingredients to so many more people who appreciate, expect and demand the best.

“One of the best markets in the city…where fish, meats, poultry & produce are arrayed like jewelry.”
New York Times

“The fish glisten, their eyes sparkle, quality is evident in every silvery scale & alabaster bone….”
New York Newsday

“They’re a solid one-stop-shopping source & so convenient (we) use them five times a week….”
Zagat’s Marketplace

“Poseidon’s idea of a fish store.”
Details Magazine

“A must-stop on New York’s finest food-shopping axis.”
New York Eats (More)

“I think you could start a love story in Citarella. It’s just a hotbed of people making incredible decisions about what to eat & how to cook it. It warms your heart.”
Nora Ephron, Director/Writer