New York City has a new attraction — and it’s not a gallery, restaurant, or members club. It’s a grocery store. Meadow Lane, the gourmet market created by TikTok personality Sammy Nussdorf, opened Friday morning and instantly drew lines around the block.
As some people decided they could no longer handle the frigid temperatures, others braved out the cold and were treated to samples of the store’s meatballs or chicken nuggets.
Once inside, shoppers entered a world of ultra-premium goods and eye-watering prices: $14 tortilla chips, $12 bunches of grapes, $65 bottles of extra-virgin olive oil “harvested from 150-year-old trees,” $74 Montauk General matcha powder, and even $625 Siberian caviar.
Still, the most anticipated items weren’t on the shelves but behind the prepared foods counter. Nussdorf has spent over one year teasing Meadow Lane’s signature dishes to his over 136,000 TikTok followers, and fans headed straight for them: $12 pots of chicken salad, six oversized nuggets for $15, and made-to-order salads starting at $15.
Despite the store’s attempt to keep up with customer demand, Meadow Lane closed at around 3:30 p.m., only four hours after opening. Those who were left in line were given an expedited pass to reserve a spot near the front of the line for the following day. Since then, the store has continued to close early and was closed entirely on Monday, according to the store’s latest Instagram post.
@artbyjenflaum Replying to @ShellBee 🐚🐝 lines are still long 😅 @meadowlane @Brokeback Contessa #meadowlane
♬ original sound - Art by Jen
The early closing had also resulted in a decrease in the food’s quality as food bloggers began to post their reviews of Meadow Lane’s chicken nuggets, only for them to be raw on the inside. “Does this chicken look raw?” food blogger Sabrina Carey asked her followers in a poll shared on her Instagram Story on Saturday.
“I don't know if they're just like, juicy chicken nuggets, but I'm like, this looks pink.”
Nussdorf had quickly addressed the claim in his own post, explaining that what Carey received was “unacceptable,” and saying she was later compensated with a new pack.
Despite the constant crowds, many onlookers wondered what exactly was drawing so many people to a grocery store — especially given an abundance of much cheaper options nearby.
“The people waiting in line for Meadow Lane to open with laptops and chairs to work in the 30 degree weather waiting for an overpriced coffee grocery store are all time freaks,” one person wrote on X. “No wonder the gov can’t release Oct jobs data.”
Another agreed, writing, “NYC folks: I can’t afford rent. Also NYC folks: ‘Quick, hold my $65 olive oil, I need to tip the cashier 28%.’”
"I feel like it's the new Erewhon of New York," a customer told Business Insider.
Throughout Nussdorf’s promotion of the store, the former venture capitalist received backlash over his claims that he is “self-made” despite his family’s net worth of $1.6 billion. He later tried to dispel the “nepo-baby” allegations as he said no one else in his family owned a grocery store specifically.
In his latest post on TikTok, he assured his followers that the day off would largely be spent “reorganizing.”
“We’re trying to make sure that everyone gets the experience that I want you to have,” he said in the video.
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