About Us

A Brief History

In 1944, K. Kalustyan opened the specialty food store at its present location, carrying Indian spices and groceries. After his demise, the ownership and management has passed on to MARHABA INTERNATIONAL INC. The new owners have expanded the inventory to include food and ingredients for cooking from other countries such as Armenia, Australia, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bulgaria, China, Egypt, England, French, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Holland, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Spain, South-Africa, South-America, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, Syria, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Vietnam, West Indies, Yugoslavia and many others. Kalustyan’s continues to try to satisfy the palatal needs of the community by continuing to add new products to its already extensive product line.
Our customers come from a diverse walk-of-life and profession. Many of the Greater New York City chefs choose to buy from Kalustyan's for its wide selection of finest and fresh ingredients. Please refer to the past testimonials below. Kalustyan's was also mentioned on Martha Stewart's Show for the same reasons.

100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

Our goal is Your Satisfaction. We're dedicated to bringing you only Quality Products and Exceptional Services. Should a product fail to meet your expectations we will be happy to replace it or issue you a store credit of equal value. If there is a way we could provide you better service, we welcome your suggestions.

Various Domains Ownership

Marhaba International, Inc. uses several meaningful domain names, such as spiceandsweet.com, forspice.com, riceandbean.com and kalustyans.com to advertise its online business and lead shoppers to this Web site. Our bona fide intention is to make it easier for some shoppers to remember the Web site address.
 

Past Testimonials

  • "Simply the best place in Manhattan for Middle Eastern and Indian herbs and spices..." (Zagat Survey for 2003 issue)
  • "Kalustyan's has evolved from a spice shop into a comprehensive source for international ingredients of many kinds, complete with three Web sites and a busy mail order business." (Saveur, Jan/Feb 2002)
  • "Not long ago my search for every possible variety of lentil took me to Kalustyan's ... where just about every obscure ingredient from the Middle East or South Asia can be found." (Marion Burros, The New York Times, March 15, 2000)
  • "The combination of Middle Eastern breads, Armenian delights and Indian chutneys and curry pastes makes the place a fine spot." (Barbara Castikyan, New York Magazine )
  • "One of my favorite food spots. This is because the folks who work there have genuine smiles; they are glad to see you and miss you when you are away too long. In New York, this is all too rare. The selection of fresh spices, nuts, olives, dried fruits & legumes, the candy known as Turkish delight and other goods is vast, fairly priced and of high quality." (Sylvia Carter, New York Newsday)
  • "Pomegranate molasses, aleppo pepper, dried apricots, pickled hot peppers, pickled egg plant available at Kalustyan’s." (Paula Wolfert, New York Magazine)
  • "Cous Cous varieties can be found at Kalustyan’s." (Pamela Kaufman, Food and Wine Magazine)
  • "There are 32 Herbs and spices in the Lebanese Aphrodisiac tea at Kalustyan’s." (New York Magazine)
  • "A place to go for a fine selection of lentils, basmati and other hard-to-find rices." (Neil Schneider, New York Post)
  • Kalustyan’s carries not only wonderfully fresh roasted nuts but also more unusual snacks (Ed Levine, New York Eats)
  • The last remaining outlet for a non-commercial homemade LEBANY is Kalustyan’s (Ann Barry, The New York Times)
  • Kalustyan’s sweets are wonderful (New York Press)
  • For a true taste of the exotic feast, stock up on love potions at Kalustyan’s (Steve Silk, The Boston Sunday Globe)
  • And I immediately left the show to hail a taxi to Kalustyan’s, a tiny, packed-to-the rafters ethnic grocery (Candide Jones, Winston-Salem Journal)
Please kindly contact us at info@kalustyans.com if you have suggestions.