The Fresh Market

Really great and reasonably priced sushi. Very fresh and the same quality, if not better than the sushi restaurants in town but for ¹⁄₃ of the price. Toasted sandwiches from the deli are great and dessert selection reminds me of an Italian bakery. Yards better than new pioneer bc the prices are way better. The rotisserie chickens are very small though. Fresh mozzarella is decently priced, as is the horizons organic milk, which is 1.50 less than walmart or hyvee. Location is very convenient and great for a quick lunch.

This is my go to place for any healthy food. Easy to find organic milk and other great options. While I have other stores for my go-​to-​meats, This is the GNC for groceries.

When The Fresh Market opened in Cedar Rapids I was so excited to have an alternative food shopping experience. The first few times I stopped there, I was drawn to the atmosphere of the store that came from the other customers and the cashiers were always pleasant; however the other employees made me feel like I was bothering them. Obviously management does not instill the importance of customer service on to its employees. The only value I came to find from The Fresh Market was the hamburger and milk specials on Tuesday. Apparently so has everyone else in the area, because there is always a huge line at the meat counter and the checkout lines. And guess what? Not enough milk supply for the milk specials either. Why not staff appropriately to improve the customer and employee experience? What really has convinced me to stop shopping there is the lack of organic fruits that are in season, and charging $ 2 – 3 more for the same conventional fruits and veggies you can buy at HyVee. The Fresh Market is a rip off. Please do not be fooled into buying their high priced foods, thinking you are getting something better. You are just wasting your money.

Great selections, store is beautiful and it’s just the right size… I go there a few times a week to pick up items for dinner and whatever else surprises me. BUT, I think I have finally reached my limit of frustration. I have had to leave my cart and walk out due to lack of staffing or apathy on the part of those working.
The long waiting to check out is getting to be too much. I have to wait to get deli items every time I go it (but that can be expected). I have to wait at the meat counter and that is not so bad either… but the checkout lines grow and grow yet they will not open another line.
More than once, I have seen the manager notice the lines and not react. He just walks to the back of the store. I have pointed out the long line to employees and nothing gets done… I know there are no other pressing issues as no one ever moves with any sense of urgency.
It is too bad too, as I really like this store and do not want it to close. I have talked with others and they say they are frustrated too with what seems like laziness on the part of the employees… and when the shift manager seems to not care, then you know the writing is on the wall…

I had an interesting conversation tonight with one of the staff in the bakery section… we were talking about how few customers there were… he informed me that management informed him the average customer only visited once every six months. He was surprised when I told him this was my second visit in two weeks.
My two stars are because I like the fresh ground almond butter. I agree with the review regarding the ground chuck pink on outside and brown (old) inside. my biggest concern is the fish. Last week I purchased two rainbow trout for dinner that night. I baked the fish and with the first bite we realized they were spoiled. We threw them away. Tonight against my better judgement I purchased salmon sushi. Once again I found the fish old and though not spoiled, not fresh either.
My opinion is as a customer please check how fresh any of the meat/​fish is before buying… smell it before buying. Fewer customers means less turnover and thus less fresh food. Most items in the store including fruits and vegetables are overpriced compared to other local stores.

The Fresh Market tries very hard to be all things to people with differing food preferences. Although there is rarely anything here you cannot get by careful shopping elsewhere in the local area, it is all gathered in one place and at obviously higher prices than you get it for elsewhere. Careful shopping however will get you some real goodies that are not available anywhere else. When was the last time you saw REAL cold-​smoked salmon? Or fresh dill?
The dry goods sections are well selected through most items can be found in chain groceries and local specialty shops. Coffee is reasonably priced and the fresh produce is beautifully displayed. The Deli counter seems to the center of attention and has some items you will not find elsewhere. There is nothing special about the meat counter except for the high prices but the fish counter is worth a visit if that is your special craving.
It is a good idea to shop for the specials. Get on their mailing list so that you can be notified of the frequent daily and weekly price reductions.
This is the place to go to for those special items that you crave but be careful not to impulse buy too much. Remember that the goodies are priced high.
Highly recommended.

Places like this remind me of my childhood, which was spent being dragged from healthy food place to healthy food place while my mother argued that Oatios were the same thing as Cheerios, and kale was more than a dysfunctional garnish. That was the 80s. So, the people who shopped at places like this smelled really bad, too.
I feel like my mom was trying to sell the wrong aspects of these places, though. The best aspects are primarily cheese-​related. You want fresh mozzarella? Sure. They have that, but have you tried burrata? They have that, too. How about emmental or gruyère? If Italian and Swiss don’t do it for you, how about jarlsberg, or manchego?
They also have their own brand of pasta sauces. I tried my first one (vodka sauce), and have been pretty impressed with it.
I also appreciated that they had a lot of dried things like onions, garlic, hot peppers (with heat ratings), etc. They also had a solid tea selection, which wasn’t where I was going with this paragraph, but it is dried.
I was a little disappointed in a few areas, though. The chocolate section seemed to have a lot of mass-​produced brands, and I wasn’t too impressed by the wine selection. Also, why would you add anything other than mangoes to your dried mangoes?

Nice layout… nice selection, but seriously…$ 4 per lb. for «organic» chicken? We raise our own the very same way and only ask $ 2 per lb. Was disappointed at the jacked-​up prices for things you can find at HyVee and Fareway — Ghirardelli 60% cacao at $ 4.99, vs. $ 2.39 at Fareway. Really? And you can look at a display, see organic this and gluten-​free that, all at high prices and then you can look one row down and see a box of Jiffy corn muffin mix. *rolling eyes* And for the price of 99 cents. More than twice the price at Fareway. And the price of coffee = outrageous. I prefer Trader Joe’s overall and don’t think I need to go back here at the prices they are asking.

Update — This place has gone to the dogs. I was in there today and there was a line of 9 people in the meat department. The employees there were friendly but the department was understaffed. The line at the checkout was even worse. I told folks the lines are shorter at Aldi and the prices are lower!
The salad bar was empty — I’m not sure if the cooler was broken or they just stopped filling it? The seafood department was barely stocked. What salmon they had looked disgusting.
Someone told an employee to call for a second checker and she said she didn’t know who would be able to run the register because they didn’t have anyone! This was at 11:30 — a time when people don’t have time to wait for understaffed, ambivalent service.
I used to like The Fresh Market but there service is less-​than-​fresh in my opinion.

Having recently moved back from California, I found it impossible to find some things which were a staple in my daily life. I went into this store last night and found what I had been unable to find in any store in CR! I was ordering my coffee online from CA and went without my San Pellegrino. No more! The only downside is cost. The coffee is pricey but, the Pellegrino is about what I was paying on the West Coast. Staff was friendly, as well. People need to keep in mind that it’s a new store, therefore the staff is new and still learning. Give it time…

Nice ambiance. Expensive organic foods. Good selection of chocolate and specialty foods. I’m an engineer but I cannot afford their meats. Tried to get a hot meal but the poor kids at the deli counter were nice but communication skills lacking. Ended up with a cold panini with very little chicken in it and two cold sides. I prefer New Pi where the prices & selection are basically the same plus I can actually get a really good hot meal. I’ll go back to the fresh market but only for specific specialty items and probably not that often.