Farm Fresh

I’ve been shopping at this Farm Fresh for about 10 years. Today they get a thumbs down. My favorite Prosecco wine was on sale today for $ 10.99 a bottle. Regular price was $ 17.99. I arrived at the register and was told it was a mistake and they could not sell it to me at that price. Manager asked for my contact info, saying she would check on it and would get back to me later. She advised that I may be able to come back at a later date and purchase the wine at that price. I chose not to give her my contact info, as I was a little peeved at the time. I wasn’t looking for a handout, I thought I was taking advantage of a good deal. You would think, in the interest of customer service, Farm Fresh would sell the product at the advertised price. I guess I’ve mellowed in my old age. My rant is over.

Stopped here on my way home a couple of weeks ago to get some groceries. Sure, I could’ve gone to one of the other chains closer to my house, but I was already in the area.
This particular Farm Fresh location is clean and the cart corral had an armada of carts. I like the fact that they are on top of the cart situation… Nothing irks me more than walking into a grocery store, only to walk back out to the parking lot to hunt down a cart.
I picked up a few essentials… nothing fancy (milk, eggs, bread, cheese… you get the picture) and got in line at the checkout. I love the fact that the checkout aisles were manned by plenty of cashiers. The cashier who assisted me, Arnold, had a good attitude and exuded great customer service.
I will probably come back to shop at this particular Farm Fresh location… had to take off a star because the peaches I purchased there started to go after a couple of days.

Everyone at this location is very friendly, you can tell they enjoy their jobs! As a merchant in the same shopping center, I am pleased to have them as neighbors. Their employees are polite, helpful and respectful. The produce is always fresh and the to-​go bar always clean. Love them (and their double coupons!)

I am new to the area and stopped in here for a couple of things that this location does not carry. The service was decent but the prices are very high. I think it would be cheaper to drive the extra miles to other grocery stores even if you need something fast.
I also didn’t care for the product placement. Having pasta or other items separated by an isle creates confusion and products being overlooked.

I shop at this Farm Fresh only when I need a few things even though it’s right around the block.
The fish department STINKS! Last weekend was the worst, I could smell it a few aisles over. They are either selling spoiled fish or not cleaning the area. Avoid the fish.

I’ve always liked this store but have started going elsewhere because the produce is consistently questionable. I’ve had fruit fly infestation several times and the produce just tends not to keep fresh as long as other stores’ produce. The staff does a great job and I love that they help moms or elderly customers get the groceries to the car when they aren’t swamped. It’s a good stop for dry goods and staples, just not great for produce.

The store is appealing in the sense that it is clean and they offer a few items that can’t be found in chains like Food Lion. They are well organized and well stocked. I almost never buy anything other than Stockman Dakota meat from them and only do that when I can’t make it to the butcher because it is grassfed and very good quality.
Their specialty foods (organic, gluten-​free) are so exorbitantly priced, you would have to have cash to spare or be frivolous to purchase from them. They are double or more on most of their specialty foods than other grocers (Harris Teeter, Kroger, etc.).

Although they have their strong points, the lack of self checkout technology is an issue.

I really like farm fresh’s bakery and seafood section. They also have a wide range of organic foods that I like but their other things are quite expensive. Other than that they’re fine.

Farm Fresh isn’t my choice for groceries (due to prices), but is convenient because it’s just down the street from my house. Also, I typically find items here that I couldn’t find at the other grocery stores.
My favorite part of Farm Fresh though is the food. I think Farm Fresh has the best fried chicken. I also like their choices of seafood, some fresh, premade, etc. So if you don’t have time to make dinner, or whatever… stop by here and grab some food.

Two reasons why I like this Farm Fresh better than the bazillion others ones I’ve been to throughout Hampton Roads:
1. Chicken
This is the first FF where they allowed me to mix fried and grilled in the $ 4.99 8 piece special. For example, I got a fried breast and wing and the rest grilled. Also, I went close to 7:00pm (on a Tuesday) and they still had plenty of chicken left. I’ve been to a FF time and time again around 5 or 6 and they’re out of chicken or only have a few old and ugly pieces left.
2. Salad Bar
This place has two salad bars (one salad-​salad bar and one pasta/​tuna/​potato/​etc. salad bar). While this is not uncommon for most FF, this one has the best, i.e. biggest, selection I have seen for both. For example, I think they had at least 4 types of potato salad! And both bars were well-​stocked and super clean-​looking despite my evening visit.

Huge refrigerated beer cooler! They do not carry any beers at room temperature. This is kinda crazy, what’s even more crazy is that they don’t charge extra for keeping all of their beer in a refrigerated cooler. They offer an extensive collection to meet your VA-​based needs.
Their Pinot Noir selection is not nearly as extensive though. I’ve never heard of a winery called «Jekel» before tonight.
There aren’t a lot of fabric softener selections either.
Beer me…