Simpler Times Market & Deli

Great selection and very clean. My new favorite place to go for sandwiches. I am very glad I stopped in and will be back :)

I was walking around Cocoa Beach when I came across this little family owned market/​deli that has only been open for a few months. What started out as a quick stop for a bottle of water quickly caught my attention.
As soon as I looked to the left I saw a case with homemade soups in it. This was not your typical corner market. to the right I found a cheese case with a nice selection of cheeses. To the right of the cheese was a selection of wine to go with the cheese. You have a meat case with some nice looking meat to choose from. You have a case filled with Boar’s Head products and another with those delicious deli salads. In the center you have a your pantry basics.
This reminds me of the corner market I used to visit as a child with my grandfather in a little known town called Ruffsdale. The next time I make it to Cocoa Beach I will have to make sure I have not had lunch and sample some of their deli offerings. I suspect it will be delicious since they have great ingredients in the cases to work with so you can expect to see an updated review in the future.
I had a chance to chat with the young man behind the meat case and the one working at the register. Both of them had great customer service skills and that was refreshing. The young man at the register was the son of the owners and I look forward to seeing him on my next visit. He was the one to greet me as I walked in the door and the last one I saw when I left and he left a very positive impression with me.

Absolutely love the meat market!!! Great quality meats and very reasonable prices. This is now my main meat stop!!! Great job!

Simpler Times Market & Deli is a small gourmet grocery store in downtown Cocoa Beach, tucked away on Brevard Ave near Minuteman Causeway in the old post office building. I love how they renovated the old 60’s building, and I would give the market 5 stars for appearance — it’s very fresh and open inside.
This would be a really nice stop on the way to the beach to get some fancy beach snacks and some cold craft beers. Or if you’re making dinner at your condo or vacation rental, you can get some really nice meat or pasta and wine or beer and have a nice meal. I love that it’s walking distance from most places in downtown Cocoa Beach.
I went in looking for salad greens specifically and didn’t find any — only saw iceberg lettuce available, the produce selection was a little small and picked over, although another reviewer said they weren’t even carrying produce when they went, so maybe it’s growing. As it was they had potatoes, mushrooms (but only 2 in a big tray), eggplant, asparagus (that’s what I went with), iceberg lettuce and lots and lots of plantains! There were some oranges and grapefruit too.
One thing that stood out to me was that there were no bags were provided for the produce, and there were no prices listed for the produce (that I could see anyway), so I took a star off for that. I think they would sell more produce if there were bags that customers could put them in, and prices listed.
The rest of the market had an interesting selection of «Fancy» items (fancy food is my financial achilles heel!) including a selection of artisan cheeses, fancy crackers, milk in glass bottles, a meat counter and a deli with Boar’s head meat and cheese — you could get sandwiches and subs there too, didn’t try any on this visit — also some Italian dried pasta, soups in a cooler and prepared foods at the deli like cold salads. There was a small selection of things like cleaning supplies and toilet paper.
I gave it 4 stars because the grocery selection is still a little bit spartan (for instance, items spaced far apart on the shelves, and the produce selection looking pretty bare) and for lack of pricing and bags by the produce, but overall I think it’s very promising, and I love that there’s a small grocery store downtown in Cocoa Beach now.
I also liked that there was a «Suggestions» box by the counter. I will definitely stop by again if I need some fancy snacks or craft beer or wine.

This really needs to be two reviews, one for the market and one for the deli. It’s a new establishment, so we’ll focus on the deli for the moment.
If I’m heading to downtown Cocoa Beach for lunch, I am always going to end up at Simply Delicious or the Green Room. If I want a good sub, I always go to Goodfellas or Publix. So If I’m going to go to Downtown Cocoa Beach for a sub, it BETTER be great.
I ordered a whole Beef and Cheddar (I asked what the best seller was) and had them prepare it as they thought best. I ordered a small antipasto salad as a side. The portions are huge and will easily feed two people (or in my case, lunch for tomorrow). The bread was fresh and the sandwich was great. I will admit that when I order a Beef and Cheddar, I think it’s going to be a hot sandwich. It was a cold sandwich, but they tell me they will offer it hot in the future. Still, they piled it on with all sorts of goodies and half a sandwich satisfied me. The salad was crazy-​good, best anti-​pasto I’ve ever had. All salads are made fresh on site and all looked worth trying.
They have about five sandwich selections, all made with Boars Head meat. I hope this will grow, a deli without home made corned beef and pastrami isn’t really a deli in my book.
Service was a little slow, but they’ve been open less than a week. You can eat-​in, with three booths available. Hope they add more seats in the future. Parking could be tight on a busy day, but they told me the fenced lot next to them is their parking area too.
Unfortunately they don’t have fresh brewed iced tea, which is critical (in my opinion) for any establishment that serves lunch anywhere south of the Mason/​Dixon line.
They also will be working up a sub/​side/​drink combo in the future.
So, A solid 4 stars for a new deli in Cocoa Beach!
THE MARKET
The market looks like it’s still being assembled, so it’s hard to review right now. I bought a rib eye for dinner and it was one of the best steaks I’ve had in a while. They don’t plan to stock produce or fish so they don’t step on the toes of other business… but it’s a market, so I hope they change that for a solid one-​stop shopping experience.
It is a needed, solid addition for those living downtown. The area hasn’t had a market in the area since A&P closed in the ‘70s. Hopefully in the future it will save me a drive down to Indian Harbor Beach to go to the Green Turtle (where my last ‘great steak’ came from).
(quick tip, save ¼ cup of the anti-​pasto and make an omelet out of it for breakfast… that’s what I had for breakfast today… fantastic!)