Fair Share Finer Foods

If you could give 0 stars I would.
The store is over priced, disorganized, unsanitary and I’m surprised they have never been shut down by the health department. Their produce department is the smallest department but it doesn’t matter because their produce some 30 seconds from expiring any way. I have purchased meat from there a few times and by the time I got home realized the the chicken was OLD. I called the store and they said «it must have been on the truck that refrigeration went out during shipment.» I will never shop their again. Which is sad because I really enjoyed talking to Peggy, she IS The best person there. The new kids are rude and need to be trained in customer service.

Just a small update: after being impressed with the deli I thought to try the Italian Sub for 8 bucks. It had all the usual Italian cold meats on it you might expect plus a little cheese, some lettuce, tomato, oil and vinegar. The latter of which I think I’d ask they leave off next time. I asked for some hot Gardiner on there and that was good. Staff nice, quality and quantity good. Got a couple of full meals out of it.
More fun than buying all the stuff separately and making it myself, and reasonably priced. Not a fan of the frozen stuff at the store, but the more I try the deli, I think it’s pretty good.

Their food options suck. Anything frozen is guaranteed to be frostbit. Any «fresh» fruits and vegetables will rot within 24 hrs. Even with all that I still went there to buy stuff I planned to cook that night. No more. I felt like a criminal tonight when I walked in with my backpack full of purchases from another store and was told I had to leave it at the desk. I am not trusting teenagers with my $ 120 backpack with over $ 100 in purchases in it. They will never get my money again. Better to go down the street a bit too Jewel.

Of all things finer this is the last place to be anything but «finer». Grocery store is the best place to find overpriced expired goods. They don’t check the dates EVER! From bread, to dairy, produce, it’s all here expired and overpriced. You know it’s bad when they have 3 RC’s for $ 4??? Each one alone is .99 cents lol. So you basically lose an RC?
Unless you need a bag of chips or lettuce I’m sorry but this place is nasty. And don’t recommend anyone buying their groceries here. If you do make sure you check the dates.

Finer foods? I wish! I have been a customer for the past 5 years since its so close by & i usually find everything i need. Lately i have been getting so many expired dairy, bread & fruits. I will never be back again. Sorry fair share you just lost a loyal customer. Get it together

In terms of their general selection they occasionally have little gems. Like for awhile they carried organic coconut oil, but never got it in again ever. Or cheap, but poor quality saffron, which isn’t easy to find. Some times they have a lot of one type of thing and zero of something pretty basic. It’s almost like they buy the surplus from somewhere else, and may or may not ever carry an item again. The other week I couldn’t find any cinnamon, and the week before that a customer couldn’t get over the fact that they had absolutely no garlic powder of any brand. It might be an… interesting experience for people who live near by, but it’s certainly not worth a special trip.
Fair Share may have good sales occasionally, but they also mark up the prices on other items. Always check your receipt! Be leery of the produce and frozen sections. No, this place does not smell nice. Know that even if an item is not on sale, it may still be close to expiring or already spoiled. I can’t even remember all of the spoiled stuff I’ve gotten from Fair Share, but they include things like … rotten taffy apples, a molded cheese cake, and a full price bin of lettuce just yesterday (looked fine on the outside, totally spoiled in the middle).
The freezers on the west wall, forget about it. You’ll often find soft ice cream or boxes that were obviously thawed and refrozen. And yes, they’re still charging full price for even questionable items. They had a freezer issue a few years ago due to a power outage and didn’t even bother to discard stuff that should have been tossed. I haven’t checked in the last couple of months but they had the *same* boxes for veggie burgers in their freezer for well over a year. Thawed, refrozen, with tattered boxes.
Once a cashier didn’t put my son’s candy in our bag. I noticed it was missing while we were still standing *right* by the registered. I asked her about it and she pulled it right up from under the counter. No attempt whatsoever to let me know I «forgot» it.
So, when I was asked to wait in line at the service desk for 3 minutes to check my bag from Walgreens (like I’m the sketchy character in this story) it was the final straw for me. Most of the expired things I’ve gotten over the years I never even bothered to return, including the lettuce from yesterday. I’ve made stops in this store at least once per week for years, often times with a bag from Walgreens or reusable shopping bags. Now that they’ve added insult to accruing wallet injury, they can keep their rotten produce and expired goods. We won’t be back.

When I moved to the area, 2 yrs ago, I would get a great Italian sub here. They stopped making them for a while. Now they are making them again. I wish someone would tell the girls behind the deli counter. I finally said forget it, and walked away. They looked at me like I was crazy

Went here for the first time, I WILL NOT BE RETURNING. First off if you want a shopping cart, you need to put a quarter in the cart to release it from the other carts, you do get the quarter back when returning the cart, BUT WTF??? What if I don’t have a quarter on me??? Secondly the store is dingy and probably has not been updated since 1960!!! Worst offense, the dumb cashier that was ringing me up took my milk gallon and shot it down to the bag boy as well as my produce. You can damage the goods that way you dummy, ESPECIALLY THE PRODUCE!!! Like I said, I WILL NOT BE RETURNING TO THIS DUMP!!!

I generally like this place, prices are generally 30% cheaper than most places (probably 50% with produce) and it’s close to my home, so honestly I love it.
It doesn’t have as much as like a target would, but mostly everything I need. Also, they cater to a large latino audience, so they have a lot of great items for cooking Mexican food. They also have a very decent selection of spices.
I’d say the big con is it’s freezer goods. I think stuff can get left in there for too long and get a little freezer-​burnt, but meh, I don’t buy frozen food (I cook everything myself) so it doesn’t matter.
Overall great for those of us in North Berwyn and South Oak Park!!!

Pros: It’s cheap. They’re friendlier/​less rude than they used to be, on the whole. For me, they’re in a very convenient location. They have some decent bulk spices and dried chiles and such.
Cons: Their produce is often highly questionable, bordering on yucky. I’ve accidentally purchased bad dairy products and frozen foods from them even though the dates were not past. One of the cashiers (a middle aged lady, works in the morning usually) there is incredibly rude. I will deliberately avoid her line on the rare occasions that I go anymore because she is so rude. Once she decided she would rather look through a magazine than ring up my purchases and eventually made the young guy behind the customer service desk ring me up while she continued to look through the magazine. It was just so blatantly rude, and I think even he was a bit embarrassed. The rest of the time, she ignores my «thank you», won’t make eye contact with me, and shoves the bag and my change at me. So rather than get angry, I just avoid her. There are a couple of really nice cashiers there, and the teenage girls who work there have gotten a lot more polite in the past couple of years. I saw one of them once visibly roll her eyes at having to service a customer, but now (she’s been there several years) she’s pretty polite and says thank you and such. They must have instituted some customer service training.
I know that working at a grocery store can be difficult; I did it for about a year and I ran into some of the worst rudeness I’ve ever run into. So I try hard to be nice to everyone who has to deal with the public. That one cashier makes it really difficult though.
In short, if I need something desperately or if I can get an item there more cheaply than at another store, I shop there, and I’m glad they’re in that location. Other than that, I don’t go there anymore.

Some product I got from here were old and pass due date .I got food poison this place need to check there food and take it out when there due.

This store is amazing for inexpensive produce and deli items, especially compared to the big stores, like Jewel and Dominick’s. At times the produce and meat quality can be hit or miss, but for the most part their products are decent quality.
I haven’t had much experience with the customer service, but the employees seem nice and relatively helpful.

Great deli — got some proscuitto and fresh mozzerella for incredibly cheap! Check it out if you need your necessity items — fresh bread, cold cuts, vegatables, and fruit.

The prices are very reasonable and the employees are friendly. However, be sure to check the expiration dates on all items that you buy. I accidentally bought expired items from them a few times. When items are expired, they put them on sale to get rid of them. I don’t buy meat from this store, since there is no way of knowing how fresh it is.

When you’re tired of paying a ridiculous amount ($ 1 or more) for lemons or limes, head to Fair Share for a better deal and fresher produce ($ 0.10 per lime). Great for picking up ingredients to make all your favorite Latin dishes.
My favorite tortillas (El Milagro corn… for $ 0.25-$ 0.33 a dozen) – usually so fresh they’re still warm!
Fair Share is also good for picking up cheap cheese… decent feta at the deli or grated parm (not the Kraft krap) in the refrigerated case just across from the deli counter.
Why pay $ 30 at Jewel when you could get fresher ingredients at Fair Share for only $ 10?

A supermarket with decent produce & meat sections.