The Fresh Grocer

High Prices and rude workers don’t know what else to say but it’s convenient when you need something!
Tip: 7 Day Return Policy!!!

Not a bad neighborhood market. First, unlike stores in the suburbs, you have a space constraint. This grocery store does a good job with the limited space it has, carries the major stuff. Yes it’s crowded but what do you expect it is the only option in the neighborhood. I am close to the whole foods but sorry I can’t afford the 400a week you need to shop at «whole checks». Sales are good, same sales as shoprite. Meats are the same quality.

The worst supermarket in existence. Produce is never fresh and everything is a chaotic mess. The deli counter has no number system so everyone just stands around and pushes their way to the front of the line. Usually have to wait 10+ minutes since you will most likely get cut by pushy ignorant people. Clear animosity towards Temple students from all angles– especially employees. Not as many food options. Save yourself the trouble and go elsewhere. The Korean mini market on 16^th and Cecil is a good substitute and has fresh produce and all types of goodies. Support local businesses and not this corporate dump.

This is not a Wegman’s or Whole Foods or Trader Joes (oh how I wish there were these stores around). However this is owned by the same company that owns ShopRite.
Good:
— The only decent grocery store in Templetown, which is quite sad. So needless to say, I am told that this store is always busy.
— hot food bar/​prepared meals (American food, Chinese food)
— Small sushi counter
— Deli counter
— hot soup counter (4 different types of soups)
— large grocery store
— pretty decent vegetarian sushi rolls
Bad:
— pretty busy most of the times, I am told
— not a lot of organic fruits and vegetables
Ugly: nothing
Pro-​tip: go either before or after lunch hour to avoid lot of crowds and long checkout lines.

Don’t come to this supermarket. They tow your car immediately when you leave. You will pay for more than 200 for pick your car. Worst experience ever!

I like the selection here and the prices, I don’t mind the indifferent cashiers, but I definitely don’t like the crowd milling out in front of the doors. I don’t shop here often because I still have a drive home, but I will stop at this place if I can’t find something in my usual store or if I have last minute dinner inspiration, and they pretty much always have whatever I’m looking for. For example, my friend bought me a ‘make your own hotpot’ packet from an Asian market and so, armed with a Google image of ‘hotpot ingredients,’ I went here looking for (what I had to guess was) thinly sliced beef, shitake mushrooms, noodles, and Chinese cabbage. Well, the mushroom selection was great and the extra cabbage lasted foreeevveeerrrr in my fridge, AND, in case you’re curious, it made my clueless/​broke-​college-​kid-​style hotpot pretty tasty. My usual grocery store would not have been able to accommodate this list.

They have thee worst customer service. A lot of the employees just have terrible attitudes.

They had my car towed because I parked in their lot and went across the street to rite aid to drop off a prescription… AND THEN SHOPPED AT FRESH GROCER. Plus they’re expensive as hell and have dumb people working there. Never going there again!

Just went shopping here. Normally I do not have issues, besides the crowds and long wait times in line (which is to be expected due to it being located on a college campus). Well today I was made to feel very uncomfortable and like a criminal. In my groceries I had 3– 24pks of bottled water. I informed the cashier before she began to ring my items, I even asked if she needed one of them on the belt and she said no. Well as I was walking out I was stopped by a woman in the front and asked if the cashier saw my waters. I informed her of what I said to the cashier as well as the cashier’s response. She went on to tell me I did not have «paid» stickers and needed to see my receipt. I handed her the receipt with no problem. So come to find out, the female cashier never rang up the waters. The woman who stopped me mentioned something to the cashier and the cashier acted as if she had no idea so i walked up and stated, it’s me, I just told you I had 3 waters. She stood there with a stupid look on her face (mind you I was the last person she rung up). The woman starts screaming across the front «make sure ya’ll check B.O.B» I guess that means check people’s carts and bottom racks. Don’t make it out as if I attempted to steal because your cashier screwed up! So the woman rang the waters, put stickers on them, and that was that. As I was walking out she screamed the same previous statement again. I wanted to snap and say «B#!*&, nobody is stealing, it’s not that deep. You need to check your stupid ass cashier» but decided I would keep walking. Just don’t make me look like something I am not, and I’m no thief!

The produce is always rotten. ALWAYS. I only shop here because it is the most convenient. The prices are pretty cheap compared to other stores though.

I only go to this market because it’s close to me. It’s acceptable. It obviously heard towards Temple students. The prices are higher than most markets for any real groceries. Only things that are on sale are worth buying. If you cook meals at home this is not your market. You pay less at a Shoprite for exactly the same thing.

When it comes to the ol’ Fro Gro, my words of advice to you are this: good luck. Just, good luck.
1) Good luck: finding anything. I’m pretty sure they reorganize their aisles on a bi-​weekly basis. Just when you’ve (finally) tracked down the Ketchup and go in feeling confident that you’ll find it again, it moved. «Somewhere,» says an employee. «Maybe aisle 9. I don’t know.»
2) Good luck: getting around. Fresh Grocer turns into the proverbial zoo past 4PM daily. Avoid at all costs on weekends. Lines back up into the aisles, leaving no room for shoppers to move through the main lane in front of the checkout stations. You are perpetually in the way. They’ve even begun hiring staff to herd people like cattle through the solid throng of people. This may have something to do with the fact that Temple is taking on more students than it can handle and is pretty much bursting at the seams, but hopefully other grocery chains will take note of this problem and move in to TempleTown (I’m looking at you, Giant. Or Wegmans. You guys would make a killing here.)
3) Good luck: finding fresh produce. And check it for bugs. Always.
4) Good luck: asking anyone for help. See number 1.
5) Good luck: finding makeup. It doesn’t sell any makeup. This is bizarre to me — maybe because makeup is usually the most-​stolen item at grocery stores? Good thing there’s a Rite-​Aid across the street so I can get my mascara.
Aw, man. I want to say good things about the Fresh Grocer, but the only three compliments I can muster are: it’s less than 10 feet from my house, it’s the only major grocery store in TempleTown, and nearly all the prepared food goes on crazy sale after 9PM daily. That’s about it, though. Sigh.

Coming from a place of an undergrad in the early 2000’s, Temple U campus was a food desert. Having a grocery store being so close to campus is practically a Godsend. That being said … there’s not much I can add to the less than 3 star reviews. Except perhaps you should always ALWAYS check expiration dates on the food here (fresh or boxed). It could be the turnover — which is hard for me to believe since the place is always packed — so it’s more likely the employees. Same goes for the produce, which I’d rather just avoid altogether. After two pieces of produce on two separate occasions being rotten in the middle (gross), I’ll be getting my veggies elsewhere from now on.

Ratchet and they have little selection of international/​ethnic cusine. Try to avoid it at all costs however it’s convinient they are open 24 hours

This is a love/​HATE relationship with me. This store is the closest supermarket to my home, but i will actually get in my car and drive to the Shoprite on Aramingo Avenue than come in here. Even after they changed to align with Shoprite, the experience is still subpar. When I absolutely have to come in here, late night work and Shoprite will be closed by the time I get there, I come here, only because they are ²⁴⁄₇ facility. And then I pray that I don’t have to ask any «employees» a question because they either give you the blank stare of stupidity or the ghetto attytood. And even after they became a subdivision of Shoprite, their prices are still higher. This store was ONLY bought to this location to service TEMPLE, not the neighborhood. To be quite frankly, if I can’t make it to Shoprite, I move along to the other neighborhood store which is Cousin’s supermarket, 5^th & Berks St.

My first time here is today a rainy day… yeah me and Temple University area have been apart quite a while. I honestly love this new place. Never was here when I was here at Temple. This place was empty unattractive plaza and now is the total opposite. Why I like this place…(despite the cars all over the small busy parking lot), a lot of selections and that I like. Options keep me from buying the same thing every week. Instead I want to come back to try something new & that doesn’t make shopping feel like a chore. I get bored easily so I jump from neighborhood to neighborhood and state to state if I have to just to shop. I like the layout of this store so far. It is more like a feeling I got in this store, that I will like it here. (I never got that feeling so much at the store location at Penn.)
I’m not sure if all the fruits or organic or not since Im still new to this organic thing. But I’m testing out organic meats today. I like how the meats look fresh and are packaged. It is twice or almost triple the price of the cheapest groceries I’ve been to. But my guy tells me if I eat non organic when I will not have control on my blood pressure and cholesterol. So I’m trying to change my food choices to all Organic but I can not do it immediately just little by little. If be lucky to get to ⁵⁰⁄₅₀. So back to options, I feel there is more variety here. And I like variety whether it is more healthy conscious snacks or whatever. So far so good. As long as the choices keep me entertained and reading labels I will be back. The grocery store is like a bookstore to me where I read labels and covers. Great addition to the neighborhood. Lines were empty on a rainy day and that’s when I’m out shopping. I guess I will review this place again when I am here a second time on my shopping adventures. PS. I saw a radio shack and Payless nearby and paint shop (Sherwin Williams?).

Words can’t describe how happy I am that this is no longer my local grocery store. The cashiers always had bad attitudes so I often times opted for self checkout but somehow that always turned into a long process as well. It’s almost impossible to make a «quick stop» in here because it was always packed.
The only good thing about this place was the decent sales compared to the grocery store that I go to now.

I love this place. They sell 2 ft hoagies for only $ 10.99! They are not shy with their meat either. After they wrap it up they slice it for you into 6 individual sandwiches. Also the employees that work in the meat market in the back are super friendly. They know how to hook up some seafood. I ordered snow crab legs, shrimp and mussles steamed in butter and old bay seasoning. Finger licking good!

I went grocery shopping today, and they basically were out of everything. I’m not exaggerating when I say there wasn’t a roll of toilet paper in the store. When I asked an employee, they said they might have more on Thursday or Friday, are you serious? Then I went to the canned vegetable aisle, where they had the abundant selection of 4 varieties of canned vegetables. Not corn. Not peas. But things like canned onions. Which no one ever really buys. I needed yo buy things for a football party, with a bunch of guys I needed everything I was looking for. Including soda, which had the selection of pretty much coke or Pepsi products. This would be great, but they were down to the minimum, meaning no bottles. And only diet– try pitching diet soda to a group of football watching men. It won’t go over well.
To make things even better, the lines were little beyond ridiculous, thanks to the self check out lanes being completely sealed off by the official looking ‘carts in the way’ barricade. The cashier’s attitude of genuine hatred for her job and all frogro customers was almost tangible as she glared at each and every person in line, and put items down after scanning, in a not so gentle fashion. Next time, I’ll make the hike to super fresh, or anywhere else, where I can at least buy the things I need in the same place.

This place is /​the/​supermarket to go to in the Temple area. I say this, not because Fresh Grocer has cheap prices and a wide variety, but because it is currently the /​only/​supermarket in the Temple area.
That said, this place is really not that bad. Although it seemingly caters to lower income consumers (think college students), the produce is generally fresh, as is the seafood and butchers. On one side, they have a great deli/​sushi/​chinese food kind of thing, which is great especially during late hours when the price is cut. Great for poor college students who can’t hold high standards for quality of food. They have my favorite yogurts and salad dressings. They also have shampoo, trash bags, basic hygiene products, house hold cleaning supplies, and lots and lots of munchie snacks!
My complaints would be that not everything is super fresh — bought strawberries that were already starting to mold (not visible from the outside), and I wanted to buy tomatos but they were swarmed with fruit flies. Yuck. The workers are also generally sparse — hard to get a helping hand.