G Wiv wrote:While Fresh Farms Niles is large, I shop it like a small store . . .
Me too. At an initial glance, it's easy to see why this might not feel like a Great Neighborhood Resource but having become a regular shopper there, I believe that it is truly worthy. Don't let its size deceive you. The people who work there are super friendly, and in many substantive ways, it feels like a neighborhood shop. I recently recounted just
one of several examples of this on the main Fresh Farms thread.
But beyond that, the store's offerings are great. It is the trump card of grocery stores -- offering myriad depth and quality in several different departments and categories. I cannot count the number of times that I've successfully procured items -- many of them difficult to find -- at Fresh Farms. Produce, breads, deli, ethnic ingredients, dry goods, fish & seafood are all quite strong there. Service is phenomenally friendly. Prices are reasonable, too.
I will admit that the store is not perfect. I'm not in love with their meat department but I still think it's on a par with just about every other grocery store in town, not counting Whole Foods. Even then, I pretty much stick to butcher shops when buying beef, pork and lamb. In any case, I don't think this diminishes Fresh Farms' GNR worthiness at all.
As I mentioned in another post, if I had to choose only 1 grocery store and cease shopping at every other store, Fresh Farms on Niles would be the one I'd choose. I've found everything I need there -- and tons of items I didn't know I needed
-- too many times to choose anyplace else. I don't know if any full-on grocery store is an appropriate choice for the GNR list but if one is, this is clearly the one, IMO.
=R=
Same planet, different world