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| - The Fresh Market, that North Carolina import, has arrived to a new locale, at the intersection of Washington Road (Route 19) and Connor Road in Mount Lebanon. It's a tricky location, not just because traffic backs up here due to the abundance of businesses that are packed onto this stretch of road, but because The Giant Eagle Market District and Trader Joe's are both right up the street. When my husband and I arrived this morning at 9:45, the parking lot was, well...a parking lot, with a waiting line out into the road to get in. Not surprising, given that it was opening day. The parking lot is also smallish for a business this size.
Whenever I go to a new grocer the first thing I look for is organic anything, but produce in particular. The Fresh Market has a decent variety of organic produce, so I was happy about that. I did some comparing of my register receipts after arriving back home, and found that, overall, Market District's produce is cheaper. I plan on bringing in my Fresh Market receipt to the Market District next time I'm there and comparing other items that I buy, as there wasn't much crossover of items between the two receipts today. An update of this review will be in order then.
The aisles are a little tight here, more like a Trader Joe's in feel than a larger market. They have a lovely coffee selection, with their own store brand beans available alongside the upscale brands like intelligentsia. I chose their decaf New Orleans French Roast blend, as I was assured by a long time employee of corporate that all of their decaf coffees are Swiss water process. Again, I may look into that myself, as their decafs are not labeled as such, and I usually find that the extra cost of decaffeinating coffee this way is advertised somewhere on the label. It's a little like offering organic anything and then not bothering to let people know.
It was just before lunch when we shopped, so we took advantage of the nice selection of freshly made sandwiches. I got the North Carolina style smoked pork barbecue sandwich topped with slaw, and hubby got the roasted pork sandwich with cranberry slaw. We took them home to eat them, as they don't offer seating here, and they were both very good, although the slaw on mine was more the mild, creamy style you find in New England, so didn't scream North Carolina barbecue to me. Still, I will be returning here for lunch often. The rotisserie and fried chicken both looked great, as did the roast pork, and they have a small but wonderful looking salad bar and some nice looking prepared foods at the deli counter. We were able to sample a chicken wing and a smoked rib, as they were going sample crazy on opening day, and everything I tried was delicious, so the prepared food here is way better than what you can get at The Market District.
The cheese selection was small here, but the bakery is substantial. They have a nice selection of natural beauty products, like Burt's Bees, Jason's and Desert Essence, and the pantry aisles are stocked with higher end items as well as their own store brand. The bulk section was fairly large, but didn't offer much in the way of organic items. When I asked for organic rolled oats they only had packages of Bob's Red Mill, which is way more expensive than buying it in bulk, even at a small natural foods store like Sunnybridge, near me. So I don't think I would do all of my shopping here, but I will most definitely be returning for their prepared foods form the deli section, and will pick up odds and ends.
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