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| - I love this place and there's nothing I can say that hasn't already been said. I primarily use it as my grocery store, so rather than rehash the same reviews, I'll just offer up my favorites stands for groceries along with some general opinions, and observations.
If you're a tourist, please note that this place is all about food stands and really nothing more. You will be sorely disappointed if you think you're heading into Pike Place Market, Chelsea Market, or even the Lexington Market. The WSM is worthy of it's status among public markets and food destinations, but it's not a place to see people throwing fish or to window shop for clothing while you buy fresh bread, nor is it a place to find a bunch of neat restaurants. You can get a good meal from the Market Cafe or a few of the stands, but you won't find a number of sit-down options.
The bulk of the produce stands sell food that's going to spoil in just within a day. I wish the market would just get rid of those stands. I generally stick to The Basketeria and its surrounding stands to get the real fresh stuff. You might see someone selling produce at an unbelievable price, but don't give in. I promise you that it will spoil. There are a few great produce stands in the main drag, but it's almost not worth trying to navigate through it all when you can just go straight to The Basketeria's section.
My favorite non-produce stands are:
- Kate's Fish for seafood
- D.W. Whitaker for pork, chicken, and turkey
- Annemarie's Dairy for butter, milk, and eggs
- Kauffman's Poultry for game birds, duck, and rabbit
- The Cheese Shop for cheese of all kinds
- Urban Herbs for the best herbs and spices in the country
- Mediterranean Imported Foods for cheese and Mediterranean goods
- Czuchraj Meats for amazing beef jerkey
- Dionne's Beef for great sausages and beef products
- Ohio City Pasta for pasta (duh), although I don't think their gnocci is that great
- I like all the bread bakers to be honest
I don't get the appeal of Steve's Gyros. They gyros are big and taste like most other gyros. It's not worth the wait and I only see it as being popular because it was featured on a TV show for having giant gyros. If you want to say you ate a giant gyro that Adam Richman featured, then go ahead and wait. But I don't see the appeal.
I really wish the WSM had some posted rules about all the very annoying things that occur every Saturday. I would advise the following rules:
- Be calm and have some patience. Even if they had rules, the WSM would still be crowded on a Saturday. You may find yourself standing still when you want to walk. Just be polite and expect it to take a while to get through all the stands. Abide by this rule and it won't be a stressful experience.
- Don't bring a giant stroller meant for off-roading or that seats your twins side by side. The isles are slim and don't have the space for that nonsense.
- Don't visit during the peak hours and stand in the middle of the isles taking pictures. You'll end up blocking a ton of traffic and you also risk damaging your camera from someone bumping into you who wasn't paying attention.
- Don't stand in the middle of isles or intersections. You'll end up blocking more traffic than the guy taking photos.
- It's going to be super crowded so pay attention to everyone around you so that you don't inadvertently bump into people or cut-off others.
- Follow traffic signs and painted arrows when driving in and near the parking lot. The parking lot is a mess and going the wrong way or blocking an entrance/exit is going to make things very unsafe.
With that said, you're going to encounter many people who break my unwritten rules if you visit on a Saturday. Expect plenty of people to just get in your way and to make navigation slow and difficult. If you do that, you'll be able to minimize stress and live out rule number one on my list.
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