Things You Should And Shouldn't Buy At The Fresh Market

If you're a lover of Wegmans or Trader Joe's, you're going to want to add The Fresh Market to the list for your next grocery store to try. Described as a European-style food market, it offers restaurant-quality meals to go along with healthy and unique options up and down the aisles. You'll find brands that you may be familiar with as well as The Fresh Market's own namesake brand of items.

The Fresh Market is unlike your everyday grocery store. Instead of being a place to rush through your grocery list and throw the same items in your cart as you did the week prior, this store is more of an experience. It creates a sort of ambiance for its customers — classical music plays in the background, bright flowers greet you at the front door, and imported food from all over the world makes you feel like you just took a trip to Europe.

The aisles may feel daunting, as they are filled with items you may have not seen before. However, like any store, not every single item is outstanding. Don't let yourself go in blind — you should be aware of what is worth throwing in your cart and what is worth skipping altogether. We've found reviews on items from almost every aisle of the store, from packaged snacks to pre-made meals and beyond. Any prices listed below are accurate in our area at the time of writing, and may vary depending on where you are located in the U.S.

The Fresh Market takes its olive oil very seriously. It carries over 65 types of extra virgin olive oil (or EVOO, for you connoisseurs), with a range of prices covering unique flavors and different regions. Olive oil can be used for many different purposes like frying, baking, dipping, or even garnishing a dish. Instead of reaching for your staple olive oil that you use for everything, it may be time to step it up a notch and upgrade your kitchen with a more exciting EVOO.

The Bariani Extra Virgin Olive Oil is great when mixed into a vinaigrette or used for dipping your favorite bread. Made in California, this oil is made cold pressed and unfiltered, which helps preserve its high nutrient content. It is particularly rich in polyphenols, the antioxidant that helps the body fight against certain diseases like diabetes, cancer, and heart disease. Best enjoyed unheated, save this olive oil for your dips and drizzles.

Considering The Fresh Market touts having, well, fresh items — it tends to knock up the price a bit. Unfortunately, if you are indeed being conscious of prices, you're going to want to skip over the organic red potatoes.

Taste-wise, they are comparable to those that you can get at similar stores like Whole Foods and other run-of-the-mill grocery stores. Yet, they are much more expensive at The Fresh Market. The average price per ounce for the produce is 11 cents per ounce at The Fresh Market versus 8 cents per ounce at Whole Foods.

It is important to note that the store does take extra pride in its quality of produce. This could be the reasoning for their slightly higher prices. If consuming your produce shortly after harvest is important to you, then perhaps you should get your potatoes here. However, you can get similar quality for much cheaper at your average grocery store.

A great vegan and gluten-free option, these oat bites are perfect for throwing in your bag to have an easy snack during the day. The Fresh Market tends to have discounts on snack items — sometimes offering these for $3.99 as opposed to the usual $5.29.

If you are familiar with gluten-free items, you know that they tend to be dry, tasteless, and sometimes disappointing alternatives to their gluten-filled counterpart. However, these oat bites satisfy in many ways. The texture is moist, there are many flavors to choose from, and they taste just as good as any other cake-like snack. They also come individually wrapped so you can transport them easily.

Snacks like these are also a great way to get whole grains into your diet, which can be difficult for someone with celiac disease or gluten intolerance. Whole grains aid in heart health, prevent diabetes, and can assist in weight loss as well.

Whether you're a lover of pimento cheese or have never tried it before, The Fresh Market is the place to get it. It's a popular Southern cheese dip made with shredded cheddar cheese, mayonnaise, and pimento peppers.

This dip can be used in a variety of ways. You can always go for the classic —  dip your favorite tortilla or potato chip into the container and your taste buds will be in heaven. Or you could take it the extra mile and try it as a spread on sandwiches (a BLT or grilled cheese is drool-worthy). It's also a great vehicle for carrots or celery. However you want to eat it, this is a great item to have in your refrigerator.

The original owner of The Fresh Market, Ray Berry, brought his family recipe for pimento cheese to stores in 1983. It became the store's first own-brand item. Now, you can buy over 1,500 items under The Fresh Market's brand. The store even named April 9 as National Pimento Cheese Day. So, if you're going to get pimento cheese anywhere, get it here.

Reviews for seafood at the Fresh Market are overwhelmingly positive. It is apparent that this grocery store takes pride in its sourcing of fresh seafood, offering a wide selection of both shellfish and fresh fish. The company even has a specialty meat and seafood team, whose sole purpose is to ensure quality items sold at the store.

 A Tripadvisor reviewer said, "The Fresh Market has the best fish around. I won't buy it anywhere else." With The Fresh Market being a competitor with the ever-popular Whole Foods, we wanted to see how they stacked up against each other in the seafood departments. One food blogger said, "I have had bad meat and fish from Whole Foods but NEVER had anything bad from Fresh Market. I only shop there for fish now."

Besides the positive reviews, another reason to shop here for seafood is because of the wide variety. With both a fresh seafood counter as well as a prepared seafood section, you will have many options to choose from. Salmon, crab cakes, escargot, mussels, and clams — you name it, The Fresh Market probably has it.

The worst thing is when you buy a big head of lettuce, excited to make your favorite Caesar salad, and when you go to pull it out of the refrigerator it's either foul smelling, has dark spots at the base, or is a tad slimy to touch. Your plans are ruined and now your salad dreams have been crushed.

We don't want your salad dreams to be crushed, so we're going to tell you right now not to get your fresh lettuce at The Fresh Market. A previous employee says, "I wouldn't necessarily recommend their produce unless they've improved their sourcing in the past couple years." Meanwhile, a customer on Google Maps said, "Don't expect good produce. You might get lucky, but more often than not they keep rotting produce on the shelves. Buyer beware."

A writer on Medium did a deep dive on the store's produce department and shared multiple photos of lettuce either starting to go bad or straight rotten, right at the front of the lettuce display. The writer claims that the poor storage of the lettuce once delivered to the store, plus a delay in when it is put on the shelves, leads to less-than-optimal quality in its lettuce selection. It's not worth it to gamble on whether your lettuce is going to go bad within a day, so we recommend getting your lettuce from another grocery store instead.

One unique item that The Fresh Market sells is "steam in bag" entrees. These are bags that are filled with vegetables and seafood, marinated with different flavors depending on the bag. They serve 1-2 people and are ready within minutes.

It's always great to have a few convenient meals ready in your refrigerator for when you have a busier day and don't feel like cooking. These bags are the perfect option for that, as they are healthy and satiating while also being quick and easy. Depending on your location, you can find different varieties of entrees. Some examples are a garlic dill Atlantic salmon with squash and lemon pepper salmon with asparagus.

The store also offers steam bags of just vegetables with interesting flavors, like baby carrots with cinnamon and brown sugar or Tuscan herb veggies with herb butter. These are perfect to grab when you need to throw a quick side to your dinner.

Besides the obvious factor of these steam bags being convenient, they also offer great health benefits as well. When vegetables are boiled, the surplus of water depletes the strength of water-soluble vitamins like vitamin B and C. When steamed, the nutrition content stays high — which is exactly what we want from our vegetables. The same thing happens when we steam seafood.

One of the best things about The Fresh Market is that it has imported goods from all over the world. This is especially handy during the holiday season. If you aren't originally from the U.S. and miss your taste of home, have family members in the same position, or just enjoy learning about other countries' traditions, there is a wide array of special holiday treats that you can get here.

If you're looking for something from the U.K., you'll have to pick up the Tiptree Christmas Pudding. A sweet and moist desert, this will definitely get you in the holiday spirit.

Jumping over to Germany, there are Christmas cookies galore, and who doesn't love Christmas cookies? The Fresh Market carries two popular brands of cookies, Lambertz Chocolates & Cookies as well as Wicklein Cookies. The shortbread and gingerbread in these cookies are a must-have for your dessert table.

Another European highlight is Italy, home of the panettone. Panettone is a large, cake-like bread. It is traditionally eaten for breakfast along with a cup of coffee or for dessert with a glass of champagne. With raisins, citrus peel, dried fruit, and sweet bread flavor, you are sure to be satisfied. You can pick up a large or small-sized panettone at The Fresh Market — perfect for bringing to a holiday gathering.

For those of you who are gluten intolerant or have celiac disease, you know how hard it is to find a good gluten-free bread that tastes good and doesn't break the bank. Considering what is available at other grocery stores, The Fresh Market is not the best place to go for picking up a gluten-free bread.

You'll find a few brands at The Fresh Market that have gluten-free sandwich bread, and those include Base Culture and Canyon Bakehouse. Base Culture is quite expensive, charging around $12.09 for a loaf. This brand focuses on Non-GMO, simple ingredients. Customers on Reddit have said that the taste is fairly good, although the size is still small.

Canyon Bakehouse is also expensive, selling its loaves at $8.79 a pop. From my personal experience, this brand of bread is one of the worst on the market. The taste and size are nothing like normal bread, and there are brands out there that sell cheaper and better tasting alternatives.

At both Whole Foods and Trader Joe's (and many other grocery stores as well) you can get its store brand gluten-free bread. These options are much more affordable than the above-mentioned brands — Whole Foods pricing its bread at around $5.79 and Trader Joe's at $4.49. For about half the price as the other brands, these breads have qualities that are very comparable to normal bread. They don't fall apart, have a neutral (not overly sweet) taste, and are a decent size.

Whether you are entertaining friends, cuddling up for a movie night, or going on a road trip, a good snack is an absolute must. The Fresh Market sells snacks in bulk and you can get nearly anything your heart desires. You can customize how much you want in each container, and you are charged by the pound. You can get as much as you could ever want, or if you just want a tiny nibble, thst's easy to do too.

There are simple snacks like a nuts & berries mix, chocolate pretzels, and trail mix. Then, there are more adventurous mixes like the Buffalo Stampede mix which has different nuts, guacamole bites, and a spicy seasoning. Another fun mix is called Pep in your Step, which has raisins, dried banana, dried apricot, and nuts. If you need a protein boost, there are also flavored edamame mixes. This unique section of The Fresh Market is definitely worth spending a little extra money on.

If you've ever subscribed to Blue Apron or HelloFresh, the Market Meal Kits may be the item for you. They are dinners for two that make preparing, cooking, and enjoying a meal a collaborative and easy experience — without the commitment to a meal prep subscription.

These kits have pre-measured ingredients, that way you aren't wasting any food. It also allows you to skip the long search through the aisles of the grocery store looking for that one item your recipe only calls for 2 teaspoons of. There are easy-to-follow directions that help you cook the meal without stress.

Another great thing about these kits is they may encourage you to cook beyond your comfort zone. Some examples of the meals that are sold are Pork Marsala, Korean Beef Stir Fry, Thai Coconut Shrimp, and Chicken Piccata with Wild Rice Pilaf & Green Beans. Buying these kits is a great way to elevate your cooking game without the added stress. Consider it a gateway to becoming a great cook!

Pantry basics can be one of the most cost-consuming items to shop for, especially when you run out of multiple items at once. We're talking about generic condiments, basic seasonings, flour, sugar, eggs, broth, and rice — you know, the boring stuff. Save your money for the unique and interesting items at The Fresh Market, not for the basic items that you can get anywhere for much cheaper.

We compared the prices between The Fresh Market, Walmart, and Target in one local area. Rao's Marinara Sauce is $8.99 at The Fresh Market, $7.39 at Target, and $6.88 at Walmart. Ritz Crackers cost $5.49 at The Fresh Market, $3.99 at Target and $3.88 at Walmart. For one more comparison, Swanson chicken broth is $3.29 at The Fresh Market, $2.69 at Target, and $2.52 at Walmart.

Although many of these comparisons are only a dollar or two off, that can put a pretty sizable dent in your wallet. Especially if you have a big list of pantry staples, you'll want to save that money and make an extra stop somewhere else. It's pretty clear that The Fresh Market is upcharging on items in the pantry department.

The Fresh Market boasts a bakery that is not your average grocery store bakery. This bakery is like stepping foot into a family-owned shop off of the street in France. Specialty breads, pies, tarts, cakes, breakfast indulgences, and even crème brulée can be found in the bakery,

If you enjoy eating freshly baked bread as opposed to pre-packaged, this is where you should spend your extra dollars. You can get sourdough baguettes, rye bread, French rolls, as well as more specialty breads like cornbread, avocado bread, 8-grain bread, and rosemary sea salt alpine. All of these items are freshly baked right in the store.

For desserts, there are unique cookies like almond crisp cookies, coconut macaroons, raspberry pillow cookies, and more. You can also peruse the extensive pie selection, offering pies like Southern pecan, apple, pumpkin, chocolate fudge, cherry, and a variety of cheesecakes as well.

If you're in the market for some delicious breakfast treats, you will find what you need here. Some highlights are mini blueberry streusel muffins, multigrain croissants, cranberry orange scones, a variety of cinnamon rolls and doughnuts, and oatmeal bars — and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Whatever your sweet tooth is craving, you will be able to find something to satisfy in the bakery.