Fresh Madison Market

Reviews 6

PA

parachute40

Ive been shopping here on and off for a few years now, so I figured Id write a more comprehensive review. Put shortly: Fresh Madison Market is really convenient but overpriced. It beats Capitol Center Market (the only other real grocery store downtown) but if you have a car or a bus pass, there are much better options. Anything you can get at Fresh Market, you can get cheaper at Copps, and for most products, you can get higher quality for the same price at Trader Joes. Most of the options here are very standard. Fresh Market stocks all of the most common brands with a reasonable selection, given the size. Theres also the Our Family brand, which is significantly cheaper than name brands (but still not really that cheap). Unsurprisingly, it seems to cater more to college students, so a lot of the choices are boxed meals, canned goods, and frozen food. They tend to stock the smallest available packaging of everything, probably because shelf space is pretty limited, so buying in bulk is not an option. The store is pretty well organized, but sometimes things wont be where youd expect–instead theyll be crowded around a pillar or aisle-cap. They do have a surprisingly robust selection of Asian staples (bulk rice, popular condiments, etc), but Yue-Wah or Asian Midway Market on Park St. are both better options for those. Theres even a small a corner with "health" foods (gluten-free, alternative milks, kombucha, and brands like Amys and Bobs Red Mill), but most of the prices are somehow even higher than at Whole Foods. They do have a nice amount of baking supplies too, which is good in a pinch if you realize you need an ingredient last-minute. The produce selection is good, but the produce itself is downright bad. Fruits are usually pretty battered. Vegetables have clearly been sitting around a while. Its especially bad if what youre looking for isnt really in season; once, I found a sweet potato sitting on the shelf that was literally moldy. They have a very small selection of organic produce that rotates more often, so those tend to be fresher, but the prices are obviously higher. The bakery is very small and hit or miss. The loaf breads are decent. The bagels are surprisingly great (and cheap). As far as pastries go, the doughnuts are on par with what youd see at a Kwik Trip, and the scones are more like bad croissants covered in sugar. The in-house pre-packaged food is solid, but nothing exciting. The salads, wraps, etc. are fresh and decent quality/price but generally pretty bland. Ive never bought anything from the hot food bar or deli, but everything there looks alright. They have a lot of sushi, but the prices are pretty high for the quality; rolls are about $8 and dont even use real crab. The beer and wine selection is small. They have all the standard macro-brews, a couple of Wisconsin craft beer and wine options (New Glarus, Wisconsin Brewing Co, Great Lakes, Wollersheim Winery), and even a handful of bombers and imported 6-packs. I dont think they sell any liquor, but they have a couple of mixers for Bloody Marys, Margaritas, and the like. The service is good. The cashiers are friendly, and the stockers are helpful. They do free delivery if you buy over $40 worth of groceries. It takes a few hours, but its really convenient if you live far away from everything and only have a bike available. If you live downtown and are in a rush or dont have a car, Fresh Madison Market is passable. Otherwise, Id recommend going somewhere else.

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JA

Jay Scholz

Prices are very high compared to other supermarkets but based on the location and the free delivery of groceries over $50 (I dont take advantage of that service) people will pay the premium price. They also offer a breakfast, lunch and salad bar. The breakfast bar is good when it is stocked, which is pretty seldom in my experience (stop and see for yourself - at 8 AM on any given weekday everything is nearly empty and no one is in sight to refill it). Their selection of items is pretty limited and randomly available - only a few brands and, of those brands, only a few products make it. For instance, finding a light ranch salad dressing in a particular brand is impossible - its store brand or bust, whereas there might be 4 different brands of raspberry vinaigrette. If they could lower their prices by 10%, keep the bars stocked, and stock more variety this place would be a lot better.

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CO

Colin Germer

The prices are extremely high, thats perhaps the biggest detractor from shopping there. Though, again, you are mostly paying for the convenience of being within walking distance of a grocery store. The food itself (ignoring the crazy markup) is actually pretty diverse. They have a little something for everyone but mostly focus on the college students (Green food, organic stuff, sushi, small portions). Nothing is in bulk here simply because, well, how often have you went through five pounds of meat in a sitting? Cashiers have been friendly to me and seem to know what they are doing. Again, the main reason its not great is simply because of the markup. $80 here gets you about three to four bags of groceries. $80 at Target gets you around ten. One could say thats an unfair comparison but again, they have a solid customer base of around 3,000 in an area about the size of a lecture hall.

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CA

Carrie McDorman

Our group had a happy hour at Fresh Madison Markets event room. It is a beautiful room high up overlooking Madisons downtown area. Huge windows, spacious seating and wonderful food! We had a mix of the wonderful cheese and sausage selections from their store, along with some chips, fresh fruit, crackers and tasty homemade chocolate covered pretzels with toffee! I had to go down after the HH and buy some from the store! The wine was wonderful as well! I told my manager from my company that they had audio-visual equipment as well, so that if we ever wanted to host one of our meetings there, it would be a perfect, central location. The store is wonderful as well! Lots of unique options from their butcher shop to deli to a HUGE assortment of homemade covered pretzels to dips and cheeses, to a wonderful salad bar to everyday groceries. I really love this place! Highly recommend it!

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CA

Carson B

I work in the Lucky building and shop here regularly. Ordered a bagel breakfast sandwich with sausage and cheese from the deli. they gave me a what i later found was an undercooked whole wheat bagel with sausage but no cheese and when i got to the register it scanned as an egg and cheese pannini for 5.99. when i told the cashier, she messed with the computer for 2 minutes before getting her manager. the manager held the bagel in her hands, saw it was a bagel and yet only adjusted the price down from 6 dollars to 5. i told her this was wrong but not wanting to hold up the line anymore than i already have and not feeling like arguing with the clearly annoyed manager for what should have been a quick in and out lunch pickup i paid for the overcharged bagel and left. an unbelievably stupid experience, guess i will walk the extra block to the 7/11 from now on.

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A

A Private User

Fresh Madison Market is a truly welcome addition to the campus-area food scene. For the first time in over a decade. it is now easy to find fresh, healthy produce, groceries and prepared food within walking distance of most UW buildings. Their salad and hot food bar is a great place to build a tasty, healthy lunch that fits any budget. The store focuses a lot of their attention on local food producers, and has papered the aisles with "True Local" signage to denote which food products are made in Wisconsin. They even have an iPhone app that can help you find and save money on local food items in the store. The only thing to watch out for is the checkout lines, which can grow pretty long during breaks between classes (for about ten minutes out of every hour). These lines are easily avoided, though, if you make your trip during the UWs class periods.

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