A Review of Mariano’s Fresh Market in Chicago Illinois

One interesting part of the East loop location of Chicago is the Lakeshore East neighborhood located between Randolph and East Wacker Drive. This city block of mixed use development now welcomes in the new addition of Wisconsin based Mariano's Food Market located at 333 East Benton. This location sits adjacent to the Blue Cross Blue Shield Building on Randolph. Access to this supermarket is permitted through the Randolph street level in addition to lower levels found in the Lakeshore East Park. Mariano's recently opened on September 18^th and I felt a visit to this new market and eatery was well worth the short five minute walk from my office.

Grocery

Mariano's food market consists of two floors of which the upper floor is divided into different sections that sell bakery, butcher counter, sandwich bar, numerous buffets, and so much more. The lower level has numerous wine and beer selections.

Meals to Go

When the seasonal weather is cooperative, Mariano's sets up a temporary outdoor grill station selling daily specials that may include the likes of chicken breast sandwiches, grilled sausages, or burgers. A trip inside yields even more delicious varieties of pizza slices, hot soups, deli sandwiches and so much more. My sample at this location involved a meal of Chicken Milanesa, roasted vegetables, and shells in pesto sauce. The meal was placed in a convenient microwavable carton that I could take back to my office for a simple two minute warm up in the microwave all for the low price of six bucks. A second trip to Mariano's included the grilled chicken sandwich, chips and drink for the same price of six bucks. The food tastes really good, the portions are generous, and the price is right.

Service

The indoor counter service is pretty hospitable. The counter help is friendly and fast with delivery of food. The outside grill person was a little less accommodating as the chip selection was weak. Several chip options were no longer available and the response was basically, "it is what it is".

The store has numerous checkout counters to speed along anxious consumers looking to grab lunch or groceries and move along. Probably the best comparison to Mariano's in this east loop location would be Bockwinkle's located on nearby Water Street. So far Mariano's greatly overshadows Bockwinkle's in food selection, and appears to be much lower in price. I am cautious whether Marianio's will keep these prices down as this retail location gathers greater popularity every week.

Overall

I urge anyone visiting or working in the East Loop location to pay a visit to Mariano's. If the meals "to go" do not entice you, take time out to check out the delicious bakery items that include fancy designed cupcakes, extremely large caramel apples, and a bounty of beautiful artesian breads. It might not be a bad idea to bring a cooler for that trip home as the store sells all sorts of good looking meats and produce.