Fred’s Market

Fred’s: your destination for overpriced booze, old soggy veg, questionable math at the register and a sprinkle of cat calls out front. The food is dusty and hugely marked up — even ⁷⁄₁₁ is a better deal for most things. The perishables are a joke — soft, wrinkled, overripe. The downstairs looks nothing like the photos shown here. I guess this place is past its prime.

Hella sketchy. Like, I am very accustomed to small shops in more sketchy areas. I did not feel safe here? Couldn’t understand what was going on in the shop? I tried to look for frozen chicken but could only find a quarter full freezer with what looked like bulk chicken just open? It might’ve been something they were using for the deli counter, I don’t know and I wouldn’t fault them for it if they would just mark it as such. It’s a very confusing and uncomfortable place, poor lighting. Maybe I just happened to catch them while they were having an off day, who knows.

not Fred Flintstone but there is definitely a Fred here and he sells chicken nuggets baklavas paspasetygetie with meatballs and other stuff that 711 might have but this also has grosseries

I’m sorry but all the items in the store are all over priced and very old looking. I used to go there when i was missing small things but not any more, The customer service didn’t really make the effort to save me as a valid customer. So i decided just not to be one

Love this place, it’s owned by a sweet, loving, caring, and hardworking family! You have to try there deli items, large selection of drinks: soda pops, juices, beer and fine wines. Reasonable pricing and always stocked! Their ours are Sunday-​Saturday 10am-​midnight I some times find them open later then midnight! They are always busy! Love this place!

Their alcohol variety is limited, only wine and beer, no hard liquor.
Although, they do carry a decent assortment of beer.
Make sure to check your receipt. When I paid, I expected a $ 10 change, but the cashier totally missed it. I had to remind him that he owed me money back before he realized that he had miscalculated.

Fred’s has a nice selection of groceries, wines, beers, and snacks.
there’s also a deli section. with a sandwich menu which was confusing
eats: foot long falafel wrap (4.99)
–wasn’t a foot long, maybe ten inches
–had a couple previously frozen falafels in it (tasteless)
–cucumber, tomato, lettuce, cilantro and the wra[ were semifresh.
–hummus was also in there somewheres.
3 stars at most.
notes:
–beers in the reasonable range (langunitas 4.99)
–service über friendly, sammie just so so
–store very narrow,

How else would I have acquired alcohol as a freshman? Viva Fred’s. (but not their sketchy clientele or sometimes-​overpriced Carlo Rossi)

These guys are awesome. Family owned, decent beer and wine selection. Always very friendly, and I’m on a first-​name basis with some of the people that work there now just by being a regular. Highly recommended!

Fred’s Market is my go to spot for just about everything from little nicknacks we’ve run out of in the fridge (ketchup, milk, eggs and such) to grabbing a quick sandwich at the deli or a beer on the way home. This place gets its charm because it is family owned, a local business, and the fact that they are open till midnight is a huge plus. Prices are not inflated like lots of other convenient stores in the area– I don’t ever feel like I am getting ripped off here. I am always greeted with a warm «hello» when I enter the store and Fred will occasionally offer me a handshake and ask me about my family while I am paying for my items. This place deserves much more than the 5 star rating I am giving it.
Family run local neighborhood store (+)
Affordable prices (+)
The only store in the area open till midnight (++)

The family that runs this store is very cool, especially the dad. He always remembers my husband and me and chats with us. It’s a very nice, neighborhood kind of feel, which is the sort of thing that tends to draw my loyalty as a customer.
As convenience stores go, Fred’s is *huge*. They seem to have everything you could possibly want, including various deli options (and fresh baklavah) behind a counter in the front of the store.
But …
The prices here are often much higher than the other comparable stores in the area. (Even the extremely yuppified Andronico’s, which is only a few blocks away, has cheaper prices on most things.)
Not only that, but they don’t actually *mark* prices on anything in the store, so the cashier just flies by the seat of his/​her pants with every purchase. So Gatorade might cost you $ 2 on one visit, $ 2.25 another time, $ 1.75 another time, and who knows what the next time! For those of us who enter a convenience store on a very tight budget — with, say, $ 5 to spend — this kind of inconsistency is frustrating.
My last criticism of Fred’s Market is perhaps not really the store’s fault, but rather a simple result of the location: they get a lot of skeevy-​looking street kids milling around, both in front of the store and around the cash register, and they can sometimes make it difficult to even walk through the store.
I still go to Fred’s occasionally, because of its convenient location and wide selection, but if I have the time to go somewhere else instead, I do so.

This place is pretty convenient because it is like the only place opened in the area. It is also pretty huge! I was helped right away as well. I already knew what I wanted and it was easily found. I just paid and then left. Pretty easy transaction.

I used to shop at this place very often in my younger years when I used to hangout in Berkeley alot.
Its always better to support local family owned businesses so I commonly chose shopping here over going to 7 – 11 whenever I could and it is one of a few places in Berkeley that carries my beloved faygo soda
A gentleman that usually works their used to rudely yell things at me right when I went into the store about what I was going to buy and such in a very angry manner. One or 2 times he had another large person join in on the intimidation.
Definitely did scare me a bit but I just assumed it was all in good fun for him and he likely commonly messed with alot of people this way so I put up with it and picked out what I could afford and paid and left the store as promptly as possible. This went on for about 2 or 3 years and has stopped now that I am in the area hardly ever and only shop their once in a great while.
All the other people who work here have always been pleasant but the vast majority of my experiences here were with the angry gentleman so a one star review it gets. :’(

My roommate from college and I use to live above Sharks (the costume/​vintage store 2 doors down), so whenever we had late night cravings to bake or just wanted to procrastinate like typical college students, we’d run down our apt and head on over to Fred’s to get eggs, sugar, milk, flour, etc… Thank you Fred for opening late!
This place also sells liquor on the first floor (lots of liquor). and then you can walk down these stairs for the produce/​other regular grocery items. The prices are a bit high but understandable since it’s a mom and pop, small family business. Literally, it’s a family business. We sort of know them since we run down and get baking supplies so often. They’re friendly and jokes with us every once in a while.
Oh and just FYI, we asked the older man one time if his name is Fred, but it’s not. it’s his brother’s name or something like that. Just in case, you were wondering… now you know. :o)

Great family-​run local neighborhood store… every time I’m there, the staff is really nice and always remembers me. The owner is super cool too, truly a great guy and he knows everybody! If you’re in the area, it’s the perfect place to stop in for a soda or a snack.
Rasputin and Amoeba are just down the street so it’s pretty convenient.

Hey, if you are in Berkeley and you need great beer at a decent price you go here. Andronicos?! Belgian. I found wassail at xmas. It’s satisfying to see this many good beers only blocks from home. Thanks Fred’s.

I’ve been shopping here fourteen years and I’m still not sure who Fred is. But the place is run by a very sweet Palestinian family whose children I’ve watched grow up into young adults.

This place has a liquor store feel to it, and it reminds me of my childhood years spent at my mom’s liquor store. The owner is paranoid like hell and treats his customers like shit. But the customers don’t care because the alcohol makes up for it.
They have a good selection of wine and also some food. Everything is sold at retail price. And there’s always a bunch of dumbass kids hanging around the place and asking passerbys to buy them shit. I love that.

WRONG FRED’S!
This place is cool too, don’t get me wrong.
Sorry!

This is a great neighborhood liquor store that doesn’t sell liquor — strange I know. But their fine selection of MALT liquor (including delicious 6-​pack tall cans of Colt 45) should be more than to get you and you pet Triceratops hammered after failing your latest round of midterm exams.
Word to the wise: be careful about the food here! Always check the expiration date even on items that you normally wouldn’t. Also, let me know if you are adventurous enough to try their deli food. It does look appetizing but I frequent this market often and I’m fairly sure that most of that food has been around longer than my pal Wally the Triceratops Dinosaur (Psst! he’s old!).
Just remember that this place keeps it real so you should too! Thus it’s probably safest to stick to the essentials when shopping i.e. booze, cigarettes, and munchie food.
It’s also nice that Fred’s is family run — you see the same the same friendly faces time and again when you shop here. This becomes especially entertaining though when you realize that everyone that works here creates a continuum of the way Fred must have look throughout the years (i.e. Fred at 8, 15, 21, etc). This holds true for Fred’s wife as well.