Mariano’s

This Mariano’s location puts all others to shame, whether that is intentional or not is another question. Typically I walk into a grocery store and try my hardest to be out just as quick. What makes this Mariano’s different is the fact that it feels more like a restaurant which, by happenstance, has grocery aisles instead of the other way around. Of course there is a huge portion of the store that dedicated to the typical grocery — shopping experience, but there’s an equally large sevtion of the store that serves up all types of fresh food. Whatever food-​mood you’re in, chances are it’s being served here.
In the second floor, there is an entire area where you can choose from freshly made sushi, deli sandwiches, pizza and calzones, BBQ, an oyster bar, salad and fruit bar… there’s even a wine bar that offers complimentary Garret’s popcorn. Need I say more? No, but I will. There’s even a huge wine and craft beer selection — you wouldn’t even have to go to a different liquor store to get what you want. I’ve even seen some Three Floyds six packs being sold here. The fun doesn’t stop on the second floor, though. On the first floor there is a café thst not only serves coffee and tea, but also gelato. Is there anything missing here?
What I love even more about this Mariano’s is that there are so many places for you to sit, enjoy your food and meet with friends, co-​workers, etc. The seating, especially on the second floor, can get very crowded at lunch time, but usually you can find some seating on the first floor near the café. There’s always business people here, myself included, doing work so it’s always a bustling place. Although it’s always busy, the staff have been consistently friendly and helpful — in other words, they don’t get frazzled by the influx of people all day long.
My other favorite thing about this Mariano’s is their free parking on tip of the building. Being that we live in Chicago free parking is a welcome commodity that’s few and far between so this parking is a gift from the gods. Every time I’ve gone I have been able to find parking up there, even during peak hours of the day.
All in all, this is the best Mariano’s I’ve ever shopped at, and although others say it’s «yuppy» (because, well it kind of is) I’m 100% okay with that. Everything in here is beyond nice and I’ll be making this my go-​to grocery store from this point on.

Horrible parking, who designed the garage? Look at the scrapes inside… If you have a nice ride be warned

When this store first opened it really took the cake for mainstream grocery excellence. But over the last six months, its quality has steadily and dramatically declined. At first it was an occasionally rude employee or a staple that they were out of. Now, however, the employees are more often impolite than not, and their produce section frequently looks like it should be the movie set for a film set in the Soviet era.
Last night was the last time I intend on shopping there. I asked an extremely unpleasant man, named Jason, for help finding spring onions. His response was, «I’ve never heard of those.» And he turned around and ignored me.
Next, I went up to another employee and asked him to direct me to the asparagus. He waved generally to the east and said, «it might be over that way.»
After I established that it wasn’t in that direction, I returned to him, hoping that he might be more useful. When asked, he shrugged and said, «I don’t really know much about asparagus.»
It’s a pity that Marianos has lost that special spark which made them really stand out against the other grocers in town and has instead raced to the bottom of the pack.

Mariano’s is better than your ordinary neighborhood grocery store or grocery chain as a matter of fact. Besides your normal grocery shopping they have a bar to relax with a drink, a sushi station, oyster bar, smoothie station, bakery, oven pizza to order, and a deli sandwich section. Some locations have even more to choose from. This is more than just a grocery store. It’s a grocery experience.

As a frequent visitor to Chicago, finding new places to shop and visit can be exciting. This market is around the corner from my girlfriend’s place within a short walking distance. From fresh meat, to fresh veggies, a bakery, and very good prices. This place has it all.

This is the best grocery store in the area — much nicer than Jewel. They have good quality produce and a wide selection of anything you could possibly want, including many ethnic and health items. The prices are not that high — in fact that they are significantly lower than Whole Foods for many comparable items. Plus, Mariano’s has an Oyster Bar, Wine Bar, Sushi Bar, BBQ Bar, lots of bars! Some of the staff are a little unusual. But they’re nice. My only complaints are that the checkout lanes for the prepared food/​dine-​in area are laid out poorly, and the coffee/​smoothie/​gelato shop on the ground floor is understaffed during morning rush. Also, the ramp to the parking lot is tough to navigate. I have scraped my hubcaps once or twice on the lane separator in the ramp, and no I do not drive a giant SUV. It’s a very narrow ramp.

A special note of thanks to Johnny, the floral designer at Mariano’s Ravenswood for a job well-​done. Johnny, you exceeded my expectations and also provided fantastic customer service!

Maybe I am used to the staff at the other Mariano’s in the city being Pleasant and helpful. Most of the cashiers at this Mariano’s seem downright miserable! Our cashier today in the express lane seemed so angry and barely looked up when I told her to have a great day. This has happened on more than one occasion. Today spending the extra money at Whole Foods would have been worth it!

This is a new building that was built in what used to be the parking lot for Sears. The difference between this Mariano’s shopping experience and the experience in Mariano’s that took over Dominick’s facilities is night and day.
All Mariano’s charge a premium price, but this one can justify it. The folks in the different departments are very knowledgeable about the product in their department (I was particularly impressed by the cheese dept). In addition, there is incredible variety across the board in the perishable departments.
As you walk in the store there is a bar where you can buy a drink to enjoy while you are shopping (and the carts have drink holders).
The store is well staffed in general and all staff seems enthusiastic and willing to help.
I can’t recommend doing all your shopping here (as the prices are pretty high) but def check out the perishables and think about this place for food for special occasions.

As wonderful as Mariano’s is in general, this location is a nightmare. It’s difficult to get to by car, the parking lot is laid out terribly, drivers struggle through it like total spiteful assholes, and then once you’re inside the store they’re frequently out of stuff, the aisles are crowded and horribly laid out, and while there’s an escalator from the parking lot into the store, there isn’t an escalator or any other clear path OUT to the parking lot.
Whoever designed this store is a total asshole, and whoever is managing it certainly isn’t helping. Drive 5 miles to another Mariano’s and save yourself a nightmare.

This is such a fancy place ! They have a sushi bar with a really huge selection of sushi .The best part is they sells spices by the pound !! a bag full of bay leaves and soup mix only cost a dollar !! they also sell lentils and rice as well, it much cheaper buying by the pound than the prepackaged stuff !
the only reason for the loss for the star is just my laziness in walking. The entrance it is a bit far from the parking.

Sorry your convenience no longer trumps your poor service.
What a joke you went from being the shiny new kid on the block as a big local chain to a big joke after you were bought.
Breaking up with you, bye.

We have been doing all of our grocery shopping guide here for about one year. The food is fresh and mostly well stocked. We also frequently have their sushi, hot bad and soups for lunch in Sundays. They also have hard to find things– like weird spices and such. This is literally a one stop shop for house needs.
They also have wine and drinks at their wet bar– haven’t tried it but a lot of people do.
In general this is a well maintained and clean grocery store with most everything you’ll need.
Oh by the way– avoid Sundays. It’s a MAD HOUSE.

The first floor coffee/​wine/​beer bar IS actually a decent place to meet up for a relaxed «date». The fireplace is not real and last call is at 9:30 PM. They also only serve wine and beer. If you want liquor, you have to go to the upstairs piano bar. Only drawbacks.
Tully (the bartender) is as congenial as any other good bartender around the city. If you like the wine you are drinking, he can have a bottle brought down for you to buy and bring home. If you get hungry, you can pretty much get anything brought down to you, from the hot bar to a bag of chips and salsa. And if you are a beer connoisseur, they have a legit beer selection. Again, anything they sell in the store, you can have brought to you here.
It’s a super casual wine/​beer bar located in a grocery store, however I am definitely a fan.

While helping my friend unpack, we decided to take a break to Mariano’s. So I went unprepared– messy top bun, bra-​less in unpacking clothes. I’ve never felt so underdressed in my life.
I really enjoyed the enormous scenes of Roman Holiday throughout the place, (hearts) Joe Bradley (hearts)*. Up the escalator, I just felt out of place. A bar with live piano music? An oyster bar?
Wow.
I just wanted some caffeine and eventually got their addictive butter cookies (I have dental insurance thankfully). I didn’t really look at the prices too closely, but they had some pies on sale for $ 5.50… and that seemed reasonable?
Apparently they have parking, but I have no idea how to get to it, since it’s walking distance from my friend’s place.
*Yelp says I cannot use «less-​than-​three» to denote that I love Joe Bradley.*

Great prices
Bad actitud for the Employes working in the tables w/​little bites such cheese samples

I love Mariano’s, but this location has a lot of work to do:
Cleanliness: Every time I have shopped here, I notice how dirty and un-​maintained it is. There are always young bag boys/​girls on the top level (parking garage) goofing off, and the carts are everywhere.
Produce: This has to be my BIGGEST complaint about this store. The produce is terrible. It’s been so bad that I’ve seen fruit on the stand that has almost decomposed with rot. I even took a photo of this and sent it to corporate — I received no reply. They have a lot of work to do when it comes to produce
Wine: the only reason for the second star — the staff in the wine section were helpful and knowledgable.
Staff: lazy, rude and not willing to help (with exception of wine staff). The butcher staff are so rude and seem bothered with any request. Baggers are untrained and basically just throw your food in the bag.
I choose to pay more and drive further to go to whole foods, or suck it up and shop at Jewel, which is still way better than this Mariano’s location.
Step it up

Expansive selection without being overwhelming, fan of the layout, haven’t had a bad experience. Ice cream selection is pretty good, could be improved with Jeni’s.
UPDATE– they have Jeni’s!

This store is to grocery stores as Madonna is to singers – a rock star diva with a long shelf-​life destined to please millions. As a refugee from Jewel, this store is not even in the same category.
Enter this Mariano’s and first thing you encounter is the fresh flower department, a coffee bar, a fireplace and red leather sofas. Take the escalator up and the first thing you encounter is the wine bar, with a real live piano-​player for your listening pleasure. Turn right and you’re in the liquor department, left there’s produce, and straight ahead there are restaurant counters, the bakery and salad bars. Grocery shopping can and must wait until I finish enjoying myself.
Last time I had the $ 10 sushi lunch special (miso soup, Cali roll and seaweed salad), sampled other sushi from the lady offering it nearby, and then went shopping. At the seafood counter, they were out of fresh swordfish, but the young lady said the new order was due in any moment. I said I’m heading to the coffee bar for a while. Sure enough, 10 minutes later the young lady came DOWNSTAIRS to the coffee bar to tell me order was in, come get some fresh swordfish. Is that not personal service?
So this Mariano’s is something close to a European food court crossed with the corner fish monger. All good, except for long boring aisles with canned goods and packaged goods – these should be broken up somehow. This is presented without the «aren’t we green and organic» preaching that I hate at Whole Foods. So shoppers, get to know this place and maybe enjoy grocery grocery shopping again.

So far this is my favorite Mariano’s in the city– I have been to a few, but this location has the BBQ bar– Their brisket is as good as it gets anywhere, smoked perfectly. I also tried the St Louis Style ribs– a buck a bone– which is a decent enough price. Ribs were perfect too. Although they do not offer bay backs, so it goes– They offer a variety of sauces too at no extra charge.
The rest of the store is fairly typical Mariano’s, not a real fan of having to go up the 2^nd floor to shop, but it is not going to keep me away.
I wish the other Mariano’s in particular the brand new one on Ashland and Webster or the one on Western and Roscoe sold the same BBQ– so far no. Maybe it’s a good thing in the long run for my own health…