The Willows Market

I can’t really speak for the prices here, I really don’t know how to compare craft beer from one place to another since I almost rarely ever get the SAME beer everywhere I go so I can’t tell which one is cheaper.
However, what I can say is that this place has an amazing selection of liquor, specifically craft beer. You usually get a discount for buying 4 at a time, but don’t break up a 6 pack!
They also have a fantastic selection of random foreign beers, not exactly craft but just hard to find not in that country. Awesome market!

I come here close to everyday during the work week. The sandwiches are finger lickin’ good and the bbq meats are delicious as well. The best part is walking in and the guys recognizing me, greeting me by name and asking if I want the usual. Hands down makes my day.
As for the beer selection… just come by and check it out. Over 900 craft beers for sale. Enough said

This is how a neighborhood market should be. Friendly and generous employees, fantastic selection of tasty foods, and of course — the absurdly thorough beer selection. It’s no Safeway if you buy your lima beans by the cent per bean, but you can easily get dinner makings here. The BBQ is great and the deli sandwiches are delicious.
If you’re in town, or even if you’re not in town, Willows Market is worth a visit.

This place is Awesome. Service is Awesome, beer selection is awesome, the turkey sandwich on sourdough I got was awesome.
I am thankful they have a deli with a wide variety of stuff to order, because I had to stop there for some Christmas gifts and I was starving.
Everything on my sandwich was fresh and crisp. The gentleman who made it was friendly too.

If you’re in the mood to wet your whistle, come on down to The Willows Market and take a gander at their grandiose selection of wines, beers and spirits — literally one of the largest I’ve seen in the Bay Area at any price range you want. Not to mention, they’ve got a whole host of yummy food and snacks to keep you going all night long. Whenever I make my way into Menlo Park, Willows Market is easily my first, second or third stop. Now, I’ve never eaten at their Deli so not sure what that’s about — but I will definitely keep coming back.

This review is about the deli, not the market. Well, okay, the market has one of the largest supplies of alcoholic beverages I’ve ever seen in a deli, but I digress [end market review].
My coworkers were raving about this deli, so we went here for lunch one afternoon. I thought Willows was good, but not great. Would I return? Yes, but I’m in no rush. $ 13 for an okay lunch, hmmmm.
The people working there were very cool and I do appreciate the authentic feel of the place. When we arrived there were some cops and a bunch of Menlo Park hipsters hanging outside. I dig the eclectic clientele, but having had barbecue so many times before, this place didn’t blow me away.
I had the brisket (& spicy barbecue sauce) with the slaw and the grilled veggies. The brisket was good — it was juicy and fatty, but the serving was a little small for the price and the sauce serving was WAY too small. The slaw was bland, way too «mayonnaisey». The grilled veggies were yummy — two thumbs up.
I loved the smoker outside, it definitely added to the overall feel of the place.

I came here because we were staying at the Rosewood for a few days and I wanted to pick up some snacks to keep on hand in case of late night muchies. I was pretty excited and probably hyped myself up for some gloriousness. LE SIGH
Its definitely a tiny joint, but not hard to miss. They have a small parking lot which I imagine can get quite full. I went during a very slow hour so plenty of spaces. I am happy I decided to hold my daughter in her car seat because there was no way I could possibly maneuver her around in her stroller through those tiny aisles. Their beer selection was drool worthy, which I possibly would come back if I could drink. I opted to check out the «extensive» soda pop collection. Its good, but nothing I would get really excited over. I picked up a rootbeer that was definitely good and a flavored passion fruit that the mister had said was just okay.
Their deli selection is very… limited. Not exactly where I’d shop for a charcuterie picnic I was planning. I did pick up some brie imported from france which was impressive. I spotted their smoked BBQ which all the reviews raved about. LE SIGH.2 I ordered the 2 meat plate of ribs and tri tip and veggies (which is really just grilled bell peppers) and macaroni salad. The ribs were the only thing I really at. Pretty good. I saw a gentleman order just ribs. He was onto something and I should have just copied him because man did my tri tip suck. It was way too salty and inedible. I had picked up a sheet of rosemary chibatta too so when I got back to the hotel room I tried to tone down the flavor with that, but no luck. I remember coming back to it every few minutes and taking a bite and saying «nope. Can’t do this!»
I spent a good amount of time driving to this place, money spent inside this place and was pretty disappointed. The staff which I saw were just two guys– one behind the deli and the cashier. They were just not really helpful nor did they look entertained. But it was midday, and we all need that catnap sometimes.

WOW, great small neighborhood store that carries one of THE BEST craft beer and wine selection of ANY market. I stopped by here with a friend on a whim to pickup some TW Pitchers snake bite. All the other sellers in Fremont seemed to be out of stock. I called in and they told me they had two six packs left… six pack??? A few months ago they only had 4-​packs at Bev Mo’s on the peninsula. Such a great market and it looks like they carry some good quality produce and products as well. They also have a large meat section… not too sure if this comes from local farms or is organic…
There a a mix of young and old patrons here which I was a bit surprised by. I thought Menlo was full of retirees and old people, haha. Once I got to the register one of the other employees recognized me and asked if I was the one who called in! WOW, such personalized customer service! We chatted for a min about my search for the drink. I noticed that he chatted up the next customer about what they were buying. Very personable and seemingly long-​time employees here. I suppose if the food here was really something special I would bump up my review to 5… for now its a 4.

The Willows is less than a mile from my apartment, and the closest market to walk to. For the convenience, its a great choice. Yes, The Willows has a huge selection of wine and beer. But, The Willows also has fresh fruits and vegetables, spices, pantry items, and frozen goods. I’ve stopped by when I needed to pick up one or two random items and didn’t want to go all the way to Safeway. The prices are higher than Safeway, as you would expect for a small gourmet market, but not as high as I thought they might be. Depending on what you are buying, the prices are comparable. I’ve purchased coconut milk, orzo, broccoli, and wine at prices that were really fair.
I haven’t tried the sandwiches or BBQ, but I will! They look and smell great. To be honest, I’m avoiding trying them because delicious BBQ less than a mile from my apartment is just too dangerous.

Not to be confused with «Willow Market» in Redwood City, The Willows Market’s shelves are groaning under the weight of hundreds of bottles and six-​packs of craft beer. You will find IPAs, Belgian-​style, Eastern European and all beers under the sun, well, actually they’re in an enormous fridge along the entire back wall of the store. You will also find some beers on the shelves in front of that humongous fridge. Browsing there provided numerous surprises with each visit. Yesterday I grabbed a 6-​pack Caldera, a super-​aromatic IPA brewed in OR, very hard to find. It has a very high rating on Beer Advocate:
If you need Self-​Rising Flour (Whole Foods hasn’t even heard of the concept), Farfalline Zebra and other squid-​ink shapes of pasta, rare beans, flours and grains. I also found rare chocolates from all over the world and liquors which may prove difficult to find like Anisette (for biscotti), Grand-​Marnier (souffles with crème Anglaise), Calvados (for Tarte Tatin), Elderflower liqueur etc.
Anything you can find in a different store (like produce), don’t buy here though; it’s super-​expensive. For example: Strauss Greek-​style Plain Yogurt costs $ 2.00 more than at Whole Foods!
There’s also a mobile BBQ grill on the weekends and freshly grilled meats inside and a food truck in the afternoon during the week.

Great market! Many craft beers, drinks, snacks and other foods. They have almost every flavor of Santa Cruz juice, my favorite! They also sell Treat ice cream here, which is delicious, gourmet, old-​fashioned ice cream from a company in San Jose.
Last time we were here my boyfriend bought this spicy jalapeño beer, thinking it would have a spicy aftertaste…
Let’s just say the faint of heart shouldn’t buy that beer.
Regardless, there are many different types of local brews, as well as semi-​local wines. This place is a must-​visit.

The beer and spirits (see: whisky) selection alone is worth a stop.
I went with their popular tri-​tip sandwich during my last visit and was blown away by how tender and moist it was however, had hoped my sandwich was more than just bread, mayo and tri-​tip. I even asked the gents behind the counter to make it «with everything.» Lesson learned, next time I’ll just go with the plate meal.

Small parking lot adjacent to the store. Friendly staff. Fairly tight aisles with dim lighting. They do have a meat & produce dept and a good selection of international liquors & beer. They sell sandwiches and BBQ-​ed items (which smells amazing!) as well. They do carry Yamazaki 18 but for $ 300 when I went on 7÷7÷2015 (which is pricier than other places that I go to). Good to know if I need it last minute but they have an extremely limited stock. Gotta try the BBQ items at some point.

Went here only for the sandwiches. I ordered the egg salad and my fiancée something with meat? Haha. Very large portions for the price. I ate the second half for lunch the next day. Pleased with my meal but felt my egg salad need more flavor. When I got home I added more mustard and mayo.
The grocery store is a little on the pricey side. My rating is only for the sandwiches.

I pass it often as I drive to or from I-​101 but never went in. From the outside it looks rather small and I was thinking it to be just a local grocery store. I’ve even been curious about the two barbecue grills that are often used in front of the store.
Finally I found a coupon in a local paper and decided to visit and use the coupon.
First I had to worry about the traffic and finding the parking lot, no problem. I just found the store and went in to the parking lot. I managed to get the last spot, but I noticed that cars were leaving. It’s a small parking lot but managed to accommodate all the cars that were there.
I was totally amazed when I entered the store. First of all it was bigger then what I expected. The shelves were totally filled with goods. And for an extra plus, it was very very clean, nothing on the floor or in the way.
I managed to find the deli counter on the left when you walk in. It extends almost the full length of the store. I got on line and gave the coupon to the guy behind the counter and he told me all the add ons and choices I could have. So I finally ordered and got my sandwich correctly prepared as I ordered it.
The line for the cashier went quickly, he rang me up and I paid… thank you
Finally I went outside and sat down at one of the several umbrella picnic tables in front of the store and opened my sandwich box, it looked delicious. Ate half the sandwich since it was too much to eat at one time. The bread was crisp on the outside and soft on the inside. The tritip was lean and there were several slices in the sandwich.
It was a surprising visit with a delicious lunch. I would certainly recommend the Willows Market for shopping or for ready made foods.

I rarely get this excited about a grocery store, but it is a cool place.
I came here because I was looking for some mango pulp to make some mango lassi. They were one of the few places in the area that has the stuff. After I got there, I couldn’t help but wander around looking at everything.
They have a massive specialty soda collection. That’s a huge plus for me. They also sell brisket and other smoked meat.
As I was checking out, I realized I forgot to bring bags. They asked if I wanted a box and just gave me one for free to carry out my things– great service!
I tried ½ lb of the brisket with some barbeque sauce. I’ve definitely had better brisket (part of it may be due to the fact that it was sitting out under a heat lamp for who-​knows-​how-​many hours, and it was late in the day), but it’s brisket so it was still good.

Honestly, they are my absolute FAVE place to spend my money for the goods they offer!
A couple years ago they usedta stay open til the wee hours after midnight and one could find a delicious sandwich made to order by Keith whom usedta stay up late to run the shop for late night shoppers and local police whom also frequented the Willow’s for his company and late night snacks.
I don’t believe they practice that anymore, but it was great while it lasted.
They have had some fun ventures like Butterscotch pudding or the recently closed Bushel juice bar.
A couple attractions remain like the beer/​wine tastings and Monday night food trucks!
At work, I keep the employee refrigerator top adorned w all kindsa crazy small batch hot sauces for all to enjoy during their meal breaks. It’s lacking as of late cuz they can get expensive for a small bottle of Slap Ya Mama or $ 17 for a blue wax dipped bottle of Blair’s Beyond Death which is equal in intensity to $ 8 Dave’s Gourmet Insanity sauce! There’s a buy one get one free section.
The frozen treats, chocolates, sodas, are all unique and some can’t be found in a Safeway or Whole Foods.
Their huge beer selection begins at the entry and finishes after their midway wines & spirits!
The folks that make that place what it is are friendly and helpful. Really cool down to Earth people!
BUT MAN OH MAN!!!
THEY PUT UP THEIR OWN SMOKER AND THOSE RIBS ARE THE BEST I’VE HAD IN CALIFORNIA. I’m a Texan and I can’t find no damn decent bbq in this hippie happy go lucky yogurt and quinoa eatin state where EVERYBODY’S GOT SOME KIND OF FOOD ALLERGY!
I know I’ll survive if civilization as we know it were to end.

I absolutley Love this place. It reminds me of a little Bodega.
Usually I come here for lunches and get my regular, the SUPER BLT on soft French roll. My favorite guy Robert always makes the best sandwiches.
This place has got a lot of variety and that’s why I like it. Wether you’re looking for ready to go meals from the Deli, sandwiches, or an incredible assortment of beers. I am huge fan of all the beer imports that they have. I sometimes go here before BevMo as they tend to have some «out of season» beers. If they don’t have what your looking for you’ll tend to find something you’ll like.

I’d move all the way up to Menlo Park just to be close to this market. Real talk.
It’s got everything! A deli with amazing meat, salads and sides. Fresh sandwiches made to order, soups, dairy products. You name it, I’m sure they have it. But of course, what sets this market apart, besides it being a local market, is the fact that it almost feels like you’re in a BevMo when you walk in. Beer, wine, spirits. All kinds. The local brews really caught my attention and just didn’t want to let go. It was a remake of that Titanic scene with Jack and Rose… I just couldn’t separate myself from the fridge largely because I didn’t know what brew to pick. Of course narrowing it down to an IPA was no question; the hardest part however was their varied selection of breweries. Decisions, decisions. It’s simply an awesome market with all your general market foodstuff. Organic, vegan, gluten free food also available here.

A magical store that somehow has so many wonderful things to bring you peace, joy, and happiness. Okay, maybe that’s overpromising just a tad. It does not actually have those things. But it does have something like 100 varieties of soda, including mexican soda made from real cane sugar. For those of you who are not from California, I’m talking about «pop» or «coke.»
They have a deli with sandwiches and great deals on their barbecues. There’s a little section with freshly made california rolls and sushi. Yum.
Also their beer. A ton of choices. A great selection. If you get overwhelmed, come to their beer tasting!
Monday nights they’ve been having a food truck bonanza right outside their store. Could this get any better?