Mississippi Market Food Co-Op

This place is amazing!!! My favorite place to get groceries, grab a coffee, eat lunch, or buy a specialty gift, (like a hand carved, local cribbage board cut out in the shape of MN for example, or a Japanese «beehouse» tea pot.) They have extremely cool notecards you don’t see at other stores, local one of a kind t-​shirts, scarves, mugs, unique cookware, extremely fresh bags of high quality coffee, spectacular tea (try the Evening in Missoula blend,) herbs galore, quality protein powder, etc. that make excellent gifts.
The ambiance and energy is so great! It’s well lit, extremely clean and organized, and the employee’s passion about working there is evident-​everyone is helpful, and the prices are more than fair, especially if you buy in bulk and look for the deals (plus you’re supporting your local farmers and economy). I’m continually amazed at how good the meat always is, (Chef Ramsey must be back there somewhere making those meatballs,) and you can’t beat some of the deli deals for the combination of price and nutritional quality (a heaping plate of delicious rice, greens, and beans for ONLY 4 $, (hello!)
You can take an assortment of classes too at the store, (I’m going to take the canning class when it comes around,) and even one is offered for free on how to shop on a budget.

Welcoming place with good staff and great food. I like that it is member owned but ALL are welcome.
Good selection of produce and great breads from several of the best local bakers. (Much better than Whole good bread)
The meat department has many locally raised meant and the staff is very accommodating.
The store has a senior discount many days a week.
I appreciate that the Mississippi Mkt has a commitment to the community and chooses to locate in areas that are accessible to undeserved communities .
All locations are on public transit route.
Membership is optional but worth the one time fee. Members get special deals and a good feeling to be part of such a solid business.

This place is heavenly, for the health-​conscious shopper. Great grocery selection and wonderful deli options too. The staff is fun and friendly.

MM seems like the best co-​op around. Parking is convenient, the store is big enough but not too big, and there is generally a nice selection of fresh produce and bulk choices.
Most of all, this feels like a welcoming place — the staff is friendly and take the time to help out if you need it. They’re open to placing special orders too. LOVE this Mississippi Market!

Go to this location if you have someone in your household who is actually allergic to gluten, because they do a GREAT job both providing gluten free packaged products (sup, daiya) and keeping the bulk section clean and arranged so that there’s less risk of cross-​contamination. The store at Dale/​Selby has the wheat flour above the cornmeal and oats and so on — I assume because they’re more popular, but that means we’ve been stuck with packaged stuff in the past. No longer!

Just became a member of Mississippi Market today. Love the gluten free and locally grown food options. Spend so much of my shopping here that becoming a member would allow me to reap the benefits.

Great place to shop organic and local goods. Store is super clean and the staff are friendly.

Just what we needed en route from the airport to a north woods adventure. Lunch, snacks, coffee, hippie goodness. and, a great selection of cold beverages! Thanks for being there and being awesome!

I am SUPER HAPPY you are in the neighborhood! Welcome to the East Side, Mississippi Market!
Your co-​op presents will brighten up the neighborhood and bring whole and natural food to many families. We will make you our daily stop for sure.

MM is basically my default grocery store. It’s near my home, has decent hours, and decent prices on a wide variety of good-​quality groceries. This is a smaller store compared to the Selby location, so the selection and prepared foods offerings aren’t as great, but everything is QUALITY. Friendly service. Lots of easy parking in their private lot. No complaints at all.

I know most of the staff by name or face because I’m in there so much. The Co-​Op food market to go to when you’re in the Saint Paul area.

This place is awesome. Huge selection of crunchy, organic goods and groceries and a super friendly staff. Got some organic formula and baby food snacks and some hot nom noms for me and the Mister. Definitely wish this was my grocery store back in San Diego!

I love this place!
While some of their prices are more that WF and TJ, I find that I’m ok with paying them. They have excellent service and the food selection is right up my alley.
I can get sustainable meats and all the organic produce I desire. I’ve yet to purchase anything here that I didn’t like. The food is fresh and the store is really clean.
Stop by the cheese case and deli to try something new and unusual. They have an array of cheeses that aren’t easily found elsewhere, and the prices are pretty decent.
My only warning is that the lemonade doesn’t have any sugar or sweetener in it, so be prepared for a brisk drink!
One of the things I love about this place, too, is that you can donate the funds from bringing your own bags. I like that.

Overall, this co-​op (along with its sister location in Crocus Hill) is a solid pillar among its peers in the Twin Cities.
PROS
— Sizable footprint
— Good sales and owner deals
— Good meat counter, salad bar and prepared foods options
— Friendly staff
— Plenty of parking
— Small garden center during the spring
— Fair number of bulk food options
CON
— It’s a co-​op, so be prepared to pay more for your fancy foods and general sense of smugness

Fantastic Co-​Op, reminds me of the one I belong too in Ames, IA. It’s the perfect size not huge, but big enough to have more then everything you would ever need.
Great produce selection, bulk, natural cleaning stuff, and groceries!
We were just stopping quick for a coffee before hitting the road back to Iowa. The coffee was self serve and great, and they had my fave Soy Creamer out to self pour as well! I love that! They had a huge vegan cookie in the bakery case so I had to grab one of those for breakfast too! I’m and adult, I can do what I want, and I want VEGAN COOKIES every time they are available!
The deli and prepared food section was really nice. I also love the little separated seating area they had to enjoy your salad bar, deli, or bakery goods in store!
The staff was super kind and generous with conversation, they had lots of produce and chip samples out, and the prices were great! Support this place, if I lived in St. Paul I would!

I absolutely love this place, it’s the only place I buy my groceries. I used to think it was overpriced and it is compared to cub but the quality of the food is so much better, it’s 100% worth it.

I really wondered about this location at its inception. Turns out to be a perfect spot, and a good fit for St. Paul. It’s large enough without being out of control. It fits a huge parking lot, and a good size eat in café. I just came for milk and some local farm fresh cherries that Jennifer S. turned me on to. It’s presence is appreciated by the local community, and they seem to be in the loop, much like Seward.

Happen to find this place while visiting my mother @ Sholom home. Great coop and I plan on joining and going back. Prices on local meats were very good and I purchased some of their soups in the deli which were a hit at home. Loved the bulk section. Much bigger store than their Dale and Selby location and easy parking.

I am so thankful to be a member here! I won’t rehash what’s already been covered, but I wanted to add 2 things.
1) They have GREAT prices on locally and ethically raised meat. I can get a pound of free range organic chicken here for $ 5.99-that’s cheaper than buying Tyson from Target, plus I know my chicken only had one bad day not an awful life.
2) They recently started a program for low income families called LIME. I am well aware of how privileged I am to be able to choose where my food comes from and what quality it is. I’m really proud to see that Mississippi Market wants to give that privilege of choice to everyone.
The only negative thing about this place is that oftentimes there is some angry person having a fit about something ridiculous. Calm down, Becky, it’s hippie food not international hostage negotiation.

Great mango curry chicken salad wrap, great tuna salad, La Croix water, cozy place to shop, very clean, ask for an «Ass» cookie. The deli people will laugh and offer you a tasty treat lol…
Almost all employes are congenial and helpful… Their spanakopita is great!

This is a great coop to belong to! The staff are very friendly and will assist me in ordering things that they do not regularly stock. If I need something asap, they are typically able to send me in the right direction. I love the selection of bulk, though I wish they would offer more bulk in the health and wellness section.
They are truly a coop and I have attended sessions to discuss options for an East Saint Paul coop, which I fully favor. I appreciate that they listen to their members, as well as the community when making decisions, though this is what a coop is, after all…

You know when you think about moving or switching jobs you take certain things into consideration? The Mississippi Market is one of those things. Luckily I work less than 5 min away so I can go here almost everyday for lunch, no job changing needed (phew). I don’t think many people know that the market has a deli where you can get a «custom» fresh sandwich on the spot, as well as a juice/​smoothie bar. I know I just said deli but it is so much more than a deli. It is not a place where you’ll see pre-​made sandwiches in a glass cooler (although they have those in a different section of the store), they make all the sandwiches with fresh mostly local ingredients made to your specifications. They also have suggestions if you can’t make up your mind. They have a good selection of bread too so don’t worry about that if you’re a bread nazi or something.
The other thing that makes this place great is that you can pick up some fresh fruit or anything else the market has to offer while on lunch to go with your lunch or to bring home later.
Sandwich combos are $ 6.45 after tax and that comes with a delicious sandwich, a pickle spear if you want it and a choice of tortilla or potato chips. (yeah I know, very specific, I said I go here almost everyday right?)
If you’re in the area you definitely need to give the market a try.

I like the new, larger location of this Mississippi Market. However, it has a few major flaws: for one thing, there are fewer vegan baked goods and deli products here than at the other location.
Secondly, while the store is bigger, the check-​out area is remarkably cramped and they didn’t have enough people working the individual aisles. I don’t think they’re using their larger space wisely.
Lastly, everything here is absurdly expensive, even by co-​op standards. For example, a package of Field Roast sausages costs $ 7 here, as opposed to $ 5 at Whole Foods. The half-​size containers of Silk soymilk were $ 3.89 here — you could get DOUBLE the quantity, for $ 3.30 or even less, at The Wedge or Whole Foods. Mississippi Market, that’s just unacceptable.