The Essential Market

Convenient location Is the only good thing I can say about this place.
Selection of wine is overpriced
Deli sandwiches are not good. You may as well go to Subway (and I hate Subway) It’ll be better and less expensive.

Wonderful and convenient downtown market with friendly service and a great selection of wine and beer!

I should have known better than to go here, but at 9:30pm on a Friday night looking for probiotics in a city with which I was unfamiliar, I was desperate and this was the closest market that presumably sold probiotic drinks.
It’s a tiny mom & pop market. I’m okay with those and I understand that there will be a high price on the items I want.
The store didn’t carry the brand I wanted (and was supposed to carry according to Kevita’s website), but there was Synergy, so I bought two bottles of that for $ 4.99 each (expensive!).
Well, I was too trusting. Only when I got back to my Airbnb place did I realize that both bottles were way past their «Enjoy by» dates. To give you a timeline — I bought the bottles on July 31^st. One bottle’s date was June 17 and the other bottle’s date was July 6.
My stomach and digestive system were already doing poorly and the market was out of my way to return to for $ 10, so I decided not to risk my health and drink them.
I know, to others, my «first world problem» can be seen as trivial, but I was suffering from an unpleasant relationship with my digestive system and didn’t realize the cause of that relationship until it was late in the night. I wanted to find something that could help aid me, but instead I got to throw $ 10 into the trash because the store couldn’t check their stock for freshness.
Bottom line: If you’re buying really popular items (e.g. water, soda), sure, support local businesses. If you are looking for something a bit niche, stay away. Or check the dates. Don’t let my error in judgment be yours too.

Walked in an asked how much for a breakfast sandwich. Was told 2.99, walked out with a breakfast sandwich and small water– Bill was $ 9.98
Pretty sure the guy noticed I was on my phone and not paying attention. Just made up a price… #Shady

I came here for a sandwich. I should have read the reviews. I was sold a «panini» rather a stale toasted sandwich. I don’t mind paying more for savory sandwich, but this sandwich was underwhelming. The sandwich bread was stale that after being toasted it stayed being stale and ended up cutting the top of my mouth. Like I stated I asked for a panini and received an over priced sandwich that I could have made at home. The cost for the sandwich (not panini) was $ 7.99. I don’t recommend this place at all. There are other great places walking distance.

I went in today to grab some beer and I found their selection to be reasonable and well priced. It’s always nice to see some good local brews on the shelves. I grabbed an Urban Family beer that’s hard to find around town. I’ll be back again!

When you’re trying to find something wholesome and cheap near Benaroya Hall with only an hour to eat this little grocery store on University is a great option. The dude running the place was understanding of my dietary restrictions and made a great chicken salad that wasn’t on the menu for my boyfriend and a great, basic, panini for me with chicken, cheese, and tomato. Lots of drink options with Blue Sky and Kombucha. Also organic chocolates and chips, homemade empanadas, and some local bakery items. This place isn’t «cheap» but it isn’t crazy expensive and since the area doesn’t have that many fast places to grub I was happy to find it.

I thought I would try this place to grab a sandwich that might be a cut above Jimmy John’s, etc. Umm, this is the place to go if you want to pay NINE DOLLARS for a caprese sandwich! I was shocked when she rung it up. I said «wow, that’s an expensive sandwich, it better be good.» She says «oh, yah, caprese is expensive.» It’s a CHEESE sandwich, people, on a stale white bun from Costco. Do NOT go to this store for a sandwich, it’s a rip off and not very tasty!
I HATE being ripped off!!! Ugggh, you suck, «Essential Rip Off Market!!!»

Just charged $ 13.63 for a six-​pack of generic spring water! I rarely post on Unilocal but this was such a unique experience I couldn’t NOT review it.

I don’t like to give bad reviews but sometimes they are simply warranted. Stopped in for lunch and ordered a Rueben. For $ 9 I figured it would be at least decent. Wrong. When i got back to my office I unwrapped the sandwich and got a whiff of something less than fresh. I thought it might just be a strong cheese but when I took a bite it tasted rancid. Upon closer inspection the meat was spoiled. I threw the sandwich in the trash and hope I don’t get sick. Not sure how this place is still in business.

The place stinks like deathvomit, and the prices are incomprehensibly gigantic. I paid $ 4.99 for a gallon of water that’s $ 2 at any gas station. But it’s across the street from our hotel so we bit the bullet. At least it’s better better than the $ 8 Fiji I could have from the minibar.
But seriously, the place smelled. Oh, how it smelled.

Went to pick up a bottle of wine until I discovered the prices are literally 2 times what you would pay at the supermarket. Some markup is expected, but a 100% markup is insulting.
Also service is not very good. I stood there comparing wines for 10 minutes while I was the only customer in the store, and no one approched me.

Subpar service took forever for them the acknowledge my presence while I was waiting to order my sandwich. Then they proceeded to ignore me and help other customers check out first who weren’t getting sandwiches.
They rang me up while they were making my sandwich and she charged me 50 cents extra without telling me. Saying that everyone knows there’s an extra charge to use cards. Bull. Nobody charges for debit transactions anymore at least not over $ 5.
THEN they made me the wrong sandwich. Had to wait another 5 – 10 minutes for them to make the right one. And the sandwich was okay but there was maybe two slices of meat on there not worth it.
I will not be returning.

They have the essentials like the name says. Snacks, meat, veggies, magazines, wine. Oh yes, a lot of wine and beer. One of my essentials: booze, was not availible though. You wouldn’t believe how hard it was to find a bottle of the hard stuff while wandering downtown Seattle. So no liquor here, people.
The sandwiches made here are
. Very tasty works of art. A lot of meat stuffed between bread with a nice sauce and some veggies to go with it. I’ll return for a sandwich if in the area.

Terrible.
As the unfriendly man was ringing up my Lara Bar, I discovered I had no cash, only my debit card. I started to tell him never mind and that I only had my card, and he said «that’s okay.» What he really meant to say was «That’s okay, I’m going to tack on extra money without asking to equal the $ 3 minimum.»
Also…$ 2.73 for one Lara Bar? Seriously??? So yeah… I walked out of there $ 3.23 poorer (and why was I charged 50 cents more to equal $ 3.23, versus 27 cents more to equal their $ 3 card minimum??)
Ridiculously overpriced and unfriendly, deceptive customer service.

I paid $ 7 for Kombucha, that at Whole Foods would’ve only ran me $ 4. What? Whatever.
I’ll go back for the wine.

They don’t really label any prices here for a good reason. Once you go up to the check out, you’re going to be sticker shock on how much some of the items cost! I get it. It’s downtown, so prices are going to be higher, but not almost twice as high as other places. I would not go here unless I REALLY need something.
Be sure to ask how much an item is before you buy it.
+1 point because they have a variety of items.

When I first moved to First Hill about a year ago, Unilocal told me this was the closest grocery store. I was really happy to be able to walk to the grocery store and pick up things for my new apartment. I ended up living with hardly anything because the prices were ridiculous. Needless to say, I haven’t been back for groceries. If you’re in a pinch, Bartells (a couple blocks away) is cheaper. And now the Target downtown trumps both.
But, I have come here for breakfast. They make the best breakfast sandwiches, and it’s under $ 5! The eggs are always hot and moist, not like fast food egg sheets. They also use freshly sliced meat. I have also purchased their chorizo empanada, which they heat up for you. Very very tasty. Customer service isn’t the friendliest, but eh. I’m not there to chat

Having a market near your hotel is always a plus to stock up on some drinks and munchies. The Essential Market was that place for us. They even have hot foods, but we indulged in too many other foods that we didn’t have a chance to try. Fair prices and friendly owner.

Fresh ingredients, Boar’s Head deli meat and stacked sandwiches = best sandwich downtown!
I finally went to the Essential Market today for lunch and ordered the salsalito sandwich. It had Boar’s Head salsalito turkey, avocado, spicy mayo, lettuce and tomato on a rustic roll. The ingredients were plentiful and very fresh, and the combo was fantastic. They have about a dozen original sandwiches there and next time, I’m trying the cajun turkey sandwich!
Sandwiches are $ 7.99 for a whole, $ 4.99 for a half. The service was friendly and they had a nice sitting area inside to enjoy your sandwich at.