The Fresh Market

Came in today to shop with my parents to find some fresh fruits. My parents got what they were looking for and I came in with no intention on buying anything.. well. I bought coffee. It was freshly made and there was a flavor that caught my attention. The pecan pie flavor was excellent. 12 oz just for ONE dollar? Well, $ 1.12 with tax. great deal.

I’ve been shopping at this store for as long as I could remember and just wanted to share it’s greatness! They have an item at the deli that’s both nutritious and delicious… raw tuna and seaweed. They also carry Chilean Sea bass in their seafood department… so fresh and so hard to find. The thing I like best is their fresh nuts… pricey but a great variety and so fresh the flavors just pop! Being a great cook this is one of the places you can find rare items that no one else carries however, you will pay dearly for them. The store is extremely expensive! They do however, have specials like their fresh baked banana breads are sometimes by one get one free… pies too! Each day they will have different specials.

Customer service was super! I am visiting the area for a family member in the hospital. I have many food allergies, so finding food while out is not easy. I found a meal in the bistro but it is cold. I had no way to heat it up in the hospital and a kind young man took it to the break room to hear it for me. Beyond his scope of service – THANK YOU!

One of my favorite small, top-​scale markets in the area. Don’t leave here without grabbing a loaf of their banana nut loaf and their triple berry loaf. Their bakery is outstanding! Great place to find unique beverages, great selection of teas and coffees, healthy foods, beautiful fruits and vegetables. Lots of organic choices. A little pricey but you get what you pay for!

What is not to love? Fresh produce and healthy products at your fingertips. I have never had a bad meat, vegetable, or bakery item from Fresh Market. Quality is everything here.
The groceries themselves are usually pretty good and there are tons of delicious and unique items on the shelves.
My only complaint is the price. Some of the grocieries are ridiculously priced but I mainly use Fresh Market for specialty items and use more traditional grocery stores for staple foods.

My favorite place to buy meat. They have awesome coffee and produce. You can also get beautiful bouquets of flowers, great wines and cheese. The staff is friendly. They also carry hard to find items.

I love this store! Yes, it can be a little pricey and not as big of a selection as Whole Foods. But, usually when given a choice and my list is not extensive, I choose Fresh Market. The feel in the store is relaxing. I love the relaxing music and good smells. They do a great job of setting up and presentation. The produce is always top notch. I prefer this butcher for meat over other stores. Their lean grass fed beef is always great! The bakery has a lot of great things to choose from. The fresh flowers and wine/​beer selection are nice as well. One of my favorite parts is the bins towards the front of the store. Nuts, snacks, and candies. I love getting bulk candy and snack mixes. There is also coffee beans if you grind. They have specials throughout the week. I like when their rottiserie chickens are buy one, get one free! They also carry my favorite pasta sauce that has imported cherry tomatoes and olive oil from Italy. It tastes very close to what I used to eat at restaurants in Naples, Italy. This is the only store I can find it in! Love this store!

Great place to shop. Vegetable selections excellent. Different change then the old neighborhood grocery store. Love the atmosphere and service was excellent.

I love this store. It is not a regular stop for me but I do go in occasionally. Great presentation on everything. Lots of fresh items and novelty items. When they are in season, get the dried blood oranges. They are divine.

Before Whole Foods, before Trader Joe’s there was Fresh Market. And this is still the original gourmet grocery store of Virginia Beach. All of the old school Richies that cant deal with the parking at Whole Foods and the noise at Trader Joe’s will be found here wafting through the glowing produce and aromatic cheeses while classical music plays calmingly in the background. Oh yes, even the check-​out lines are not designed for the plebians among us. There are no People, Food Network, or Oprah magazines around here. But if you are looking to buy your own island, or redecorate one of your five beach houses, or looking for some reading materials illustrating the properties of fifteen different types of organic mushrooms, this is your place! And you can buy a magazine to read about it for $ 19.99 in the checkout line! Also, no plastic soda bottles or inferior candy at checkout, you impoverished customers can buy that junk at 7 – 11. Please enjoy this 3 oz. retro coca-​cola classic glass bottle and a square of sustainable rainforest 99.9% cacao candy imported from the lost tribe of the Congo.
Seriously, Fresh Market is the Gourmet store. While Whole Foods might focus on more of the health component, you are not going to find all of the beet juice, aloe water, wheat grass, raw flax-​seed crackers stuff here so much. It is more like Artisanal cheeses, wonderfully presented produce and a kick-​ass butcher section and the bakery isnt bad either! The seafood selection is excellent, one of the best if not the best in quality in the area… and probably the main reason I come here. The only complaint I have is I bought some chicken kabobs that were marinaded and majorly lacking flavor. That was once. The crab cakes, the sock-​eye salmon, tuna, grouper… all delish!
They have done something to the produce in here to make it look especially tantalizing, but it is pretty expensive.esp. in the summer months you may want to stick to the farmer’s market, but you may not be able to resist. Good luck with that.
Prepared foods are also better than average. I have enjoyed the sushi, but to be honest you could probably go to Bluefin Sushi a block away and eat lunch for cheaper than you could buy the prepared rolls here. The chicken salad, some kind of lemon orzo salad and pesto pasta salad I have bought for parties and everyone seems to enjoy them, and honestly I dont remember them being obscenely over-​priced for the convenience and quality.
Beer and wine selection are sort of meh… I feel bad saying this because before Total Wine (and to some extent Trader Joe’s) I would have no problem buying beer or wine here if it were something you could not get anywhere else. They usually still have some reasonably priced interesting things, but Total Wine is going to be cheaper with a bigger selection. Fresh Markets is limited to a relatively small corner of the store. I think they realize they are just not going to be able to compete in that area.
The other gripe I have is that they do not have any cart return thingys in their parking lot, so you have to walk the cart back up the store. Sometimes they dont even let you take the cart out. I am not really wanting to leave raw fish or sushi in my car on a hot day even if it just for a few minutes so this is a minor pain, unless i want to take the raw fish on a walk with me to return the cart… but maybe just a cart return would be nice.
I am giving four stars because for a special splurge this is the place to do it! Would not recommend for daily shopping unless you are the owner of large and profitable corporation or professional athlete.

This store is great! It is clean and well laid out… easy to find what you are looking for. I love that they carry so many specialty items. Presentation is everything and I can’t think of ANYTHING that I have ever seen in there that didn’t look appetizing. The entire store is inviting.
The prices are moderate to high depending on what you are purchasing.
I read a comment that they were a lame copy of Whole Foods. I don’t think it is their goal to duplicate Whole Foods. Fresh Market was here long before Whole Foods and they simply seem to cater to the wants and needs of this region.
On another note, it would be great to see them carry more gluten-​free products. I realize that gluten-​free isn’t common in many of the stores, so it’s likely not cost effective to stock large quantities and selections at this point in time.
I recommend everyone at least check this place out.

I love love love love The Fresh Market, always have. Always will. We have one of these back home where I’m from (Roanoke, VA) and I used to love coming in here to look at all the exotic items you can’t get at the normal grocery store.
My personal favorite is the flower section. They have all kinds of fresh flowers and beautiful things to choose from and they also make beautiful arrangements for a very reasonable price. You can select all of your favorites and they will make the arrangement for you also if you don’t know how or don’t want to do it when you get home.
They have a large coffee area where you can select or mix and match your coffee and grind it to your liking (small or large grinds) as well as their fresh meat and prepped meat section and sweets section.
Big fan. If you haven’t been here yet — you should give it a try. It reminds me of Whole Foods a lot but I have a special place in my heart for Fresh Market so it’s always tops for me.

We are a one income family, so dare I say this, well yes I should. It is a choice that our family has made. Yet I have a picky family, to feed. I shop here regularly. Hands down, this place sells organic milk for the best price! So I come here for the milk and once in a while that special splurge. What rule book says you have to shop at one grocery store? It’s about shopping smart, not shopping for the convenience. If it were, try Walmart, Target, Sam’s Club, BJ’s or Costco. Where I live there are 7 stores that sale food. Do your homework, research what you need to make your meals, check your refrigerator, freezer pantry and cabinets. Map out your trip, grab your bags and hit the road. This being a resort town with a military problem, or vice versa. It is possible to live on one income, just plan for the unexpected.

This place seemed like a Whole foods on steroids! Could’ve been the price hike too.
Needless to say I didn’t shop for anything in this store but it was AWESOME looking at everything in here. It just felt like a step above whole foods as they have ALOT of stuff. Would I shop here? yes and no, given that other reviews have stated that prices are about $ 2 higher than whole foods. I personally wasn’t looking hard at the prices of the different products when I stopped in to look around. It kind of felt like being in a high class candy-​store. My friend however did find a Japanese green tea she hasn’t had since she was in Japan. She was excited and happy to know where she can come back for more.
**Overall the ambiance and feel of the store makes you wanna stay and look at everything. Almost like being in «Yankee Candle» where you have to smell every candle before you leave. I will most likely stop in again in the very near future.
Cheers!

I love the chick pot pies in the meat dept! (take and bake)

I liked. You really need to know prices around the area to get the best deals. No vitamins. Some gluten free products. Love the raw almonds. Bulk coffee selection here much better than at Wholefoods.

I enjoy the Fresh Market for 3 main reasons:
1. The staff are very sweet. Unless it is unaturally and unholy sorts of busy inside the Fresh Market, they will always greet you and check on your needs. I have (sadly) become friends with both employees that work the sushi station — which is the second reason I love it here.
2. CHEAP FAST SUSHI — Real down & dirty like. In the door, grab a roll, check on my sushi chef behind the counter, give thanks & out the door I go. For about 8 dollars a box, I’m there about once a week. It’s not groundbreaking, flavor-​bursting stuff but it is much better than chicken nuggets with a side of shame.
3. Specialty Foods/​Cheese — Mascarpone, the creamy sweet stuff of Tiramisu requirement, is only about $ 4 dollars a container here. And that’s for the made in the USA variety. I sometimes just like to walk around and go «Hmmm, what can I make with this»
While Fresh Market may not have the shiny appeal of the new Whole Foods, it’s dependable & I like it.

Wonderful selection of food — especially fresh fruits, veggies, meats, and flowers.
The deli food is delicious (try the chicken egg rolls).
And for your sweet tooth, try the gummy butterflies.
They are a little out of the way for me (20 – 30 minutes away) but definitely worth the drive.

What else can I say that hasn’t already been stated in previous reviews? This place is great. I enjoy just walking the aisles, looking at the great stuff and taking in the great smells. And, we do occasionally buy something!
The first time we went in, we walked out with a bunch of baked goods and some granola. Alot of unhealthy stuff but great. Big cupcakes, a great brownie, and a pecan bar. Yum. We went back today for a few things and the bakery items again were the main haul. Yeah, we like our carbs. The croissants were the big hit today.
I love this place and haven’t even scratched the surface of the wonderful selection of specialty foods. I highly recommend checking it out.

The Fresh Market is foodie porn in action.
Dark and cool, there are aisles and aisles of rich, gourmet goodies and produce. When you walk in, gorgeous fresh cut flowers and complimentary coffee greet you. I was putty in their hands from that point on and it got even better.
They have rows of candy, nuts, dried fruit and even dried veggies that you can scoop into bags to take home. Green bean and okra chips?! Phenom! Totally left overloaded with all sorts of snacks that won’t last a week.
The Fresh Market also has sushi to go, cheeses, wines, anything you can imagine salivating over. If the regular grocery store is my wife, this place is definitely my mistress from now on. Yum.