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    Jewel-Osco

    3.9 (23 reviews)
    ModerateGrocery
    Closed 6:00 am - 12:00 AM (Next day)

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    Boneless "Wings"
    Peter T.

    First time I ever recall seeing a "hot food bar" was in the corner delis and bodegas in New York City, must have been 30-40 years ago. That made sense, people rushing home from work, late, wanted a hot, somewhat balanced meal that they didn't have to fuss with it. Along came the concept of "groceraunt" (but years before that term was coined) and grocery stores started adding full service hot deli counters, which then evolved into the "bar" - a dozen or more hot entrees along with mass appeal sides - mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, stewed carrots and the like. The sides accompanied fairly standard hot dishes, meatloaf, fried chicken in various forms, chicken and dumplings, stews, baked or fried fish and the like. I'm willing to bet a lot of money that none of these foods are prepared in-house, but come in large tinfoil pans fully cooked, probably frozen, waiting for the "heat and eat" stage and to be dumped onto the food bar. A giant version of TV dinners, if you will. If it's a large grocery, it's likely there is an accompanying "salad bar" that also includes a half dozen soup offerings. Both the hot food and salad are priced by the pound, and it varies depending on the chain and the zip code. I've seen them from $6- $9 per pound. (Expert tip - "liquid" has weight. Watch that you keep liquid accompanying your entree or side to a minimum). If I'm ever in the mood for the hot bar concept, I try limit my grazing to the upmarket groceries, Whole Foods or regional choices. Better quality, larger variety, but more expensive, of course. Whereas your regular grocery might have beef burger tomato goulash, the upmarket places are going to offer pad thai and that type of thing. So passing by my local Jewel-Oscos (I purposely avoid them, they are spendy compared to competitors, and with no real right to be spendy, plus their big "sale" prices, especially the BOGOs are hilariously dishonest), I thought I'd graze the hot bar just for something to write about. Friday is "wing day" apparently and they were offering maybe eight different styles of chicken wings, and a couple types of "boneless wings" which aren't wings at all, are they? So I tried some "Buffalo" boneless wings, meatballs in marinara, and fried cod (hey, it is lent). My feelings about the dishes are as follows: Why do they call them "boneless wings?" I realize anything "nugget" related is associated with McD, but why not bits? Mini tenders? Something. The buffalo flavoring wasn't. I think they mixed up the trays, and what I ended up having was boneless wings of General Tso variety. They were sweet, with a little heat, and deep fried. Not a trace of buffalo seasoning flavor. These weren't billed as "all white meat" because they weren't. There was some white, some grey, whatever that was. Diced chicken parts rolled together in the batter. Meatball. Zero flavor, very dense. It wasn't billed as "Italian" but swimming in a red sauce, one might (like me) assume it would be Italian, but no garlic, oregano, basil, fennel. Just meat. Of an unknown origin. I'm gonna go with pork, because of the color. No noticeable bread crumbs or filler. Fried cod. Like the chicken, these are bits of fish rolled into a batter and fried. It was the best of the three things I tried, and I'm not a big cod fan, but on any Friday night in Chicagoland or Southern Wisconsin, you'll see restaurants offering all you can eat cod, fried or baked, at a pretty low price. Popular in these parts. There must be a lot of cod left in the ocean, though Newfoundlanders would disagree with you. That's about it for the Jewel Osco hot food bar. I won't make it a regular thing.

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    12 years ago

    Okay I'm bumping up my review up a star as the produce is better and the butcher seems to be better. The deli still is bad

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    3.3(138 reviews)
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    Listen, I love Mariano's and especially since there's no Whole Foods close by, I can find some…read moreimportant dietary options (gf, dairy free) from brands that are hard to find elsewhere. Still, the prices are on the average way higher for some standard items that I can get elsewhere, which makes it hard for me to shop here in general. Last time I was in, we got a couple of poke bowls and some mac and cheese and chicken fingers from the freshly made food section. The quality was high, and the prices for the convenience were right on. Mariano's remains for me the place to get the one or two hard-to-find items and that's it.

    I have been going to Mariano's for quite some time now and about 1 to 4 times a month lately. I…read morehave bought sandwiches that have been marked down because the date is near and the bread has been stale already even though it's within a day or two of the sell by date. I have also bought things from the bakery that have been marked down and they have been very stale even though the sell by date was one to two days into the future. So a couple days ago I buy this pork prepackaged and not entirely inexpensive and I go to cook it today. It's been in the refrigerator and the sale by date is tomorrow, but it looks so discolored and old. I'm not even going to try to open it and smell it. I'm taking it back tomorrow and I'm really sick and tired of taking things back to the grocery stores that are rotten. It is a drive to any of them and i may or may not have enough time to drive back, find a place to park, and go in and take care of business. I have ended up just throwing things out like little bakery items that were a couple bucks or a sandwich that was three or four instead of eight or six dollars. I think my days of shopping at Mariano's are over. Definitely stay away from markdowns, Also Their prices on most things are not cheap but I will say usually their full price fresh veggies and fruit are good and fresh. Hard to go from place to place for this and that though.

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    Mariano's - Pork discolored and old looking. Dated sell by 6/12 but it's only 6/11. I don't even want to smell it.

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    Woodman's Food Market

    Woodman's Food Market

    3.2(98 reviews)
    9.0 mi
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    Yeah, I've gotta give this place. Five stars. Without question, the place is gigantic and filled…read morewith so many different options of flavors and foods that I've never heard of or seen elsewhere. I think all the employees were very nice as well. I'm just in town for like a month, but I've gone there so many times and I kind of wanna go back again. Just writing this review thinking about it. Definitely check out Woodmans, nothing bad to say about that place, except I could spend my entire day walking up and down every aisle.

    I usually love going to woodman's and support local and have been for years. Recently there has…read morebeen a decline of (previously) available items that other stores don't carry which is frustrating. Another incident was I had bought dog food from this location and usually don't have an issue, but this time there was. The Freshpet Home Cooked Chicken recipe made my dogs incredibly sick. Vomiting and diarrhea for days. When I went to return the item and explain what happened, they down right refused my return. I understand that stores can set their own policies and whatnot, but this was an item that had gotten family members incredibly sick. Disappointing and very frustrating of Woodman's. Last time that I will ever be shopping here again. Taking my business elsewhere where returns that make people sick can be taken care of.

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    Woodman's Food Market - Pump without receipt paper

    Pump without receipt paper

    Woodman's Food Market
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    Jewel-Osco - grocery - Updated June 2026

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