The shopping experience is amazing and the products are great, but the parking lot at the crystal Lake location is very small.

What can I say, this is the best addition to Crystal Lake in a long time! The selection is great, prices can be higher than other places but the quality is much better! I love that we can find such a great variety of almost everything, and they have never once been out of my coffee creamer when I've needed it! The produce is always top notch, I love the selection and quality. It is so easy to walk in and spend an hour or more without realizing it. I have actually met friends here for lunch! Everything I have bought,no matter what, has been outstanding. The meats, deli, produce (as mentioned above) are all a cut above the rest! read more

Yes! It's the best but expensive upscale grocery store with restaurants on site! Great quality fresh juices but not the best fruits! Jewel and Target beats them! And yes Costco quality is better but Mariano has more choices! The best floral shop! Better than Jewel! Crowded all the time! So chose off times on weekdays to shop! read more

Please don't have your workers tell you what line to get into after already being in a line. Some of the baggers like to talk to much. Even had one walk away and not finish the job. Some are slow as well. read more

Great grand opening deals and coupons! A lot of variety and the kids love the soup bar and great pastries. It can get pricey if you shop there regularly. Even though we're 15 minutes away it's usually worth it to shop the sales and grab a quick lunch. read more

Great store lots of fresh items and huge selection of fresh meats and deli items. Staff is always friendly and pleasant and customer service rocks! read more

I do most of my grocery shopping here and spend hundreds of dollars a month at this store. I purchased a bottle of alcohol for my husbands birthday and realized I purchased the wrong bottle. Went in with the unopened bottle and my receipt. The rude lady at the customer service desk told me I could get a store credit without a receipt or I would have to look up my receipt to get a refund. I asked if I could go see if they had the bottle I needed to which she said yes. I come back up with the more expensive correct bottle and she suddenly informs me they can't accept my return of the alcohol even with a receipt. It's their 'store policy' suddenly. I asked where it states that or where the signs are that state that I can't make the return and she couldn't tell me. I asked for a manager and he informed me that it's 'state law' that they can't accept my unopened alcohol return. I did research after I left and it is NOT state law and he lied. They have no signs stating alcohol cannot be returned or exchanged. I contacted Mariano's customer service and they immediately issued a credit for the price of the bottle. So not only did this store end up giving me a free bottle instead of letting me exchange for the more expensive bottle but they also lost my business for good. Hope the lady behind the customer service desk finds a job she actually enjoys rather than being inconvenienced by a customer. read more

The parking lot is too tiny, so hard to find the parking . They are over the price, you can find a better price for the same products in another stores . The hot bar is terrible , I tried some wing and rids there , they are bad and expensive. For the wing you can go to buffalo wild wing or rid you go to the rid Josie is much better. read more

Awesome avenue to cater your own party. We hosted a bridal party for our son and future daughter in law today. My wife ordered their 96 pcs of fried chicken, and sausage and peppers today. We arrived on schedule, and the food was packed and ready to go. Awesome customer se4vice, and many friendly faces. Prices were very fair, the chicken was crunchy and warm, and very tasty. As well as the sausage and peppers. read more

I love Mariano's. However, Yesterday I bought "5" PRIME (not choice cuts) steaks for 19.99 per pound for a grand total of $83.00. They were beautiful, but utterly disappointing. They were tough and I barbecued them to medium rare! cjm read more

Hate shopping here not even going to lie about it. Idk why I just never liked it. Now the buffet serve yourself food you can get is awesome you can get a container of chicken wings with fried rice of some bbq ribs or some pasta or some veggies it's really a good fresh selection. read more

Hands down the best grocery store in Crystal Lake - if not, all of McHenry County. Once this location opened less than a year ago, it's become a food blessing. Produce is always fresh, plenty of choices and the have abundance of alcohol. Plus, the bakery is irresistible. read more

If you manage to find a place to park, you will love this store. The hot bar and varieties of different restaurants are incredible. Fresh sushi and poke bowls among fresh sandwiches and hot pizza. Once you're full, you can find quality cuts of meat and varieties of cheese. The bakery has a huge variety of breads and sweet treats. Anything boxed or canned, I suggest stopping elsewhere for as the prices are high, but you can't beat the quality of fresh products. Weekend parking is hell, plan accordingly. read more

Yesterday I decided to splurge and treat myself and buy a pound and a half of snow crab legs from the seafood department at Mariano's. They were awful! Total waste of money, $30, don't do it ! They tasted old - and on a scale of 1 to 10 I'd give them a three or a four max! read more

This store is great, I found everything I needed fairly easily for my first time. The International Isles are great if you enjoy different varieties of food from all over the world. I have also noticed all the friendly employees that are ready to help at a moments notice. Their online shopping is very cool because you get all the same sale prices without all the extra goodies you pick up along your shopping trip. Clicklist made it easy to get what I wanted and they let me know if they were out of stock of and offered a substitution which was very similar. I have used Walmart's online shopping but my experience with them was not nearly as good because the young kids don't know how to substitute items like the ones at Mariano's. Can't wait to go back to Mariano's. read more

Do not eat the hot bar during the week after 3pm..... It is not turned over enough. Stick to the weekends (if at all?) When you call them to politely inform them--- the general manager does a dance and does nothing to keep your patronage but insult your own cooking for up to five days before or says please bring a doctor micro report proving its Marianos. Jeesh! Take some responsibility and say you're sorry! Don't insult the messenger. read more

This place has gone downhill. The staff is undertrained, the food area is typically out of sorts, individuals working here are unhelpful. I've tried again and again, they've been consistently disappointing. Cash registers down, no silverware stocked, no napkins, no staff to be found. If you ever want to speak to a manager forget it, I've never been able to contact one. Been told twice "they're in the back", well if I ran such a poor store I'd hide in the back too. read more

I love it here! This place is awesome! The staff is so nice and helpful! They have a wine bar, an olive bar, a taco bar, and so much more. I stop in for food and eat in the nice cafe area where they have a pianist playing most the time. Sushi, Soup and Gelatos add up too and you get the tenth one free. They have fun events for kids almost every weekend! i've came in with my niece to decorate cupcakes twice already! They always substitute any sale items for me if they don't have what i'm looking for and once i saw them give a gentlemen one of their home brand items for free to try! They are super helpful and nice!! (Not to mention I love getting money off gas with my grocery purchases) There are a few bad eggs, people who weren't so nice, but i will not let them ruin my over all experience here! I am a regular shopper. I love having such a convenient place in town read more

Just left this store after our weekly shopping trip and levery week we have seen it go downhill. Can't find any of our usual brands anymore and the selection of each item has dwindled tremendously. They have replaced most of the brands with Kroger which are subpar and we will not buy. The baggers don't know how to bag and when we get to the car we have to take everything out and rebag. Common sense says put canned goods at the bottom and not on top of soft items and fruit but apparently they are not being trained correctly. We are headed to Jewel to get the items we couldn't get here which are becoming more and more each week. read more

Great selection of organic fruits and vegetables. So far the prices have been great. We will see if this continues when the grand opening sales cease to exist. It has been a mad house but every interaction with an employee has been pleasant. You can tell they are stressed, but they are doing their best to keep up with the hectic amount of people. The only negative so far was one of the cooked rib slabs we purchased for a dinner on the way out. It was basically inedible due to the amount of fat, probably 60 percent fat. Other than that one negative, everything is great. Also being a huge cheese fan, their selection is excellent! read more

Welcome to the neighborhood Mariano's! Not only is your store and your offerings top notch, but you have challenged all the other local stores to raise the bar on their offerings and services as well. Thank you for that! read more

Every grocery item you need or want is available. Store is clean and pleasant. Employees are friendly and helpful.

More than a year later and the store is still struggling to offer the exceptional customer service that I had come to know at other locations. I didn't balk at driving 20 minutes or more to shop at Mariano's and was thrilled to know one would be much closer to home. The corner of 14 & Virginia however does not allow for easy access and the parking lot is always chaotic. Last year, the hot bar put slabs of meat in my catering order for five pounds of pulled pork sandwiches. Tonight the associate struggled with my two pound order. Just walking past the meat department left a smoky grill odor on my sweater. The woman in the bakery department didn't even know that she sold pumpernickel bread when I asked if she had any unsliced loaves. When I asked the checkout clerk for a reusable bag, he suggested I ask at the customer service desk on my way out. When I said it was for my groceries, he and two other associates looked at me quizzically. I went to Mariano's tonight specifically for the pulled pork and also hoping to find more reasons to make it my regular store. Fresh Thyme, I'll be back on Sunday night! read more

Excellent variety of fresh foods that you can't get near by. Friendly staff. Clean atmosphere

Great produce department plus shelves are always stocked even in this pandemic environment.

They were out of several items that I was looking for. I like how everything is new and fresh. I expect them to have more items in stock. I know the store is new, so I will give them another try. read more

I love this place . It has all vegetables and both organic and fresh produce are available.

Great place to shop especially their bakery! You wouldn't believe the cheap prices for amazing items at the bakery! Only complaint I would have is some times they do not have my medications in stock at the pharmacy, but it is a new Mariano's by me so that problem will be fixed soon enough. Prices surprisingly good and I will say it again, YOU GOTTA CHECK OUT THAT BAKERY! read more

Really gone downhill from when it first opened. Food is seldom warm enough and prices higher than giraffe stuff.

This review is for Lindsey at the bakery! I ordered three dozen cupcakes for my daughter's 1st birthday. I asked for watermelon themed cupcakes and got exactly what I wanted! I dropped off color swatches (Lindsey's recommendation) and they matched perfectly. I received lots of compliments on both the decorating and taste! read more

Mariano's - Specialty Food Near Me - Crystal Lake, Illinois

See all

Very nice of them to hire blind and deaf people but please speed it up shouldn't take almost 1.5 hours to run in for 2 chicken breasts and stand in the line at the deli for 35 min Between the meat counter and deli I was like a ghost just standing there maybe I am a ghost who knows? read more

Visited this weekend while visiting family, LOVE the store, fresh produce, bakery, gelato, deli meat counter, custom meat counter, unique beers, HUGE wine & liquor department and some great buys. Wish one could be down state and closer to home. Loved It!!!! read more

Good place but I miss Joseph's grocery store. Clean. Deals and sales often. I am not a fan of the layout of the store and especially not the parking lot. I also don't agree with their practices of having Employees needing to park elsewhere, get shuttled, and not be on the clock. Seems Unfair since you have to leave for work extra early. But as a Grocer, fresh meat fresh veggies and fruit are the things everyone wants no? Thanks for coming to crystal lake though! read more

Nice produce dept. The store has a lot of great selections.. Old butcher did pick out two awful steaks for me. The type of steaks don't have marble like he said it did. It was a grizzle. Baggers don't know how to bag at all. Can goods don't go with tomatoes or any produce. Cold should be kept with the cold especially when I put it all together on the belt. All bakery items need packaging because of flies. read more

I ordered two sheet cakes for my grandfather's 90th and the bakery was awesome to work with and made amazing cakes with LOTS of script on the Cakes. Can't recommend them enough. read more

If you like crowds of zombies walking around, then this is the place for you. Watching and laughing at the moms and dads walking around with drinks while the kids stick their fingers in the salad bar food. read more

I bought an organic watermelon yesterday,was bad,not edible ,went back to return it.The customer service was not able to see the charge of $5 on the bottom of the receipt and said that I can not get a refund because I got the watermelon for free?!Very disappointed of Mariano's, I used to shop there in Deerfield and was exited about having one in Crystal Lake.Not going back. read more

Look closely, things are already expired, stocks are low, prices are climbing compared to when they opened and its dirty. The store is up and running, cooperate people are clearly not there anymore and its already gone way down hill. They make it look shiny but look at your produce (mold), meat (turning colors), juices (expired). Love the variety but I will stick with my Jewel. Mariano's is just Dominick's of the 2010's. Great concept but not worth it. If you need your staples, stick to your local grocery store, when you need something 'unique', hard to find, make a trip but plan on spending money. read more

First couple weeks were ok but now their inching up the prices won't be long before Josephs market can come back..IMO this store out of its element in Crystal lake! sad to see it go after all the time and money they've spent on a losing gamble..this franchise is more suited to the north shore $$$$$$$$ read more

I love shopping at Mariano's in Palatine. Crystal Lake has Fresh Market which is similar but has less selection and their prices are very high. I was excited and surprised to see that they were opening up a Mariano's. I'm still surprised they chose Crystal Lake... seems really out of place in a town like that. During the grand opening, EVERYONE was shopping here. This week traffic has slowed down and sadly I noticed that the quality of their produce went down with it. I didn't expect prices to stay as low as they were which I'm fine with but before I could fill bags of produce without really having to check because they were all excellent but now I'm finding more bad ones than acceptable ones. Also, the cold bar fruit used to be delicious but the last time I got some it smelled and tasted rancid. The hot bar food is also not rotated enough because you can see when food like mashed potatoes and Mac and cheese have been sitting out too long. The sushi tastes good but the rice to fish ratio is too much. They have a great meat and seafood selection. I picked up a few steaks for the 4th of July holiday and they were delicious. I wonder if they borrowed seasoned employees from Palatine for the grand opening and now they're gone and the high standards went with them. read more