There is a petition to help bring Mariano's to North and Harlem. Link here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/347/434/ ... &cid=fb_na

Marmish wrote:There is a petition to help bring Mariano's to North and Harlem. Link here: http://www.thepetitionsite.com/347/434/ ... &cid=fb_na

Don't expect anything anytime soon. This sudden expansion has them cash-strapped (they suspended dividends just so they'd have some extra cash on hand - as a shareholder, it's not great news) and they have huge debt as it is. Hoping the expansion will pay off but it has an equal chance of killing them.

The former Dominick's at Foster and Sheridan in Chicago is opening as a Mariano's tomorrow morning at 6:00 am according to an announcement on their facebook page.

Did I miss the love for the new Mariano's at Lawrence Station?

I thought it was spectacular, although the I only have the Western/Roscoe store to compare it to.

From my memory, it had a wine/beer bar, plus a few more taps at the coffee and gelato place on the ground floor. Plus: Sushi Bar, Oyster Bar, spice shop, pharmacy, grill for any of the meats or fish at this counters, BBQ, fudge making, popcorn popping (a la Garrett), and an oil/vinegar bar.

Parking is surprisingly easy, once you push past the construction on Lawrence and all of the rail commuters.

If they can keep the service and fresh foods quality up past the Grand Opening period, this will definitely be my new "go to" mainstream supermarket.

kateem wrote:Did I miss the love for the new Mariano's at Lawrence Station?

I thought it was spectacular, although the I only have the Western/Roscoe store to compare it to.

From my memory, it had a wine/beer bar, plus a few more taps at the coffee and gelato place on the ground floor. Plus: Sushi Bar, Oyster Bar, spice shop, pharmacy, grill for any of the meats or fish at this counters, BBQ, fudge making, popcorn popping (a la Garrett), and an oil/vinegar bar.

Parking is surprisingly easy, once you push past the construction on Lawrence and all of the rail commuters.

If they can keep the service and fresh foods quality up past the Grand Opening period, this will definitely be my new "go to" mainstream supermarket.

Yes, I think this Mariano's is superior to the other Mariano's I've been to. Not only does it have the niceties you mentioned, it also has an extensive bulk foods section, which to be honest is the only reason I shop at whole foods anymore and might now be the reason I stop. Add in the exotic wild game meats (python steaks!) and I'm pretty pumped.

I do have to say, though parking is "easy" as in there are lots of spots, I do not like the design of the ramps up to the top of the parking lot. It's super narrow and makes me really nervous every time I turn the corner.

Anyways, I am very excited to have this in my neighborhood and will be my go to supermarket for sure.

Does Mariano's hire the worst parking ramp contractor there is? The ramp at the West Loop Mariano's is an absolute clusterf*ck

jordanhojo wrote:Does Mariano's hire the worst parking ramp contractor there is? The ramp at the West Loop Mariano's is an absolute clusterf*ck

And, of course, the nightmare, accident-waiting-to-happen scenario at the Western/Roscoe store's lot been noted in other threads. (Yes, they inherited that one. But they also didn't do anything to improve it. Not sure if they had the authority to. But in any case it's a reason not to shop there, so they should redesign it if they can.)

riddlemay wrote:

jordanhojo wrote:Does Mariano's hire the worst parking ramp contractor there is? The ramp at the West Loop Mariano's is an absolute clusterf*ck

And, of course, the nightmare, accident-waiting-to-happen scenario at the Western/Roscoe store's lot been noted in other threads. (Yes, they inherited that one. But they also didn't do anything to improve it. Not sure if they had the authority to. But in any case it's a reason not to shop there, so they should redesign it if they can.)

On the positive side, I will most certainly be adhering to a self imposed 3-4 mph speed limit. On the negative side, there will surely be idiots who don't.

FWIW I think they did a great job with the Foster/Sheridan location. It's around the corner from my place and I popped into the old Dominick's frequently for convenience but this comes closer to be a quality all-purpose grocer. Meat/seafood options looked good (surely a little extra opening day shine) and went more than a standard deviation away from a dozen kind of boneless skinless chicken breast tenders and tilapia ie it was always way too difficult to find basics like bone in skin on thighs, pork belly, etc at Dominicks. More than anything I'm just glad I'll never have to go back to the Jewel at Berwyn/Broadway....that place always smelled like burnt oil, marijuana, and old folks home.

I have yet to go to the Foster/Sheridan location, but probably will at some point since it's right by my parents house, but I'm glad to hear it's a step up over the Dominick's.

My only complaint about Mariano's so far is that it seems like their produce selection varies greatly on a weekly basis. Last time I was there, there were only organic onions. Sometimes there is cilantro but no parsley or vice versa. I find it a bit odd, because I also almost always find something tropical or super obscure like starfruit, jackfruit or mangosteen, but I can't get a regular avocado. The quality of all the produce I've bought there has been top notch though, so I won't complain too much.

Some Mariano's news I inquired about.

Both the Northbrook (Dundee and Skokie) and Glenview (Willow and Sanders) locations will have Todd's BBQ in them.

They definitely are trying to build a Bannockburn location (Waukegan and Route 22), but it's too early to tell if it will clear the local hurdles.

Looking and comparing the existing locations, the Ravenswood location has got just about everything. Most stores have around 5-6 special amenities that Mariano's offers. Ravenswood has 13 (out of 15) including Todd's BBQ, Spice Shop, Sweet Shop, Wine Bar and Oil/Vinegar Bar. The only two missing are no big deal to me (Kitchen Classroom and Demo Kitchen).

The Marianos at Ashland/Elston/Webster recently put up a sign announcing a June 3rd Grand Opening.

I was chatting this evening with a local pianist/bandleader who often performs at The Casino Club. He is getting calls from Mariano's musical contractor for basically as many hours as he wants to play. At various locations. Eight hour shifts for the musicians...45 on and 15 off.

He says they pay more than Gibsons! What a world we live in.

Hi- Actually when I was in the Northfield Mariano's last month for the first time, I asked the pianist who was performing that day how often they have pianists, and he told me they have pianists performing at that particular store on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

On another board that I post though, somebody said that they heard that Mariano's was going to delay some future store openings due to money being tight right now.

the former dominick's, now Mariano's on Rt22 and buffalo grove road, opened yesterday. good news as the local grocery scene was pretty sad with that dominick's closed.

dudefella wrote:the former dominick's, now Mariano's on Rt22 and buffalo grove road, opened yesterday. good news as the local grocery scene was pretty sad with that dominick's closed.

For those keeping score - the Buffalo Grove Mariano's has the Sweet Shop in it, so the whole store smells like Kettle Corn/Caramel Corn/Cheese Corn. It worked, because I bought some cheese popcorn and it's great. They also have an Oil/Vinegar station. Their hot bar is twice as big as Vernon Hills. But they do not have the Smoothie station (which VH has). A friend of mine misled me, he thought there was a Todd's BBQ in the BG location, but there isn't one. I took advantage of the grilling station and had them make me a decent pub burger on a pretzel bun, which I then ate in their outdoor seating area. For a while I forgot I was at the grocery store! I like this Mariano's better than Vernon Hills. Easier to park, get in/get out, and they offer more things.

It will be interesting to see what the Northbrook location offers. It could somewhat cannibalize the Northfield one which is pretty lacking on the features, but if anything it will probably just balance the crowd out for both.

Five new Mariano's stores coming in 2015

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... ng-in-2015

Could someone who can see behind the paywall post where these five stores will be? Thanks.

Katie wrote:Could someone who can see behind the paywall post where these five stores will be? Thanks.

• 2601 W. 95th St. in south suburban Evergreen Park.
• Willow Road at I-294 in north suburban Glenview.
• 7200 N. McCormick Blvd. in north suburban Skokie.
• 770 Skokie Blvd. in north suburban Northbrook.

5th location not announced.

Could be the one at 111th and Cicero in Oak Lawn which may actually have 4 walls and a roof if I remember correctly.

I thought the one at the New City development (North, Halsted and Clybourn) was supposed to open in 2015, hopefully that hasn't been pushed back.

Just got a flyer in the mail saying that the Mariano's in Aurora will open June 17th.

Tucked away behind the Oil/Vinegar bar is a Spice Shop in the Buffalo Grove Mariano's. I like the idea of this - you can sample/smell spices before buying and if you are trying our a recipe, you don't need to buy a $4.00 shaker of smoked paprika or whatever you don't normally use. They had a very interesting Smoked Chipotle Bacon Salt that I probably should've picked up - smelled great. It was strange though because no one was attending the spices and it looked a bit confusing as to how it all worked.

Jim-Bob wrote:Just got a flyer in the mail saying that the Mariano's in Aurora will open June 17th.

Went today, almost same distance from my house as Caputos is. An hour each way.

Liked their produce a lot, heirloom tomatoes, Meyer lemons,

Beef and pork didn't impress. Canadian yellow perch did... If this perch is good and it's in stock often I'll be there often.

Good brown Eggs, milk, etc. competitively priced. Nice store.

Not quite one stop, but what is.

For the Frankfort location:

YES Vero Coffee and Gelato
YES Oki Sushi (sushi bar)
YES Squeez'd (smoothie bar)
YES Todd's BBQ
YES Pharmacy
No Oyster Bar
YES Grilling Station
NO Spice Shop
YES Kitchen Classroom
YES Patio
No Oil/Vinegar Bar
Yes Demo Kitchen
YES Sweet Shop
No Wine Bar

There is another location being talked about to be opened next year in Orland Park on 143rd St

The transformation of the wind-swept former U.S. Steel Corp. factory site on the South Side into the $4 billion Lakeside development could start with perhaps the most basic of neighborhood staples: a grocery store.

McCaffery Interests Inc., the Chicago-based firm behind the project, is in advanced talks to lease more than 70,000 square feet to Mariano's Fresh Market, people familiar with the discussions say.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... h-marianos

Mariano's Gurnee is opening July 1 according to a recent mailer.

This flier mentions Squeez'd and Vero.


6655 Grand Ave
Gurnee, Il 60031
847-856-8701

According to their Facebook page Mariano's Shorewood is opening July 15th at 6AM.

I think I have given Marianos a fair shot to grow on me, but they have not. I wanted to love the one on Chicago Ave as it was nearby, but the usual goofy parking just did not cut it. Also no cart elevators to the roof parking so I can only imagine how long the wait might be for two tiny elevators on a busy shopping day. Visited the new Jewel that replaced the Dominicks on Division and now feel I can just cut Marianos out of the rotation. Although I will need to revisit that in the winter, because I have never been a fan of Jewel's produce and now am getting those products at farmers' markets. Lovely, clean, bright, lots of samples, staff super cheerful, good prices, super fresh product (of course this would be the case in the first week) but just an all around nice experience. And the parking that I will never again take for granted.

Cinnamon Girl: Go north, instead. Try the sparkly new just-opened Mariano's at 2112 N Ashland, just north of the Clybourn Metra station. It has a nice, big, normal parking lot, and according to Google Map, it's an 11 minute drive from the Wells St. Spice House.