Stew Leonard's Farm Fresh Food & Wine

They don't call it the Disney Land of supermarkets for nothing. Having heard about Stew Leonard's with the same gushy descriptions that people typically reserve for Trader Joe's, my husband and I finally made our first visit this past summer. We get it now. It's hard to encapsulate the joy of this market in words. Is it the windy aisles that make you feel like you're getting lost in a land of yummy things? Is it the cheesy animatronics that don't seem to add much value to the shopping experience, but then you catch yourself singing the avocado song hours later? The fresh, made-in-house goods that you couldn't find anywhere else, like the cider donuts, popcorn, breads, or cheeses? Or the shopper's program that rewards visits with free servings of some of the best soft serve ice cream I've ever had? It's all of the above. It adds up to a shopping experience that feels a lot like shopping at Target, where you vow to buy one thing and end up finding at least five more things that catch your fancy. Stew Leonard's has a rich history, with its roots as a small, family-owned dairy farm, so the cheese and ice cream game is unsurprisingly strong (see note on the soft serve above). But they do other things well. The breads are fresh and amazing, and the produce is incredibly fresh. The prepared foods section is also quite enticing. I once went so gaga on samples of a chopped veggie salad that I immediately went back to buy two. If you didn't just hear that I got excited about a SALAD, then you need to hear it again: ya'll, they managed to get me excited about a bowl full of chopped, cruciferous greens. Other notable sections include the wine and liquor section and the hot foods section, which has a lot of fun options but falls a little short of what you might find at Whole Foods. Even when we come around midday, some things look a little stale, dried, and sad. Some of our buys have been disappointing. Some boneless chicken wings turned out to have pretty processed and bready-tasting meat, and my husband and I have tried several prepared pasta meals that were extremely bland. But we still love coming here, both for the vibes and the most addicting soft serve in the area (hint: try it with a serving of warm, fresh cider donuts. You'll plop.)

Wow this location is bigger and have even more goods than in Clifton. Impressive! We were just going to look around and ended up buying near 400 bucks of groceries (couple with no kids). Just a lot of goodies and the way they arrange tha path is amazing.

Fun times, great selection of foods, grocery, snacks, dessert, deli, pizza, beverages, fruits, veggies, and more! Entrance from around the parking side, or through the mall. If through the mall, there are some tables and seating to eat your togo food, other carts aren't allowed beyond that into the mall, so if you parked mall-side prepare to lug your treasures through the mall to your car. Fun animatronics for all ages, show performance are programmed 3min intervals, or through a Push button for on demand shows. It's like a free version of Disney but with Stew's personal farm friends. Good times, lots of enticing food that one can't eat in one go. Back another time.

Three gigantic pumpkins for $24! Those are prices from when I was a child! I was so impressed with their fall display, which seems to have disappeared from more common grocery stores. Thank you for making the season special for children and nostalgic adults.

Always love to come to SL for fresh grocery and hot food station. The veggies and fruits are in good quality. Bakery section always smells so good. Meat and frozen sections are full of choices. Also there are drinks, snacks, ready-to-go food etc. Hot food station is another big reason that we visit. Salmon is cooked perfectly. Brussels sprouts and mixed veggies are seasoned nicely. We use self checkout a lot. A staff is always there if you have some issues. Very efficient and quick. They have regular checkout line as well.

Stew Leonard's is one of the better Supermarkets I've been to. I especially like the selection of fresh pies & donuts. My wife loves their freshly prepared salads. Their meats while of good quality they can be on the expensive side (compared to other Supermarkets) Always check the APP for discounts and sales, they definitely do help. I am a repeat shopper and don't foresee myself not returning.

Definitely a unique experience. There's kind of a linear path through most of the store so you don't have to do a lot of zigging and zagging up and down aisles. You just follow the path and grab things that you need along the way. Kids will be entertained by the animatronics like dancing, avocados and stuffed animals twirling on the ceiling. I thought the prices were just okay and some of the prices were actually pretty high, but it could be worth the trade-off for some people. After you exit the clearly linear part, there are some Open spaces where you can just go around and grab what you need. The people who worked there were very friendly.

Stu Leonard’s is definitely different. They carry a lot of their own brand products, and many of them taste surprisingly good. The glass-bottle milk and their ice cream are especially worth a try. The store uses an Ikea-style single-path layout, which makes browsing interesting but can feel a little restrictive. I even overheard an older shopper voicing frustration about trying to reach the checkout directly. That said, the liquor section seemed to serve as a convenient shortcut out of any area. Overall, the staff were polite, friendly, and added to the positive experience of a destination style store with animitronics for the kids. While there’s a lot to see, some sections felt surprisingly small, which makes it not quite a full traditional grocery store replacement.