The Market at Grelen

As a photographer who loves working with natural light, The Market at Grelen has always been one of those places that just delivers every time. The scenery is honestly breathtaking. You can do your ceremony out in the field or in the garden area, and both are beautiful in their own way. Just depends on the vibe you want for your day. For portraits, the hilltop is one of my favorite spots. There are so many areas to choose from and the light up there is incredible. Sunsets are usually unreal, and on clear nights you can even catch a few stars for some evening shots. The vendor team at Grelen has always been so kind and welcoming. Every time I’m there it just feels easy, like everyone’s on the same page. It’s one of those venues where you can’t really take a bad photo. The quality of light, the views, the atmosphere — it all comes together perfectly.

The Market at Grelen was a stunning venue for our wedding. Nichole and her team were incredibly helpful during the entire process and we are just as in love with the site now as we were when we selected it as our wedding venue. And it is only getting more impressive with some of the additions coming in the next year or so. This is THE place to eat a delicious meal from their café and reminisce later about your beautiful wedding or event.

Highly recommend this venue!!!! Had an absolutely beautiful wedding and experience at the Market. The venue has everything a plant-lover could ever want! This location offers hiking trails, antique shopping, lunch cafe, and more for your guests to enjoy. Our wedding vision had lots of greenery, and integrating this venue's natural beauty and plants made our vision come true! Nichole is a pleasure to work with. Love this place and will forever be grateful our wedding took place here!

The staff, as usual, were amazing. The sights, smells, and colors filled our senses. The food and beverage selection was terrific. Our walk around the trails provided several wonderful sights and sounds. We will definitely be returning often!

From one wedding photographer to all the lovely couples out there, I wholeheartly recommend this venue! The staff are a pleasure to work with and the scenery is simply stunning. If you're considering any of the Grelen locations for your special day, rest assured you've stumbled upon a piece of Virginia heaven!

The Market at Grelen provided the perfect backdrop for our garden party themed wedding! The setting is absolutely breathtaking, and Grelen has plenty of lovely options for ceremony, reception, and cocktail hour locations. There are so many things that make Grelen special, but some of our favorite bits of Grelen magic were the stunning spring florals, getting to take sunset photos at the Orchard Overlook, and having their homemade ice cream served at our reception. We also loved working with Nicole and Rey! There really is no place like Grelen. We can’t wait to return again and again for many years to come.

My husband and I had our wedding at the Market at Grelen and I don’t even know how to express the absolute beauty this place has. Although the venue is breathtaking, the staff, specifically Nichole and Rey, made it feel like home to us. They are so welcoming and they just felt like family too. We knew this was the right place for us. I will be recommending this venue to everyone, and I’ll definitely be visiting Grelen to say hi to Rey and Nichole again and to just enjoy the scenery. This property will always have a special place in my heart. We love you Rey & Nichole! And Grelen! Savannah & Justin Manzie

Met a friend here for lunch. I was in awe of the beauty as soon as I turned down the driveway. This place is gorgeous! They have everything here....Pick your own seasonal fruits. A greenhouse for some beautiful flowering plants and trees. A little shop with great products. A huge venue for weddings and receptions. Walking and hiking trails. But my favorite part was the cafe. I had the best ham salad sandwich ever here. They have several seating areas with plenty of shade. Of course don't forget to have a scoop of their homemade ice cream for dessert. Salted Honey Caramel was amazing! I can't wait to come back in the fall and walk the trails.

Love going to this nursery/eatery/outdoor experience! You can find a wonderful plant selection, friendly staff and beautiful countryside. A quick visit or an all day outing - either way - you won't be disappointed!

Outstanding experience. The property is picturesque. The entire staff were friendly and ensured we were taken care of during lunch. The steak sandwich and homemade hummus were excellent. There are over 6 miles of hiking trails throughout the property. There are also pick your own fruit throughout the year. The blueberries are definitely a favorite. Highly recommend The Market at Grelen.

What a charming place in Virginia! My friend and I were coming back from Shenandoah activities and wanted a good halfway point stop for lunch. The Market at Grelen was perfect! This gorgeous cafe and garden shop was a delightful stop on our mini VA adventure. The views were stunning and the aesthetic of the whole place was so beautiful. It felt like we were in Italy. We went on a Sunday so the food line was a bit long. I got the Herb Roasted Turkey sandwich. It tasted like Thanksgiving. I wasn't too crazy about the amount of cranberry chutney on the sandwich, but it was all very fresh. My friend ordered the Rosemary Beef, which I found to be better of the two sandwiches. She found it to be too tomatoey. The Market at Grelen closed early that day due to a wedding (note: this didn't affect our visit at all). Even though I didn't attend the wedding, I think this would be an incredible wedding venue. As for the garden shop, they had an amazing selection of Mums and other plants. I loved the cute home gifts they had in their shop too. This spot is lovely during the fall. I'd highly recommend this place for a quick stop on any VA road trip.

First time visiting The Market at Grelen, and we were not disappointed with the views, greenhouse, cafe, service, and shop. We had a lovely lunch and enjoyed their salad and sandwiches. Make sure you try their biscuits, so good.

The Market and Cafe was recommended by the host at our Airbnb. We grabbed a light lunch, checked out the market, and surveyed the beautiful views. We would like to have walked the trails but the venue was closing early for a wedding. For lunch I had a salad of golden beets with goat cheese. I also had a glass of non-alcoholic, local cider. My husband had the steak chili. Both were an ample serving at a reasonable price. Grelen Beet Salad $6 Local beets, pickled red onion, Caromont Farm goat cheese, toasted walnuts, cider vinaigrette Steak Chili $6 sm/$8 lg served with a side of cheddar jack cheese, sour cream, and VA made tortilla chips

Just attended a wedding here! Unfortunately it was raining so the wedding was moved into the tent. It's a beautiful setting if the weather is good. It's such a remote location I think it's very inconsiderate to expect guests to go this far out on dark roads after drinking at a wedding. There was no cell service for t mobile which made it so difficult to get back

The Market at Grelen is not just a large scale nursery/landscaping entity, greenhouse, tree farm, garden and home decor shop, Grelen hiking trails, farm to table cafe, PYO fruit, wedding and special occasion venue but an experience that shouldn't be missed each and every season here in central VA. Everything is buzzing and smiles were abound including the master gardeners, cafe, gift shop and events and management teams, no pun intended! I was amazed and can't wait to come back very soon and bring more friends and family. I brought my parents who were visiting from Florida and it's a breathtaking ride through the country to get there. Once you park (very ADA friendly as you don't have to walk fast from your vehicle), you are transformed into what feels like the perfect place to either relax and enjoy a lunch menu that highlights their garden specialties and local ingredients or to pick out all your garden and gift needs. I also adore how they support local VA breweries, vineyards and cideries with a large list of mouth watering libation choices. Our sandwiches were amazing and we ate every bite! There are many choices on where to relax including covered and uncovered outdoor seating, green house seating, chairs around the sand box, Cherry tree bench seating and the list goes on. We didn't want to leave and after lunch, walked around some of the property to take it in. I wished I got married at this location and would look no further to host my next special event here. They will offer creative workshops in the Fall including succulent and pumpkin arrangements, wreath and garland design too. Santa comes every Saturday during the holiday season and you can also pick out your Christmas tree and have it cut and loaded into your vehicle right there. Much care and planning has also gone into their hiking trail design that connects with the historic Montpelier trails. If you're an avid hiker or just want to enjoy your cafe lunch with a panoramic view of the land, you can hike a mile up to take it all in! Just ask for a trail map in the Market. Do yourself a favor, make this a destination spot as much as possible and you'll impress even the toughest of critics!

Great place. Has everything! A walk through an orchid to a pond. Tons of seating outdoors to relax, food wine beer and coffee poured over chocolate ice cream.

I love to visit Grelen! Their food is fresh, quality and always taste good. The scenery and grounds are beautiful. Pick whatever is growing and enjoy the gift shop where you will find unique gifts. The saying comes to mind good things are not cheap and cheap things are not good! If you care about quality Grelen will not disappoint!

Venue was beautiful and the vibe was nice and but the sandwiches my girlfriend and I got were underwhelming. I got the turkey BLT which ended up being very dry with too much turkey, and way too big of slices of tomato. My girlfriend got the Fig Sandwich which ended up being way too sweet and intense with too much goat cheese and too much fig. After scraping most of the fig and goat cheese off it was finally a tolerable intensity. Service was fine and polite

Cute little market in a beautiful location. We wanted to come here to take photos since we've heard wonderful things. However, during the end of winter, there wasn't much to see. We grabbed lunch at the market: tomato basil soup and tea for me, and Mediterranean salad with steak and coffee for my sister. The soup was delicious! One of the best tomato basil soup I've had. My sister also enjoyed her salad, but wished it had more dressing. There also was a very limited coffee and tea selection. The greenhouse was a great area to eat our lunch--very warm during a somewhat chilly day. Overall, great experience with a kind and helpful staff.

Such a pretty place! It's a large nursery that is so stunning that it's also used as a wedding venue. The views are gorgeous and they have several "pick your own" patches throughout the summer. When we were there we picked pints of blueberries with our toddlers and had a wonderful time. I also appreciated the sweet little sand pit they have set up for the kids, complete with comfy patio furniture surrounding it and thoughtfully placed under the shade of some of their lovely trees. Their outdoor patio is open now with a small menu from their kitchen. The fare is very simple, but tasty (if on the pricier side). There are 3 hiking trails you can take but we didn't get the chance to explore any of them. We had fun posing with their very pretty "LOVE" sign before purchasing some plants and heading home. Terrific little outing! They are doing a good job with enforcing social distancing and ask that all adults where masks outside of the patio dining area.

Love this place, unique setting (who eats in a greenhouse?) out in the country surrounded by stunning scenery even in late November. The location is very scenic and worth the drive. The service was great as I constantly saw people going in and out cleaning up the tables, helping customers letting everyone know about their BoGo deals and there to ask questions and provide direction, everyone was very helpful and pleasant, you could tell they are all hard workers and enjoy working here. The cafe was so good, I can't wait to go back, especially to try the ice cream (Vanilla Honey was one of the flavors) because it looked really good. When people come just to get ice cream and it's November 24th, you know they are doing something right. There is indoor seating in a greenhouse and lots of outdoor seating with fires going and heat warmers as well (would love to come here on a cool autumn night). But to the food now, the adult grilled cheese was very good, I got it without the arugula and found it very good especially when dipping it into the sweet potato soup. The boys enjoyed their kiddie grilled cheese, they even through in an extra bag of chips as the boys split the grilled cheese and their coffee was very tasteful as well. And the greenhouse was warm enough to enjoy on a very cold day. The store has wonderful, lots of home decor and holiday spirit, prices weren't as expensive as I thought they were, Christmas trees to purchase out side and other garden items as well in the nursery. All in all, this place has it all, a nursery, a cafe and a store, plus an scenery all with great service. It would be hard to top it.

We came here in the late morning to check out the store, walk the trails, and get some ice cream. The trail signage was a little bit confusing (not obvious enough for us) and we ended up walking though the tractor yard and back to the entrance, thinking we were following the "nursery trail"! However, it was neat to see the machinery and the gravel depot. The whole place is massive and very open. Once we found the correct trail we got some stunning pictures of the whole place with the mountains in the background. We saw some baby Christmas trees as well! Beautiful and pretty easy walking. The ice cream was also fantastic, definitely homemade, not too sweet. We had honey vanilla and apple cider sorbet, which tasted just like apple pie. We did not try the food/lunch menu, but I'm sure it's good too.

Beautiful spot. I love it but limited on food and coffee choices. I ordered a Mediterranean salad with beef and the beef was like the meat used on philly cheese steak sandwich. The store is really cute though, there are lots of options of decorations and other products. I think this place would be so much better during spring or summer. Can do better as far as signage/directions to the market.

We sojourned out to the Market on a hot summer Saturday. It was worth the trip. Open seasonally and very convenient to Montpieler, this place is a combination farm, nursery, shop, cafe and wedding venue. We arrived and walked around their outside plants area, went down to the berry picking area, then enjoyed the air conditioned shop and beverages in their little cafe. It was a nice way to spend a few hours. They have lots of healthy plants at reasonable prices, a fun selection of pick your own fruits and veggies based on the season, and fun wares in their shop. The cafe has a small menu of lunch fare as well as beer and wine. Next time we'll enjoy a meal on their porch.

We recently went to the market on two occasions. I took my mother for her 70th birthday and then my mother in law for Mother's Day. We had a large gathering for my mom's birthday. 10 of us met there from throughout the state. We ordered a couple of days ahead so make sure we could get the picnic sandwiches. The sandwiches were good, but I felt there were slightly overpriced. They have bagged chips to purchase separately. They have a good beer selection and a couple on tap. They will also fill growlers for you. We took advantage of two picnic tables under a large shade tree. It provided a nice breeze on a warm day. They have a large wedding venue as well. We saw regular tours by potential brides/grooms. I'm sure there is a LONG wait list.

She found some plants for our big pots by the door, all of which are still alive and looking great. The woman who helped her outside was really knowledgeable and friendly. Afterward we ordered a few sandwiches for lunch. It was kinda crowded by then and there was a short wait but not too bad. My "steak and cheese" sandwich was advertised as much more like a cheesesteak when it was far more a thin sliced roast beef and cheese. Nonetheless, it was super cheesy, well cooked, and overall quite delicious. She liked her chicken sandwich as well. Overall Grelen is a nice place with friendly people and solid plants/food, but just a touch too swanky and pricey for me. But hey, it's quite clearly working for them...

Very pretty place however we were very disappointed in the service/experience. We waited for 2 hours, yup, 2 HOURS for our food. They first ran out of what one in our party ordered. Then we checked in again, we were told it was still being cooked...finally checked again and we were told our order was totally lost and this happens once per month due to the internet. What!?! My toddler never got lunch! They offered me a 20% off coupon as if I'd be returning...no food for my kid in the mean time. Not even a cookie was offered. Highly disappointed with this place. It could be amazing but I'd say they need some work in the service department. Additionally, the hay ride we took to the orchard got a flat tire & we were stuck in a service vehicle on the way back with our fruit! Not a good experience at all!

This place is amazing! Came here with the whole family, and everyone had something to enjoy. We sat down and had lunch in the greenhouse. There is plenty of room, so bring the whole family. We were a Party of 7. After lunch grandma and the kids went blueberry picking and the adults went on to the porch where the fans where to cool down a have a glass of wine and some homemade ice cream! Looking forward to coming back. Peaches will be ready to pick in a few weeks. See you then!

Loved the beautiful ambiance!! My husband had to be coaxed to have lunch there because he thought it would be " girly". He seemed to enjoy his jerk chicken. I was thoroughly impressed with my chicken curry salad with mango chutney. I'm not always a fan of curry, but this was delicious! The waitress was very sweet, showing us how to go about getting our order in and finding a table. She also made suggestions. They have the best blueberry ice cream I have ever had!! I hope it's a regular item. I will be returning in early July with 7 friends. I bragged so much they want to come! I also spent money purchasing beautiful plants and other garden items. I'd like to purchase a bench and a wonderful teacart sometime when I have lots of $$$$!

Decided to get away for a long weekend with the family and stopped in to this gem for some fruit picking! It was absolutely beautiful and peaceful and the fruit is delicious. Our boys had fun in the orchards and fields and my middle child has now added blueberries to the very short list of fruits he'll eat! That's a win!

The place is gorgeous but thats what you get with big money right? Insanely over priced food, I dont even know how people continue to pay for it. Management/Owners are super rude and fake!

I was here for the wedding and this venue is absolutely amazing. We did some pre-wedding activities here like hayrides and apple picking. They have huge orchards with a large variety of apples. The views are beautiful and the event space is spacious and well set up. As an aside, they also have amazing homemade ice cream for $4 per scoop (mix 2 flavors)!

Grabbed a quick bite here after a dress rehearsal, the food was awesome, but the bees and yellow jackets were all over and made it hard to sit and enjoy the food. The views are gorgeous though and it is nice to see a venue that is providing space for the bees!

This place is a wonderful place to visit if you are coming into VA wine country or just looking for a great place to picnic, pick your own (coming to the end of blueberry picking here), or just hanging out. The grounds are really nicely kept, it's a clean place and lots of really great photo op places here! They also have a yummy menu of foods you can try and trailed to hike - one of the trails takes you to Montpelier and another one takes you through the nursery (a beautiful walk filled with flowers) and their newest trail takes you to the pond. Have a great visit, it's well worth the drive!

A magical off-road oasis. Trails, plants and a market full of treasures. It's beautiful, surrounded by mountains with views you'll not soon forget. It's the kind of place where you fall in love. Or remember the day you did. Pick your own fruit, Christmas trees, a yummy Chef-made lunch spot, hiking trails, or a wedding venue, Grelen has it all. It is hands down the best outdoor adventure Orange has to offer.

If you are coming here for apples, don't bother. The orchard doesn't look healthy and the walkways between the trees are not maintained, so you will be walking through tall grass. Ticks, anyone? We managed, with effort, to find 5 apples that weren't either bug eaten or hit by some kind of mold or blight. There's an expensive store and cafe with music that is too loud. The view from the property is beautiful, so at least there's that. The peach trees looked healthier than the apple trees, but it's still a stretch to call it an "orchard".

Gorgeous place ... unfortunately the service is extremely rude , arrogant and over priced . Terrible food. 5$ for tiny orange juice from Tropicana "fresh". The menu was unavailable at 2'pm on Mother's Day. Breakfast burrito tastes worse than Taco Bell . The wifi is not available to guests. It's 2017 and we are in the middle of no where w cell coverage .

Before we got our food I wss ready to leave a five star review. I didn't care what the food tasted like, the setting was that gorgeous. It's in the middle of nowhere, well, it's in the middle of a huge garden and trees. Should be a mandatory lunch spot combined with visiting the Madison estate. And sandwiches were very tasty. 5++

Love this place!!! A hidden gem. Gorgeous views and excellent lunch!!! A great place to enjoy the views and a bottle of wine. And the store is so cute and filled with good items-not crap that no one would buy. Great products!!!

I have had nearly everything on their menu over the years and they never disappoint. Their shop is full of interesting items and the ability to pick your own fruit is awesome as well. When they have excessive amounts of fruit, they let you pick some for free. How can you beat that. The walking trails are nice to either get you in the mood to eat or to let your food settle afterwards.

Great views. Lovely venue for a wedding or party. Cute store on site with neat gifts and beautiful flowers and plants. Tried the mini apple cider donuts and enjoyed the views on the patio. Lunch is also available and looked really good. Can't wait to come back and try it.

We had a great lunch at the cafe, shopped the garden center and picked some peaches. The people there are all very friendly and pleasant. The food is prepared with fresh ingredients and the atmosphere on the hilltop is first rate. Stop in the market for something for your garden. We'll be going back again!

The views were breathtaking. The store was quaint and well setup to make you want to purchase one of everything. The pick your own peaches were juicy and delicious.

On my first visit 2 years ago I gave them a review of 5 stars. Sadly after visiting again several times, most recently March 19, I can only recommend Grelen for the beautiful views. The prices have been raised drastically ($52 for 3 sandwiches, 3 sides, a tea and 1 beer). Although the sandwiches were good, they were supposed to be hot and were lukewarm at best. My cauliflower soup was closer to cold than warm. After lunch we looked around for plants and the choices were slim. I finally found a Lavender plant but it did not have a price stick in it. We asked the sales girl and she said they must be new plants and she would have to check inside for the price. She came back a few minutes later and quoted us $8.99 each. We grabbed 2 plants and walked inside to check out. At the counter the same sales girl told us that the plants were now $12.99 each. I asked why the price gone up $4 per plant in less than 3 minutes. She said that when she checked she made a mistake then she asked us if we wanted them or not (great customer service there). My husband knew that I wanted the plants so he paid the additional $8 upcharge. I hate to say it but this was the last straw for Grelen. The Café has gotten too expensive for the amount and temperature of the food and the service is just awful. I think they may have tried to grow too fast and the customers are the real losers.

This is a fabulous place to have a fresh and delicious lunch surrounded by an amazing and serene vista. They also hold fantastic events and classes and of course the flowers and plants for sale are top notch. I can't wait to visit again.

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you and your staff for an incredible experience we had on Saturday. I brought both my daughters, my granddaughter and son-in-law up to pick some apples and ended up staying for drinks, lunch, and another couple of drinks! Everyone was so welcoming and gracious. My granddaughter even commented on how nice everyone was to her. She enjoyed picking the apples and making a sand castle in the sand box! The hard part was explaining to her she didn't have to take a bite out of each apple she picked, but you can't tell a 3 1/2 year old anything! Anna was a real pro! She was super helpful and very patient as I made multiple trips to the counter, placing many different orders and did it each and every time with a smile! A big thank you to Thomas. Everything we ordered was prepared to perfection. Even the PB&J for the little one! She loved it! Alden was also a delight. She made sure we were well taken care of and Tabitha even made a point to come by our table to make sure everything was alright. I couldn't have asked for a better experience. Please relay to everyone how great of a job they are doing and thanks again!

Great romantic day trip. The nursery and overlook trails offer a beautiful view of the farm that will make you think you've left Virginia and are now in France or Italy. The cafe offers a simple selection of fresh soup, sandwiches, ice cream - the perfect picnic lunch. The sandwiches were delicious and the view from our patio table was spectacular. Only down-side: visitors must be off the property by 4pm, so if you want to walk the trails make sure you get there with plenty of time. Trails connect to Montpelier trails which is an added bonus. Oh, and the service: prompt, friendly - excellent!

We chose the outdoor cafe at Grelen to celebrate Mother's Day with my 87 year old mother. The site is absolutely lovely, perched on a hill and surrounded by trellised paths and potted flowers of all sorts. BUT. We tried to make reservations and were told if we didn't have a party of 8 or more just to come along. We did. We got there at 11:30 and all the seats under umbrellas were taken by the larger parties. There were tables out in the full sun, and also a few with wrought iron seats that were partly in the shade of the trellis. We found one of those, sat my mother down, and went in to order. About 15 minutes of waiting in line we placed our order. The woman said the wait time would be an hour because they would be taking care of the large parties first. We waited at our table. The sun kept coming round more and more while we waited, so within a half an hour we were sitting in full sun. It was over 90 degrees and no clouds that day BTW. The wrought iron chairs we were sitting on were heating up, and were very bumpy and uncomfortable to start with. Finally 1 hour and 15 minutes later, sitting in full sun for 45 minutes, our chicken salads arrive at our table. This was ridiculous and maddening, and pretty much ruined our celebration - that this place would be so disinterested in the comfort of their guests. The tables that were in full sun had holes for umbrellas, but had pots of geraniums sitting over them. Which is about the only living thing that would be happy under those circumstances. So, even though they have made a beautiful place, they don't give a damn about the people who come to enjoy it.

A well-maintained location with a nice store and a beautiful view. But please, don't come here for apples. Billing this as a U-Pick is about the same as selling a grove of Charlie Brown-esque Christmas trees. Technically they're right, but it was a small grove of the most sparse apple trees I've ever seen. We didn't stay, and drove an hour to another orchard instead.

Hidden treasure! Prior to a weekend getaway I stumbled upon this place when I was searched for things to do in the area. In an area that does not have a lot of attractions our hopes were not high, but the quality of food was above what we would expect back home (just outside DC). We ordered off of their brunch menu and had two great salads (curry chicken and blackened chicken). Later we shared their homemade pumpkin ice cream which was delicious, we sampled all of their ice creams and each one was fantastic! The views were amazing too! We plan on going back to the area just to hike the trails on the property, pick the seasonal fruits, and enjoy another meal at the café. The menu has kid options but limited. More geared towards a romantic/quiet lunch or picnic than a family meal destination.

Another hidden gem ! Beautiful relaxing grounds, delicious lunch, helpful staff, gorgeous plants, interesting ( a bit pricey ) gift shop. I bought some plants, very reasonably priced. Will def go back and hike one of trails.

One of my all time favorite places! I have been here multiple times. The last time I went with my whole family, including my 90-year-old grandmother. There was something for everyone. The kids could run around the beautiful grounds, my grandmother could sip delicious wine on the delightful patio and my mother and I shopped and got great plant advice. We finished it all off with a truly delicious lunch. They have berry picking (in season) and great hiking trails. I highly recommend it!