Chris S.
Yelp
It's Uptown's first "full sized" grocery store and probably long overdue considering how many people are buying those $2k/month condos around Center City. Despite my review, you'll most definitely be impressed with the store itself. Clean, modern, and very sustainably built, it makes a statement that you're getting quality and responsibly sourced groceries. My visit today could have been much better, and hopefully things will improve over time.
I pulled into the parking deck and first saw a list of prices for parking. You quickly find out that Whole Foods validates parking with purchase but I do not recall seeing these signs until after you get into the parking deck itself. The store might want to talk to the property manager about putting more signs up before you pull up to the ticket machine in order to prevent weary people from backing out of the lot. Just half an hour is listed as $4, but it's free for two hours as long as your cashier validates your ticket.
As I walked in and taken aback by all the cool stuff inside, I naturally started taking pictures of some of the store features (to post here!). This being a new store, the floor was seemingly overrun with staff keeping things perfect. Normally I wouldn't critique this, but twice when I pulled out my phone to snap a picture, I was approached by a staff member and asked if everything was okay. After the second time of assuring them I was just impressed with all the amenities, the first associate came back and asked if I was a vendor. I told him I wasn't and he then just walked away from me while I made my breakfast at the hot bar. I noticed while I was making my plate that he was still looking at me from near the deli area. Needless to say, it was an uncomfortable experience.
Breakfast was good, maybe a bit pricey for what it is, but quality stuff. Authentic maple syrup at the bar for French toast, hot eggs, bacon, grits, etc. All the things you would want for breakfast are here. They even had the salad bar open for people wanting to go ahead and make their lunch. I assume a lot of the banking employees will stop by here in the morning and grab lunch early in order to avoid the rush.
I decided to try the coffee bar, which appearance-wise is beautiful. I'm not extremely picky about my coffee and I have never tried 'nitro' cold brew so I went with that. $3.50 for a 16oz coffee was again, pricy, but I figured it had to be good if it was from Whole Foods. I took my first sip once I got to the car and was disappointed. The barista apparently didn't stir in my simple syrup because the first sip was 100% sweetener, followed by unsweetened coffee the rest of the way. Like I said before, I've never had nitro coffee but my cup tasted overwhelmingly like, not kidding here, nail polish remover... no question it tasted like a synthetic or cleaning product... If I had the cup in-store I would have asked for a refund. I just don't see how this could be the 'right' way to make any coffee.
So with a weird staff experience, and an expensive coffee that went into the trash after three sips, I really hope they improve. This morning's visit just left a bad taste in my mouth (literally).