Mustard Seed Market & Cafe

An indefatigable organic grocer that has managed to hold fast against the ever crowded market of similar healthy/​holistic purveyors (even with an Earth Fare encroaching two blocks away!), the Seed delights with a varied selection of all things natural. Though the prices are expectedly steep, the selection is admirable. Unique fruits and veggies abound in the produce section on a seasonal basis (hankering for a lechee and dragonfruit smoothie? The Seed has you covered!) and the newly renovated beer section will have every hop head and his mother racked by joyous paroxysms. Just don’t go looking for anything with unnatural ingredients – a look of utter horror swept across the face of the beer dept. overseer when this reviewer inquired about a sixer of Not Your Father’s ginger beer (kudos to her however as when I finally procured the stuff, it tasted like chemical plastic). The upstairs café in the Seed is a wonderful place as well. Try a salad with the house made beet dressing. It is a contender for the best dressing in the galaxy.

I’ve been to Mustard Seed for groceries many time and usually have a positive experience. The sandwiches from the deli are always good and sitting outside to enjoy them is a plus. However, I’ve also had lunch several times in the café and have always been disappointed. Overcooked salmon, tasteless bread, lackluster soup. I’ll continue to shop there but won’t go to the café again.

I had the vegan BLT sandwich and vegan Bloody Mary. I suggest everyone do the same. This is a cute restaurant located above a grocery store. Actually quite classy and vegan options galore! This is definitely worthy of a lunch date in Akron!

This place has steadily gone down hill. We went there yesterday for the brunch -$ 18 a person — worth about half that. We waited forever for a table for 2 — at 1:30 PM. Yet, there were 5 four top tables open in the front. Why? Because the horrendous Sinatra Rat Pack wannabe lounge singer was so loud that no one wanted to sit there! Everyone wanted in the back. The hostess was really scattered. It took her very long to seat people because she had to distribute menus, pour water, and gather silverware. Do that for a party of 6 and it takes 5 minutes. Hire some wait staff or have more than one hostess. To that point — we were half we through eating our buffet meal before we ever saw a server and got offered more than water to drink. Now, let’s get to the food. The buffet was a filthy mess. They were running out of food and plates. When you change a buffet pan you should change the serving utensils and spoon rests to keep bacteria to a minimum. Not done. You should also not let the space in the chafing dish remain empty so that the guest sees boiling water. Not done. I saw the buffet server rub his face and hair and THEN change out a platter of food. Finally the food itself– don’t try to be creative if you’re going to fail. Keep it simple and good. Things were either too rich or crying for flavor. Spring pea hummus or baby food strained peas. Not sure. They ran out of most of the frozen pre-​made desserts. Fresh fruit and yogurt were never refilled. The only good thing was the bacon and we had to wait for that (see boiling water comment). And one more thing on the buffet set up – try setting it up so that both sides of the long tables can be used. Bottom line– save the $ 18 a person and spend half of that at a fast casual place or a chain like Denny’s.

You wrote a review for Mustard Seed Market & Café
12 minutes ago
4÷27÷2016
I’ve already written a review on the grocery side (mostly positive!) but I hadn’t been back to the café in quite a while. I remembered liking it, so I dragged my boyfriend back here on a Sunday afternoon despite the fact that A) he wasn’t really hungry and B) he hates brunch. However I was really hungry and I love brunch. All that being said, we rolled in around 11:30am… a decent time for Sunday afternoon brunch but early enough to beat the after church lunch crowd. After heading upstairs, I was surprised to find a line forming at the hostess desk. Now I work at a restaurant, I’ve worked in the kitchen, at the hostess stand and as a server for many years. When I see empty tables yet a line of people waiting, it makes total sense if it’s a Friday evening with tons of parties waiting, all 20 of them wanting to sit «together» but on a Sunday early afternoon, I don’t see a reason for it. There were plenty of open tables, at least 2 hostesses standing at the desk, but literally 5 minutes would go by in between seating each party. Were the tables dirty? Nope. Were there parties on the wait list? Nope. Was there any conceivable reason why a line of people should have to wait to be seated on a Sunday afternoon 11:30am? Not from my perspective there wasn’t. We eventually got impatient with the little system they had going (or lack thereof) and proceeded to grab a spot at the bar.
Now, I’m going to try to think of a way to put this lightly… the bartender was, um… really awkward? Typically you put your best servers with the most experience at the bar, but this guy acted as though he just started serving yesterday. Either way, we ordered a cheeseburger cooked medium and a side of mashed sweet potatoes. I’m fairly certain we waited at least 30 minutes for our food to come out… probably longer. Who on earth takes more than 12 minutes to prepare a medium burger I’ll never know. What’s worse is that I paid $ 12 for said burger, plus another $ 3.50 to «upgrade» to truffle fries, a fancy way of saying fries with mayo on the side. So I’m out over $ 20, an hour of my life and my boyfriend only had a side of mashed potatoes. Ultimately, I think this place COULD be great. The space is cozy, they have a lot of great menu options, but if they can’t get the service right, I don’t see a reason to return. I don’t see myself coming back here to eat, nor would I recommend to others.

One of my favorite places, we go almost once a week. My little girl loves the grass-​fed cheeseburger sliders from the kids menu with fruit (add hummus and veggies), so good, could be an adults meal! Great value, with a drink and a side of Annie’s bunny grahams. Although not cool that the last few times they were out of them and wouldn’t substitute anything else, which takes away from the value. It’s a market, pick some up from downstairs. I love the Thai coconut vegetable soup, the living green super salad, Mexican bowl, green curry bowl, and southwest quinoa black bean burger. The salmon slider special was good, but overstuffed with something else, potatoes? not enough salmon. The place could use an update, new carpet and a fresh coat of paint, to make the atmosphere match the freshness of the food. But that won’t stop me from being a regular :)

This place earns way more than 5 stars.
Café: I don’t like to eat on an empty stomach. We started with the quinoa nachos and vegan nacho cheese. Awesome, no scallions, and the pepper didn’t bother me. I also got a serving to take home, and enjoyed that the next day, as well. I went with the Brie & 3 Cheese something. Holy fricking cow. The bread was ever so gently toasted to be crisped, but not burnt at all. The three cheese (vegan) was fantastic. Whatever the substance was (tempeh?) was solid, but not too firm, and had an excellent taste. The sandwich was perfection, and had an interesting taste with the syrup. The coleslaw was awful. I hate peppers, the taste tosses my stomach. The waitress offered me something else, even to go since I was stuffed, but no issue. She never let our drinks go under half, was extremely knowledgeable of the menu, very accommodating. Fantastic. All of the food was excellent. My friend has salmon, which she really enjoyed, the other had the Gard-​in Chick-​in sandwich, was pretty good– but plain, as they wanted it.
We shopped, then came back for dessert… We each got one, and shared. Unfortunately I made the best choice… the chocolate cake. The mousse was good, but I’m not a mousse person. The cheesecake was also good, but not as good as the chocolate cake.
The market…
Has just about everything vegan and natural you could want, the first place I have even found with Amaranth. Try the vegan double chocolate cookies… seriously, the perfect cookie.

Very good food. Lots of options for vegetarians and vegans. Have a large variety of options to choose from.

The area’s best market for great tasting items that meet the xxxx-​free constraints many of us are looking for. On top of being a great market, the café upstairs is outstanding, and can meet many dietary needs. I stopped by today only to grab lunch to go by getting a few things from the salad bar and then to the counter for a small piece of herb roasted salmon. On other occasions, we’ve enjoyed meals upstairs where my date could order gluten/​dairy/​peanut/​nut-​free, and I could order a healthy meal. The groceries are almost always far above other stores. The produce department is great, as well as most of the other areas of the store. Lots of healthy options, as well as options for organic foods and non-​GMO items. The fish is always good, and they do have areas of organic health-​care products, supplements, and beauty stuff. The prices are usually higher than you’d hope, but they do go the extra mile.

Mustard Seed is ALWAYS the best! I went in to pick up some seafood and the woman behind the counter (Mary) was so helpful and amazing. She packaged every piece of fish separately so I will be able to freeze it and not have to do it when I got home. She was so accommodating and happy to help. This is the experience I have always have at Mustard Seed and I will definitely be back :)
Ps. The tuna salad is ridiculous!

We’ve been going to the MS for years. Many years — since they had a single store down in «the valley.» Two generations of customers in our family — literally.
This has always been «the place» for organic and non-​GMO products. The quality has been quite good and the prices generally fair. Not «good,» but fair. So, here’s where I think they «are» today …
They opened a store in Solon and most recently, one sorta in «the hood» — Highland Square. They seem distracted and overloaded with the effort. Example: The bread we used to get weekly at the Montrose store is no longer available — we’re told that the bakery, which is located in the Solon store, is «overloaded» due to the opening of the Highland Square store. The vegetables are no longer so fresh as once was the case. Last spring I asked about scapes and ramps — I was told «the farmer did not send us any» — at the same time some of their competitors had them. [Hello … Did you ORDER any?]
The employees stock the store during prime time rather than before the store opens. One can expect aisles to be blocked by stockers with their carts during their busiest times. And, those same employees may or may not be helpful when asked for assistance.
The store was recently expanded and remodeled. Unfortunately the «crap isle» — which is the widest in the store and always has an employee present — «supplements» — still remains and takes up valuable real estate. (I rarely see anyone shopping there — must be a HUGE profit center!) So, the opportunity to stock more valuable items (i.e., valuable to the customers — e.g., better selection) was completely lost.
And, now we hear strong rumor that a 4^th store may be in «the works.» Westlake area? My strong impression is that the management and staff are seriously overloaded. Quality is not what it once was. It’s still a good place to go. I think «three stars» is a very fair rating.
But there really is a bright spot in all of this: We have found alternative sources for great food — the Medina farmer’s market, Schmidt’s Family Farm, Acme Farm Market [no, not «Acme Fresh Market — which is really, really bad — I’m speaking of the one on Greenwich Road in Wadsworth Twp], Earth Fare [often cheaper than MS on the exact same items and they carry more organics now], the farmer’s market in Kent, etc. The recent problems @ MS have encouraged us to look around and explore alternative sources — and we’re the better for it! :)

We didn’t anticipate finding many healthy food alternatives so Mustard Seed was a nice discovery. Great lunch — healthy and affordable. their fresh juices and smoothies are a must. and when you’re done eating, you can shop for healthy food to take home (or back to your hotel)

I don’t care what anyone says negatively about Mustard Seed — if you’re vegan, it’s like a magical kingdom in there…

Good if not great store. I’m mostly reviewing the eatery. Green curry was good but could have used more spice. Truffle mac & cheese tasty, but it was lukewarm and could have used some more texture (bread crumbs?). I like the fact that they have live music.

This was a great find while in Akron on business. I wasn’t expecting much from a café on the upper level of a grocery store but the food was excellent with many healthy options. The stuffed avocado with the coconut «bacon» was amazing! The Moscow Mule was mixed perfectly. I noticed that they have live music on weekends!

Mustard seed has always been a long time favorite of mine. I can’t lie I did neglect mustard seed when earth fare came into town and they just recently remodeled which made shopping there a little bit of a challenge but I always find myself coming back to Mustard seed.
The prices are cheaper then earth fare and with the new remodel are carrying more items which is great. I am a sucker for their vegan baked goods they are hands down the BEST! Also, they are the only grocer (I have found) that has potato salad without mayo (I HATE mayo). It honestly makes me break out into a happy dance when they have it!!! They also have umbrellas outside the exit so if it begins to rain while your in the store you can use them to take the groceries to your car without getting soaked :)

We love all their vegan options! Their menu is clearly color coded to specify vegan and vegan option items included Daiya non-​dairy cheese, Gardein mock chicken and beef, tofu and tempeh. They even have vegan milkshakes and desserts!

Meh… With TJs and Whole Foods what’s the point?
I don’t think there are any of those competitors in the area, so okay. Looks like they are expanding, and they need to IMO. Limited selection versus the competitors I mentioned. That said, you can find the basics of most categories and they feature a good amount of non-​GMOs.

I came here with my wife and some folks over the weekend and I absolutely loved all the vegan and vegetarian options at the Café. I had the tempeh reuben and it was really good. I also had the white bean soup which was also very tasty. Based on food alone, this was clearly a 5 star tasting experience.
Unfortunately, it appears that we had either a new or absent minded waiter that forgot to bring out our food or perhaps the kitchen was SUPER backed up. We were sat down and didn’t get a waiter to come over until about 10 – 15 mins after sitting. Then another 10 – 15 mins for the waiter to come back with water and take our order. Finally, it was another 45 mins before we got our food. it was quite ridiculous. Maybe it was the waiter, maybe it was the kitchen, but that really soured my experience.
Clearly if i’m up in this area again, i will return and give them another shot, but this time was disappointing.

Café review only .
We went in for lunch today. It was still pretty crowded, but our server was still nice, prompt and attentive, so there was no problem whatsoever at the service department.
We ordered the Thai coconut milk soup, grilled stuffed banana peppers and the spinach and sweet potato salad. The soup had a sweet note to it, but it was still very lovely. The stuffed pepper was spicy, garlicky, and full of flavor. The salad was very fresh and they gave us lots of bacon, which was very nice. Overall, it was a very pleasant meal.