Hy-Vee Food Store

This was my first time at the Hy-​vee! Not only did it feel like I was back in Washington but they had everything I missed from back home. All of the staff were happy, upbeat and possitive. They also have a military discount which is almost unheard of at a grocery store! I will be bringing my business back here from now on. Sorry Dillons and so long! I’m ecstatic to come back and do more exploring!

Pros: fairly new clean store
Cons: when I go to the checkout mostly during the evenings I have trouble getting service. It seems the cashiers would much rather chat amongst themselves then help the customer.

I was very pleased when this place opened. It’s 24 hours and was only a couple of blocks from my old apartment, so i used to walk there all the time.
The deli food is awesome and everybody is helpful and nice. I’ve never had a bad experience here. The Chinese is so-​so. I wasn’t real impressed with the noodles, but the peppered duck was really good. They have a large area for seating, so it’s actually a nice place to eat.
On the downside, they aren’t always real good about checking the expiration dates in the cooler of the health food section, so beware of that. But the selection is decent and they offer bulk items, which is nice. They’ve gotten better about checking the organic yogurt and will often put a discount sticker on the ones that only have a few days left, which is nice if you love Siggis as much as I do.
My only other complaint is that the lunch meat in their deli is pre-​sliced. This makes it all dry and nasty. But they’re usually happy to slice something fresh for you if you ask and if they didn’t pre-​slice everything they had left in inventory.

Be careful with the Chinese food manager there. He seems have temper-​control problem. Don’t be shocked if he yells at you for no reason. I would never go there again.

Great store! I LOVE the Caribou Coffee stand. Delicious milk chocolate mochas and blended drinks. If I’m going to Hy-​Vee for groceries, I try to go around 4pm because Caribou’s food/​drinks are half-​price during happy hour 4−6pm M-​F!

I no longer live in Manhattan, but came back in town for a last minute surprise bday party. I called Hyvee less then 24 hours prior to needing a cake. Not only did I have amazing customer service from Rob, Steve (the cake artist/​decorator) did an absolutely phenomenal job. The cake was exactly what I requested~ it was beautiful. I would recommend the Hyvee bakery to anyone needing a beautiful cake, that’s delicious. Thank you for the wonderful experience Rob & Steve!

My favorite grocery store in Manhattan. Very clean, friendly, helpful staff and wide isles. I love that! Dillons, the other big grocery store in town might be a bit cheaper on some items, but the wide isles, clean store and awesome customer service are worth it!

Pros: Friendly, helpful staff and clean organized store. It’s become my regular grocery. OF the items they do carry, they’re usually in stock. Military 5% discount is nice. Prices are better than the on-​post army Commisary.
Cons: The reason why I was compelled to login to Unilocal to review Hy-​Vee was the fact that I’ve had one too many items that weren’t fresh. Due to the limited shopping options in my little Kansas town, I’ll keep going to Hy-​Vee, but I’ve gotten in the habit of looking at the freshness dates very closely. I’m not sure what is the problem with their inventory cycle, but one shouldn’t come home with a new gallon of milk and find that it expires in 2 days. I just realized that a pack of frozen biscuits I bought a week ago is already past the due date — frozen food that had only days left while still in the store; that’s unexcusable.
At all the deli counters I’ve been to in Chicago, you request what you want and they slice it for you. At Hy-​Vee, they have pounds and pounds of pre-​cut meat and cheese spread out in the case for display. It’s fanned out in such a way as to expose the maximum surface area to the air. It may look fancy but the meat dries out quicky. Before it’s even put in the package for you, the edges are all dry. I’ve solved this by requesting my items sliced fresh, but on more than one occasion, I was told they were out, they actually pre-​sliced their entire inventory (which also eliminates the option of requesting a certain thickness in your slices). Yesterday, without solicitation, the woman serving me actually said, «I just sliced the meat that’s out there a few hours ago.» If their concept of «just sliced» is a few hours of sittiing out unwrapped, even in a cooler, I can only imagine that on slow days that meat sits out all day. I recommended getting there in the mornings. Of course I doubt they just throw away anything at the end of the day.
Now I just dig as far back into the coolers as I can to find a reasonable expiration date. Maybe I’m spoiled from the big city (Chicago) where inventory turn-​over is higher, but I expect a half-​gallon of orange juice to last more than a week in my fridge after bringing it home.
There are many major brands they don’t carry. I’m a major coupon user and I usually end up bringing home half or more of my coupons because Hy-​Vee just doesn’t carry some very standard fare.