The City Market

This was terrible! Ordered a grilled ham and cheese– got a cold grilled cheese with one slice of cheese and no ham. Told them I ordered the ham and cheese and she gave me back my original cold sandwich with even colder ham! Gross!

Terrible service in the mornings. Super slow and the gentlemen working seem to not be in any kind of a rush to wait on their customers. Took me 10 min to get a latte, 15 min last week to get two lattes. I gave them three chances the past three weeks, hoping that the slow service was a fluke, but each time they struck out. The food is average. It’s very convienent in it’s location for a drink after the gym, but I can’t continue to support them if things don’t turn around. The shore wood location is much better.

Mediocre and overpriced food, at best. Horrible, horrible service every time. I just watched two patrons stand at the counter waiting for their orders to be taken, while two women went about their side duties, walking past the patrons multiple times, without asking if they needed help or jumping on the register to take the orders. Mind you, one of the women was assigned to the register because she took my order there. It’s an example of blatant ignorance and lack of customer service. I’m done with this place.

If I could give this place zero stars, I would. As many reviewers previously said, this place is overpriced for the type and quality of food offered. The food is also inconsistent in its flavor. The last time I ate here I got food poisoning. (I narrowed down all my other meals and realized this was the only place I ate that no one else around me ate at and I was the only one who got food poisoning.) I definitely will not be coming here again. You’re better off going down a few blocks to Colectivo for some quality food worth the price you pay for it.

Menu on Unilocal is not consistent with menu in restaurant. Who is responsible — City Market or Unilocal

As other reviewers have observed, the Tosa City Market just doesn’t measure up to the Shorewood or Whitefish Bay locations. Food quality is inconsistent and service varies like crazy as well.
On a recent stop there, my boyfriend and I ordered just before a large group showed up. We sat down and waited… and waited… After about 20 mins I went back to the girl behind the counter and asked about our order. Without checking on anything she said testily «it’s coming!» So I sat back down for another 15 mins or so. No food, and I can see that the cooks in the back are cleaning and straightening up, clearly done with food orders for the moment. So I go back up, and the same snotty girl finally makes a little show of checking around before saying «Oh. I guess they lost your order.» Yeah. I guess they did. She offers a tepid apology, I ask for my money back and we take off.
Between that experience and the general lack of consistency, I think I’m done with this place. When I need a City Market fix, I’ll be heading to Shorewood.

Consistency. That is what makes or breaks a chain of restaurants.
I love City Market. I love the one in Shorewood and I love the one on Watertown Plank Road, but this one, which is closest to where I live, quite simply bites.
First, I have the exact same items every time. EVERY. TIME. Tuna salad on a croissant, with Swiss, cup of the creamy onion soup, and a chocolate chip cookie (comes with sammich). The quality at the other two locations is the same every time — always good, consistently the same in flavors and how they are made. Exactly the same. I have now ordered the same items from this location twice, and both times, the tuna salad and soup were watered down and lacked flavor. I don’t understand, because it is clear they have the same recipes, but the execution at this location seems… lazy. Or overly frugal because they skimp on ingredients… I dunno.
Also, at the other two locations I have NEVER been told that I wasn’t able to select the cookie that I would like with my sandwich. However, the very abrupt woman who took my order last time, when I asked, «May I please have a Tollhouse cookie?» BARKED at me, «Cookies are house choice!» OK… that I don’t get. I am paying for it as a part of my meal, so as long as I select one that is not more expensive, I should be able to pick what I want. She then told me that I was «lucky» they had so many, and she would «accommodate» me. WTF? And, again, this has NEVER been a problem at any of the other two locations.
If the food tasted the same, but the service was crappy, I would complain to management about the rude worker and continue to visit this location. Sadly, the food just isn’t as good. Sad.

I’ve had three meals here. I like that they have plenty of options and fresh baked goods. I have to agree that the people taking the orders are inconsistent in their friendliness and helpfulness. I asked what kind of cookie came with the meal and the person rudely responded whatever we have in back at the time, could be any of three options. I mentioned a food allergy and she shrugged her shoulders — didn’t write it on the slip or assure me. Thankfully, the person delivering the meal was willing to confirm that my allergen was not in the cookie. Overall they are speedy and efficient in delivering a quality product — and they maintain a nice environment.
I’ve had breakfast and lunch here. I had lunch there last week and the two of us ate for $ 20, which was a little pricy for sandwiches, but it is Tosa. I do like that you can customize your order and even combine two half items. I had the Vegetarian Chili (would totally order it again) and a half croissant sandwich (croissant was a little dry, but the sandwich was good). It came with a yummy PB cookie.
The coffee is from local Valentine, which I think is a good roaster. They have a few varieties available and it is there for you to help yourself. Sometimes they have samples of their desserts out, which you cannot go wrong with. This place is great for meeting with a group or evening grabbing a bite by yourself.
Parking can be difficult since their lot is small, but its near a corner, so street parking can be found. I would recommend this place for quality food and a warm environment — just know that it comes at a Tosa price.

I chose one star only because zero stars is not an option.
I have heard the hype about City Market for so long, and finally grabbed to-​go lunch there after a noon workout. What a disappointment. I ordered a Vitamin water, their Market salad with no bleu cheese & a devil’s food cupcake. All items were insanely overpriced, but that’s my own fault.
The salad was so sad. Literally it was greens in a plastic box with cashews … NOTHING else besides a cup of dressing. Sad. For $ 7+ that was the biggest scam of possibly my entire life. The cupcake was pretty, but dry & with barely a chocolate «reference.» I will not be back to try any of their other items.
The tables were dirty, which I only noticed because I sat down while I waited for my order to be prepared.
Overall, this was an incredibly disappointing experience. I will not be back, and I will be telling anyone who cares that they are better off skipping lunch than frequenting the City Market.

Stop in on a whim on Saturday around 10am. This was my first time in a City Market, and I didn’t check the Unilocal reviews first, which maybe I should have.
Immediately upon walking in I saw a sign that said to see the cashier for a table. I walked up to the cashier and told her we would like a table for 2. She turned around and started reading the numbers off of the signs on the table. So, I picked one and she just looked at me. So, I told her it was my first time there, and I wasn’t familiar with how it worked. She did a quick «pick something off of the wall, grab a cold drink from the cooler, or order a hot drink and we will bring it to your table.» So, we stood there looking for a bit, until she finally offered us a paper menu and suggested we sit and look over the menu and come back up to order, so we did.
Overall, I think the system is just flawed. As we were ordering the girl at the counter was literally hand writing our entire order. For drinks she grabbed a small piece of scratch paper, and wrote out our entire drink order. One drink per piece of paper.
Eventually we were able to get our order in and we waiting at the table. Another girl brought out our drinks, and yet another girl brought out our food. While setting our plates down she said, «You can get forks down at the end of the counter». Really!!! You couldn’t bring me a fork. I have to get up and walk to the far end of the building to get a fork and a napkin?
The food was just OK, and it felt a bit overpriced, much like other people mentioned.
It was just an overall awkward experience. It just seemed way to difficult to order breakfast. Fix the system and everything else may fall into place.

I’ve been three times, now, and have to give City Market a solid 3.5 stars (could be 4; read on).
I’ve only eaten sandwiches and had their «help yourself coffee; have yet to try pastries, salads and soups, but they look ‘delish.» I was given a cookie as part of the meal on two of the orders. The cookie was very good. Generally, the sandwiches are good and pretty consistent all three times, all in the $ 7 to $ 8 dollar range.
What has been unfortunately a consistent with my visits, is a sub-​par attitude of the help there. Each of the three times, the person who took my order was less than helpful and unfriendly. On one occasion, when I asked questions about a particular sandwich, I was met with a rather curt, annoyed response.
Once you order food and are (now) assigned to a table, another employee delivers your food. No problem there!
Love the coffee here and the fact that it is help-​yourself; that way, I can take half cups at a time and get hot refills. (Hate it when my coffee gets cold!). However, they seem to be inconsistent on checking to make sure that each of the several coffees carafes or creamers are still filled/​not empty. On one of the occasions that I was there, the skim milk was empty. I took the empty canister to a counter area where two employees were having a personal conversation. After about thirty more seconds of conversation, I was eventually acknowledged with a raise of eyebrows and then, with recognition of the canister, it was refilled for me.

I just don’t get the appeal of City Market. I really want to like it, but… ehhh…not so much.
As other have noted, it’s way overpriced for so/​so food. When I read the menu, I think «wow, that sounds really good». Then reality sets in… dry bread, limp lettuce, no flavor at all. And I paid $ 8? Honestly, the sandwiches here really remind me of airline food. In theory, it’s edible, but that’s as far as it goes.
I’ve given City Market several tries since they moved here, and it just isn’t for me. The parking lot at this location is small and always overloaded. Go elsewhere!

I love, love, love a good croissant sandwich and this is one of the few places in town I can find a great, fresh one. Unfortunately, the sandwich and a drink is over $ 10 and therefore I don’t splurge on it often.
I love the build-​your-​own sandwich option where I can load my croissant up with ham and tons of veggies. The sandwich also comes with a free cookie, which is nice.
We were going to a wine tasting over at Ray’s across the street, so a light meal here was perfect for our needs, but I just can’t justify going here very often.
The creamy French Onion soup was pretty tasty, but the croutons in it were giant and then stuck together with the cheese on top so that I had a giant floaty in my crock that was difficult to break down with my spoon, making the whole thing a little difficult to eat.
I had a half croissant, a crock of soup and a juice and the bill was $ 12. I could buy enough croissants ham and veggies to make myself that sandwich every day for a week at that price.

We were unable to experience City Market. I offered to buy lunch, delivered to the office, for my colleagues. They said City Market was supposed to be great, and would deliver if the order were over $ 50. We put together an order, called this in, were told «we require 24 hours notice for deliveries.» One of our coworkers then offered to pick this up, so we called again, telling them we would pick up the 8 entrees. We were told they could not do this large a carryout order, and, in addition, they did not have enough of the ingredients to complete this order. Mind you, this was at 11:30 am on a Thursday. Very disappointing, as the menu actually had a number of healthy choices. The coworker who spoke so highly of City Market threw the menu in the garbage, disgusted.

The food here is pretty expensive for only being average in taste, but if you’re just looking for a cup of tea, this is the place to go. I met a friend this week and spent a whopping $ 1.01 on a yummy cup of mint tea. Considering the other local shops start at $ 2.50, this could be a good place to meet when cutting corners.
Staff were pleasant on my visit, but I was one of a few customers. I’ve heard it’s a different story when there is a crowd.

My main reason for giving two stars is because there’s no changing table in either restroom. If you have high chairs, it seems like you’d welcome kids in your restaurant. It was a bummer being pregnant with twins and having to get down on the bathroom floor to change my toddler’s diaper. I wonder why they don’t spend the $ 50 and get one.
In addition, staff taking your order are really unsure about the whole process and don’t have great customer service skills. I saw a woman today who had waited for quite a bit of time before a staff member came out and said they were out of what she wanted. The customer was in a hurry and staff didn’t say «I’m sorry» or offer any explanation, rather she tried to just brush it off and get the whole experience over as quickly as possible. Admitting to a mistake goes a long way, and some more experienced staff members or more training would make a big difference.
Also, the food is pretty decent but way over-​priced. Sandwiches and burgers are nothing to write home about, but their cookies and soups are good.
I’ll still head there occasionally for baked goods, but it’s not worth it for much more than that.

As someone who is on a mission to find a good burger in this town, I was pleasantly surprised at City Market. The burger was pretty good by itself; however, the waffle fries were really good and completed the dish. I even took the liberty of putting a couple if the fries on the burger.
The restaurant itself has a diverse menu. I’ll admit that, overall, the food is a tad overpriced. I think that 2 burgers and 2 drinks + tax came out to be $ 21. Other than that, the only thing that bothered me is that they provide ketchup and mustard in packets and, as someone who applies liberally, I ended up with messy fingers and a sizable pile of packets on my table.

Great atmosphere, a nice place for a west sider to come have a cup o Jo and read a book.
Good chili here too.

Love Love Love City Market. The Strawberry Gorgonzola salad with chicken is fabulous and the baked goods will make anyone drool!

Disappointment. This place looks so cute and it was one of the first places I tried when I moved to the area. It’s not that the food is horrible, it’s just not great, and it’s pricey to boot! The food is pretty bland, nothing special at all.