Mariano’s

Heinously bad checkout people. Still. And whoever manages the front end needs to get a clue. You dont keep a line of 5 people waiting at busy times while someone runs around price checking a $ 2 item. Baggers pay no attn to what they’re doing. Eggs at the bottom, etc. All show. Has that Northshore snob appeal that the neighborhood seems to go for but give me Jewel or the Northfield store any day.

I can no longer go to this grocery store. I have avoided this place strictly based on how badly they bag groceries… Please retrain your staff!

Wow, I’m so surprised to read the other negative reviews about this location! Let me be clear about my specific review and mention we come for the prepared food and a few odds and ends.
I live in a house of picky eaters, and most recently we rediscovered Mariano’s. Out of desperation to come up with new food ideas that don’t suck, it turns out my boys love the $ 6 chicken pot pie. Did I mention the pie feeds two hungry tummies? Yep, that’s a good value. Though the hot food bar is at its prime and freshest during the lunch and dinner hours, I totally dig the pot roast and bbq ribs. I’ve had the fried chicken from one of the other locations, and it’s really tasty. Here, it’s just A-​OK.
Overall, the store is enticing with the giant cheese department, bakery, and dessert stop. They have one of the largest frozen pizza options I’ve seen, and the variety of olive oil is mind blowing.
So…that’s the good. The unfortunate thing, is that the prices for some of their everyday items cost less at Jewel, so we end up shopping at both places. The hot food bar is hit or miss when it comes to freshness. But, it seems to be the reason we keep coming back.
There’s live piano music while you shop. Customer service is forgettable and nothing to brag about.

EXPIRED FOOD!!! EXPIRED FOOD!!! You have been warned. I love this place but recently it has been a huge let down. It’s so damn convenient because I live down the road from it so I won’t stop shopping. They seriously need to do something about checking old food because I’ve found 4+ items that were expired in Nov 2015. I have to check the expiration dates now which is kind of annoying when I’m in a hurry!

Friday night is the time to go here! It’s very quiet, the staff is very attentive and there is no jostling of grocery carts! Irv at the Oyster bar is a delight to chat with, and the oysters were delicious! I will be back for the Tuesday Oyster special!

I’ve placed several catering orders with this Mariano’s in the last few months, and they do a GREAT job. I need to feed 45 people, who all want different things, on a very tight budget. The catering department is very helpful in selecting the right assortment and quantity of foods so that everybody is happy. The staff that I order lunch for frequently requests Mariano’s. We’ve tried every sandwich they offer

Maybe its just me but I don’t think the people who work here like working here. Very seldom does an employee greet you or offer something to make you feel good about shopping there. The other Mariano’s that I frequent on Willow and Sanders has the same tone. The only positive for me are the butchers, they seem very pleasant and knowledgeable. In fairness I have not talked to the bakery folks or the cheese folks. The hype about having Mariano’s in Northbrook is over for me.

I agree with most Unilocalers and that this Mariano’s is just plain BAD! The employees here are untrained, unfriendly, and unapologetic. Management needs to wake up or else this’ll become just another Dominic’s.
Parking for one is a pain in the arse and once you walk in the «greeter» is, oh wait, what greeter?
The produce selection is not the freshest or cleanest. On my last visit, there were green beans strewn on the floor with no one in sight to clean it up. Thank god it wasn’t Poop like one of the other Unilocalers posted. The meat selection I have to say is pretty rock solid. Lines at the cashiers are hit or miss. Some days you’ll wait long and no one gives a flying frack and others, well what am I saying, they still don’t give a u know what. Where the heck is management to look up and see that lines are forming? Pathetic. I was so looking forward to the hype of another Mariano’s opening up but this place needs a do over and badly. Back to Sunset, Whole Foods, Traders, and even Jewel!
Bye Mariano’s, it was never a love affair.

Came in just to grab a bite to eat on the go. Food was nice and hot and the store was clean. The parking lot is very small and is shared with other business. Not one person that worked there said hi. When we checked out had to wait cause only one cashier. Maybe it was a off day but I will be back.

Dear Mariano’s– I keep trying you but your service is horrible. I can only assume this is from poor management. Employees seem crabby. They don’t speak or even acknowledge you when checking out. When it’s busy and new registers open, they don’t take the next person in line — it’s whoever cuts out first. Sorry, but I’m sticking with Whole Foods. Way better organic selection and much more professional, knowledgable employees.

I was excited seeing the store being built since my office is right across the street. It’s very convenient for me to go there for lunch. At first glance Mariano’s seems to have everything you’d expect from a premium grocery store. They have a salad and a hot food bar, bbq station, fresh pizza, and even an oyster bar. However the quality and service just isn’t even where they need to be to be a premium store. In my opinion it’s really just smoke and mirrors and I now refer to Mariano’s as a glorified Jewel. There are a couple of things I do like. They make their own sweets and caramel corn and cheese corn. The floral section, fresh bread section, coffee, gelato. You can even buy something from their meats/​fish area and they will throw it on their grill and prepare it for you for free (although I haven’t found any need yet). I have found the deli and prepared foods to be low quality. The salads behind the counter look overdressed and unappetizing, service is indifferent. There’s nothing unusual on the shelves. And prices aren’t great. Truly the best grocery store is Sunset Foods. They just seem to get it. It all starts with quality products and amazing service. Sunset delivers on all fronts. I wish more grocery stores would follow suit.

Understaffed. Disinterested staff. Overpriced oyster bar. $ 27 for a dozen oysters in a grocery store? I can get 2 dozen at Bob Chinn’s for $ 28. Happy hour special is a joke at $ 1.75ea.
Organic produce section too small and quality varies.
Salad bar containers were strewn about and had various salad bar items on top of or next to them. Any staff or managers care or paying attention?

This Mariano’s is so convenient, and has that brand spanking new allure. I had super high hopes that I could find everything I need in this store. It does have its redeeming qualities — unique bakery items — most of the bread we’ve tried is pretty good. The specialty cookies were just ok. I don’t love their deli meat selection (no boars head or Applegate) not a fan of their house brand (Roundys). It is also perplexing that they do not carry some of the same items that I can find at the Mariano’s on Willow. For such a large store I would expect the produce department to have a bigger variety (and better quality) — every carton of strawberries I inspected on a recent visit had a moldy culprit :(
Now for the good — the floral department is amazing! Great prices and good quality flowers. Still love their fresh squeezed juices, smoothies, gelato & Vero coffee. Almost every soup is delicious. Large prepared food section, Sushi bar is pretty good for grocery store sushi. Appreciate their loyalty perks — purchase x coffees, smoothies, gelato, sushi & get one free.
I’ve found the cashiers and baggers to be pleasant and appreciate that Mariano’s hires and trains people with special needs.

I will drive out of my way just to have the opportunity to shop at this Mariano’s. Love it.

I’ve been shopping at the Mariano’s on Skokie Blvd. twice a week since they opened. Although I like the items they offer, some of their staff seems to be completely untrained. Today at the bakery, when I asked for my regular artisan ciabatta sliced, the red-​headed employee put the entire loaf in the bag unsliced. I repeated that I’d like it sliced, so she removed it from the bag and sliced it in half. I was perplexed and pointed to the slicing machine. She placed each half on the machine and sliced away. Usually, they will slide the bag over the entire sliced loaf while on the machine shelf and it slides perfectly into the bag. Today, she removed the pieces by hand (gloved) and placed them in clusters into the bag. This squashed the bread because the pieces were clumped on top of each other.
I’m a sushi fanatic and, surprisingly, they have some great rolls. The Bori Bori and the Sensei are my favorite. You learn which employees make the best rolls. For example, there is a young girl who works there who has refused to make the Bori Bori roll for me… twice. When asked why, she told me it’s too difficult to make. This is completely unacceptable. If you don’t like to make a certain roll, find another employee who is willing to help.
The biggest and most consistent problem is that the baggers are either untrained or simply don’t care. There is no rhyme or reason as to how they put items in the bags, which is usually soft on bottom and heavy on top. Inevitably, my produce is ALWAYS bruised, the deli lids pop off and food spills inside the bag, and don’t even get me started on the eggs. Today, there was a hole poked in the avocado I purchased and the milk carton was on top of the already squashed bread. As much as I like the products they offer, I cannot continue to shop here because of the frustration.

I’m glad someone else had a bad experience at this store. I had a horrible experience here, that I felt wasn’t appropriate to share, but now I do.
When the store first opened, I like a robot, went three days in a row. Impressed, wowed. Wine, hot bar, sushi, bakery, beautiful.
Then it happened. I walked into the store, and right at the entry way, I thought someone spilled pork chops, meatballs and gravy on the floor, but quickly it was confirmed: someone had gone #2, on the floor in the store. It’s like a car accident, you can’t help but look.
There are some special needs people who live on Skokie Blvd. The culprit.
Anyways, the employees were all standing around in awe, I don’t blame them.
But 2 minutes became 15 minutes, and that’s when I realized that this was my last time at this store.
Managers, cashiers, nobody took charge. It just sat there. Granted, it was disgusting, I thought to myself, if this happened at Sunset Foods, this situation would be corrected in seconds.
And that, my friends sums up my experience at this store. And this is why I won’t cheat on Sunset ever again.
I understand the store was new at the time, and that this situation was out of there control, I get it.
If someone from the management responds I’ll be happy to erase this, I just want to share it with my fellow Unilocalers.

Geez… Mariano’s locations are popping up all over the place! We stopped at this one since we were nearby and it was similar to their other new locations (though much smaller than the one at Willow and Sanders). We had brought our ad from the paper and were hunting down our first deal and hit a roadblock… the price was higher than advertised. We quickly found someone to ask about it and he found a manager who pointed out that the ad was not valid for their store but they would honor the price (it definitely said participating locations on the ad, but really? One location in Northbrook is on it and the other not?) So just be careful to watch out for that but they were very nice about it and honored the prices that were on our ad. Would go back if I’m in the area and need a grocery store.