Market of Choice

Scored on some great Painted Hills grass-​fed beef deals. Hard to beat $ 3.99/lb for ground beef, or $ 4.99 for stew meat. Don’t believe we’ve ever seen it cheaper than that anywhere else. We’ll be back!

Love this place! It’s small, so don’t expect the selection of Whole Foods or New Seasons, but they have everything you need + more. Clean store & friendly staff. Great local selections. Cheaper than New Seasons and Fred Meyer’s organic section.

I loved Market of Choice in Corvallis. This location is just sad. Tiny and claustrophobic inside. The selection is terrible. They have very little space but still waste it on homeopathic crap.

Friendly employees and the food choice is very good. It was my first experience at this grocery market and I will be returning.

Decent selection of sushi and to go items but every time I’ve been, I’ve been disappointed in the produce. I tried to go and get fresh berries or some kind of fresh fruit and couldn’t find a single thing that looked edible. The selection at Albertson’s the day before was better. The Market of Choice in West Linn is better in terms of overall selection but not hot and ready to go items.

My Torts professor calls this the «food museum,» but I’ve been told by others that it’s a convenient alternative to New Seasons.
I can see both perspectives.
Yes, it is an alternative to NS, in the sense that I can buy the same organic cream-​top yogurt here for less $$.
But, it’s also a food museum in the sense that food just sits here!
I pulled in to this trainwreck of a parking lot on my way home to buy some prepared food for dinner after a particularly busy/​exhausting day at school. Everything looked so stale and dry as the guy behind the counter was packing it up!
Oh, and that guy behind the counter — maybe you could crack a smile? I asked how to best reheat the food I was buying and he was like «Hmmmm, oh, ummm… good question… zap it?»
Thanks.
So I bought that, and a breakfast burrito for the next morning.
Next was the check-​out counter girl experience. WOW. Maybe you could stop being obnoxious/​flirting with your coworker for the 2 minutes it takes you to complete my transaction? Literally, every time her coworker would walk by, she would shout at him in this shrill voice «You’re ignoring meeeeeeee!!!» (Side note — is this how kids flirt now?)
Look, I get that this is probably a minimum wage job and she doesn’t give two shits about it, but I worked in food service for below minimum wage for YEARS, starting in high school, and even when I wasn’t getting tips, I had more pride in my work. Damn kids these days.
So, you’d think after that I would just leave and my bad experience would end there, right? Hahaha you’d be so wrong, because that breakfast burrito was SO DAMN BAD — holy crap. I took one bite, and immediately tossed it. I hate wasting food but that was just inedible. The rest of the food wasn’t good either, but was at least edible.
Somehow, I am still giving 2 stars… I think I’m just thankful that I didn’t get into an accident in that god-​awful parking lot.

I would give this store a four star but I can’t get over how rude the butcher was to me. I don’t typically shop here but it’s on my way home from Tryon park so I go there occasionally. I think they have a huge selection of items for the space and I think they have good sales on items I would normally buy. I normally do all my shopping at New Seasons. Any ways, I went in around 7:30 and requested some ground chicken which annoyed the butcher because he was in the process of tidying up the meat area and I messed up his perfectly mounded buckets of ground meats. At first I thought perhaps the meat department was closed, but I asked the check out person how late the meat counter stayed open. Apparently, it was still open but the butcher, I guess, didn’t feel like doing his job or something. When he gave me my 2pds, (which weren’t 2pds — I noticed this when I got home) basically didn’t say a word to me after I thanked him. He proceeded to slam the meat container on the counter to re-​mound it. It was such a weird experience — so weird that I’m writing this review.

My only qualm with this location is I always seem to have to wait in line or at the line for a cashier. No big deal, though.
The produce seems fresh, the meat has always been good, and the beer selection is very nice. I return here often try out new beers or pick up ones I know are good.
Parking is sometimes an issue near dinner time when Chez Jose next door is busy. I believe the only real option is to park across the street along the street or behind the gas station and then walk over, sadly.
Other than that, it is a fine location with a good selection and pretty good service.

Most of the food selection is not that great and highly expensive. The deli is alright, but again way over priced. The wine and beer selection is awesome with great prices. The meat and vegi selection is the best. The customer service is great too. I’m just saying you go for a box of wheat thins and their 4 bucks where I can go down the street and get a box for 1.99 at the local Burlingame Freddy’s. same with a lot of items.

I love the MOC. Being a new transplant from Eugene, I’ve needed to explore my new surroundings.
With the cost of Whole Foods, Zupans, and the Seasons place, I had to find something a little friendlier to my pocketbook.
This is where the MOC comes in. I am very familiar with the store (I’m pretty sure they originated in Eugene) and love their bakery. I have quite a sweet tooth and especially love their beautifully created cakes.
I was happy to find this «mini» MOC close to my new home. They offer all of the amenities of their big brothers, the butcher block, large beer and wine selection, VERY good deli with pizza oven and dinner options I wish I had the talent, skill and time to make, and, finally, my bakery of cakes.
What it lacks in size is made up with nice service, «reasonable» pricing and convenient location.
Thank you, MOC. it’s beginning to feel like home.

So I take back what I say about their produce always being exceptional. I pretty much avoid the produce section these days– the quality of the food, especially the fruit, is never great. In a pinch the other day, I was forced to pick up a pomegranate from MOC. Cut it open and it’s black inside, completely rotted. Now if this had just happened once or twice, I would just shrug it off. But this has happened so many times now that I should have known better. So although I love the store as a whole, be cautious in the produce aisle.

I have no major qualms with MOC. They have high-​quality food and a decent selection. However, their staff seems so unethused, the hot/​cold foods leave a lot to be desired, and the prices seem higher than at other markets.
However, they’re small, and an easy way to get healthy food quick if you’re in the neighborhood.

The store was clean, organized and prices were comparable to Whole Foods or New Seasons.
I ordered a ½ sandwich on gluten free bread and they gave me a whole sandwich and didn’t charge me the extra $ 0.50 they said they charge for Udi’s (written on the order form)! Not sure if that was a normal thing or what but I was a happy camper. The sandwich was delicious and ingredients were super fresh. Definitely worth $ 5 — Thank you!

This is the smallest Market of Choice I’ve ventured to. I stopped by here on my way to Tryon Creek. The prices are expensive and the parking lot is a bit crowded. I was a little disappointed with their selection of items.

I discovered Market of Choice when getting to/​from Lewis & Clark Law School, and I’m so glad that I did. I probably wouldn’t have had a reason to venture to this area otherwise.
I popped in after night classes more than once to grab something for a quick dinner, or that was on the urgently-​needed grocery list. For obvious reasons, it doesn’t have the same selection as a much bigger grocery store, but the offerings here seem a lot more thoughtful. Every aisle had something I wanted, rather than being some place where I could go around the perimeter and be okay with just that.
MoC has also become my go-​to place to buy a pie to bring to family gatherings. They could almost pass for homemade, and they’re very delicious. (I was admonished the one time I went to a family gathering without a pie, because it had become something my common law Father-​In-​Law looked forward to eating.)
The wine selection is pretty decent, and very well organized. Not quite as cheap as Trader Joe’s, but not so expensive that I think «Ehh, I’ll just get wine at TJ’s.» (Safeway and Zupans could take lessons on wine pricing.)
Yes, it’s a little spendy, but there are a lot of good finds here.

Friend: «I don’t go to Market of Choice. It’s too fancy.»
Me: «It isn’t fancy. The food is not very good. It’s just expensive.»
Oh Market of Choice. Now that I live nearby, I go fairly often. But even once in a blue moon is much more often than I want:
Quality & Selection: not better than standard Fred Meyer/​Safeway/​QFC range
Service: With few exceptions, the staff acts like they are doing me a HUGE favor by being open.
Convenience: It’s nearby, it’s open until 11.
Beyond the terrible coffee and bad sandwiches, occasionally there’s a sale on strawberries or humus, and there is usually a spot in the parking lot…

I’ve been on a roll with reviewing grocery stores lately so I thought I’d write a review for this one.
I lived a half mile away from this Market of Choice for 3 years, during law school. I’d take the walk up and down the hill each day to pick up fresh produce and dairy; I did my shopping for toiletries and whatnot at the Burlingame Fred Meyer down the road.
Big pluses:
1. Friendly staff. I got to know most of them by name, and they recognized me on sight. Not necessary but nice.
2. Decent prices. Some items were cheaper than the prices at Fred Meyer’s down the street.
3. Fair selection for a store of its size. It’s not a large store, but it has a little bit of everything.
4. Awesome deli items. Fantastic, gourmet-​quality – and at a huge variety, especially considering that this location is an average-​sized organic grocery store.
Now that I live across town, I really miss this Market of Choice – they carried my favorite brand of skyr for the cheapest price in town, and my favorite brand of store-​bought salsa (I was never able to find a comparable salsa at a supermarket in town, so now I just make my own).
The only reason my review isn’t ⁵⁄₅ stars is because of its selection apart from its deli/​meat counter. It is not a large store, it does not a have a massive selection of items that you would find at a large supermarket chain. This has NEVER been an issue for me, because their selection is more than adequate because their purchasers obviously take the time to buy quality items for their shelves. However, if you are looking for that super exotic must-​have item that is only available 3 months out of the year from a small town in Brazil, I’d call ahead first and make sure the store carries it before stopping in.
More people should make a point to go here, it’s infinitely better than New Seasons and its locally owned and operated, with good prices and solid customer service. If you live in the area, take the time to come here first and support a local Oregon business.

Really cool store. Like a Trader Joes or New Seasons Market. Great deals and lot’s of choices for dinner. Super friendly staff. I love the Deli Counter and Really, Really Love the Bakery.

Dag yo, this place gets me every time. I live too close by to escape its grasp.
As a grocery store, this place is most def lacking. The produce is there, it’s organic, and it’s fresh, but they might not have what you’re looking for, even though it’s typical fare at any other, lesser grocer. In my case, I’ve come and left wanting for cilantro as well as plain old white onions on separate occasions. They have a meat counter, you can buy organic, grass-​fed chicken breasts and fancy sausages and so on, but they are spendy and very specialized. I love that they work toward sourcing locally.
As a store that happens to sell food, however, this place is pretty effing splendid. Their deli counter is stupendous, their pizzas are delicious (and they sell the raw dough if you’re into that sort of thing), and the baked goods (oh bread I love you) will make you drool just walking by. The wine selection is really variegated for such a small place too.
This place is expensive. I spend a lot more time at MOC than I ought, so I make sure my dollar gets me stuff that’s worth the splurge.

Recently Princess’ dad has developed a thing for Umpqua oats. They’re little containers of rolled oatmeal with dried fruit, nuts, etc. in them that you pour water into and nuke in the microwave. He feels all virtuous eating them, and they’re made in Roseburg, I think.
They are rather hard to get a hold of locally for any decent amount of money. Market of Choice is one of the many many places we went looking for them. We used to live down the road from here in Sellwood.
We didn’t find the Umpqua Oats that he craved (we ended up buying them online from Longbottom Coffee), but we were reminded how much we liked this store’s little wine, produce, and deli sections. Good stuff in here, people, good stuff. Our daughter was particularly excited by the snack section… she saw a lot of interesting crunchy things to put in her lunchbox.
So, we bought her some.
It’s not as big a store as the one in Eugene, as noted by other reviewers, but it still has a nice vibe and a focus on local products… it feels like a friendly neighborhood market, and that is cool.
The parking lot is somewhat challenging, but doable unless you come at the «hot» times, like during lunch or right after work.