I am perpetually frustrated with Lunds Marketplace in Uptown although I regularly buy my groceries there. The store is conveniently located at the heart of Uptown, across the street from the temple of heritage Sons of Norway, a stones throw away from Lake Calhoun and next to the Midtown Greenway bike trail.
Lunds Marketplace prices are high and it seems they are always trying to devise ways to make them higher by substituting one higher margin product line for a less expensive item. They will happily push a prepackaged $2 burrito rather than the same thing from Resners for $0.79 (and you'll find the same at Kowalski's for $0.69 or 2 for a buck on sale). If you are looking for clab meat flakes to put into a salad, they will barely stock Morey's $2.89 package while trying to push a $3.29 variety form Louis Kemp at is inferior in quality. And if you point this difference out to the managers, they jack the price of Morey's crab meat flakes to $3.49.
Overall, the quality of the product at Lunds Marketplace is better than Cub, Rainbow, Jerry's and even Kowalski's (not as good as Whole Foods or The Wedge). The cheese counter at Lunds is the highest selling counter in the Midwest with all the attention it is given by cheesemonger Patrick Moore. The deli is substantial but not always consistent -- the frank and beans and cheesy cheese items sometimes get runny and really gross. The meat counter is good with nice cuts of meat and a variety seafood. You will find attentive counter men and women who can assist and make food recommendations unlike your other mega-supermarkets or Target SuperStores.
They also have a sandwich counter that makes handmade cold meat and cheese as well as panini sandwiches named to honor neighborhood character. This sandwich service is useful for those about to set out on a walk down to the lake for a picnic.
What I like most about Lunds is that the people working there are accessible and willing to help and it is in the neighborhood. My grade really shold be halfway between Good and Great with Lunds and I could have rounded up not down but I am just a little frustrated with them right now.
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