Balducci's Food Lovers Market

This grocery store is nice. The isles are a bit narrow for the amount of customers that come to shop. There is a diverse selection of items. Some of the appeal here is a variety that you will not find in the big brand grocery outlets. The hot food bar was looking skimpy today at 1 pm. Maybe it will be replenished soon? I could not wait. For that, one star missed. The checkout process is friendly and fast. Parking is tight in the shopping center but a little bit easier on the far end of the strip where Balducci’s is located. Carts were scattered around today for some reason.

I want to start off by addressing what many other reviewers have commented on and have given the store a lower rating because of it. Yes, this place is pricier than what you may be used to at other stores but you pay for quality and at the end of the day if you are shopping at Balducci’s this should be a non-factor. For me personally this isn't my everyday grocery item store. This is a place that I utilize for special gatherings and events because I know its outstanding quality and I want to provide that to my guests. It doesn't matter if you're looking for meats, poultry, seafood, wine, produce or ready to eat meals you will have an amazing selection to choose from. You may even find it difficult to decide. I know I have to walk the store several times making sure I have considered all my options before purchasing. Usually I just get a little bit of everything and enjoy making a sampler. You will see from my pictures the place is clean and organized. The staff is polite and helpful and the store offers plenty of parking.

The best place to get a special occasion cake. Prices for cakes were on average $27-$35. Last year I had the Belgian chocolate mousse (or something like that) which had a sponge chocolate cake on the bottom later and a delicious chocolate mousse on the second layer covered with a dark chocolate glaze of sorts. Delicious! This year I went with a classic strawberry shortcake, also very good but very sweet. The icing was a light whipped icing and the filling had fresh strawberries in it too. And it looked beautiful!

Just moved to this neighborhood and have an empty fridge, so needed some staples and dinner. The prepared food was expensive, but I found a soppresata frozen pizza for $7.50, and it was delicious. StoneIPA for under$11 was a bonus, too. Staples like eggs and milk are steep compared with regular stores, but the Seafood and aged beef looked amazing. Good place to get quality for a special dinner. Back to Safeway for bread, cereal, milk…

April 2021 - 3.5 stars Ordered a sushi platter from catering. Decent sushi (minus the tuna) and excellent customer service. Note they do not include wasabi or ginger with the sushi. When I arrived, a staff member kindly directed me to the catering desk at the back of the store. No one was at the desk even though I arrived at the chosen pickup time (6:00-6:30pm). This is where I advise you to choose a pickup time before 6pm, since that's when the desk officially closes, even though the pickup times extend to 7pm. I asked the nearest staff member and he quickly fetched the catering manager for me. After verifying my order, the manager quickly got my order from the back (it was chilled). I was pleasantly surprised at the container they gave me. I had previously ordered sushi platters from Asian restaurants and the containers were the "good for one use" type. Baldacci's container had a hard plastic bottom with a sturdy clear top. We could've reused the container if we wanted to. We had ordered the sushi Special Platter (96 pieces for $99) but we were 8 pieces short. We emailed customer service with pictures, and they messaged back apologizing and refunded $10 to the credit card. Very generous. The sushi itself was relatively average except for the tuna. Sadly, the tuna had a strong metallic taste and wasn't fresh. Very disappointing. The eel portions were a little less than average and the salmon portions were a little more than average. The Brown California Roll was a bit strange (still good though) and loosely rolled together. The Sweet Potato Roll was surprisingly delicious but also loosely rolled together. The other sushi was good, but nothing spectacular. Overall, would probably order from here again, but not the sushi