Market Fresh

Edit: I was being mean my first time around. I think I was having a grumpy day. I went back to Market Fresh because i was seriously in the mood for avocado and the avocado tomato salad is quite tasty. I really did make a satisfying salad today. Their items are still a bit greasy and saucy, but I put everything on my big ole pile of lettuce so it acted as dressing. They now get a thumbs to the side slightly pointing upward. I just returned from Market Fresh and feel like a Negative Nancy. This negativity was spurred by a couple aspects.1. I just spent $20 at Market Fresh.2. I wasn't that happy with the food at Market Fresh.Now, I am logical enough that I know that fruit is heavy. But, I can not believe it is THAT heavy. I literally just got reem doodled because I wanted a nice fruit salad. Cut fruit is expensive anywhere (even Target), but I feel like something is wrong with their scale because that was not that much fruit. Anyway that is reason number 1.Reason number two is that Market Fresh has some decent lunch options. But, everytime I visit Whole Foods where the hot food bar has a similar pick and choose set up, I am always impressed with the quality or taste of at least one item. Nothing here stood out. A lot of the food was dry and not that tasty. The salad bar options were lacking. Honestly, I love hot food and salad bars, but I wouldn't return here for even one item.I am going back to Umma's Lunch Box which is both a better deal and much more yummy in my tummy. Market Fresh gets a disappointing thumbs down from this gal.

I was actually looking for the restaurant opposite this one in the Food Court for a deliberately early brunch, but this one opposite was all set up -- opening at 0700, and looking so well stocked, well staffed with friendlies. There were two cooks constantly going in and out refilling pans of food. The presentation tables were about 8 - 10 times the spaciousness of the one opposite. I do not mean to pass judgement on the "one opposite"... I intend to try that one as soon as possible. This Market Fresh had several incentives, as well. A bit of a discount for first-timers, an inclusive drink. [I do not know if the drink is always included]. The choices were so plentiful. Ha, I ended up buying two pounds instead of the one pound for $7.95. I selected the vegetarian noodles, but I found it oily -- so would not recommend it. I was very impressed with the chunky avocado-tomato combo. It was great. The freshly sliced mango was a treat. The short-ribs were good, as were the pot stickers. The huge chicken [egg] rolls were good -- I like the crunch of the bamboo shoots or bean sprouts. They even offer soft-boiled egg halves -- of just the right texture. The California roll sushi were excellent, as were the fried shrimp. I should have refrained from the chicken wings, as they were BBQ -- but as an Asian, I love the wings. Yes, I was very pleased with the food.

I can't decide between 4 stars or 5 stars. I ended up with 5 stars because although it is definitely not a fine dining cuisine type of place, it is fast, efficient, convenient, and so darn fresh, just like the name. I love the idea of this salad bar. At first, I thought it was just salad, which kind of sucked to me. However, once I walked to the salad bar, I was in love. There are so many things offered in each bar. The salads come with the usual iceberg lettuce chopped, very fresh looking, nothing old at all. Then there's the more spring garden mix (my favorite!). I love it because it does have all the works. There's even more--spinach and some other power green. Next to that, oh gosh, there's shrimp, cucumber, carrots, red onions (yummm) more vegetables, and more toppings! I'm in salad heaven because the ingredients are clean, and very fresh to me. Lots of fresh grilled chicken breast and every kind of topping you can imagine. Left of the salad bar (which is in the center) is the hot foods. I appreciate that they are vegetarian friendly because I am on Lent. They have tons of hot foods from mac & cheese, to chicken parmesan to pastas to fishes, and then vegetarian dishes. It is truly endless! Following that is more cold food like mac salads, friend mushrooms, fried potatoes, vegetables in vinegar, and even further down there is my favorite: Black Bean Noodles!!!! Ahhh, they are cold, tasty, and so refreshing. I am in love because the flavors are so fresh off of sesame and there are mushrooms, zucchini (or cucumbers, I'm not sure) in them. Yum! Across from that is the other side of the salad bar. Yumm to chick peas, several options of cheeses, croutons, and all the other stuff you can think of. They have so many dressings to choose from too. My favorite is the asian sesame which is perfect to me! They have lots of vinaigrette, caesar, ranch, you name it! I love that when you check out, it is SUPER fast. Seriously, it takes 30 seconds or less for you to weigh your food and pay. It is $6.99/lb... I think it's a good price, but I do wish it was a little cheaper because I once got the wrong salad and couldn't throw it out so it added extra weight to my total. On a good day, I will spend $5 on a to-go box which fills me up. On a "my eyes are bigger than my stomach but I'm starving because I missed breakfast" day, I will spend roughly $8. Not too bad if you ask me because I get to design my own salad, dress it up, and enjoy other sides if I decide to. Definitely peak times around 12:00-1:00PM where the rush sometimes gets crazy and you feel like you're standing there too long as you are unsure of which toppings you'd love to accompany your greens. Love the fresh food options, love the flavors of things, and it is so fast! I appreciate that they have some Asian food, but of course, they cater to their main audience, American food. I hear their salmon is good... I'll have to come by when it's not crazy and try that for myself. Yumm fresh!

This place is okay. I go here often for lunch being I work across the street. Service is okay. However, recently they took away the bacon bits. I asked why. Lady told me it was costing too much and people were abusing the bacon bits. Abusing the bacon bits? Are you serious? How do you have abuse a bacon bit? I won't be going here anymore. They're losing a lot of business. Bring back the bacon bits, and I'll bring back my business.

I eat lunch at this location about twice a month. They always have the same items in the hot bar, but there is a good variety including two vegetable assortments. Quality is consistent with on exception. They have salmon fillets, which sometimes are fine and sometimes have a foul, overly fishy taste. It's a gamble, and since you pay by the pound you can't come back if you find something you like. I don't like to waste food so I never take very much of the salmon which makes me sad. It's also one of the items they have trouble keeping stocked so it's a bit puzzling. Anyway, as for other reviews about being overcharged or having food inspected, I've never had an issue. One key observation is that the "happy hour" with somewhat lower prices is not worth the effort. I went for a late lunch once right at the 2:30 start time and the food bar was nearly bare. Very little to choose from.

The last time I came to a Market Fresh a crazy person on yelp started spamming me with messages about corn. The hot food looks meh, salad bar has a decent selection of veggies and sides. Not my protein though, I was hoping for some chicken or ham, but they only had imitation crab and some fishy smelling baby shrimp. The owner wouldn't let me toss my trash in the trash can. I was sitting right there and got up to throw my garbage away and she shooed me away from there, arms waving and all, and pointed me towards the public trash cans halfway across the atrium. ...why???

I come here every now and again as my office is nearby. They have a pretty decent salad bar. They have peas. I love peas. Bonus points. They also have mango. Double bonus points. Besides the salad bar, they have lots of other food options (pasta salads, chicken, fish, rice, etc. etc. most of them are really good. especially the noodles. i love noodles). They charge you by weight. It's about $6.29/lb (or somewhere around there). My plates usually costs less than $6, but it's because I get a lot of heavy food, i guess you could say (mango, etc). Not too bad...Friendly workers. Fair amount of seating, tho sometimes tables fill up. Pretty noisy. Otherwise, okay.

This place is awful. If you want a salad or fruit you are good to go but don't bother with the cooked food here. I got breakfast today at 8:15am. I told the person they were out of bacon and she she laughed and said "oh well, haha". The hash browns were inedible as they were over cooked and hard as a rock and filled with grease. The pesto egg cup overcooked and cold. The potatoes were overcooked, cold and too spicy. Everything I got was AWFUL.I went once before for lunch but I was late so I thought maybe I just missed the good stuff b/c the salmon was overcooked, cold and inedible. Now I know that all their hot stuff is cooked poorly and left sitting for too long. I miss the Market Fresh in the tunnel of One Union/Rainier Square-they did a MUCH better job than this location by far. I will no be going here again, it's food poisoning waiting to happen.

Very low quality food. General Salad bar, but be careful of food poising. The meatballs and the teriyaki are prone to cause foodborne illness. Many many times I've been sick eating here. The cost is high. Don't tip! They have three tipping levels at this place, AFTER the $11.99 per lb price, 20%, 25% and 30%. If you click one by accident, you just paid $15 a lb for your lunch. The staff do nothing to help. Tipping at this place was never there until Covid. There is no seating at the place, but out in the food tables at the Columbia Tower. If you are careful, you can get a salad for less than $10 here. Might have a hair in it though.

As a worker in the area I appreciate access to fresh salads at a reasonable price. Love the Korean Aunties.