FreshTake Grocery — Local services in Augusta

Day 2 of their soft opening. Wasn't impressed. Mind you, I went in for a few kitchen staples before our 2nd "big winter storm" to pick up a few things to help with asynchronous learning days and telework.

I briefly looked at the sushi, hot pasta and pizza bar, and bakery. I also browsed their meal prep section. I spent most of my time in the produce and in the aisles, looking to see what this store consisted of. I did not have time to try any of their unique amenities such as the beer and wine bar.

From what i saw, produce was lacking. I wanted a bag of cut kale, but all they had was turnip and collards. Thankfully, they had a few fresh kale bundles, so I got that instead, even though I was hoping for less work. I looked at their pepper selection, which seems to be something I check at every new grocery. I was disturbed to see that besides bell peppers and the small bagged sweet peppers available everywhere, there were no haberneros, no Serrano peppers, not even jalapeños. I actually always check this area since I tried experimenting with Jamaican cuisine, hoping to find the scotch bonnet somewhere locally. But this one had none of the above.

I absentmindedly grabbed at a baguette for tonight's planned soup, but it was hard as a rock and priced at 5.99. I did notice they carried challah. The rest of the baker's products looked unappealing or at best, uninspiring.

As I went through the aisles, I noticed that it has most of what you would expect any other Augusta grocer to have, at a mark up. They also have their generic product line carried by some company called "Food Club" or something similar. I'd rather stick with the generic food /grocery brands i am familiar with.

All in all, I know this is only Day 2, but I was expecting an expanded Fresh Market type of selection, and I was let down. Once I saw the price point, I bought even fewer items than I anticipated. Their international aisle consisted of mexican, Asian and a few kosher items. I didn't browse thier meat department, but it seems like the Kroger down the street has a larger selection, with the exception I saw pig ears at Take Fresh, if that's your sort of thing.

Hoping they turn this around and give Augusta what we are looking for. Beautiful remodeling, but the lack of organic and innovative, specialty items left me disappointed. Honestly, I'm sad writing this review because of the money that clearly went into this concept. Who's shopping for your selection? Fire them. Take some lessons from Fresh Market or even better, the Wegmans grocery line northeast from us and expand that into something Augusta has never had. ...

One star just because it’s clean and well organized. WHAT A FLOP. It was advertised as a “new shopping experience”, I thought it would be a substitute to Whole Foods or something in the line of Sprouts. What a disappointment. It’s like a Walmart dressed up in more expensive clothes, but with the same low quality products offered at higher prices. The pizza selection is SAD, that is not pizza…looks more like some ingredients thrown on a tortilla. Whole Foods has great pizza for the same price. Sushi is all full of mayo, Starbucks instead of a local coffee shop, all items are the same low quality sugary stuff and there’s no organic or healthy variety. The bread was still frozen and we put it back and left. Sad, was expecting so much more from this place, but they couldn’t do anything more than copying what’s already out there. I’d rather go to Publix.

AND to the lady who made the comment about wanting Whole Foods but complaining about prices: Firstly, you are biased since you’re an employee. Secondly, I would gladly spend more for Whole Foods, in fact, I gladly shop at Sprouts or at the local markets…but what I will not spend more money on is the same selection of unhealthy products I can find in any other store, and that I don’t consume regardless 😉Quality over price. Thirdly, If you consider those to be lots of fruits and vegetables, maybe there’s really a local cultural problem with basic nutritional choices.

Also, the beer and wine selection lack something to stand out too. I really don’t know who selected the items in this place.

LOVE HOW ALL THE 5STARS ARE FROM PEOPLE RELATED TO THE...

I've been looking forward to this store opening and I was not disappointed! I appreciate that I can feel like I'm shopping somewhere elevated while still finding the products my family likes. The store is still new and working out some kinks but that's to be expected. All the workers were fantastic and it was genuinely some of the best customer service I've had in Augusta.

I am excited to keep shopping here. I'm ready to explore even more of the options they have available. I didn't get around to the smoothies or fresh juices but I did talk to people who had them that said they were really good. The pasta and pizza looked great too. I never want to cook when I'm done grocery shopping so I can see myself grabbing a pizza or some pasta on the way out of the store.

Getting a store like this in Augusta is amazing. This isn't a massive chain that is just copy and pasted so it could take some time for everything to settle and to find what works and what doesn't but I have high hopes for Fresh Take!

Oh, and the prices were very reasonable (as much as current grocery prices allow). I got a weeks worth of groceries for under $200 when the same list would have likely cost me between...