The store is huge (74,000 sq. ft.), clean and well thought out. You can shop, eat in and take prepared foods home for dinner. It definitely provides one-stop shopping. Sadly, I was unable to buy a rotisserie chicken because none were ready. But they looked great. Larger than the Mariano's I visited in the South Loop, it can serve as the only grocery store you'll need.
The floral department is vastly improved over Whole Foods. It offers a large variety of flowers and plants.
When Whole Foods opened in Orland Park in the fall, navigating the store on opening day proved difficult at best. Actual shopping was easily accomplished at Mariano's due to the sheer size of the store.
The eat in area at Mariano's is larger than Whole Foods and is better placed. This "cafe" sits in the center of all the different food stations making it more user friendly.
On opening day, Whole Foods passed out recyclable bags to all who entered. Mariano's gave away bags to those with a coupon. Because my friend and my daughter live in Frankfort and New Lenox respectively, they had the needed coupon cut from a local paper. We residents of Orland Park received no coupon therefore no free bag.
Opening day at Whole Foods saw all check out lines in use, accommodating long lines; Mariano's on the other hand did not need all available lines.
True to form, I picked the wrong check out line. Check out took close to 20 minutes, not due to long lines, but due to a much too inexperienced checker. I'm all for helping and being patient with new workers but do we really expect a checker in a store like Mariano's to not know what garlic is, or roma tomatoes for that matter? My young checker also did not know the difference between yellow onions and cipollini onions, therefore charging me for the cipollini's at a $10.00 over charge. And because she didn't know how to void the error a second visit from a manager was needed. Honestly, I don't blame the girl but I do question the wisdom of putting her out there when obviously not ready.
Whole Foods is expensive but if organic is your thing, it's your place, Mariano's offers organic but a large variety of non-organic as well. Whole Foods fills the need for quality meat at a premium price whereas Mariano's offers quality at more affordable prices.
I will return to Mariano's because the pros heavily outweigh the cons. And because it meets more of my shopping needs. You make your own choice. It's just great that now we have the choice to make.
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