Idylwilde Farm Inc

the Best place to find Spelt bread, people’s Bread, 6 different varieties of spelt Bread 4 seed, honey oat, common, spelt rolls, and a vegan multi-​grain spelt loaf, they even have a cinnamon raisin made from spelt makes incredible french toast highly recommend the people’s bakery spelt bread products at Idlewild farms.

We got a gorgeous Christmas tree here! The young men helping with the trees were helpful and polite, and secured it safely to our car roof for us. While there, we popped in for some food shopping and found everything we needed — fresh veggies and fruits, freshly baked bread, meats and a great selection of other goodies. Although we went just for the tree we now will definitely return for many things in the future!

Quality has gone down and prices up! Very little in the way of organic or local produce. It looks beautiful with no taste. Really miss the old Idylewild.

I’m at Idylwilde twice a week or more. It’s expensive, but they have the Jessica’s bread my family adores and the produce is of very high quality. Avoid the packaged items (chips, bottled tomato sauce, condiments) which are really overpriced.
There are two irritations though. The first is that when I buy baskets of figs or strawberries or peaches or other tender fruit, there always seems to be overripe (or in the case of figs, hard as a rock, never to ripen) fruit hidden in the bottom layer. This has happened enough that I make a point of trying to look at what’s at the bottom of the basket, even though I was once yelled at by a staff member for doing so.
Second, the staff has a tendency to block the aisles when restocking — at times parking in front of displays so that people cannot get to them, or parking side by side in the aisle so that it’s difficult to move around them. The place is crowded enough without these huge carts in the aisles. I understand they need to restock, and one of the appeals of Idylwilde is that the displays are always full and beautiful. All I ask is that staff be aware of what’s going on around them so that customers can move through.
Still, I will go regularly, spend too much money, and enjoy everything I get from there.

This place really has it down. Great produce that is always fresh and the prices are great if you take in the better quality you receive. There is never a long wait they always seem to have enough staff. They have recently added beer and wine

I often stop in several times a week, mostly because my commute takes me past it. I live in the area and have seen it grow from a more modest farm stand to it’s current state.
It feels like a quality place with all of the hard to find in the suburbs products and range of produce and meats/​fish but it has a very standoffish SWPL vibe, from the $ 20/​gl orange juice to $ 9/​qt chocolate milk imported from Belgium and $ 6/​ltr water from Italy. They even had $ 98/​lb smoked salmon at one point. So yea, all the prep’d foods are silly overpriced but if you pick-​n-​choose carefully, the rape at the checkout doesn’t feel *that* bad. The prep’d foods are uniformly bland; the soups are horrible; the cheese selection isn’t actually that broad but it’s OK. The in-​house baked goods are actually pretty mediocre. I marvel at the fact they can take stale bread, pan toast it and sell it as fancy croutons for $ 12/​lb. Brilliant marketing. The workers are nice enough but it never feels ‘warm’ & friendly and I do think they hire the entire Metrowest population of Asian (are the workers Laotian? Cambodian? Viet?) people. And don’t even get me started w/​the customers like the women who decide to park their carts in the aisles and start chatting or the classic ‘let me stand over the green beans and spend 20 minutes looking over EVERY.SINGLE.ONE before I put any in a bag; some of us actually want to get in and out reasonably quickly. The workers seem to spend a huge amount of energy making sure the display of the products is always pristine. If a bottle of X was purchased, you can be sure someone will be around in a couple of minutes to adjust the display back to ‘fullness’.
So, good marks on selection but serious negatives for most everything else.

I got home and noticed a bag of pirate booty was marked $ 8. RIP OFF. This has happend several times where items were marked absurdly high. Yes the selection of fruit and vegetables is great but it’s honestly not worth the price. I go to Market Basket and get triple the amount of food for the same price. Go out to eat, it’s easier and cheaper than shopping here.

I’ve been coming here for years and dig Idylwilde. You cannot even compare the freshness and variety of their produce to a supermarket. It’s a really cool place to just browse around because there’s always a lot of yummy things that you wouldn’t have had on your radar coming in.
Some of these reviews mention issues with the staff. I’ve never had any but then again I don’t think I’ve ever really dealt with anyone on a personal level. How much help do you really need in a place like this anyway? I think some people are just super high maintenance.
There are a couple of negatives as there always is anywhere you go. This whole thing of being closed on Tuesday is really lame. I can’t count the number of times over the years I’ve gone there and then realized it was a Tuesday and left grumpy. It’s also pricey… now, I’m not talking a little pricey, I’m talking about stupid pricey, ie $ 14 for a jar of tomato sauce. But I’d always rather support local business and pay more. People forget that small businesses pay more for things and therefore have to charge more.

I love this place. It’s definitely more expensive, but actually worth paying for. When you buy food there, it’s going to be fresher and better quality, so it tastes better and lasts longer in your fridge.
If I’m having company or bringing a dish, this is my go-​to place for fresh fruits and veggies. They also have lovely flowers and plants, and in the spring, nice healthy baby veggie plants. And wine and cheese!
I wish I could afford to shop here for everything, but alas.

I expected to go here finding a cute, barn-​like, vintage feeling store. Although the inside tries to feel like a farm stand, the giant signs explaining where everything is from (chile, Texas, florida) take away from that local vibe. I found myself near several sales people who didn’t even acknowledge that customers were in the store and was almost bumped into by one without even a glance upwards.
Got some prepared foods… eh, pretty bland… ok, very bland.
Checked out the cheeses… lots of goat and sliced deli cheeses but other than that nothing too spectacular.
The flowers… I had found a review about the flowers, and although they were beautiful, I didn’t find them any more exciting than your average grocery store flower display.
Needless to say, although I love exploring new places (hell, we drove an hour and a half to wegmans in a blizzard because we were bored), I can gladly cross this one off my list.

Sadly, this place is in serious decline
The soups are terrible, the meat goes bad before the date on the package, the dairy and refrigerated section does not keep food well, and then when you have to return something they give you a super hard time and you have to defend your case.
Recently, I bought some things there that were bad when I got them home and I decided not to return them because I didn’t want that look of disgust and disbelief. $ 12 down the drain.
Asking for something special is no fun either. If they have to go out of their way for you they sour pretty quickly. And the sons of the owner have this entitled and unhappy look on their faces. Unpleasant. And most of the Asian and other minority workers there seem more like indentured servants.
I do go there for veggies still and probably will when I need certain things but I won’t buy dairy or refrigerated items, deli food or meats from them anymore.

Magic! This place is a total treat for any foodie year round. The premade food is interesting but is sometimes dull in flavor. They have a good selection of wine here too now.
The old timer staff are rude and look miserable. They have some new employees who are much nicer! Too bad the employees don’t look happier and more customer service oriented.

Not in love with this place anymore. It’s always so crowded, and they have very few free samples. Parking is a hassle, and the prices are outrageous. Even the soup selection is pretty meh. My friend and I got one the other day and it was boiling hot; like it needed 20 warnings to be careful and we waited over 30 minutes for it to get to sort of tongue searing boiling before we dared taste it. I don’t think I’ll make the special trip to shop here going forward, and that makes me sad.

WOW– what an amazing market! The cheese and flower section could distract me for hours. My friends and I ordered a small deli platter from Idylwilde Farm and picked it up 24 hours later. However, when we arrived the platter was not ready, and we had to wait 20 minutes for them to prepare another one. Usually I would be the first to complain or Unilocal about my experience, but the manager quickly pulled us aside to apologize. They even made us a medium sized platter and charged us the price of a small… we saved $ 20! This review is only based on my first visit, but I’d have to say that I’m a distant fan.

What happened to this place? Just threw away $ 30 on fruit and none of it was edible… I mean really bad. Recently I visited my old neighborhood and was looking forward to shopping at Idylwilde and was so disappointed. I don’t mind paying a little extra for excellent food but had to throw ALL of it away. So sad to see this place go to pot!
Save your money and go somewhere else!

Superb produce, wonderful deli, extravagant cheeses, syrups. oils, baked goods, plants, sweets, annual and perennials. The management is always available for questions or to place an order for a party being planned. We do not find the prices high since we will always pay the price for top quality items.
This place has been around forever and has a proven track record.

I have been going to Idylwilde Farm since I was young enough to be in diapers with my mom and grandmother. In that nearly 30 year span, Idylewilde Farms has produced the best produce I’ve ever consumed. Honestly, I can’t think of any farm or store that does produce quite as well. I don’t want to spread rumors, but the farmers here might have done a deal with the devil because I don’t understand how else they could possibly produce such superior produce. Seriously, their fruits are always two times the size of those found elsewhere, juicy, and fresh. Blueberries the size of quarters, nectarines with juice that drizzles down your chin with every bite. Same goes for the vegetables. You pretty much don’t even have to look them over, just throw them in a bag and go.
They also have a great selection of dairy products, including cheese and yogurt. I don’t eat meat but I hear from others that is also good. They have an interesting selection of nuts, frozen entrees and ethnic cuisines. Their prepared foods are also yummy if you’re looking to pick up some pasta salad for lunch. And their selection of baked goods — OMG. We got an apple pie from there once that came from another local company. I have never before or since had pie that good. I could seriously spend like an hour circling their baked goods section drooling.
With all that said, I have to reduce them from 5 stars to 4 for two very important reasons.
1. You get what you pay for in life, and Idylwilde Farms is no exception. Their stuff is very pricey. I like to go here for special occasions or if I need specific things I can’t locate elsewhere (e.g., I came here recently looking for crystalized ginger). But I could not afford to shop here every week.
2. The parking lot is packed and the store aisles are very narrow, which requires being thoughtful about those around you as well as patient. The problem is this place always seems to be packed with entitled people who clearly think their time is more valuable than yours. They have no problem wedging themselves in your way, hitting you with their cart, monopolizing sections of the store. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been there and politely said «excuse me» to either move myself out of someone’s way or try to reach for something only to be intentionally ignored or scowled at. Seriously, I cannot think of another store that has such rude customers.
So be prepared for both of these things if you shop here. Just remember that by the time you check out you’ll have a bounty of the most amazing food ever.

I love this place so much I could just spend the day wandering around! The food, the flowers, the stationary, even the way things are displayed here is beautiful.
I was able to purchase all of the flowers for my wedding here! Yep, that’s right, for like $ 130 I got enough flowers to fill the many various little vintage vases I had set on each reception table and enough for my sister to create 6 bouquets with (including my bridal bouquet). There was such an amazing variety to choose from that I ended up getting a bit of everything! And some floral shops told me that it I wouldn’t be able to have peonies at my May 5^th wedding… pppshhht! I knew I could count on Idylwilde Farms!
Thank you Idylwilde for always having such a beautiful variety of merchandise!

I’m a Libra so I weigh the good and the bad and see how the scales tip. With Idylwilde, the scales are dead even. There’s a lot of good, there’s a host of bad.
First, the bad (let’s just get it out of the way):
Idylwilde isn’t the place to pinch pennies. For the same quality produce available at Whole Foods and even Market Basket, you’ll be paying a 25−50% markup. The staff isn’t friendly and, at times, somewhat incompetent. Some of the cheeses look like they haven’t been rotated out of the cooler in a while. And, parking can be a hassle if you got at peak times.
Now the good:
The produce here is reliably fresh and just good. You might have to dig through a piles of radishes at other stores; but, here, you just pluck from the top knowing you’re getting good picks. The cheese options here are broad. Everything from a Humboldt Fog to a locally produced cheddar. That’s the other thing: you know you’re supporting local farms and businesses when you purchase items here. You don’t have that same confidence when you’re shopping at Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. Lastly, the flowers (when they’re in season) are pretty spectacular. Maybe it’s because they have shorter lead times, but they always look freshly cut and last for weeks.
At the end of the day, you have to be in the mood to spend. If you’re loose with your change, make a trip here.

A Foodie’s Heaven!!! The Best Produce in Massachusetts.
The Napoli family pours their blood and sweat into this store — literally. They even get up every morning at 3am and ride into the New England Food Market handpick all of the fresh vegetables and fruits for that day. This is why their produce is top of the line and cannot be beat.
In addition, they also have an actual farm in Acton that supplies fresh, local, seasonal produce and flowers for the store. Freshness is Idylwilde’s top priority, and lots of Boston’s restaurant chefs only shop here for that reason.
On top of produce, Idylwilde also has a wide variety of Italian specialty foods and baked goods. An extensive collection of fresh breads, olive oils, balsamic vinaigrettes, and cheese selection to die for!
The other thing so unique and special about Idylwilde is that is a family business that has been running since the early 1930’s. There’s an old world charm to the store that you can’t find anywhere else.
Idylwilde is truly a foodie’s heaven and food destination — you have to see it to believe it!!!