Marcello’s Market & Deli

great selection of food but I found hair in my food twice in two weeks. haven’t been back.

super expensive. Not consistent quality. Biscuits are like pucks.

Horrible. I should have believed the reviews but it’s in my building so I had to choice. I have been going here for months, eating their mediocre food. Every day for breakfast AND lunch. Each morning, I was able to get 2 strips of bacon and pay for it. This morning, all of a sudden, the biggest a-​hole I have ever met working behind the grill decides that a ‘side order of bacon is 3 slices’ WTF!!! So you want to give me an extra piece of bacon that gets thrown away!!! I am confused. What was the point of just being a jag to a customer for no apparent reason. I will NOT be going back.

I stopped in for the first time today as it’s a block away from my office at Washington and Franklin. I was looking to pick up a veggie soup, which they had among options including chicken noodle and chili on the buffet.
One of the workers, a man maybe in his 20s, was friendly and helped me with pricing. So, I ladled a serving into a 12-​oz cup and got a cornbread muffin top to accompany it. I brought it to checkout and bought it. The girl there asked if I’d like a bag and crackers. So, she put the bag with the crackers down and turned to talk solely to another person there (her manager?).
I said at that point to no one in particular, «Okay, I’ll bag it,» and finished the transaction. Oh, well… may have been an off-​day.
The soup was colorfully full of bell peppers, corn, greens and even mushrooms. The flavor was okay and not too salty. In total, I paid about $ 4, and the location is good for me. However, some of the other items on the buffet looked like they’d been sitting there drying up at 12:30.
And it certainly wasn’t crowded like Perry’s (couldn’t stand in that line) or Goodwin’s. I may return another time when I need a little something, but I almost always bring my lunch.

I work in the building they are in, so sometimes (when desperate) I’ll go down for something quick to eat. This place is the most inconsistent mess I’ve ever had the displeasure of eating. Nothing is ever made the same way twice. Example, I’ve eaten a few BLTs from there. The first one was decent, a little mayo, toast, crispy bacon, and fresh lettuce and tomato. The second time the dude drenched it with mayo. On the most recent trip (roughly 5 mins ago) the dude didn’t even toast my bread. Who the hell eats a BLT without toasted bread?
I’ve had several other bad experiences with this place and at no time has it been enjoyable. The staff seems to be just as angry as the patrons. This says a lot about ownership. I don’t know when their lease is up, but I will be contacting building management about looking for a more suitable establishment.
Marcello’s, you have taken the last dollar you’re going to get from me.

I work in the building & only visit Marcello’s when the weather is horrible. The buffet offerings are decent but get picked over quickly. Their nacho bar was completely depleted by 12:30 today. They also have a sandwich counter with decent selection but the employees have pretty bad attitudes. Any change or substitution to a sandwich seems to be a major inconvenience to them.

Very nice salad bar & quality sandwiches. A bit on the high end side but a nice selection of quality items -‘numerous soups & different chillies. Can get a bit crowded in peak hours & wish they’d feature split pea soup more often in the winter!!! Other than that — a fine lunch staple downtown !!!

I love this place for a lunch where I can select what I want. I often get salad, veggies, cheese cubes, or some hot chicken. The coffee is good too. It’s a nice healthier option and I think it is not expensive compared to other loop lunch spots. Staff is friendly as well

I really like the quality of food at Marcello’s. They have great options for breakfast and lunch and their pricing cannot be beat. I love their breakfast options especially due to the fact that I need to stay on the gluten free side. From time to time they need to update their options, but they eventually do. I work very close to here so on a cold and/​or rainy day it cannot be beat. AND the staff is so gracious — just love them.

I spent a summer in New York working for my company and got familiar with the buffets that are in many stores in midtown Manhattan. The quality seemed decent and I’m a fan of getting to try several things at once, so it worked for me. When I saw that Marcello’s was going to have a similar buffet, I had to try it. I tried it twice and was underwhelmed both times. The food quality was questionable and the price per pound was more expensive than in NYC back then. I won’t be back.

The one day i decide to eat out i came to marcello’s. i normally bring my lunch to work, but i wanted to eat out and boy i picked the wrong place. The place felt dirty to me and the food looked very unappetizing and not fresh. There are so many good lunch places that i have been wanting to try and i picked a bad one. Very disappoingting.

Tried this place a few times now to give it another chance — and each time I walk away shaking my head and rolling my eyes. I’ve only done the salad bar, so I can only comment on that. DON’T DO IT! The food isn’t that bad, but it’s very $$$ per pound, and of course all the food they have is extremely heavy food. Today I got a little corn, a little rice and some spinach/​cranberry salad and it was over $ 10! They weight it all down with so much oil and grease, it really adds up quick. Certainly advise Mac Kelly as a much fresher and less expensive alternative. Sadly I was hoping this would be an alternative to that… oh well.
Most importantly — the staff at the register’s are always SO rude. Today I paid for my meal, and she went right on helping the next person as I stood on the other side of the scale waiting for my large styrofoam box to be handed to me in a bag. She finally looked up as she was talking, picked it up and dangled it over the register for me to take. I had a big armfull of bags in my hand already — so I asked if I could have a bag. She rolled her eyes, peeled off a plastic bag and then tossed it into the air and it landed a few feet away on the counter. Are you kidding?! I was even being nice to you. I said «wow — such customer service for small $ 10 salads!!». She just ignored me.
Never again. If you’re going to severely overcharge, at least get nice staff!

Great food and very friendly staff!
I usually stop in here for a deli sandwich. The bread is EXCELLENT and the lunch meats, cheeses etc that they use are pretty good as well. That comes in at a reasonable price of about $ 5
The salad bar is always well stocked with really good prepared foods as well but. .. It’s all pretty weighty so it’s not hard to walk out spending about $ 13 on a salad.
Down the street at Lake & Wells is a Mac Kelly’s which has a salad bar stocked full of raw fruits and vegetables that I’m able to walk out of for under $ 5 when I’m in a salad mood. For this reason I’m taking off a star. But they are different salad bars with different missions. .. I think they do what they want to do quite well, it’s just not what I want out of a salad bar. :-)
I had stopped in there with a Senior VP from my company a couple of weeks ago and was showing her the catering menu. The owner (?) stopped by and was explaining that they can get whatever we’d need and do whatever they could to accomodate us. As I said earlier, very friendly staff.
There is seating and it’s normally not used when I come in before the lunch rush. During the lunch rush it’s mainly people grabbing their food and leaving so finding seating shouldn’t be an issue.
I recommend this place highly.

Going to have to add another star (which is good!).
Quality is improving a bit for lunch. (Breakfast is still a bit sad).
Still way too expensive though.

I try to stay away from the buffet at Marcello’s, but I do enjoy their soups and sandwiches. The $/​lb buffet offers some creative dishes, but I just don’t like the thought of the food sitting out for hours during lunch. Additionally, at $ 8/​lb (I think) the buffet food is pretty expensive.
Similar to Subway, you tell the sandwich guy all the ingredients you want on top and he may even make some recommendations for you. I’ve gotten the pastrami sandwich many times with Marcello’s secret sauce drizzled on top. At $ 4.99 the sandwiches are not a terrible deal. The soup is a little expensive, but often hits the spot on if I don’t quite have the appetite for a sandwich. There are generally five to choose from.

This is what I call office building food. Its basically food thats in your office building and when its 15 °F outside, and didnt pack your lunch, you are stuck eating here.
The place is clean and the staff friendly. The buffet style table usually has hot items on steamer trays that taste like its from a canned source. Stick with the steam vegetables, meatballs (for tasty protein) and some of their pastas.
Yes, I had to hurl once while eating here, but I still came back… If I can only afford prime bar… so sad, so sad

Love it. Just love it. I love that I can get my yogurt with berries and granola in the morning. I love the Italian sandwich for lunch. I love their cheese perogies (eating one now). I love their crabcakes! I love that I can buy a whole pineapple or watermelon there. I love that they know me and greet me every time I come in.
You can get a sandwich or a salad anywhere… few places have comfort food that you can walk in and walk out with in less that 3 min. In my opinion this is a gem of the Loop lunch scene.
PS — Try the Marcello’s sauce on your sandwiches. Very good…

2014 Update: It’s just bad, man. All bad.
Okay, I’ve given this place more chances than my last ex-​boyfriend! (sorry, I just had to use that line). Seriously though, I’ve been here maybe 10 times and have been disappointed an equal number… the only cool thing about this place is that it is located in the lobby of my office building — you can’t beat that.
The food is all low quality, the produce is not fresh, if there is a vegetable in any of the dishes, chances are it’s canned or frozen. The chicken is some seriously poor quality and they display their generic brand cheeses in the deli case like it’s something to be proud of!
The prices are too high for what they’re serving. The one thing I’ll praise is the staff, they’re all very friendly and helpful.

It helps that I work in the building where this place is located. I’m just saying, sometimes location itself gets 4 stars. And now that it’s getting chilly out, I’ll be going here more and more often.
Other than location, the food at this place is pretty good too. They always have a huge selection, which changes daily, and their sandwiches are yummy! Oh, and their peanut butter chocolate brownie bar thing is to die for! It’s heaven wrapped in saran wrap. Mmmmmm… Me want one now. Prices are reasonable as well.
I love to give out 5 stars for places that rock but I just couldn’t do it for Marcello’s. I’m not sure if it’s a lack of motivation in the staff or if they just don’t have enough staff but it felt like it took them forever to make me my Italian sub. Maybe it was the time of day I went or that I was so hungry I became impatient. I don’t know, alls I remember is that guy behind the deli counter moving way to slow…
I would totally go again and again and again. I don’t think the place will get old to me, really I don’t, since they are always changing what they offer! Overall a great place!

I’m not yet sure how I feel about Marcello’s. My coworkers and I are pretty much die-​hard Alonti’s fans since we were so accustomed to it at our old building. Marcello’s may definitely take some getting used to, but it definitely seems promising. They have a salad buffet and an assortment of pastries in the middle of the place, a deli counter on one side, fresh fruit and other treats on the other side, and pots of flavored coffee galore near the front entrance.
I bought myself a breakfast sandwich this morning, and while it’s obvious that breakfast isn’t their forte, it was decent. I’ll probably try a couple other offerings in the future to see whether this Canadian-​born establishment is one I will frequent.
LATER TODAY: The guy behind the deli is slowly becoming my best friend. I came back for lunch, and he recommended turkey, pastrami, and swiss on rye to me– and it’s deliciously melty and flavorful. I would add a half star, but since I can’t, I’ll just wait to see how it goes and re-​review later.