Zagara’s Marketplace

I hate to knock a locally owned place, but I’m just not impressed. The prices are high, often the food is close to its expiration date, the layout is poor and the checkout time can be long. It looks convenient if you’re just buying liquor (I don’t drink so I don’t know). The pre made food often looks bad and I’ve heard friends and family refer to some of it as WPF… for those who don’t know, it could use some seasoning… or flavor.

I really like this place. Somewhere between a Whole Foods and Hinens. They have a great meat selection to include lots of Ohio local beef. The produce section is fantastic. They have a lot of those things you don’t find at the standard stores without paying Whole Paycheck prices. Their international and seasonal section is great. Lots of BBQ sauce selections as well as hot sauces. Their store brand pasta and sauces, cooler in the back by the bakery, is great.
The prices are in line with GE, but much less then WF. Selection much larger than TJ,

High prices are fine thanks to a great produce selection. There’s a wide vegetarian and vegan selection in the frozen foods department. The have surprising selection in things like cooking condiments.

Just moved to Cleveland in the last week. After checking out Zagara’s, Heinen’s and Target, I would easily say this is my favorite grocery of the three.
Heinen’s had great selection and variety, but the customers were extremely rude and the staff for the most part unfriendly. When I had read the reviews previously about the rude customers and unfriendly service I thought it’d be fine, but it really made the experience far too unpleasant.
Target had good prices, but less variety and the product wasn’t quite up to quality, but the cashiers and employees were quite nice.
Zagara’s was the best between price and quality and as an added bonus the staff has always been friendly (I’ve gone in about 4 – 5 times by now).
I think overall, Zagara’s is the best choice for grocery around this area of Cleveland Heights as far as I can tell. I will say it is definitely not Wegmans, but it’s a nice family owned grocery store and I’m quite fond of it already.

This is a great Marketplace! When I first pull into their parking lot, I always notice someone tidying up, and making sure that it is litter free. And I never see a bunch carts in their lot either.
The inside of the Martketplace is always very clean and orderly. And, the employees there are always friendly, and are always very welcoming. Furthermore, this store has a nice selection of produce (including organic), meats, seafood, dairy, wines, and baked goods.
My favorite item sold here, is the Challah bread! It is originally baked at The Stone Oven. It is so fresh and delicious! Finally, make sure to sign up for a «Gold Card» to get savings on select items, weekly.

I love Zagara’s! Produce department is great. The staff is always super friendly and helpful. After becoming my regular grocery store, some of the employees started to recognize me and remember what I previously ordered. I have even gotten onto a first name basis with some of them!
The prices are a little higher but that is because that are family owned and operated, many people don’t realize this and will try to compare them to their big box competitors (Dave’s or Giant Eagle). I don’t mind the slightly higher prices simply for the fact that I know my money and taxes are going to stay in the community.
And to address the reviews complaining that the neighborhood is dangerous, I live less then a mile away and have never had any problems.

Zagara’s Marketplace has donated some grocery and bakery items to the residents of a local apartment building. Grocery was ok but bakery packages were expired. Ten days past the expiration date! Today’s the 20^th; bread is marked «Use by 1÷10÷15.» Can provide pics of the packages with the expiration date clearly marked upon request. This is how they give back to society, by getting rid of expired food. BEWARE.
Their Bavarian Pretzel Sticks (outdated) don’t taste even close to the pretzels. I’m talking about the flavor. Just a good old white bread of a different shape and name. Oh well. Will likely avoid doing shopping there altogether. Will stick to Dave’s or Giant Eagle.

Very good fruits and vegetables, but way overpriced everywhere else. Also watch out for expired packaged foods. They will often sell things that are expired or very close to expired. That fact makes me wary of the meats as well, wouldn’t be surprised if they relabeled the expiration dates.
Another thing to keep in mind is that the neighborhood is rapidly detoriating. Tons of hoodlums wandering about. Two people were murdered just down the street recently. Lots of fights and such too around. Stay away if you are wise.

Really good produce. Fresh ground peanut butter. Fresh high-​quality meats. Good bakery. You can get your bread sliced as thick or thin as you like it. Good selection of canned & frozen foods & deli.
I love that this store is big enough to have a pretty wide variety of stuff, and small enough that it feels very local. I also love that it is a local independent store, not part of a big chain managed from hundreds of miles away. The owners are often right here in the store, and are involved in the community.
You can see from the produce and the stuff on the shelves that they cater to the local community. I asked if they could get a particular type of tea I like — and they did! This is my go-​to grocery. Not the closest to me, but my favorite.

Prices are often at least 30% higher than other grocery stores in the area, and the quality of any non-​brand-​name items is low. The product selection here is much lower than other stores in the area as well. I only shop here when I need something in a pinch, but often leave with a broken bank on even the smallest of orders. Do not recommend.

I was feeling a little salty because I could not, for the life of me, find a grocery store that I liked in Cleveland! Marc’s only accepts cash or checks and doesn’t have a ton to choose from, Giant Eagle is too far of a drive to justify the prices, Whole Foods is great but expensive and driving all the way up Cedar sometimes takes forever, Aldi’s is inexpensive but very limited, and Dave’s is close but expensive for what you get. Things were getting dire; I was going to CVS and spending my «extrabucks» on overpriced food items. I needed a solution!
One night a couple of weeks ago, after looking at Christmas lights at Nela park, I found my answer! I had heard of Zagara’s, but hadn’t passed it before, and was under the impression that it was a relatively small store. I like to get all of my shopping done at once (if I actually do it… whoops) so the prospect of Zagara’s didn’t appeal to me. When I actually saw and went inside the store, I was very surprised. It was not what I expected at all! It’s large, and definitely holds its own against other big-​name grocery stores. We ended up getting some dinner ingredients and vowing to come back.
Since then, I’ve gone back to Zagara’s to do my grocery shopping. My favorite part is probably their produce selection. It doesn’t hurt that my bill, which is normally about $ 75+ if I go to Giant Eagle, was closer to $ 50. The checkout people were very friendly, though admittedly not in any rush. I used to be a cashier in high school and while I understand the value of a super speedy checkout, I would rather have friendly service, and Zagara’s provides that.
I’m planning on coming back to Zagara’s to do all of my grocery shopping (dare I say on a weekly basis? Might not want to get too ambitious…) Hopefully it keeps living up to the great impression it left on me.

I much prefer shopping at an independently owned grocer over somewhere like Giant Eagle or Walmart. I do the majority of my grocery shopping here because it is convenient (just a few blocks from my house!), has an awesome selection of items that I have trouble finding at Giant Eagle, and everything is very fresh. I do supplement my shopping trips here with trips to Whole Foods or Aldi’s, because they do not have the best organic produce selection and surprisingly, Whole Foods organic produce and faux meat offerings are often much cheaper than Zagara’s.

I’ve reviewed this place before. Ciarra, the register girl spent 10 whole minutes with one customer. With 4 people in line it took her 16 minutes to get to me. The service is very very slow. The produce and meat quality is good. Better than Dave’s but its a toss up between the two. Whole Foods is still tops but the prices are high. I like the walk-​in beer cooler at Z’s. Most people get irritated by the «would you like to get a Zaggara’s bonus reward card?» No. Jesus. Just get the line to move quicker. Nobody cares about your card!

Decent beer selection — Check.
Liquor store — Check.
Had some things that I couldn’t find at other locations like Olive Brine (for dirty martinis).

I really like small, independent market chains over the big box regional chains. This market certainly has a neighborhood flavor to it. That being said, it is really limited in many ways. I wish it had more fresh fruit choices. I wish it had more low fat/​low sodium healthy choices. I like their combination meat/​protein deals. I like their wine selection. Service is friendly. With a few tweaks, could be great.

This is a great local independent market. We live down the street, and use this as our go-​to market.
We do supplement the shopping with «big shops» at Costco and/​or Giant Eagle once a week or so. There are some items that they don’t carry, but there are a lot of items I’ve found here, that I haven’t seen at other markets.
The meat department doesn’t have a counter, but there is usually someone available if you need help finding something, need a special cut, or need a larger piece cut up. There is a nice fish counter, deli counter, and freshly made food items. A full selection of wine, and a state liquor store are both available as well.
The prices can be a bit more than at the larger chain stores, but the convenience of the location (less than a mile away) make up for the slight price difference.

I’ve given up on shopping for food here — I used to regularly, but it has gone downhill in selection and freshness. The last time I tried doing a full shop there, they literally were not stocking half of what I had come in for. Heinen’s or Whole Foods seems like a much better option.
But… they do have a state liquor store!

When we first moved here, I remember being so pumped that not only was there a grocery store within walking distance, but it was a local one at that! This grocery store is above average for the area in my opinion.
Produce is almost always good quality. I’ve only had problems with the avacados — they are rarely ripe here and when they are, they usually aren’t good inside — I go to WF for those. Other than that, they have lots of organic options and the selection is reasonable for a what is really a pretty small grocery store. The quality of the deli meat and cheese is very good (they carry Boar’s Head brand which not all stores do). I find the meat to be fresh and good quality as well.
The only dig I have is the checkout. The workers on the floor are really helpful and will run around trying to find you what you need, check to see if there’s more cilantro in the back, etc. But the baggers and checkers… spotty. Some are speedy, friendly and great. But the majority are lazy high-​schoolers for whom the fact that they actually have to work is just really messing up their ‘me’ time. Most of them are too busy looking around, chatting with the guy at the next lane, etc. to make sure your tomatoes make it home in one piece or that they make it home at all. The other day, the guy ‘missed’ my meat and sour cream while bagging my stuff. Luckily I noticed them ‘hiding’ in plain sight before I walked away. When I pointed out that he very nearly cost me 8 dollars in lost groceries, his response was ‘my bad’. Um… that’s not the same as ‘sorry’.
But I really can only take one star away because the majority of the staff are great and we’re just really lucky to have an independent grocery store within walking distance. Of course Whole Foods has better produce and Giant Eagle has 12 different brands of paprika for you to choose from but it’s really not a fair comparison. They aren’t trying to be Whole Foods or Giant Eagle — they’re doing fine just being Zagara’s.

Independent grocery stores are virtually nonexistent in the Cleveland area. It’s not as big as Giant Eagle, but the quality of what they stock is great. The café portion is pretty amazing. I bought a very delicious (and filling!) salmon caesar salad for only $ 5. Their sushi with brown rice is also incredibly tasty. The store still employs bagboys so you’re not waiting for the cashier to scan all your stuff and then bag it.
The biggest downside is parking. During high-​traffic times you’ll have a hard time finding a spot.
As a kid, I remember going with my mom to the old location and being greeted by the lady behind the deli counter (who also gave me pepperoni slices for free!) and then getting a Dum Dum sucker from the cashier at the checkout line. Places like this are few and far between.

Revised review. Zagara’s — while not Heinens, is a reasonable neighborhood grocer. They have a reasonable selection — and cater to a variety of shoppers.
With a few improvements this place could be great.
They need more people to help you…
The seafood counter is kind of a joke — there is never anybody there, either working or customers — which makes you question everything. They should turn it into a butcher fresh meat area.
This store could easily take on the competition with some changes /​improvements. But until then, I will continue to go there as my 2^nd choice.