University Food Center

Do not support this business. The shop itself is not kept well, and myself and many other paying customers have been towed from their lot after being there for less than an hour, costing $ 390 for Goch and Sons towing racket.

Every time I’ve come here to return bottles their machines are full. EVERY TIME. Then I’m treated like an inconvenience when I ask to clear the bins. The food is a bit over priced. Lots of items are not marked with prices. Never a pleasant experience here.

University Market has some of the most helpful staff. I asked the stock guy to order more low sodium olives & he did it right on the spot. I find their fresh food selection, it’s quality, & prices to be comparable & sometimes better than Whole Foods (Woodward/​MLK Jr/​Mack). The store maintains it’s cleanliness & checkout is a breeze. Lots of student traffic, in comparison to other grocery stores nearby; there is a SaV-​A-​Lot on Grand River/​Warren but it is dirty & one must use caution. The area is a food desert for sure, which makes University Market is 200% better, semi-​safer (always use caution, transients are everywhere) & conveniently located, well-​stocked to quickly get the items I need to add to my lunch pail during the work day without having to go to all the way to Meijer on 8 Mile/​Woodward or out to in Allen Park or Kroger in Dearborn/​or up I-​75 towards Madison Heights.

This whole plaza is absolutely TERRIBLE. The food is so overpriced and taste like garbage. Not only is the food terrible, they are terrible managers and they have terrible management. I used to shop here everyday after class and these horrible people towed my car and made me pay 400 dollars. I warn everyone never to shop here from now on. WORST PLAZA IN DETROIT by far

Of the grocery stores in Midtown, this one is the best. However, it isn’t the best grocery store by a long shot. Sure, it’s clean and well-​stocked. But the selection, prices and produce are below the standards of a good neighborhood grocery store.
The produce section is over-​priced and not fresh. Some of it might look fresh, but get it home and see how long it lasts in your crisper. The plus side is that they are constantly going through their stock and reducing the price to what it should have been in the first place. Of course, you’d have to use those items that very same day.
It’s difficult to find healthy bread, but they offer good deals on Aunt Millie’s because they tend to stock just one or two types of that brand.
More than once I have gotten home to find that my ice-​cream, cool-​whip, popsicles, frozen pizzas, frozen dinners are freezer burned. Most of their frozen dinners and vegetable’s are a dollar or more higher and the selections are poor.
I don’t buy meats here if I can avoid it. I hate to keep bringing up… BUT AGAIN it’s over-​priced and the meats aren’t as fresh as they could be.
FInd a cheaper place for dairy.
Most of the staff are quite friendly and helpful. There is an older check-​out woman with glasses that seems to be a bit of a stick in the mud and I avoid her lane. Speaking of lanes, they can be long
This store offers a pharmacy, sushi, bank, coinstar, lottery and a small deli counter. The sushi is TDF! Early bird gets the worm. So, don’t go late at night expecting for it to still be there. I’ve tried the pharmacy, but they didn’t have the the medication to fill my scripts.
Overall, if you live in the neighborhood you will be forced to go here at some point. Especially, if you are in the lower income bracket. This store is best suited for emergency stops, college students or single adults that just want the basics and don’t mind price.

Prices are more expensive than whole foods and yet the quality is far below it.
This isn’t an advertisement for another supermarket, I just believe that if you’re looking for a deal you’re going to have to go somewhere else. This place is a product of a ‘food desert’ and the prices prove that.

University Foods is clean, well-​stocked, is brightly lit and has spacious aisles. I like to pick up a lunch of sushi and Kombucha here. Several reviewers mentioned they have the Sunday New York Times and I’d like to point out they carry the daily edition, too. I don’t have time for the Sunday usually. It’s the size of a damned tree!
It’s also a virtual hipster desert since that taxpayer funded Whole Foods opened up. And it’s cheaper, too. Let the grocery store snobs whine about Spartan stores and the like all they want. University Foods is good enough for me.

Ugh — maybe I just keep hitting this place on it’s off day.
At no point has it ever been my regular spot for grocery shopping. But I always thought of it as a good fall back in case Honey Bee is closed. But after stopping in a few times recently, I now feel more inclined to just avoid it.
I’ve encountered some of the rudest, classless individuals at this place — not in any direct altercation but more from being in the right place at the right time to witness all sorts of the behavior that gives the city a bad name. This has come mostly from fellow shoppers, but the employees attitudes have left something to be desired with me as well.
As far as selection goes, you can find pretty much whatever you need here, and prices aren’t bad. You won’t find anything too special or out of the ordinary here, but all of your staples are covered for sure.
I suppose it’s no the store’s fault if their customers (and the occasional employee) acts nasty, but unfortunately it’s left a sour taste in my mouth about this place in general. I’ll go back… but only if I have to, and the other stores are closed.

When it comes to supermarkets in Detroit, there’s a perceived shortage. And it’s stores like University Foods that demonstrate the perception of a food desert is a myth.
From the exterior, it seems like any other neighborhood grocery store. I went here on the advice of a neighbor, and I was glad I did. The selection was amazing. There were products here that I had resigned myself to searching for in specialty stores around Detroit. The quality was good, as were the prices. The produce is above average, as is the butcher counter. And there’s usually staff on the floor to assist customers (who actually know what they’re doing), which is something that you don’t have in even much ‘fancier’ stores like Whole Foods.
I shop here when I need to just get a few things between my bigger trips to Meijer (still my first love when it comes to buying groceries). All in all, if you’re local, this is the place to shop if you don’t want to venture too far.

The University Food Market has the best service ever and the crew is awesome specially the guy name «„YASS“» he’s the answer to you’re questions … The Market is always clean, and so is everything else :) I’m proud to shop from ”UNIVERSITY FOOD MARKET ” :)

If you shopped E. Market for produce, and here for everything else, you could have a pretty fine diet.
Pros:
Respectable international section. Maybe because of the cosmopolitan Wayne State clientele? You can find many M. Eastern, Mexican, and Asian staples, or substitutes to make do.
They seem to have expanded their organic and health food offerings. You can find a lot of the same brands sold in W.Foods. Eden, Amys, Boca Burger, etc, etc.
They also offer a section in the produce area of organics. It’s not comprehensive, but I’ve bought quite a few items from there.
Sunday New York Times!!!
Cheap wine offerings.
Every employee I’ve ever talked to — at the checkout, or when searching for an item — has been really nice.
Cons:
Meat. I’m very picky, and don’t like the industrial, mystery-​meat stuff. And that’s all they seem to have. No proper butcher counter. Mostly only Oscar Meyer, and Tysons type stuff. That’s okay though. You should be a vegetarian anyway.
Produce, despite the modest efforts mentioned above, it’s often lacking.
All in all, though, it’s quite sufficient.

Don’t believe the hype.
This place is crowded and since it’s a Spartan Store it is terribly overpriced.
If you need something from a bigger grocery store than say a specialty market and cannot make the trip to a Meijer, for example, it’ll do. Otherwise higher prices on every item for the sake of convenience adds up quickly when you buy more than one or two items.

The interior is very clean and spacious. They offer a wide variety although no organic and special items, like shrimp. =[
I would probably be doing most of my grocery shopping here. The parking lot is a bit ghetto.

I’m very happy with the service thus far!
I recently asked the owner, Norman, if he would consider putting a few favorites back on the shelves. One had disappeared a few months ago.
When I went in the next week, both were on the shelf waiting for me. That sort of personal service goes a long way with me.
If you wish they carried something, stop at the front office and ask if they’ll add it. I’m told the answer is usually yes.

Great Neighborhood based spartan supermarket. international selections are good. they have an instore deli and bank. the wine selection is great. multiple check outs open at rush hour. pizza made instore and they stock specialty items like Rice Dream. this was a small neighborhood store which moved and built from scratch to continue to serve the neighborhood as the only supermarket in the university district. that’s actually a major chain member.

It’s unfortunate that Detroit lacks decent grocery stores. This place is definitely not an exception. The quality of produce is mediocre at best. The selection is average as far as modern grocery stores go. Finally, check your receipt after every purchase. This place is notorious for over scanning and then giving you an attitude when you bring it up to them. Michigan protects consumers against being overcharged.

no need to be repetitive with this review — i’d take all the grit and scarce supply for cheaper prices, but i guess that’s just how it is.

I’m a little surprised at the low average rating for this place — it’s really not so bad — not at all. There’s this myth that you can’t do all your shopping for groceries in Detroit, and it’s completely untrue. University Foods is a really respectable grocery store, with a good selection of pretty much everything. Of course, if you are of the Whole Foods/​Trader Joe’s inclination, you won’t be happy here, or at pretty much any locally-​based chain grocery.
Pros:
good selection of dry goods
weekly specials on grocery items (it’s a Spartan store)
clean
friendly staff
easy parking
very respectable produce section, including organics
pretty great selection of cold beer and decent wine
lots of frozen organic stuff — amy’s, boca, morningstar
cut flowers
Cons:
you probably won’t find that out-​of-​season mango
you probably won’t find $ 16-​per-​pound puy lentils
no fresh bakery department
some items can be a little pricey, but the weekly deals compensate
It’s a «regular» grocery… and perfectly good for all the staples, plus a bit more.

One of the very few places to get a Sunday New York Times in the city. Depressing but true.

Midtown’s University Food Center Market, located by the Wayne State University campus, is not the sort of grocery store i would recommend doing the bulk of your shopping at. but if you’re just looking to grab some organic black beans or some paprika this is a good place to do it.
Located on Warren Avenue in the same shopping center as Blockbuster University Food Center offers customers a pretty good selection of items for a OK price. As a vegetarian, I’ve never purchased meat here and probably won’t recommend it, but i have purchased some dairy and they have all been fresh.
In addition, to grocery items, University Food Center Market has a bank inside, sells money orders and has a bill payment center for DTE bills and what not. So, for those of you just looking to grab a bag f chips for that party or some Gatorade for the gym stop in and check out Detroit’s University Food Center Market.

I disagree, this isn’t an «OK supermarket» — it’s the most depressing, unclean, poorly stocked «supermarket’ I have ever been in.
Closes at like 5pm on the weekends. It doesn’t have staples like parsley (it does have some sad looking cilantro).
The last time I went in there, I picked up a container of cream… to discover it was at room temperature. Everything else in that case was at room temperature too (eggs and dairy). The stock boy didn’t seem to care that the case was broken.
If you need a market in Detroit, go to Honey Bee, at least it’ll be OPEN and you won’t be risking your life with improperly handled goods!

It is an OK supermarket. The selection of merchandise is large, and most of the fresh produce is acceptably fresh. It is within a walking distance from Wayne State University, adjacent to M-​10, Blockbuster’s, Chinese take-​out place, etc.
There is no Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s or Busch’s or Hiller’s Market in the Detroit proper. The alternative is either Easten Market on Saturdays (which is a blessing for Detroiters!), a weekend trek to the burbs, or less fresh liquor store deli’s…