Garden Fresh Produce & Deli

So sad to see this place closed. Friendly staff, excellent selection of meats/​cheeses & the best god damn breakfast Sammie’s this side of Spring Garden!
What will become of this empty corner store??? Hmmmmmm…

Be careful when buying things here. I used to come here weekly and buy my lunchmeat for the week and other things, easily spent over 70 per visit. I stopped going here because I noticed the prices kept going up on the things I kept buying. One of the workers actually told me «yea, they do that here when something gets popular.» I saw a lunch meat jump from 7.99 to 12.99 over a span of a few months.

Disappointed to have walked over to grab a hoagie and see the closed sign.
One of the nicest deli’s I’ve been to. Not many places carry boar’s head, and these guys always let you sample the new stuff.

I’m here to review the deli — not the produce, muffins, or anything that qualifies as a grocery item. The gentlemen and lady that work the kitchen now how to put together an awesome hoagie — especially if you are looking for something hot… like a grilled chicken or brisket sandwich. They will make you whatever you ask them to make — they actually take pride in their food, which is hard to come by sometimes. The prices are fair, and the workers are a pleasant crew. I’m happy to have this establishment in my neighborhood.
EDIT (10/​12/​2013): I was seriously disappointed to see the «closed» sign on the front door. My heart sank — every good neighborhood has a family-​owned, reliable deli. As of two weeks ago, Fairmount lost theirs.

Amazing sandwiches. Just hand ‘em a roll of your choice and these guys will make pretty much anything you want, and make it well. I live around the corner and frequent this place for breakfast sandwiches, hoagies, burgers, produce odds and ends, etc. Also love that they’ve got the LevelUp app where I can pay with my phone. First time you use it you get a free credit of a few bucks, and since I come here often it’s nice to get a $ 5 credit every $ 50.
The primary reason I wanted to write this review is because earlier today my fiancé and I were both working from home today so we stopped up to grab some lunch ate outside. So a few hours go by, I’m sitting in the living room on my laptop and the buzzer rings. I open the door and it’s the owner (I believe he’s the owner, an older guy, nice gentleman). My fiancé had left her purse hanging on the chair at the outside table we were eating at. Apparently someone from across the street noticed it and brought it inside. The older gentleman, who we were chatting with while waiting for our food, found her driver’s license, recognized her face, jotted down the address and walked it down. She had no idea it was even missing and, needless to say, was thrilled at the exceptional service the man took to make sure she got it back (and also thanks to the passerby across the street).
Anyway, it’s not everyday someone goes out of their way to do a good deed for you, and so I just wanted to recognize that on here and say thanks!
And BTW, even had that not happened, Garden Fresh would still get a 5-​star rating. The food is that good.

I’m a little mystified by the enthusiasm of these reviews, and can only figure it’s because they’re years old. I’m torn about this place. On the one hand, I’m thankful to have somewhere to get ingredients in a pinch. If this place were good, I would be its biggest fan.
But the veg is almost always on its last legs and the milk is usually near its sell-​by date. I walk my dog by the place daily, and I very frequently see open boxes of rolls sitting outside, with birds pecking at them and flies all over them. Someone mentioned the baklava — totally old and soggy. Almost anything you get here seems like stuff another establishment got rid of. Yeah, there are some pre-​packaged things from DiBruno Bros, but they’re not cheap and not enough variety to be a draw. There is inevitably one or more employee sitting outside smoking. I haven’t tried the deli counter. The place just feels too dirty.
The building is currently up for sale, so I’m not sure what the future will be. I’m not really sure what I want it to be. I think it’s time to renovate the place and make something nicer. I will walk a little further to get milk.

The best a neighborhood grocery could be! It doesn’t hurt that it is so close to my house, it may take less time to go there than to search through my refrigerator. They have a little bit of everything and good fresh produce.
Also great breakfast sandwiches and lunch meat.

Great little corner store with a deli. They have a quality selection of fresh produce and other staples you might need to pick up. You’re able to quickly pick up what you need and check out. It’s also great that they accept LevelUp!

How could I not love a small business that sells blood oranges and butter in 1-​pound blocks?
I am ashamed to say that I only discovered Garden Fresh about a month ago. I had ridden by it on the bus and on my bike, assuming that it closed at 5 or 6 every day [silly me]. I think it’s because the front (facing Fairmount) is dark so it looks as though the store’s lights are off [do not be fooled!]
Anyway, as others have mentioned, their produce isn’t as cheap as the Italian Market or Iovine Brothers, but it’s much cheaper than Whole Foods and it will last much longer than anything you’ll buy at the Italian Market! I was in there today and bought two huge, beautiful blood oranges. They were so juicy and so cheap at only 79 cents each!
I haven’t tried any of their meals or desserts, though I was nearly tempted by the baklava and the banana pudding today (so much for that New Years Diet…). Anyway, they’re great if you need a few items like bread, milk, butter, eggs, etc. Or if you’re looking for fresh, healthy-​looking produce. I appreciate that the staff know where they get their products, as someone was asking about dates and the guy at the register told the woman where they get them from and then mentioned where other items come from as well.
Moral of the story? If you need to grab some produce and you don’t want to walk all the way to Whole Foods (and you want to save a few dollars), stop in and support this neighborhood shop.

This is a great little neighborhood produce/​deli shop. They have all of the fresh produce and breads you will need. I am always able to stop in if I am missing something for dinner, and they have great hours. They are open until 9 during the week nights.
I definitely reccommend them for breakfast, they make a great breakfast sandwich for $ 4.
Great help and really nice people in there.

Now that i have moved out of the neighborhood, i realize how convenient and awesome this place really is. The prepared food was always reliable, the roasted chickens are delicious and only 7 bucks. Good quality in the produce, and they make great sandwiches. Not many corner deli’s will actually roast their roast beef. Extra points for that one. If you live in the Fairmount neighborhood, this should be your go-​to hoagie and produce spot.

Oh GardenFresh. How is it I haven’t reviewed you yet? I have been to you millions of times since moving to the ‘mount, you have provided vegetables and various sundries at times of need, and offered cupcakes and black-​and-​whites in times of want.
The best produce section in the area, unless you want to make the trek to Whole Foods, which I don’t, and a decent deli counter. Metropolitan Bakery breads make me immensely happy, as does the selection of cheese and hummus and nibbles. However, it’s limited in random ways — no soup? And, contrary to some of the reviews, I found the egg sandwich to be a little greasy for me, and not in the good way. But I’ll overlook the little things. Solid.

Garden Fresh has several exceptional items that I’d like to enumerate here:
1. The Baklava upon which my entire relationship is built.
2. Rotisserie chickens that have prevented me from eating cereal for dinner on more than one overworked and understocked evening.
3. Gigantic breakfast sandwiches– 3+ eggs, cheese, your choice of meat, on a bagel or roll. Revel in its FR33K1N3 $$.
4. Luscious giant dates (excellent for wrapping in bacon).
5. Huge, buttery almond croissants (and other shame animals from Metropolitan bakery).
6. Roast beef that is pink and tender in the center and perfect for sandwiches, unlike the tough, iridescent grey matter that ruined lunchmeat for me (until now!).
It’s also good for eggs, milk, and a solid selection of fresh produce. For some reason cheese and random grocery items (chicken sausage?) are way overpriced, but otherwise Garden Fresh goes above and beyond mere convenience.

Have you had a Garden Fresh breakfast sandwich? No? I pity the fool!
So, first you arrive and walk back to where they keep the breads (fresh from Metropolitan Bakery) and pick your roll. Hand it to the man behind the counter and place your order. In no time at all, you can have a egg and cheese sandwich with your choice of bacon, pork roll, or sausage.
They also have other hot foods like meatballs, mac’n’cheese, rotisserie chicken. There is a full deli with a good variety of Boar’s Head meats (excellent Lebanon Bologna!). The full produce section is well stocked (and fresh). Everything looks clean and fresh.
It gets a bit tight some mornings I’ve been here, but that’s OK. Echoes to all those that praise this great neighborhood shop!

SUPREME egg sandwich in this neighborhood — you select your own roll or bagel and pass it over the deli counter and they pass it back all eggy and wonderful. Great veggie cream cheese. Produce area isn’t huge but is very fresh, and for the convenience, fairly priced. Also yummy cupcakes. My only gripe with this place is that the service is super slow, and sometimes I have to wait a while for someone to even notice that I am there.

I like this place. It’s small, cute, stocks Metropolitan bakery breads (the croissants are faaaaaaabulous – crunchy, straight, and buttery as hell), and has a nice selection of both fresh produce, basic cheeses, and prepared items. A lot of the time they won’t have specific things that I need for specific recipes, but they’re usually pretty reliable and have expansive hours for such a small shop.
It’s also great to stop in on Sunday mornings; their egg and cheese sandwiches, on the bread of your choice, and a free cup of coffee are a nice, affordable way to start the weekend.

This is a nice little neighborhood deli/​market along the peaceful commercial street of Fairmount Ave near the Philly Museum. We learned about this place thanks to the recommendations of a few friendly Unilocalers in the area when I posted this thread a week before our visit:
I’m pleased with the low priced lunch deal we got here. For $ 4.50, we both shared a foot long hoagie with ham, Swiss, and spicy mustard. It’s too big a sandwich for one person to consume. The purchase supposedly comes with a small bag of ruffled potato chips. Since there are 2 of us, the nice lady at the register gave us 2 bags of chips. Such a sweet deal!
We ended up enjoying our tasty hoagie that day while sitting on the steps of the museum overlooking an amazing view of the city as well as watching cheesy tourists re-​enact the Rocky run.

Very sweet staff and nice fresh bagels early Sat. a.m.

Instead of making my weekly produce trip to Iovine Brothers today, since the weather is so crappy, I decided to seek out other, closer alternatives. Of course, there’s Whole Foods, but I’m pretty tired of supporting their astronomical prices. So I checked on Unilocal to find a produce place in the Fairmount area, and lo and behold, here is a place with prices comparable to Iovine’s within a few blocks of my apartment!
I took my Whole Foods reusable bag with me, and I was able to fill it to the brim for $ 26. They had a pretty decent produce selection, including cantaloupes for $.99, big bags of spinach for $ 1.99 (yes, $ 1.99!), red peppers for $ 2.50 a pound (very reasonable for the off-​season), and $.59 navel oranges. They had a case featuring Metropolitan Bakery loaves, rolls (they even had challah rolls!), and other sweets; a full deli with very decent prices; a case full of a variety of reasonably priced cheeses; and two big pots of soup, including turkey chili, which smelled great. If you need chips or popcorn to complete your purchase, they have that, too! I am very pleased with my trip here and will definitely be returning soon!

This is a great little place. It’s just a little grocery store and deli. We primarily go Saturday mornings for egg sandwiches. You walk to the back where they have a cabinet full of Metropolitan Bakery items, pick out your «canvas» (I usually get a kaiser roll), and hand it to the guy behind the counter with your desired combination «egg, swiss, and pork roll (or bacon, cheddar, etc)» Yes, Jersey-​ites they have Pork Roll. A clutch move if I say so myself. Then on your way to the register, don’t forget to pick up some of their fresh squeezed OJ. It’s incredible to say the least.
If the weather is nice, they may have a few tables outside, otherwise you’re fending for yourself… but it’s ok, you got a tasty egg sandwich and OJ to help you make it.