Mono Market

What a «hidden» gem! Well, I guess you can say I’m not very observant. Here it was, sitting there on 395 for the last many years I’ve been traversing it. We wanted to get some goodies/​snacks for the road. Our plan was to have a picnic somewhere between here and the Bay Area on our way back home. I was expecting beef jerky and pretzels if I was lucky. HOO BOY. This place is awesome. It even has great ice cream! The hot foods aren’t like your gas station hot foods; they’re legit and looked great. Huge selection of snacks, some gourmet stuff, small but varied area of produce, some groceries, and even some good beer/​wine. We ended up getting sandwich fixin’s and a few salty and sweet snacks for the road, along with beverages. For such a small store, it’s incredibly well-​stocked. When we return to the Eastern Sierra once the passes reopen, we will return to here as well!

After a hot day exploring Mono Lake, there is nothing better than cooling off with a giant ice cream from Mono Market. I was literally, like, whoaw, when I saw then scoop on the ice cream on that scooper and fit an unreal amount of ice cream into a beautiful waffle cone. I though I was starting to get delirious from the bright sun, the thin air and surreal landscapes. I drank my cold iced tea and realized I wasn’t dreaming. There was a giant ice cream cone with melting ice cream in my hand. It was so good. I even forgot about all the healthy organic stuff I could have gotten instead.

The ready made hot food was surprisingly decent — leagues ahead of the crap you’d find at a 7-​Eleven or gas station mart. At night, when there aren’t a lot of options, I was so happy to see their small pizzas. I didn’t get to try their burritos — will make sure to taste it next time. They also had the usual snacks and foods.
This place was a nice find and the hours were great too. Cashier people were nice to boot. The only downside was their coffee — go elsewhere for that. Street parking.

A little market with a big selection! This summarizes the best of Bishop’s hip eastern Sierra vibe. Good food, take out, beer and wine selection, locally grown produce.

Great local market for my last minute goods before heading back into Yosemite. The ‘Monorito’ burrito is a quick awesome dinner and one of my most favorite burritos on the east side.

Wow — I was impressed by this little place. We just needed to stop and get some ice on our way into Yosemite and ended up getting some breakfast, too. The breakfast burrito which they call «Mono-​rito» ($ 4.95) and also a feta and spinach croissant ($ 3.95) which I just couldn’t pass up. Both were super tasty. The Monorito was big — my bf with a big appetite didn’t eat all of it so he had a nice little snack later with the leftover portion. The breakfast sandwiches also looked great. They also have nice quality foods not just convenience store crap. Also, it’s a great deal on ice: $ 2.10 per bag as of July 5, 2015.

What a great little market! This place had a ton of things campers and passers through could use and need. Organic and vegan friendly foods, decent selection of local beers (cold in the fridge), and bathroom/​camping supplies.
They also have ice! And it’s cheap.
I was impressed with their great selection being out in the middle of central California. Next time we are passing through Mono, this is where we will stop for any and all of our needs.
Keep it up!

Mono-​ritos, apple fritters, and food bars… fo cheap! This place rocks… bonus points for a bench out front to eat and enjoy your purchases. Great service and a much appreciated staple of the Lee Vining community.

The owner was really cute, we had a nice talk to him. His store offers everything you need and the food was incredibly delicious. I recommend the turkey wrap which comes with cranberry jam on the inside: So good!

What a find! I was on a tight schedule after a week-​long backcountry trip to get back to San Francisco. I was in and out of this place in five minutes. The important thing is…
— hot veggie burrito, grab and go!, with real veggies in it, not just onions and peppers (a bit heavy on the cheese maybe but some people may like this)
— nice staff
— bag of beautiful grapes, grab and go!, great quality
— overall great selection, I had many options
If you’ve spent time in these parts you know it’s not easy to find fresh and quality and great selection. This place was a god send on my long and happy drive home.
Thank you Mono Market!

Amazing Oasis after driving through the Nevada desert all day! Had lots of options, groceries or deli sandwiches! Yum!

Every time we drive through Lee Vining we have to stop at Mono Market and get a turkey wrap. It’s filled with delicious fresh veggies (sprouts, bell peppers, cucumbers, onion, lettuce), sliced turkey, chopped walnuts, and the bast part being the amazing cranberry sauce. I think the sauce is part cranberry sauce part cream cheese. Whatever it is, it’s surprisingly sweet, crunchy and yummy for a pre-​made wrap. $ 5.95

For such a small place, great selection.
Loved the veggie wrap: lots of bell peppers, cucumber, avocado, hummus. Freshly made, not soggy. Delicious. It wasn’t labeled as organic, but the produce tasted so amazing I have to believe it wasn’t from a factory farm.

not really special store, but the location is great.
food, maps, ice, snack. most things during camping can be found here.

I love this place. If I was stranded in Lee Vining for the rest of my life, I’d be okay as long as this market was open. Whoa. I know that’s a huge statement to make considering Lee Vining is well, Lee Vining. But listen up folks, this place is like Portlandia and Santa Cruz packaged into a mini-​mart. They have just about everything, including delicious homemade granola and paraben-​free beauty products for my eczema. What else does a girl need!!! As Alex L and I walked through browsing the locally sourced items, I realized that the majestic views of Mono Lake, a six-​pack, and Yosemite less an an hour away = the perfect retiree life for me. I know it’s gross, because it’s like a million years away from reality. I just hope they keep those chorizo breakfast burritos until I’m 65 because they are soooo good.

This market is FANTABULOUS! It has everything! Organic coffee, real 1/​& ½, apple strudel, natural black licorice, a huge variety of fine wines, Mono power bar, lots of gourmet products and more!
Quality vs Quantity! OH YEAH! LOVE IT! Wish we had a store like this where I live!

I’m a always surprised at the great selection and reasonable prices at Mono Mart especially given the popularity of the price gouging, mediocre Mobil Mart, just down the road. Think a Lee Vining-​sized version of Bishop’s Manor Market. They have a small selection of prepared foods in addition to produce (including things like fresh shitake) and dry goods.
If you want to listen to bands and drink beer on a lawn then Mobil’s your place, but if you want to restock your supplies at a legit grocery store then head to Mono Mart.

I am so impressed with the Mono Market! They are a tiny little store, but they manage to pack it with everything GOOD.
And the prices are not bad — some are better than those in Bishop! For example, Avalon Organics Lavender Shampoo — at the Rite Aid in Bishop that stuff is $ 12, but at the Mono Market it is $ 9. Most things in Lee Vining are more expensive than elsewhere — the gas is the highest price in the eastern Sierra! And there’s a reason for that — it’s far/​hard to get to/​not on regular trucking routes for many things. Tioga Pass is only open in summer and commercial trucking isn’t allowed through the Park, so you expect higher prices. I kept finding things that were around the same price or even cheaper than where I live in Bishop at the Mono Market, though, so they are really doing what they can to keep prices down — I was impressed.
But on to the selection! I was up staying with friends for the weekend for the Mono Basin Bird Chautauqua, and came in for snacks and quick lunches, and that’s when I discovered their «Mono Made» items — they have homemade delicious goodies that are very reasonably priced — I had the turkey wraps two days in a row they were so good. The turkey club wrap is made with bacon — and it manages to stay yummy and crisp (in most pre-​prepared sandwiches, the bacon can get soggy or limp) — but it’s all the other stuff that goes in that makes it such a treat: nicely chopped red onions, radishes, cucumber, and all wrapped in a nice leaf of greenleaf lettuce inside a spinach wrap. Another turkey wrap has cranberry sauce in it and is so good! They have a small hot deli, too, with homemade burritos that looked tasty. I didn’t try all the Mono Made items, but I bet most are great.
They have a great selection of gourmet/​natural foods type items — a much better cracker selection than Von’s in Bishop, for example, and a surprising selection of produce for such a small produce section — they have arugula! I can’t find Arugula in Bishop!
Before it was bought by the current owner, it was an awful, but what you’d expect, mini-​mart with everything in there «Little Debbie» or Springfield brand junk. But it has been transformed into a great community market with delicious food — I could happily live off of their food!

Reviewing just their in store ice-​cream. Great service, good ice-​cream flavors and servings for the price!

Mono Market is my stop in Lee Vining and it’s a comfort to stop here when the rest of the town is hibernating and the snowy roads aren’t exactly user-​friendly. This is a great place to get the basics and fill your stomach with hot soup, burritos and other warm items that give you the courage to tackle the roads all over again.