Boise Co-Op

I am so delighted to have the Boise Co-​op in a place close to where I live. The new store is very open, modern, clean, and the big plus is more parking spaces! There are also new staff who are enthusiastic and helpful.
The produce area is very inviting and is located right inside the door. I like that items like baby turnips and golden beets are available from time to time. The fruits and vegetables are very fresh and are reasonably priced.
I’ve also enjoyed the fish I’ve bought here and varieties that aren’t always available in local supermarkets can be found at this Co-​op. I’m talking about Petrale Sole, Ling Cod, King Salmon, and others that are wild caught and U.S. sourced.
I also like the deli area with a good selection of cheeses and meats. The staff that work in this area are also very helpful and will let you taste before you buy.
My husband and I have also enjoyed lunch here — -a chicken salad sandwich made in the prepared food section. And what made it even better is there is now a larger room with tables where one can sit down and eat lunch in a quiet space. In this room there are also cooking classes offered.
The only negative about this store is that many of the bulk items found in the downtown Boise Co-​op are not available here. I especially am referring to coffee as we have a favorite brand that we can only get at the downtown store. A staff member explained that because wine is also part of the inventory that there simply isn’t enough room for all of the food items. Maybe with time this wonderful store may need to expand as the Meridian area continues to grow and the store becomes even more popular!

I’m a member so maybe my review is a little biased, but I love this place! Great people, organic food selection, and their beer and wine selection is on point. In house coffee is pretty good too!

What a fancy-​dancy place. Yup, my jaw dropped when I walked in and I spent extra time walking all the isle to see it all. It is similar to museum just with pretty food!
I just came into the Co-​Op to buy my favorite hot sauce that I haven’t seen in 10 years! I bought two just because I could!
I will be back to test drive the food!
Meridian Co-​Op is bigger than the one in the North End but the friendliness wasn’t lost with the expansion and growth of the store. Often times my personal opinion is the larger a place gets and each time it is replicated, service and personalization slip a little. Glad to know that personal Co-​Op touch is still there.

I’m glad to see the Co-​Op, long a fixture in Boise’s North End, has expanded to Meridian.
They have much more space than the Boise store and its location in The Village will bring a lot more traffic past the store, which could be a great advantage in building their business here.

First, this update is only for the prepared food section of the coop. While I know no way of tarring the entire Coop-​Meridian with this update, I do not mean to downgrade the whole operation to the 2 stars here. I still love the Coop here, but I think they need to drastically review the prepared food operation.
Today my wife and I went in to shop but decided to have breakfast there. We constructed our breakfast from the hot dishes. But our selection was drastically limited by the sad condition of the French Toast, Huevos rancheros and others. Much of the food had been in the trays since 8 AM and it was 10ish when we were there. We tried some scrambled eggs (a little salty, but good) which were the newest things in the table. Bacon was OK, as was the cheesy grits. The pecan roll was hard as a rock.
The workers were appropriately apologetic and gave what information they could. It finally came down to going to the Service Counter and they refunded the cost of our breakfasts. In summary, we won’t do this again. Better to get a coffee and buy one of their fine muffins and have a light breakfast.
One suggestion we would like to see is an option to buy some butter and jam and have a European-​style breakfast of Acme demo-​baguette, butter and jam+Coffee. Simple, but satisfying. Also, it would be good to have some Danish or other breakfast rolls to purchase for breakfast.

I really like the idea of the co op but I want to love the place more.
I just went into the new co op and it is great and very corporate. It lost the homey feeling of the downtown store. And really, that’s ok because it makes up for it in a bright, cheery atmosphere and the same happy staff I’ve become used to downtown.
I can’t fall in love the the place for several reasons, not the least of which is price.
I regularly shop a mile down the street at Rosaurers and virtually everything I regularly buy is much less expensive. Dawson Taylor coffee? $ 2 less a pound a half mile away. Dave’s Bread? Less expensive by a lot. My favorite pretzels? You get the idea. And the reason this bothers me is that I pay for a membership and it is a co op for group buying advantage but there is no savings to be seen.
The prepared food at the deli is very average here. I got a burrito and frankly it was the worst I’ve had in Boise but the Pizza was great and the soups are delicious. And that pretty well sums up why the three star rating. They do some things really well but fail in big ways on other things.
I’ll keep going from time to time in hope it changes, I really want to support the co op and to buy from a local small business but until they get their pricing in line and have some consistency I won’t be consistently going to the co op.

What a gorgeous new location! (Old one’s still there… but this one is spectacular!) In addition to plenty of natural light and plenty of space to move around, this one even features a demo kitchen where they’ll hold classes & such.
Prepared foods include salads, sandwiches, pizza, soups and a full salad bar. {My favorite is the chicken salad sandwich on ciabatta.} Great seafood and meat counter. Lots of helpful staff, too.

I don’t mind the occasional commute, it brings me back to the days when I lived in the Bay Area or in the San Diego area. Clearly, our traffic or commute is nothing like that regardless of what the locals think. I have made trips to the local Boise Co-​Op in the north end area of Boise. The funky old style grocery store was cool in many ways that brought the best and freshest to Boise. When it was announced that the Co-​Op would have a store in Meridian, I remember all the furor and uproar. «Why not Nampa? „“ Gosh, Imagine the traffic! » Anyways, the Co-​Op opened to some nice crowds and a little fanfare. The new store is bright, beautiful and very shiny but it does not remind me of the other location. It looks like a Whole Foods. I can’t say if that’s a good thing or not, but I was expecting a little more «little town Boise» instead of Corporate Meridian. I am not offended by any means, but those who were looking for an extension of the store in Boise are out of luck. The offerings at the new store are completely upgraded. Looking for a grab go for any meal of the day? They have it. A hot Breakfast bar? Yep, How about a Cheese, bread, Meat section? Yes Yes Yes. Looking for homemade soaps and chemical free lotions for men. Absolutely. The Staff are just as friendly as the Boise store, and that’s the only connection to it’s older brother in Boise. Will I continue to shop at the Co-​Op in Meridian, Sure. I love the fact that I can find ACME or Gaston’s bread plus the cucumber and Lemon men’s lotion is a steal at $ 5.99. If you are not a member, you should join. $ 65 bucks for a lifetime membership is worth it. Before I go, There are classes that will rival Sur la Table but not Rosauers since Rosauers is $ 10 bucks but all-​in-​all, I’m glad the Co-​Op is here. Catch me with my Gaston’s and my rice for making Paella.

Love the brand new store! Finally I don’t need to drive all the way to down town to go to shop! Thank You!!!

The Meridian location of the Boise Co-​Op opened this morning for members, a day ahead of the grand opening. FANTABULOUS store! Bigger and brighter than the beloved Boise location. Some of the same great assets like very friendly people and a splendid selection of local and organic produce. Some upgraded features, like a bigger deli with a broad selection of specialty meats options like house made Cuban ham and Italian pancetta that can be cut for you. And more prepared in house and ready to take or eat there options, like rice bowls and pizzas from a pizza oven on site that can be purchased by slice or whole.
There is also a classroom in store that will be used for cooking classes and special events, but it isn’t quite finished.
If you, like me, thought a drawback for this Co-​Op location was going to be that it doesn’t have the Wine Co-​Op just across the parking lot as does the Boise location, the nice Co-​Op folks read our minds and added in an expanded wine selection at this store just people like us! A good amount of square footage with a thoughtful assortment and anything you want brought in from the Wine Co-​Op they will happily arrange. Looks like they are also going to offer some of the same wine tasting events at this location, in that event room, as are offered at the Wine Co-​Op on a one week later schedule. (For example, the sparkling with tasting offered in Boise on or about ¹²⁄₃ is offered here roughly a week later.)
My heart belonged to the Boise location. But I am smitten with this new one. And given it is likely I am one of only sixteen people in the entire Treasure Valley who dislike The Village at Meridian (mall), here’s a tip for you other fifteen. Although the address of the Co-​Op is «2350 N. Eagle Road in The Village», it is really in the area there, right next to Michael’s where parking and navigation are easier to come by than the «haute shops meets Vegas» area of The Village mall.