Stew Leonard’s Farm Fresh Food

Not a happy shopper lately. Bad, slimy, smelly fish that was still well within its expiration window, boneless” chicken thighs with shards of bone (twice this happened!) and stale rolls, to name a few. Quality control has gone way downhill at the Newington Stew’s. It’s too bad.
*just downgraded to one star after emailing the company with my disappointments and receiving no response after several weeks. I guess they don’t care if their customers are not happy. I will take my business elsewhere. In addition to the complaints above, the organic potatoes I bought on my last trip there were toxic green. Horrible.

Shopping here is stimulation overload. Not a fan of how they have it set up like a Maze. Random animals making noises everywhere. Prices are reasonable though and they always have what I need. Staff is amazing though. Came in to buy a few items ($ 15 at most), and my credit card company had cancelled my card because of fraud. Had no idea, and was freaking out because I had only brought my one card. Store manager swiped a gift card and let me know they were going to take care of the bill. Places like these restore faith in humanity.

I shop at stews occasionally. I went for a fresh Turkey. I spent $ 50.00 on a 22 pound Turkey. It was a fresh. Never frozen Turkey. No antibiotics and hormone free. Put it in my fridge for 2 days and took it out on new years and the inside was frozen solid. Called store and spoke to management and was told they chill them. After 2 days it should not have been frozen and my opinion is a fresh never frozen Turkey should never be exposed to temperatures that cause a fresh item to freeze. What’s the point of spending the money on a fresh yet frozen bird.

Stew Leonard’s is America’s Most Popular Grocery Store that carries Dairy and other products. A lot of food is made from themselves in this place. It’s fresh, comes out light with a big perfection! They have fresh fruit and vegetables especially the corn grown from their garden. They make good pizzas, barbecue, seafood, their own appetizers and many more. It’s also like a restaurant. They also make their own «good» milk from real cows. This Stew Leonard’s is not original, however, this is a grocery store you want to try. We have gone there for a couple years. We had gone there for some experiences. We eat tons of food from there and we also eat «good» ice cream there. They also offer maze, their own free samples given by hand and other cool stuff there. They also have a Beer/​Wine selection and a pet store, so as the quiet seating upstairs to enjoy your food. Absolutely Perfect for CT residents.

Food selection is outstanding, fresh vegetables, meat and seafood. Friendly staff and efficient check out, now if it were only closer to where I live.

Go for the butcher, meats, fish, & prepared foods& baked goods. I am seriously disappointed with the produce– it will rot or mold in 2 days. I’m not sure if it is because most of it isn’t kept refrigerated, or what… Also, while I enjoy the selection of cheeses, same thing– will not last beyond 2 or 3 days. Their meats are superb but produce & dairy items never seem fresh & spoil very very quickly. I am not a big fan of the maze like design, makes it very difficult to go back for an item you forgot, & people are not pleasant if you go «against the flow of traffic» to turn around. Extremely crowded on weekends. There aren’t cohesive sections, certain goods may be scattered throughout, so if you are looking for specific thing, can be tricky to locate. I love the meats & fish, don’t love the produce, if you want high quality prepared foods they do them very well.

Way way way over priced! Only their sales item are worth it. $ 2 dollars per cucumber! Once I found mold on the vegetable.

I love shopping here, especially if you have kids. Children can press buttons around the store to see animated characters sing songs.
Spend $ 100 and get a free ice cream or coffee.
There are tastings throughout the store but the one thing you cannot pass on are the fresh cider doughnut holes!
There are also pre-​prepared foods and a dining area upstairs if you want to eat in.
And almost everything is farm fresh and prices are great.

Three stars is all I can muster. I love coming here to get my meats and some of the pre-​made stuff like their chicken salad, pasta salads, garden salads and veggie mix. Their meats are a little more pricey but look better than what is sitting in my stop n shop meat department. The fish selection is amazing.
But where they lose points? Regular produce and customer service/​cashiers.
I’ve noticed that the produce I buy at Stews goes bad really quickly. And by really quickly, I mean within 24 hours of purchase. I just threw out a spaghettini squash purchased yesterday because after cooking it, it was rotten inside. The prices for produce are $ 1 to $ 2 more than my local grocery store so I’d expect it to be fresher.
Customer service by the cashiers is getting steadily worse. No hello, no eye contact-​just silence with groceries being bagged in a not so logical order. Is expect at least a hello, but I guess that’s impossible by their work force.
The free samples are a nice touch… I just wish the herd of cattle that shop there would learn to take their samples and move on instead of standing around blocking traffic but whatever.

Disneyland grocery store for children and adults alike. Don’t let the crazy Floorplan and talking animals and food products distract you from flawless offerings like their breads, scallops and produce (our regular go-​to items when shopping here). Cast aside any cost — conscious value hunting and pay for what you get here — top notch everything.

Stew Leonard’s is the ultimate foodie’s grocery store. With a multitude of specialty sections, a huge selection of food, and an almost circus-​like atmosphere, Stew’s is one of the few grocery stores that I absolutely wouldn’t mind spending a few hours in.
It’s actually pretty difficult to NOT spend a lot of time in the store. Not just because of the wealth of amazing food there, but because the store is brilliantly set up in a way that in order to reach the cash registers from the front entrance, you basically HAVE to follow a maze completely through the entire store, passing each department along your way.
Just try going in their and sticking to your grocery list. I dare you!
Along with standard grocery store fare, they also have a very good hot food section with a ton of options and makes a perfect lunch on the go. Add in some free samples throughout the store and some very good soft-​serve ice cream near the exit, and Stew Leonard’s is hands-​down my favorite grocery store I’ve ever been to!

Can a grocery store get any better than this?
Ok, it isn’t really a grocery store but — yes, it is. It’s more of a boutique grocery store and they have about 75% of what you «need» versus 140% of shit you «want.» Therefore, they jack the prices up. But, with that being said there are no other issues I have with Stewart.
I love coming here, my 3 year old loves coming here and I spend more than what I really need to.
Sushi is really good, the hot foods area has a ton of stuff that is pretty kid friendly and the seafood area is impressive.
I love getting the strip steaks here with my boyfriend. We load up the freezer because at $ 7.99lb, it is practically a steal for 2 of us to eat an amazing steak for $ 5 or $ 6.
Food is fresh. Never have had a problem with anything going bad.
Service is always friendly. Things are well stocked and if you’d give me an extra $ 500, I would be stuck in here all damn day.

Stew Leonard’s is such a magical wonderland and it just makes my heart so happy. As a Norwalk native, I’ve been going to the original location since birth and to the Newington store for the past 7 years since moving to the Hartford area. I absolutely avoid the store on weekends because the maze layout + a cluster of shopping carts is no bueno so I’m happiest when I can hit it on an off peak weekday time.
No matter how many dozens and dozens of times I’ve visited, I always discover some new treat whether in the prepared food buffet, bakery, or elsewhere in the store. It’s definitely higher priced than your average grocery store but everything is SO fresh and well prepared. I often buy staple ingredients at another store and save the fun stuff for Stew’s. My favorites are their soups (especially the tomato eggplant bisque and chicken chili), pies, smoked mozzarella (made fresh in the store), ice cream, coffee (especially their chocolate truffle coffee), burgers (the bleu cheese & parsley are to die for)… seriously everything is amazing. I popped in a few days ago and had to pry myself away from buying a container of their new cannoli donuts. Next time!

This is my favorite grocery store. The food is always fresh and surprisingly reasonably priced. All of the employees are friendly. The characters throughout the store provide entertainment for children making it a pleasant experience for parents (as long as you’re not in a rush). It takes the edge off, and makes grocery shopping almost like a family experience. The only negative is that it is set up in a way where it’s hard to just run in and get what you want — more like a maze/​path similar to Ikea.

Not too sure why I haven’t wrote a review for this place yet. Stew Leonards is my absolute favorite it’s such a treat. I don’t go grocery shopping there but it’s a great stop for an awesome meal or something special (like an ice cream cone, cider donuts, or some fresh apple pie!)
The buffet is perfect. The workers keep everything clean and fresh. There are speciality items that change often but there are many staples that are always there (such as chicken fingers & French fries or General tsos chicken)…and everything is delicious. I love to try something new each time.
The general atmosphere is fun and upbeat and you can’t be grumpy when you are here. It can be a little crowded on the weekends but the cashiers are so fast so it really isn’t a big deal. They also have little sections for buying ice cream, coffee, and other snacks like toasted nuts and soft pretzels.
One of the best parts is that there is a section to buy dog treats by the pound and doing it this way is WAY cheaper than a bag of treats at a pet store. My dog loves me for the gigantic bag I get every few months (super cheap!)
Bonus: tons of seating upstairs to enjoy the food from the buffet.

As a grocery store, Stew Leonard’s is crowded, overpriced, and has a limited selection. But damn it, the place is fun anyway. From the goofy, kitchy crap on the ceilings to the mooing animatronic cow-​pig, its a fun hour just to wander around the store — its almost set up like a maze.
In their defense, many of the products are better quality and they don’t carry many of the cheap «crap» brands. They make a ton of things in-​house, some of which is really good (rice cake puffs, cider donuts, and sweet potato chips come to mind), and some things — mostly the food items at the hot bar — are not so great. But the selection is broad enough, you’ll find something you really like (for me, its the fried corn bites). Also, they offer some nice options to taste some of their products — we tried some cheeses last time we were there, which included both a strawberry-​champagne cheddar and a bacon cheeseburger flavored cheddar. I’m also a huge fan of their breads — especially their sourdough.
Upstairs they have plenty of room to hang out or eat stuff you’ve purchased as well. I dont stop by that often, but each time I do it’s a lot of fun.

I love stew Leonards in Norwalk so I always try to go out of my way to check out their store when I’m in Connecticut. I was going to an event in Hartford and stews was 20 minutes out of the way so I had to stop by. I had never been to their newington store before.
Unfortunately this stews was nowhere near as good as the Norwalk store. When I go to the Norwalk location, I feel like a kid in a candy store with all of the wonderful free samples they have out. They did not have one free sample out at this store. Very disappointing. To their defense it was around 6pm when I went.
It took me forever to find the produce and bakery sections because the store was designed like a maze. I had to pass through very stinky sections just to get to them. Once I got to the produce it was so overpriced that I didn’t buy anything.
The highlight of the trip was the ice cream stand. I bought an adult size cup of pistachio and moo café soft serve. It was fantastic. The portion was enough for two people to share and this is coming from a huge eater. I liked how they had seats located close to the ice cream stand so I was able to enjoy my soft serve while sitting.

Love this place! It’s our weekend drive to pick up our meats and produce for the week. We love their naked chicken and other meats. The pricing is great for the quality and the service. We also stopped by the wine tasting which happens almost every weekend. Nice selections of wines and they do a great job suggesting things. The staff is very helpful.
We go with our kids because its like going to a fair. It’s a little crazy on the weekends but that’s half the fun of browsing through different things and following the maze which is how the store is set up. There are many samples for people to try which is also fun. And at the end of the whole trip, you can get the ice cream before you exit the store. What could be better than that on sunny spring day!

I love stews! I have come here for lunch a few times and enjoy the buffet. The soup gets congealed a bit but give it a quick stir and it’s fine. When I come for lunch, I usually get the soup — clam chowder is a fave followed closely by lobster bisque.
I also like the salad bar, which has a lot of varieties. Once in a while, I’ll order a slice of pizza — really good.
The upstairs eating is spacious and nice. Lots of napkins and condiments, good for a quick meal or lunch!

Stew Leonard’s and I go back, WAY back. When I was a kid my family had occasion to head out to the Norwalk area from time to time, and we’d stop at Stew’s for fresh groceries and ice cream.
For me, now, Stew’s is the go-​to for meat and vegetables. Since we had our daughter, my wife and I are trying to make smarter food choices. Stew’s options are, on the whole, fresher and healthier than the bigger chain stores.
Stew’s also has an excellent wine shop attached. I’m a big craft beer fan, and they have one of the better beer selections in the area.
The only drawback is that customers sometimes get aggressive in their shopping! I’ve ended up getting hit by racing shopping carts. Occupational hazard…