Brennan’s Market

Oh wow, I can’t believe I’ve never visited this place! It’s right across the street from work and I decided to check it out while at lunch. The fresh fruit and veggie area is so great, everything is so fresh and fragrant and they have so many samples of the fruit to try before you buy, a definite plus.
Then you walk into the inside area and holy cheese! So many choices and so many samples — I know I’m always worried about buying some of the less traditional cheese types but the fact that they have so many samples out definitely helps (as I ended up buying way more than I planned!) I also found the beer area pretty great as there were quite a few beers I’d never seen — sure it’s not as expansive as Rays or a Discount, but for less common small brewery items, you may find them here. Definitely worth stopping at!

We first moved to Madison Wisconsin in 2006 and discovered Brennan’s soon after. Simply awesome store in Middleton.
Everything is fresh. So much fruit it blows the mind and juicy, awesome goodness abounds. Free samples folks. So even picky fruit eaters like me can find something.
Then there is the cheese. Wow. Never ever seen such a large section of quality WI cheese. Wow! And most can be sampled as well.
Store is kept at 55° so everything stays fresh. Chilly for some so bring a sweatshirt if you get cold easily.
The staff here are also amazing. Friendly and can answer any questions.
Finally a great selection of beers and wine and meat and seafood too.
I ride up to Oconomowoc a few times a year just to shop here. Wish I was closer.

I love the quality of Brennan’s market. They are plentiful with samples around the store and that is important to me when choosing fresh fruit and vegetables. There are many different types of fresh cheese as well. They also have a new meat market inside the store. It is a little more expensive than the grocery store but it’s nice to get a better quality especially with the fruit.

Well. My toddler would give this place 5 stars. Pretty sure going here is her favorite weekly activity these days. It’s amazing what I can get her to eat if it’s on a toothpick. Their samples are awesome and plentiful. They’ve absolutely helped put more in our cart — their spring or is it summer? — peaches are amazing. Juicy, delicious and just plain perfect. Their grapes beat out all the other grapes in the area and so do their cherries — I just can’t afford their cherries! It’s true, in general many of their items are little pricier here, but I don’t think extraordinarily so for the most part. I would like to be made to feel that I could just get a pound or less of cherries here, I don’t love how most things are bagged up for me. We all can’t afford $ 12.00 for a bag of cherries and/​or we all won’t eat $ 12.00 worth of cherries in a week. I’m sure I could ask. Also, I assumed a place like this would have more local items — I was a bit taken aback to see items from New Zealand, etc.
Their cheese area is lovely! Everything from everywhere is packaged up in Brennan’s plastic so you do a lot of reading to find what you’re looking for. Their cheddars, butterkase and cheese whips are delicious! I was unimpressed by one of their award winning blue cheeses — it was far too salty for my liking. They have sausage, an extensive beer and selection, frozen goods, chips, a butcher and so much more in the back half of the store. I do love to walk around this place and see what else I can find that I suddenly need!
All in all, this is a great store and such a pleasant place to visit. Their staff, for the most part, is incredibly cheerful and helpful. I find the employees hanging out by the sample area a little annoying and it makes me not want to keep trying new things! I don’t like feeling like samplers are being watched! It’s not a place I can go for my weekly groceries, but we sure do love stopping in here once a week or so to check out all of the beautiful produce.

This store was almost too much for me. Almost. A huge variety of produce — so many colorful fruits everywhere, and samples of just about everything! Dozens of cheeses, including National Championship award winners, spreads, curds, soft, firm, were featured. Wonderful meats including plenty of summer sausage choices, local beers — you can do mix & match packs too — wines, and lots of fun snacks and spreads. And the samples! So many samples so you can decide what you want to get.
The store is clean, bright, and appealing, and the staff was so friendly and helpful, happy to answer questions. There is plentiful parking, and the sustainable efforts practiced by the store were top-​notch — solar panels on one side, use of rain water for watering, and the like.
If you are there while the very cherry plums are in season — I was told they are only around for a few weeks — be sure to try them. If you are a plum lover like I am, they are a real delight! We also had the worst time deciding between cheeses, but finally settled on the award-​winning Chipotle Cheddar and a fabulous Morel & Leek Monterey Jack. My husband decided to do a mix & match 6 pack of beer — there must have been a special because the cashier gave him a free 7^th upon check-​out. He’s enjoyed the ones he has tried so far. The strawberry rhubarb sauce, which they featured paired with a cheese as a sample, is incredible, and the Sweet Maui Onion Chips — featured as a customer favorite — drew us in immediately.
There is much to see and try — make sure you have plenty of time to browse!

Yes, they’ve got a fabulous selection of produce, cheese, wine, beer and meat. The produce can’t be beat and they’ve got so many samples that you can be sure you’ll like that tangelo before you haul a sack home.
What’s even cooler is that this store is a great study in regards to sustainability — when I pulled in I noticed they’ve got two huge solar panels out back. While walking thru the greenhouse there was a sign that said they water the plants using recovered rain water. I did a quick google and found an interesting article talking about their energy reduction… Way to go, Brennan’s!

Not just a cheese shop! Large selection of wine and beers available but the best part is the produce is always fresh. The fruit is always ripe and origination is always known. They have an email list as well which will tell you when they have the freshest fruit in season so that you are always buying in season fruit. Haven’t received bad fruit yet and have found some great cheeses. Nothing I noticed is over priced and they do have local products as well. Origination seems to be known and displayed on all items I have looked at and purchased.

Stayed at Olympic Village for a girl’s weekend-​and we needed some provisions! :)
WOW. This is an amazing (and expensive!) place. I came early-​before they put out the samples – but I did have a few pieces of pear before I left-​awesome.
We bought stuffed chicken breasts, amazing sourdough-​cheese, crackers, and wine-​as well as some organic lunch meat and fruit. This is what vacations are made of.
The blue cheese was pure crack. Plain and simple.

Is it illegal to live in a market? I love this place. It’s a fairy land of yummy cheeses, wines, produce, and specialty items. Also, I’m a sucker for samples (they don’t have calories, right?) and Brennan’s is sample heaven.
This is definitely one of my Oconomowoc go-​tos!

Look, this isn’t a grocery store. Once you get past that fact, you can see that in a town with two Pick N Saves (as if one isn’t bad enough), a specialty market with amazing produce is exactly what we needed.
The fact is, if you need produce that is as good as it can be 100% of the time, this is the place for you. Will you pay a little more? Sure. But at Pick N Save can you get beautiful heirloom tomatoes? A bag of arugula? Shallots that aren’t 2 months expired? No. You can’t.
I think I love everything Brennan’s sells. Some of my favorite things are:
Their huge selection of cheese
Summer sausage
A fun selection of craft beers
Sweet and spicy pepper jelly
But what I love most about Brennan’s is their awesome customer service. Good work, guys.

Wow! what a surprise we found here in this little suburb town. Whole Foods is the best comparison I know of.
Cheese! and Fresh Fruit!!! that is something to get excited about when the average grocery store in the area lacks the variety and QUALITY found here.
What I really like the most was the store set up. Specifically, each area of Fruit is set up for taste tests with cut up fruit and toothpicks. My kids and I spent 10 minutes trying a dozen different fruits… all ripe and really fresh.
If I lived here I would shop here all the time for my cheese and fruit. a bit pricey but well worth the experience.

Not bad for a place filled with fresh meat, vegetables, fruit, dressings, tea and coffee. Prices aren’t cheap and the near-​empty parking lot pretty much sums it up.