Giant Eagle Market District

This Market District has a nice selection of items. The produce is always fresh and the prices can be somewhat high. I’m a fan of the bakery and have ordered a few cakes here. It is generally clean and often crowded, unless you go in the morning or right before close. The prepared foods are pretty good too. They often have cooking demonstrations and free samples on the weekends. I usually get most of my fresh produce, meats, and seafood from the Strip District, but this grocery store is good place to shop.

From beginning to end, I just wanted to escape this Giant Eagle as soon as possible. I made the terrible decision of trying to stop by this grocery store today (a Saturday) in the late afternoon. The traffic was terrible outside on Centre, but I finally made it into the parking garage, surprisingly close to the exit. I was in search of mason jars and cheesecloth to make homemade yogurt and water kefir. (Yes, very hippy and crunchy of me, I know.) I found some jars and containers on the paper products aisle — but not what I needed. My husband said that it should be on the aisle with the kitchen gadgets — still couldn’t find what I needed. I was about to give up when I walked past the nearby coffee section and found suitable jars. I was so desperate that I didn’t care how much they cost — but now that I see that a 12 count box of Ball® 32oz wide mouth mason jars cost only $ 11.99 on
, I kind of want to kill myself for spending the same amount for two at Giant Eagle. Now that I had (overpriced) jars, I had new-​found determination to now find someone to help me obtain the cheesecloth. Thankfully, I found a very friendly (actually, couldn’t decide if he was nice-​friendly or awkwardly-​overly-​flirty-​friendly) young guy who pointed me in the right direction for cheesecloth. I checked out as quickly as possible and nearly ran out of the store.

I have really mixed feelings about this grocery store. It seems to vary in how busy it is so I can never pinpoint the best time to go, except for Friday around 7:30−8pm. The parking garage is always packed with cars, and nobody seems to know how to drive around a garage. People speeding or just idling in your way constantly. But having a garage is great, and the store is super convenient from my apartment and it’s at an intersection that’s a major bus hub for the area, so I’m there every week, sometimes more if I need to grab something last minute.
The entrance drops you off at the bakery. The baked goods they sell are really good and affordable. I got a chocolate chocolate chip pudding cake for a coworker’s birthday and it was amazing, but unfortunately I have not seen it since. I love grabbing their baguettes for making hoagies. The store then leads to the café and beer, which is a great selection for being such a small section. They do the make your own 6 pack thing, and we managed to snag some really good deals on winter beers a couple weeks after Christmas. Rogue 6 pack for $ 5?!! Yes, please.
The prepared foods aren’t bad though aren’t restocked a ton so it’s frequently just fried chicken and some pastas. They do a weekly meal deal that is pretty cheap for a ton of food. They have a little pizza station and hoagies. The hoagies are enormous and pretty good, but if you go later in the evening, the bread is a little stale.
The cheese section is awesome. I love browsing all of the different kinds. And maybe a little weird, but my boyfriend and I love guessing the prices of really large pieces and wheels that are just there as display/​they haven’t cut them and portioned into smaller sizes yet. The lunchmeat counter is always packed and can be a little slow, but the store brand meats are pretty good. Produce is laid out really poorly and when it’s crowded, it feels like you’ll never be able to wind your way through the people and randomly placed bins.
The rest of the store is a pretty typical grocery store. I’m used to how things are set up now, but could be confusing if you’re not used to the layout. Every line is long no matter what, especially the self checkout lines. If you find a good cashier/​bagger combination, stick with them next time because some of the baggers really bag things awkwardly. In general staff is polite, and some are pretty friendly. When tags were wrong on a soda sale, customer service did give us the sale price before fixing the signs, so that was good.
It’s not a bad store, but when you go to a grocery store all the time and you need to go, you’re bound to be bothered by some things. I don’t think any grocery store will be perfect all the time, but this one isn’t too bad and for now is my weekly stop.

The «customer» service and pharmacy are TERRIBLE at this location! I was not helped at all and was basically ushered out of the store. Will be keeping my money at Aldis from now on.

Market District is a convenient place to shop, however you pay a little extra for the convenience. Their prices are always higher in comparison to other chain stores like Target, Trader Joe’s, and especially stores like Aldi. However, they do tend to have more groceries than a lot of the other stores and have both outdoor and indoor parking. in addition, they have a Starbucks and a beer section.
Ive also noticed that recently, the past several times, I’ve gotten prescription meds from their pharmacy, they have miscounted the pills, (i.e. giving me 25 instead of 30.) It’s quite frustrating so I would double check and make sure that you’re getting the right amount if you are picking up meds from there.
Overall, it’s a decent and convenient grocery store.

This Giant Eagle Market District is garbage.
From the awful lighting to the un-​stocked shelves, it just is not worth coming here. I have actually never had to battle crowds here, as I usually come in when I am sick and home in the middle of the day. My last trip in was so horrible that I called the corporate office to complain. The cashiers, pharmacy, and customer service manager were SO RUDE and STUPID. 1.5 hours to find the cold remedy I wanted. And then it was expired.
Sure, if you need the convenience or a slightly upscale product and don’t want to go to Whole Foods, the Market District is passable. But I would rather spend my hard-​earned money at Whole Foods and have stocked shelves and not dread going to the grocery store. If you want to buy alcohol and not go to a beer distributor, it works. But why support a business that really doesn’t care about you.
Just go to Whole Foods.

The variety of sections in this grocery store makes it very convenient, e.g., There’s a hot bar, a café, kosher, dessert, sushi and a very open fruits and veggie section. Where they lose points is on prices. I find prices here to be too high for the quality and find that I can snag a better deal at TJs and even Whole Paycheck if I hit the sales. I went today to grab some snow peas and they were dry, turning brown and shriveled up. Seems like no one is paying attention to keeping fruits and veggies fresh.

Update since I had the displeasure of shopping here once again. Their automated checkout machine froze and so I pressed the button for help. Nobody came, so I switched machines. I finished checking out A Giant Eagle lady came over to reset the other machine and asked «who did dis?». I said that I did, cause the machine froze and so I switched machines. She gave me a nasty look and yelled «you can’t do dat!!» Huh? Maybe if she hadn’t taken forever to come over I wouldn’t have needed to.

I wasn’t in this Market District very long. I’ve been to them before and what differences them from regular Giant Eagle stores is that they normally have a wider selection of fresh food, a bakery department, and an area where you can purchase ready made food or a salad bar and eat inside or out.
Prices are typically higher than other grocery stores but the same as if you were looking for the same item at a regular Giant Eagle.
I normally stop here only if there’s something specific I need that I cannot find at my local store. The Market District does tend to get crowded and they also offer additional services such as dry cleaning or sometimes a bank.

Everything you can imagine is tucked away inside this fabulous Shadyside Market District store. A wide variety of Kosher, Organic, and speciality items makes this supermarket a gem. The hot foods section is appealing, lots of original ideas and dishes throughout the week are offered. The produce is always fresh and available in many varieties. Also, there is an impressive amount of organic and gluten free products in the store. The store includes a full bakery, chocolate section, beer, floral, seafood and meats sections. Once in awhile they offer cooking demonstrations throughout the month. Starbucks is also inside the store as you enter! One of my favorite places to be, I miss it greatly when I travel… such a unique place! One other thing, beware if you are being health conscious and watching your waist line because samples are given out in almost every section of the store!!! LoL

As far as grocery stores goes, this one is near the top. They are big enough to have just about everything you need (grocery wise) and yet not overwhelmingly large. Granted, their selection of household goods/​hardware etc. is on the lower side, at times necessitating trips to target/​home depot/​walmart.
This market district has an excellent selection of prepared foods, produce, international foods, and the regular aisles aren’t bad either. When I first moved to the area they did not sell beer, but now do. They maintain an excellent selection of beer and Randy if very knowledgeable and up do date on craft beer.
Parking can be a bit slow as there is limited outdoor parking in front and on the side and the remainder of parking is in the garage under the store and requires an elevator ride. It does get crowded at peak times as well.

Finally getting around to this it’s good. Selection is nice [I could even find Rhubarb], yet the pricepoint is higher than usual [urgh, city prices]. nothing special, yet if you get lucky I have come across specialty items that aren’t in the catalogue yet so will not scan. I love getting free pumpkin seed oil [score $ 12 item]

I’m kind of torn with this review because yes, the selection here is great, but the way the store is set up and organized is in my opinion horrible.
They have some great options. I love the salad bar, it’s a quick and easy meal on the go for me. There are several meat counters and they regularly have sales on meats and everything else in the store. And they have beer. That’s cool.
I do highly recommend using the giant eagle advantage card and checking the eOffers/​coupons on the app you can download. That’s probably my favorite thing about this place besides the fact that it’s a stones throw away from me.
But when I go here I usually plan on spending a while running back and forth to different ends of the store to find things. It seems as though things are not always consolidated to a specific area that makes sense. A lot of times I will find one type of product in two or three different locations in the store. Of course this is probably partially due to the «specialty» market area of the store but still. I think they could have come up with a better way of arranging it.
I like simple and organized when it comes to grocery shopping, and this place is more like a maze you have to learn to navigate. Once you learn that, it’s a little more enjoyable.

This Giant Eagle Market District is decent and has a very wide selection of foods, but it is honestly overwhelming to shop here for many reasons. It is ALWAYS crowded — I don’t care what time of day or day of the week you go — it is always insane which is great for their bottom line, but not so good for their customers who end up feeling a wee bit claustrophobic in such environments. The store has a wide variety of ethnic foods, which are sectioned off together but if I can’t remember that the red pepper flakes that I bought were from the Mexican aisle then I waste time wandering around trying to find them. I just don’t like the set up and despite how large the store is it really does feel like it closes in on you because people tend to congregate in the aisles and block your passage — it’s just unpleasant. It’s also expensive — just as expensive as it’s competing neighbor down the street Whole Foods. Also, the employees are mostly just not very nice — they act like they are doing you a favor to even bag your groceries at the checkout lines and god forbid you use the self checkout because I guarantee you will wind up behind someone who knows nothing about technology or how to scan their own items or heaven forbid use a coupon at the self checkout. You will waste a LOT of time shopping here.
Even on its worst days, the inside of Whole Foods is navigable and doesn’t feel claustrophobic — it’s just the parking lot that is the problem, so if I’m going to spend just as much money buying my organics and healthy food at Whole Foods as I would at the Market District, and endure snobby hipster employees versus resentful and rude employees, well, fuel points be darned, I’m going to brave the Whole Foods parking lot and shop there instead.
I gave this store 3 stars because they do have a great selection of products and now have the additional bonus of selling beer and hard cider, which is nice except for the fact (and huge hassle) that you have to pay for your alcohol in the café area and then you must go wait in line again to purchase your groceries — it’s just not a convenient set up and I realize that is due to the PA State Liquor Laws but it is maddening and almost makes it not worth it most of the time.

Lets do a Pro-​Con!
Pros:
++ Convenience. Works well whether you live in Shadyside, Oakland or the hill
++ ALCOHOL!: They sell beer (& wine? maybe not wine. but beer for sure haha)
++ HUGE selection of everything. I mostly shopped at Aldi for staples, but came here for other items. The prepared foods area was great as well as the cheese cooler haha
++ Customer Service is open til 10 if you needed to cash a check or buy bus passes!
Cons:
– Soooo crowded– from the parking lot to the inside of the store.
– Some items were overpriced in my opinion.
Woah, I expected more cons whenever i began this review. I guess it’s not too bad– 3 stars.

I needed Italian bread for an event so there was no choice except to buy the bread that was available. The bakery had plenty of Italian bread but therein lies the problem– I buy Italian bread on an almost weekly basis so I know the way it’s supposed to look as well as cost. For about the third maybe fourth time now the bread yeast hasn’t risen all the way. It looks like squashed sourdough bread instead of Italian bread. Instead of about 4″-5″ it’s about 2″ thick. To add insult to injury the bread even costs more during the times it was thinner. Instead of the bread costing $ 2.49 just like any other day it cost $ 2.69 when it’s thinner. Does that make any sort of logical sense? I am disappointed and this review is emotional in nature but there are actual facts here as well.

For those of you following my reviews in California and not aware of Pennsylvania’s bizarre liquor laws, they essentially say you can only buy it from state run stores in 24 packs, or from bars to take out in 6 packs.
And so, there are stores where you can only get beer (in 24 packs) and other stores where you can only get non beer liquor. However, some supermarkets do have bar/​cafes where there’s beer on tap (think of upscale beer bars in California) and you can get six packs, which is how we ended up here, although it has to be checked out separately from your groceries. The Whole Foods we went to in Wexford yesterday had something similar.
In any case the supermarket was packed with Thanksgiving shoppers. This Giant Eagle seems more upscale than others, competing for foodie tastes and against the Whole Foods nearby.
As for the beer? It’s a pretty great selection — lots of East Coast stuff I’ve not seen before, as well as a lot of California and international stuff I have.
Just choose your time to visit.

Shopping at this place is so frustrating you will want to throw knives when you leave.
It’s always packed, ALWAYS. And forget about the self check out lines, which attract people who have never seen technology, cash registers, touch screens, money, conveyor belts, groceries bags, or food – like flies. Seriously, people get up to them, and then just stand there, like the self check out is some great mystery.
The machine is all, «PLease move item to bagging area?» and they’re all, «What? What do I do? I don’t know, so I’ll stand here and stare for 20 minutes!»
They have a wide selection of foods that you won’t be able to get to bc I promise a fellow shopper will have their cart right in front of every single item you want.
If you enjoy paying $ 10 for salad, I recommend the salad bar. I’ve never passed on grape tomatoes bc they were ‘too heavy” before, but that’s my fault. I once made an overly enthusiastic salad up and then it was $$$ and I was feeling $ that day.
Okay, the guy at the cheese counter is awesome. I once told him I needed to bring a cheese plate to a party and asked him to pick out the cheese for me, and it was like he had been waiting all his life for someone to ask him for help. He did put together the most awesome cheese tray ever, and I learned all sorts of facts about Humboldt Fog. Now every time I walk past he comes out behind the counter and gives me a hug, and at Christmas he gave me a little tiny cheese cutter and then everyone aroudn me was like, «Wow, how much cheese does that woman buy?» But seriously, talk to the cheese guy, he is awesome!
Tip: bring the veggie tray. Dont bring the cheese tray. The cheese tray is $$$ and people only eat the gouda and the cheddar.
They sell beer there now, which is good. You’ll need some after shopping. The flower selection is also pretty good.
There’s an Aldi up the street and a Trader Joe’s nearby. Both are far less infuriating to shop at.

Oh, Shadyside Market District, why can’t I quit you? Let me see, perhaps because I lack a car and you’re the most conveniently located grocery store, a mere 2 mi. from my apartment and on the route of the 71A & C? No, let’s be honest here: the real reason is because I’m too cheap to shop at the «whole paycheck,» Trader Joe’s is too inconvenient, and the product selection at Aldi is limited.
On the positive side, this store is larger and fancier than the grocery store I grew up with, and the cheese and bulk foods sections are impressive (the latter includes a make-​your-​own trail mix bar!). They also have a lot of prepared foods, and though I don’t often buy them, the quality of those I’ve tried has been high (esp. the fried chicken!). This store has a wide selection of groceries, ranging from the inexpensive (Valu Time) to the pricey (organic and natural foods), so, like Barnum’s circus, there’s something here for everyone. On the weekends, store employees often hand out food samples, and there are sometimes cooking demos at the test kitchen near the seafood section.
On the negative side, the employees working the checkout lines are often taciturn or surly, and the crowds in here on the weekends are a force to be reckoned with. The aisles are narrow to the point of awkwardness when passing other shoppers. Product placement is unintuitive to the point that I often have to ask employees for assistance when locating an item I don’t usually buy. Also, as others have mentioned, the produce – particularly the loose green vegetables – is often of questionable quality. Compared to Trader Joe’s and Aldi et al., the prices are on the higher side, though they still look like a deal next to Whole Foods.
Thankfully, because I don’t have a car, I don’t have to deal with the parking situation, which I’m reminded of when I come here in a car with a friend on occasion. However, I do have to schlep my groceries across the street and onto the bus, which is equally annoying. While I wouldn’t call shopping here a pleasure, it’s preferable to the alternatives, so they have my regular business – for now. 3.5 stars.

I really like this place. Love the selection, they have a ton of Latin ingredients that I was shocked to find up North. Overall they have a good variety of ethnic foods, which is great.
Their bakery permeates the entrance with the smell of fresh baked bread… love it and hate it at the same time, since I’m trying to stay off the carbs.
I also like the fact that they sell beer! yes beer! After moving to the ‘Burgh I realized that there are some wonky alcohol laws, so I was glad to see that this place actually sold beer! Not only that, they fill up growlers for a reasonable amount.
One thing that I was not too thrilled with was their prices, especially for produce. I paid $ 2 for cilantro! and not the organic kind either. Also depending on when you come in beware of people not familiar with pushing a shopping cart as well as loud, obnoxious patrons screaming to people in their party. Crazy. Either was despite the crazy folks, and the prices, this is a solid place to get some beer ans a few grocery items so that you don’t break the bank.