Marketplace Express

Not sure why there is such a range of reviews, or more accurately, so many less than favorable reviews. I ate here a couple of times four years ago in my pre-​Yelp days and ate here twice on this year’s trip. On all occasions the food and service were exceptional.
The selection of sandwiches, soft drinks, water, fruit juices, tea, snacks, and healthy food is pretty large. I had the hot pastrami sandwich one day, and it was very good. The meat had the right balance of lean and fat, which is key for pastrami. The next time I had the Cuban sandwich. What made for an interesting Cuban sandwich was the addition of salami, which you do not see many other places. It actually made the sandwich a little better than average.
You can find a good selection of chips for your sandwich. They serve breakfast sandwiches all day, but I never had a chance to give them a try.
You can eat either inside or outside, depending on the weather and your plans.
Overall, a nice place to walk to when visiting the area and a short walk from the local hotels.

Was looking for a good cup of coffee. Did not find it here. Burnt taste and not great employee attitude was my experience. Go to Cassis instead. Much better.

Place is terrible. Crazy expensive for subpar products. They have things that you get at Walmart at Locale Market prices. Absolutely absurd. This place does not have quality product, environment or service that warrants this. The only thing that they probably use to justify these exaggerated prices is the location. Something else needs to move in.

I frequent this coffee shop in the morning. The coffee is excellent. Although the breakfast sandwiches leave something to be desired, the packaged foods are good quality and there’s a good variety. I usually get a banana or a slice of quiche and iced coffee.

What a great place! Stopped in for a quick lunch-​went with the Chicken sandwich with Peanut sauce, great taste with a pretty decent kick. They also sell beer and wine here.

Great lunch spot on a rainy day. Friendly service, great ham and Swiss on croissant. I would come back if we were in st Pete again. My wife loved her sandwich too. They also have a great beer selection. Good stuff.

The chicken salad pita was so filling and great tasting! I highly recommend it. The pastrami on marble was great, but had a bit too much mustard. So much that I had the sniffles. Come here, get a sandwich and some drinks and go sit by the water and have a picnic. They’ve got a wide variety of sandwiches made to order and drinks galore. I should have asked for less mustard; Marketplace is not to blame. Check this place out!

Marketplace, yes. Express, definitely not. 20 minutes from ordering 1 café au lait til served.

First time coming to Marketplace Express!
My girlfriend and I came for sandwiches after the museum.
We grabbed our drinks and ordered the Italian and the Chicken Thai sandwiches.
My chicken thai was fairly spicy, but the provolone cheese softened the spice.
My lovely lady had the Italian which she enjoyed, but wasn’t a fan of the bread.
(Try the pumpernickel!)
We do not recommend the cheesecake, for lack of flavor and texture.
There is a good amount of small tables, and many snacks to choose from. A lot of the tables were dirty and still had crumbs on them.
The tables are my favorite part, though. The tables have music notes and music symbols on them. Absolutely cool.
Come here for a rainy day — there’s hot tea!

Prices like Starbucks, but without the customer service. Listless inept beach culture service. Drink service took forever. The guy who rung up our order just stared at us while drinking his red bull. I had to ask for my drink to be made after waiting 10 min. Grr :/​espresso machine steaming wands never cleaned. Old crusty milk still coating wand when he out it into the container to steam our milk. Anger.

I think the other reviewers pretty much have it dead on. For me the service was fine but the food was unremarkable and a bit on the expensive side. Although for downtown St. Pete you’re not going to do much better on price.

Great place to grab a drink and snack. Outside tables, across from the art museum. You can watch people and egrets walk by with a pretty harbor view. Nice selection of chilled beers at reasonable prices. Delicious snacks for every budget.

Great little stop when you are looking around downtown.
Great chicken salad and cuban. Will be here again for sure!

Excellent all the way around. Great selection of unique treats. Laid back atmosphere. The sandwiches are great because they use boats head meat. I would definitely recommend this for a nice lunch or a quick dinner.

Good for a quick stop for a bite to eat while walking around. Although the coffee can take a while to get served it was very tasty. Good pastries as well.

Didn’t feel like a big deal sit down brunch after walking our dog around the park, so we stopped into Marketplace for egg & cheese sandwiches. Fresh, tasty croissants & good «basic» sandwich for $ 4.50 (vs a $ 12.50 egg & cheese croissant at Cassis next door (which I love BTW)). Only odd thing was all the people behind the counter were tripping over each other, disorganized and arguing.

If you are on foot and visiting/​living on Beach Drive, this place can be a life saver. I spent time staying in a condo above the store and anytime I wanted a tasty sandwich for lunch or key ingredients to make a full course meal, I could count on Marketplace Express. They carry a wide range of organic and fresh products, and the options are much healthier than making a quick stop at a pharmacy or gas station a few miles away.
The best sandwich is the chicken salad on croissant. Yes, it can be pricey, and yes it can take a few minutes to prepare. But, take into account that this is Beach Drive and this is the only quick-​stop grocery on the road, they have quality, fresh ingredients and you can get a pretty view of Straub Park, the water and the MFA from their patio. Also, they take call ahead orders, so if you really need something fast they can have it ready the moment you walk in.
There have been a handful of times I ran in exclaiming how glad I was that they were still open. After a long day, when a trip to the grocery store on an empty stomach is the last thing I want to do, paying a little extra for convenience is worth it.

A little over priced for the made to order food, but a very convenient little café/​store close to the museum and pier. They have a large selection of beverages and snacks. So if you’re walking around down there and want something quick to munch on, this place is pretty good. They also have outdoor seating which is good for people watching. The staff was also very friendly. Overall, I enjoyed this little place.

By the looks of this place you’d think it’d be the perfect stop-​in-​for-​a-​gourmet-​sandwich deli… but think again.
Although I agree with other reviewers that their selection of drinks and snacks is very good (carry a lot of Kashi products, healthy organic options, rare beverages like Orangina and craft beers), their service and sandwiches are two thumbs down. On a not-​at-​all-​busy Sunday we came here and had both of our orders messed up. Apparently they think a reuben has mustard instead of Thousand Island, or maybe just don’t carry enough ingredients to support their menu. And it took far too long for them to make very simple orders, again, with no other customers to bog them down.
I won’t be coming back to their deli, but I may still stop in for a healthy snack on the go if the yogurt place down the street isn’t open or something…

Good Boar’s Head deli and a decent selection of coffee, tea and sodas. A bit overpriced and not a customer-​centric place.
There are too many other places with better service, atmosphere and pricing that are just as convenient.