Pomegranate Market

I generally love this store. We stop here whenever we're in town for some quality groceries and water re-fill. My only complaint is that sometimes they lack a quality version of the straightforward thing. I got chocolate chips for instance and just wanted a quality, maybe organic, semisweet chocolate chip. There were carob chips and stevia sweetened chocolate chips but I think only one normal semisweet chocolate chip option. Cheeses as well, we wanted a spreadable goat cheese but could only find farmers cheese. I'm pretty certain that was the only spreadable animal based option. We bought it and are happy with it, but there were many more options for plant based cheeses than animal cheeses. It's great for catering to those who want something quite different than normal grocery stores which is an important niche to fill. I just wish sometimes it was easier to find high quality traditional products too.

Nice fresh products to choose from, clean store, and a nice cashier. Only problem was an hour before they were supposed to close, my son and I were at the food bar getting ready to get some soup and assorted salads. Blonde girl who had been cleaning the coffee area walked up and took all the tongs and ladles so we couldn't get anything! I get that they want to get side work done, but come ON. So we bought our groceries and left. We went over to Natural Grocers right down the street and finished getting our stuff for dinner. Someone needs a manners lesson! Made dinner using what I got at Natural Grocers except for the Naan bread I got at Pomegranate. Reckon I'll do more shopping at Natural Grocers now because of this incident!

I picked up the free magazines and flyers at the front of the store before entering. That's a nice feature. On this trip, I was looking for stevia-sweetened coffee creamers or flavoring drops that don't contain Erythritol, which gives me horrible stomach aches and isn't recommended for people with IBS or Chron's. I found stevia drops, but the price is expensive to me; I would still have to add a cream of some sort. I did find unsweetened nut creamers, but then I would still have to sweeten them. I also wanted to see if they had Trim Healthy Mama stevia as I am almost out of mine. I tried two brands of stevia packets from Sunshine grocery store and liked those but didn't see them here. I did see Stevia in the Raw Organic, which contains no Erythritol (Yay!) which Walmart stopped carrying, but I believe the price, on sale, was more than I used to pay. I was going to see if they had Monkfruit without Erythritol, but unfortunately, they carry the same brand as Walmart and it does contain as its first ingredient, Erythritol. I also looked for pure unprocessed unbleached stevia in green powdered form, but I didn't see that, either. I saw a few employees but none spoke to me. I left with my free fliers and magazines. There wasn't a clearly defined place or instructions to leave my basket to be sterilized, so I returned it to the stack near the entrance. Please note, the price under the nut creamer is actually for coffee. The price of the creamer on sale was $3.29.

When I moved to Sioux Falls I was concerned about the ability to get organic and allergen friendly foods. I’m allergic to gluten, dairy, eggs and soy. I also try and keep fruits and vegetables organic and non GMO. I was pleasantly surprised to find the store has, almost, everything I need. Prices are hit and miss, some are reasonable and other items are extremely high. I have family in Omaha so if needed i do buy some things there and online. The Mercato app has most of the items but I have found more in the store. Their salad bar/fresh food/deli area is my favorite. There are a lot of allergen friendly options. They recently expanded their meat department so there are plenty or options. Lots of frozen meals, desserts, huge row of protein/snack bars and large fresh fruit and vegetable section. Large protein powder and vitamin section. They have good sales, so I tend to hold of on certain items until they have deals. I’ve never waited more than a few minutes to checkout. Employees are hit and miss but I’ve found a majority to be very nice. They also have an indoor seating area. I’ve never seen more than 2-3 people sitting there however I’ve also never been to the store during lunchtime. This has quickly become one of my go to stores in Sioux Falls.