Farmer's Pick - Ottawa, Ontario

S Foo

This grocery store is good for a quick stop for a variety of items. I needed to pick up a loaf of bread and there is a bakery in the back with freshly sliced bread for $5-6. They only accepted cash, though. It was quite a long wait. The cashier was friendly and helpful.

kathykatt

Pros: love the deli sandwiches, has a pretty good variety of imported Italian goods alongside Canadian staples. Mostly better prices than the big chain grocers. They also offered carryout service to your car which is good because the carts can’t go past the front entrance, so if you have a lot of groceries it can be a hassle.

Cons: went there today and the grapes were absolutely COVERED in fruit flies. I understand this time of year + sticky sweet fruit = some inevitable flies, but this was an absolute swarm. Lots of flies on and near pretty much all the produce - really put me off getting my fruit and veg there. Also, the place smells like it’s starting to have a pretty bad mold problem, or there’s something else going on to make the entire building have a very distinct scent (I’m smelling it even now on a chocolate milk carton). It’s also a fairly small space for the amount of product and people they pack in there and it can make shopping feel claustrophobic. Not as claustrophobic as the parking lot, though, which is small and crowded and overrun with reserved spots and 30-min max spaces.

Also, it’s 2024, the bakery really needs to move away from cash only and pick up a $70 Square card reader at the very least. It’s not a good or seamless customer experience as it is now at all. I understand that the bakery is under its own management but ultimately Farmer’s Pick should be working with them to ensure they are able to meet the needs of their joint customers.

Overall… I always want to support small local businesses, but the overall shopping experience makes it hard to choose Farmer’s Pick over a chain store. They badly need to modernize and/or move to a new space.

comegetsomebeer

Love getting fresh sandwiches here for lunch and the odd grocery item. The guys behind the deli counter are always friendly and make a mean sandwich. They have very affordable deli meats and I go there for anything Italian. You can get various Italian specialties here and nowhere else. The girls at the checkout are gorgeous and are not sore to look at. The bread section was a bit disappointing as the day old bread cost as much as the regular bread. Also you have to pay for the bread there and not at the regular checkout. Was a little uncomfortable putting the bread in my bag and felt like I was stealing but I wasn't. Paolo, one of the managers makes pizzas fresh if anyone asks. It's rumored that he's a salad expert aswell.

Thai Son Ngo Dang

Been shopping here for 3yrs+.

+ A cozy local supermarket.
+ Good price & quality.
+ Remarkable HR consistency. All staff kinda look the same. My friends thought they were all related, others think they have a machine at the back to copy paste new staff. Cashiers always look like they wanna rip you apart.

10/10 would recommend.

(Edited to make it clear that I love shopping here)

Google User

I recently moved to the area and I am very disappointed with the neighborhoods grocery store. For having the name farmer I was shocked there is nothing plant based/vegan. I understand it’s a deli and prioritizes meats and cheese, but to not even have a small section for alternative diets in 2024 is crazy and really limiting their customer bases. I now have to travel further to any other food store to do groceries and won’t go to multiple stores so they are missing out on hundreds a month from me and I’m sure many others. this store is charming and all the workers I encounter are so very sweet, they also have plastic bags which I swear are extinct now haha. The 2 plant based items I found in the frozen section were $20 which is 0.9% more than loblaws and loblaws is 0.3% more than Walmart . Please be more inclusive to diary allergies

Bornsinner 613

Amazing place! The groceries are fair priced and fresh and the sandwiches are amazing, just order ahead because wait times can be long from the amount of people and feels great supporting a local business that doesn’t hire cheap labour and instead actually hires teens.

Lisa Elminowski

WOW! Went in randomly in search of a light lunch and discovered an Italian gem of a market! The #12 Di Parma sandwich was custom made to order, stacked with meat, and served on a freshly made bun. I'll definitely be back to explore more.

Rain

1. Some of these young cashiers treat you like you owe them money. No greetings, nothing. The older cashiers were polite and patient.

2. Sometimes you'll buy meat that has expired and smells sour, even though the label is a long way from the expiry date. You can't tell them from their colour and you can only smell the sourness when you get home and peel back the cling film.