Go Grocer

This place is crazy overpriced. A bottle of fireball is $ 10 more then at jewel. A box of honey nut cherrios that is $ 3 at jewel is $ 5.99.
I could see the prices being a bit inflated being wicker park and a small store but their prices are simply a rip off.

This place is small and likely only convenient for the people who live in the apartment buildings down the street. There’s no parking close by (and the street fills up quickly) and the selection in here is pretty small.
The quality of the food here is good, which others have mentioned, but the pricing structure here is BONKERS. I’m not sure how one decides the value of certain frozen goods or fresh fruits that are literally 50−75% less in other places, but some of the stuff is just nuts overpriced.
The selection of craft beers is great and there’s a lot of wine, including selections that are in the $ 10-​$ 20 range.
I don’t make it a point to come here unless I happen to be driving by, but this definitely isn’t a place I could afford to stop in everyday to buy groceries or supplies.

This grocery store is pricy for the location, but does have a solid selection of wine, beer, and organic foods.
If you are vegan or vegetarian this is probably your best bet in the area. They have a lot of meat alternatives.
I mostly pop in to get their pre-​made salads or sandwiches if I am too lazy to make dinner.
Staff are always friendly and fun to talk to.

This place is great. Overpriced, but great selection of yummy, healthy things. On my way home from a run, armed with just my debit card, I went to pick up a few things. Total was less than $ 20. As I was on a run, and just had my debit card, I did not have ID. The employee was very nice and apologetic, but said it was a new policy and they needed ID for every card. He was serious. Weird. Won’t be going here again…

The staff is great. They are very friendly, down to earth, and helpful.
Go Grocer provides a limited amount of grocery staples that are overpriced; however, this place really shines with their prepared foods and craft beer/​wine/​liquor selection.
They deserve special recognition for their handling of the recent release of Goose Island’s Bourbon County Stout.

Very helpful staff, very good beer selection. Prices are high, but that’s to be expected, especially for the quality of service and product.

Has almost everything I need in a pinch. Enjoy walking there, nice hours outside the normal times.

This place is called Go Grocer now, and they’re awesome Lots of healthy, gluten free groceries and gourmet goodies, some stuff you can’t even find at Whole Foods! They carried the Masala Cobra corn before any other store I have ever been to, I love that they are constantly getting new stuff for customers to try. The staff is super helpful, they actually give good advice on items in the store because they enjoy eating the stuff themselves. They have a huge booze section too, my bff is a beer snob and she loves going there and trying new brews. I visit the store several times a week when I’m not traveling, if you are in the Wicker Park area you have to check them out.

Summary: stay away from their refrigerated foods, which are prone to spoilage
I live a block from here, so it’s convenient for last minute produce. Here’s my problem with them: both times I’ve bought items from their refrigerated section, the food had gone bad.
First, it was a gallon of milk. There was a week left until the expiration date written on it and put it in my refrigerator 5 minutes after buying it. 24 hours later, it was sour.
Second, it was some chicken breasts. I brought them home and opened them immediately to cook. They smelled really off so I threw them away. Luckily, I had some frozen chicken I could thaw.
The kicker is that I paid an arm and a leg for this rotten food since the prices are so high at this place. This has never happened to me at either a big chain grocery store or a farmer’s market, and yet this place is 2 for 2. Maybe they need to turn down the temperature on their refrigerators. To be fair, they might have been willing to give me refunds if I had tried, but I’d rather not be in these situations in the first place.

As a transplant from NY, one thing I miss are bodegas located on every other corner. Chicago just doesn’t have a bodega culture, but W Grocer is kind of a bodega. It has a tremendous selection of really nice foods as well as a solid beer, wine and liquor selection. You definitely pay for convenience at this place. Wines that you can find at Binny’s for $ 9 cost ~$ 15 here, but if you’re in the neighborhood and heading over to someone’s place and don’t want to show up empty handed this is a great place to hit up.

Cute shop and huge selection of craft beers– many I have never heard of. On a Friday night they were offering wine tastings and have a frequent buyer punch card you can eventually use for a free bottle of wine.

They have a good beer selection, albeit a couple bucks more expensive over just about anywhere else. That’s the main reason I go there sometimes. Basically you pay (out the a**) for convenience and some food items that you’d otherwise have to go to Whole Foods or Trader Joes to get. Think mini-​mart for Wicker Park yuppies with money to burn and burn. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the deal: Convenience, late hours, and quality items come at a premium. It can get a bit comical though, for example, and I’m not making this up: 1 box of Triscuits = $ 5.99 I actually laughed audibly in the store. Basically if you’re shopping here regularly in place of a grocery, then you seriously have no financial concerns. So feel good, you’ve made it baby!

If you’re a vegan, you will love this place. Many options for you. As far as price goes, I don’t know what’s expensive and inexpensive for vegan-​y products but something tells me that the range here is either right on the money or a bit much. Why? Because other items in this place are way overpriced. 2.99 for a can of coconut milk? No thanks. They have organic goods though as well as things you wouldn’t see in your typical grocery store so props for that, I suppose. It’s also right off the blue line (Damen stop) so it’s a convenient place to stop after work should you get off in Wicker Park.
The main reason I would go back here — their beer selection. Pretty dynamite. Both mainstream (less in this department but still more than just one to choose from) and craft (tons of this). Win-​win for all!
Oh, and one more thing. When you get to the register, the register screen displays bus times for the #72 (North Ave. bus). Pretty nifty. That way you know whether or not you should keep shopping or run out of there like a crazy person to catch your bus. Let’s be honest. It’ll most likely be the latter 9 times out of 10. With my luck, anyway.

overpriced, but I thought it was okay since everything looked so wholesome and healthy. I bought a pack of cherry tomatoes to detox from all the bad food I was having. I opened up the pack next day, and ONLY the ones on the outside were not moldy. Everything in the center where you can’t see because of the label was moldy. Yuck, what a rip.

I love W Grocer! If you are looking for for new and innovative food products, this is the place to shop! Great selection of beer, wine, snacks, cheeses, food bars, and YES jellybeans!
There should be more places like this that seek out foods that take the path less traveled.

Great location, poor most everything else. Expect to pay 2−3x more than whole foods, which is maybe a mile away, and at least 4x jewel prices, which is barely a 10 minute walk from the train. Some of their selection prices are strange — lots of organics but whole grains are hard to find. They have Upton’s natural, which I loooove, but at a $ 2 premium. Beer and wine selection is great, if you don’t mind paying extra for the convenience, and nothing special compared to my favourite Bodega Ramos in Lincoln Park.
My experience with service has been pretty mediocre — pretentious and not very helpful. When I’m exhausted and don’t have time for anything else, I stop here to pick up just a few things. Heads up: Egg whites and frozen broccoli: $ 11 total. At Trader Joes: maybe $ 5.60. Yikes!

I exhibit recidivist behavior with this place. *Every* single time i go here, i do a mini, invisible double take when they add up the prices on the counter and present me my bill. This place is really expensive. Yes, for all the fancy gourmet stuff you carry, and for the fact you’re open later, and that you’re so close, and that you’re veggie/​vegan friendly, this still does not mean you leave me feeling physical agony because my wallet weighs a lot less when i leave here. I promise to go to Aldi or Jewel next time instead.
And yet back i am, two days later. Why? Just read that last paragraph again. This is like a drug habit gone bad. I want to kick it, but i just can’t.

In a nutshell: Great selection in a small space. I think that’s reflected in the prices a little bit, but that would be my only knock on this place. Boars head meats, organic cage free eggs, best wine and beer selection for what I term my little «convenient store»… it’s a gourmet grocer, but I utilize it like a corner store (which it actually is). If you want a nice, quick, solid six pack, bottle of wine, gourmet frozen pizza, good deli meat, bread, gourmet chocolate, etc., and you don’t want to deal with one of Chicago’s nightmarish grocery stores… this is the spot.
You could absolutely knock out an impressive date night stopping only at W Grocer. No joke. I’ve done it. Shh!

I. Heart. This. Place. A lot! Why?
First of all, because it’s an adorable little market. It’s well cared for, they’ve got a little bit of everything, and the stuff they offer is quality. Four stars instead of five because of the price (but I do understand the need for mark-​ups with small, independent stores. Carry on, W. Carry on.)
Second, I always seem to find something new to try when I’m in there. Their stock is kind of like… I don’t know… like peering into a cabinet of curiosities. The last time I visited, I tried a little bag of snap pea crisps… and they were gooooood. One of these days, I’m going back for the chocolate sauce with grand marnier… that just sounds sinful.
Which brings me to my third reason why I love this place. Can I just say I agree with the ladies who’ve said the guys behind the counter are… uhm… not completely unfortunate looking? I feel like such a sleaze. But thank goodness I’m not the only one who’s had fleeting thoughts of – wait. Better keep that little daydream to myself.

Despite the fact that these places are springing up everywhere, WGrocer or the artist formally known as WCrossing, has been around for awhile. This place has a solid selection of micro brews & wine. If you live in the area, as some of my friends do, I imagine this place is pretty clutch when it comes to groceries. Over the summer, we were in a pinch and needed some cilantro. We actually took bets as to whether or not Wgrocer would have it. I LOST. They totally did! As you see, you’ll find some produce, cheeses, brats, boars head, chips (mmmm KETTLE!!), etc. They even carry Vosages .
Now, I must subtract 1 star.
1. You are expensive.
2. I hate, HATE, promo people. I don’t care if you’re from magic hat, leave me alone. WGrocer, why must you let them in ?
Side note, one of the guys that works here is total babe. Shhhh, don’t tell my boyfriend.
Wait, honey, are you reading this? I didn’t mean it.
He’s not UNFORTUNATE looking.