25 September 2007

North Market
















Choice is a fantastic thing. North Market provides plenty of choices. I chose to eat there the other day. I'll choose somewhere else in the future. Let me explain.

North Market is a supermarket that features a wide variety of options, from Vietnamese to Mexican to Italian. There are many things available that can satisfy a wide variety of vegetarian (and not-so-vegetarian) options.

The variety and the quality of food is excellent. While these options provide a great reason to check out North Market, forcing customers to pay for parking is pretty ridiculous. The food is already more expensive than chain grocery stores. The parking lot staff did a poor job of expediting the lot which ate up extra time because of pay-to-dine parking arrangement.

The market provides interesting options. The best option is to use the parking lot to save the frustration of city parking. The hassle, however, is barely worth the trip. The market is a good lunch spot with great food to eat on site or to prepare at home. With a little extra effort, this could be a great dining option. I'll be waiting.

Check out the pictures below, and be sure to tell the parking lot staff that they should build a free, multi-level parking lot if they want to have me back.



North Market

3 comments:

Columbus Foodie said...

The parking isn't *that* bad..(if you think that's bad, you should see the West Side Market in Cleveland - the parking is free, but it sucks and is impossible to find a space). The trick is to go during the week (rather on Saturday, especially during growing season), and to try to snag one of the metered spaces alongside the market - if you're just going for a short trip, you end up saving money.

But at least for me, the hassle is worth it, just for Daniel's divine chocolates and Omega's Cinnamon Rolls. :)

deraj1013 said...

Yeah...I was just ticked about the goofy system that requires you to save a receipt, then I had to battle the jackass who operates the lot that doesn't take credit cards. Does ANYBODY besides strippers spend cash nowadays?

I like many of the establisments that are located in North Market. In most instances, however, it's more convenient for me to go directly to these places rather than visit the North Market and pay $3 to park to buy a $5 item.

The metered parking is usually filled up. This is another example of the many parking issues in the Capital city, an urban wasteland designed with no foresight to the future. I guess North Market is one of 10,000 places in C-bus where parking is a hassle and a frustration. I will steer clear of the North Market unless it's like 9 am and I can steal a metered spot--but I will not park in that pay-to-play lot. Thanks for the tips, though.

And I have one more shortcoming from the North Market--since I'm diabetic, chocolates and cinnamon rolls are frowned on by my doctor. :-( Poor poor me.

deraj1013 said...

I am such a jerk. Although I still attest that the North Market has the worst parking lot in Columbus, it is a Columbus institution.