I don’t know about you but I’ve been hearing about Wegmans for years! Relatives up north would regale me with stories about this mythical food emporium serving up amazing, restaurant-quality eats and gourmet groceries. Some fast facts about Wegmans Raleigh but it’s about 105,000 square feet and average in size for the chain. It’s the first Wegmans store in North Carolina and the 100th store in the chain, woohoo! Wegmans plans on opening up 6 stores in the Triangle ranging from W. Cary, Chapel Hill, Wake Forest and beyond. Along with Wegmans, there will be other additional restaurants coming to the Midtown East plaza, including BB Chicken, a fast casual chicken restaurant from Chef Ashley Christensen.
So what to expect if you come here for a shopping excursion? Well to start, you’ve got two options for parking, an underground deck and an above-ground surface deck. For the underground deck, take a right into the village (Mercantile Drive) in front of Wegmans and you’ll be able to sneak into the lower deck and take an escalator-stairs to the surface. Take a right (onto Wake Towne Drive) along the main entrance by Trader Joe’s and you’ll be able to take another right into the main lot right in front of Wegmans. Overall there’s plenty of parking space and likely the lower level will be a lot easier!
Head on inside and you’ll find that Wegmans is a mix of gourmet food shop, groceries and wine store (See layout map above). Up front you’ll find the produce, bread shop, meat shop, seafood and delicatessen. To the immediate right is the grocery section (frozen, boxes, canned). To the far right the wine and beer area and to the far left, the coffee shop, prepared foods and dining area. Well if you follow the layout of most supermarkets, you’re likely to start with produce and Wegmans does a great job here offering up really great fruits, veggies and more. While the prices are a bit higher, they do have a great amount of variety to choose from.
After produce, I’d head over to the baked pastries and bread area which are across from each other. From there, head on over to seafood, meats, over to the cheese area in back (which is phenomenal) and then to the deli in back. Wegmans offers up $5 rotisserie chickens, aged beef and an olive bar as some points of interest. And again, while prices aren’t cheap, the selection and quality is excellent with a lot of high-end foodstuffs that are hard to find elsewhere. In addition to the full-serve counter areas, Wegmans offers up a lot of it’s food options pre-packaged so you can grab and go ranging from pizzas, marinated meats to meal kits.
So given how great their fresh produce, meats and seafood are, as you head over to the grocery area it’s a bit of a let-down! Wegmans grocey area is smaller than most stores and relies heavily on their in-house brand which is excellent quality. My cat LOVES the Wegmans Nature cat food if that’s a vote of confidence! One fun area is the bulk goods area where you’ll find a plethora of nuts, candies and snacks on full display and all self-serve. And then finally you hit the beer and wine area which is nearly a store in itself. I have yet to really check out this area but will report back when I do.
Now before or after you’re done shopping, you may want to check out Wegmans prepared food areas. First, there’s the hot and cold bars with about 100 items to choose from that will change seasonally beyond some regular favorites. You can purchase your food by the pound here for eating at home. The choices range from classic American eats to Asian along with a healthier salad bar area where you can mix and match your proteins.
After the hot and cold bars, you can grab dinner from either the sushi area, sandwich area, pizza area, salad area or burger bar. All the food here is cooked to order for either take-home or for in-house dining in Wegmans dining room. The burger bar also offers beer, wine and cocktails if you need an adult bevvy with your meal. Wegmans does a great sandwich-sub at $6.50 for the medium chicken tender parm or meatball parm. Like most sandwich shops, you can choose your bread, cheeses, vegetables and condiments as desired.
And the Burger Bar offers some classic grill eats along with frozen custard and shakes. The American Classic burger with American cheese, mustard, ketchup and pickles is essentially a high-quality knock-off of a McDonald’s burger so you may find it familiar. And the pizzas here are cooked in a wood-fired oven but do not have the complexity of a real Neapolitan pie but offer similar dough. You can pay for your food at the normal cash registers but if you want to eat at Wegmans, there’s a second set of registers near a casual dining room where you can tuck away into your meal.
So what can I say?! While Wegmans is not perfect, it flirts the line between gourmet food shop, grocery store and food court pretty well. Pick and choose to get the best deals, I recommend downloading the Wegmans app to make things easier. And while the food court area is pretty average, it’s also pretty cost-effective and offers you some decent variety compared to say, Costco’s food court. And after a long day of shopping at Wegmans, that may be all you really need!.
Here are some passionate Wegman’s articles and I recommend you sign up for their Shoppers Club for digital coupons and more!
- 25 things to buy at Wegmans — and 15 items you’re better off skipping
- Business Insider – We visited the regional grocery chain that beat out Amazon and Costco to become the most beloved brand in America
- BuzzFeed – 25 Reasons Wegmans Is The Greatest Supermarket The World Will Ever Know
Wegmans
1200 Wake Towne Drive
Raleigh, NC 27609
984.233.8186
Mason’s Famous Lobster Rolls, Raleigh – A Taste of New England Seafood in North Carolina