This past week, a very special Italian Market opened its doors at Springline plaza in Menlo Park. Il Mercato di Che Fico was opened by the owners of the acclaimed Che Fico restaurant in San Francisco (and one recently opened in Menlo Park too, just steps away from this market).
The opening day was Thurs March 21, 2024 and it was buzzing with the novelty and excitement of a first day. First off, when you see the market from afar and walk up to it, the produce looks like impeccable, like from a stock photo of a grocery store. The fruits and veggies are glistening so brightly and stacked ever so neatly, that you don't even want to grab one otherwise it would ruin the perfection of the display.
It's a small shop but you can tell everything was very carefully curated to be very high quality with healthy, fresh ingredients and products.
It feels like such a treat to walk down the aisles and look at what they have to offer and discover new things that catch your eye that you can't find at the big box grocery stores.
They even have Rize Up bread from SF!! You can't get that down in the peninsula! But now you can! 😁
Anyhow I got distracted, the reason I was there was because of their focaccia deli sandwiches that they sell by the pound. They're ready made and you tell them how much you can want. These things are massive!!! So realistically you would only get a slice or small chunk.
And you can get slices from different ones too, which is what we did.
Weighing it, I think this one came out to around $13.
They also have made-to-order sandwiches so we got one of those too!
While we were waiting for it to be made, we browsed the store some more.
They have salads and other ready cooked meats like steak and chicken that you can order by the pound. They also have a butcher with meats and fresh seafood. Also a refrigerated section with grab-and-go foods, lasagna to bake at home, marinated meats, broths, soups, and sauces. The soups looked really nourishing and the broths were tempting too!!
Honestly it all looked really good. They have a freezer section with broths, frozen meals, and house made GELATO!!
This market is going to have a gelato window facing the street. It's not open yet but they said soon, maybe in 2 months or so I heard? That will be super popular I am sure.
Yes so many exciting things to try at this market! Our sandwiches were ready so we checked out and ate them in the small yellow tables outside the storefront. The sandwiches were amazing and we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves on this sunny day outside. We had the ya'at (I forget how to spell it), the mortadella one (I may be butchering all the names), and the chicken parm one. Oh goodness, all of them were good, the ya'at was my favorite though. The focaccia is so fluffy and soft, the meats and cheeses and sauces blend together so well, and the way the chicken parmesan was breaded and crispy tasted so homemade.
You gotta come and try these sandwiches!!!! We spent about $40 for the 3 and we had leftover. I think you can even ask the deli for a sample of the sandwich too. I encourage you to try as many as you have the stomach room for!
Welcome Il Mercato di Che Fico to the neighborhood! We are happy you are here! I can't wait to stroll around with Italian gelato in my hand on a warm summer night! The Bay Area is the best!
1300 El Camino Real Suite A
Menlo Park, CA 94025
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