A lot of the more "cultured" folks around here (okay, okay, my family - all of whom went away for…read morequite awhile and then came back, and so have had more than just a taste of "big city living") swear by Fareway. I didn't get a chance to shop at Fareway, but I went to Hy-Vee a few times over my last week's stay in Bassett, and I have to admit I was impressed. The Hy-Vee in Charles City is a pleasant mixture of old timey things and new fangled options. Walk in and glance to your right on any weekend morning, and you'll see covered dished filled with traditional breakfast items and tables filled with local "blue hairs" (my mother's term, I swear!) and various sprogs and offspring, all socializing to beat the band. Two steps further, and behind the deli case you may see an Asian guy (I don't know his name, my family didn't either, they just knew he was Asian) who can whip you up a fresh, delectable stir-fry while you wait. You could also get prepared deli foods at this counter, and while I didn't, I suspect the fare might be good. Further on, there is an enormous meat case where we picked up some very good house-made brats. They're sold by the pound, wrapped in greased brown paper, and could be behind the fresh meat case at any Whole Paycheck. Fresh? OMG. Fresh. And while we didn't buy beef, I watched as the butcher unloaded a styrofoam box laden with giant, perfect, sweetly bloody steaks from the Amana Colonies, which I've never seen at any yupscale Grocerie and Expensive Food Emporium anywhere. We're talkin' grass-fed, baby. I was also surprised at the cheese selection. While there were wedges that looked slightly past their prime (the market for Asiago and Parmeggiano Reggiano is still under-developed here), nothing wasn't saleable, and.... whoo. Fresh Maytag Blue! And a random Welsh sharp cheddar that knocked my socks off. A quite big selection. I was impressed. The rest of the store also yielded surprises. I found not just lemon curd but lime curd, soy milk, tahini, and other things I hadn't expected to see in a small town Iowa grocery store. And.... there was SORGHUM! Sorghum syrup is as old-timey Iowa as it gets, and I was afraid that all the gourmet modern options would have crowded its earthy, deep-flavored goodness off the shelves. But no, there it was, right by the pancake syrups. Hooray! Final note: in Iowa, you can get wine and liquor in a special section of the grocery store. We found lots of good beers and plenty of quite decent wines, including a New Zealand Riesling that was superb - and affordable. Whoever manages this Hy-Vee deserves kudos for keeping up-to-date AND keeping what's best of traditional things. That can't be easy. Very highly recommended.

I have not been to very many Hy-Vee stores in my past but this one was very nice for sure! A very…read morenice variety of groceries to pick from, many of the brands though I was not familiar with since a considerable amount of what they have are items based on the region but there is still plenty of the old standards that you do know like Doritos corn chips and the like. They had a great bakery set up at this store location too so definitely worth going to for sure. we had to go here from New Hampton because there is no grocery store in that town that is open on a Sunday so this is by far the next best option.

The manager of the store should be ashamed of themselves for letting their customers use these…read morebroken down shopping carts. No matter what card I get it's always a complete jalopy.

Honestly, I had a very rude run in with a middle age woman with brown hair last night. I came in…read moreover an hour before close, and the second I walked in with some people she was glaring at me looking for a reason to kick me out. She then proceeded to follow me around the store for about 20 minutes. I needed a few items for thanksgiving. I saw a friend in the store and was chatting about his knee surgery. Then she yelled at us like we were 16 years old to "GET OUT! YOUR DONE! WE NEED TO CLOSE THE STORE AND YOUR IN THE WAY". She was screaming at us like we were children. I am a grown adult shopping for some last minute Thanksgiving items and saw a friend. Sure were we a little loud? Yes. But it's Walmart, not a castle. Very very very upset. I got kicked out of a Walmart for the first time in my life.

I really love the vibe of this store! We stopped in during a first-ever visit to Decorah. I was in…read moresearch of local cheese and singles of local cider. I scored, big time, on both counts. They carried a good range from local cheese maker WW Homestead and also had a nice variety of Wisconsin cheeses along with some imports. The cider selection really came as a wonderful surprise, though. I used to cider being given a short shrift compared to beer. Instead, they had a great variety from local cideries, and I even bought a bottle from Belgium! My husband found a few new beers, too. If and when I come here again, I'd love to look through more of the store, even as I check on the cheese and cider anew. This is definitely my kind of place.

We stopped in to grab sandwiches for lunch. We were there before lunch and we're the only ones…read moreordering sandwiches. It took two staff members 20 minutes to make two sandwiches "made to order". We stood there and had no idea why it was taking forever. They did toast the bread. As pictured, I was glad they had GF bread but it made my sandwich much smaller. I got lettuce, red peppers, "avocado" the green paste you see on the lid, pepperjack and mayo. We bought a large bad of chips and a tea $2.29 and our total for two "no extras" sandwiches, the tea and one bag of chips was $24 and change. Still can't believe how puny the meal was. Only two veggies before you're charged .99 for extras. I expected it would be substantial and filling. Otherwise the store was clean, and has lot of options for foods and natural products.

Aleays delighted with the assortment and quality, very…read morefriendly staff, clean accomodations, a very nice meat market.

Excellent, friendly service and a fantastic selection of high quality meats. Always enjoy visiting…read morewhen in the area. Suggestion the flat iron steaks for the grill.....tender and delicious.

It's always crazy-busy. Parking is a pain, aisles are full, lines at the registers ... and I don't…read moreget it at all because their prices are so high compared to the competition. Shopping here is too hectic and not worth it.

it was a busy evening in store. we met friends for drinks in Wahlburger's restaurant late…read moreafternoon. Festive enough: a Coca Cola semi was parked out front all decorated & lit for Christmas season. inside Santa was available to pose for pictures and a string quintet from WCF symphony was playing in food court. Great ambiance and it's all downhill from here on. Friends were sitting at restaurant bar with an inch deep moat of water under their stools, it was coming from restroom and no one had come to do anything about it. I'm guessing restrooms are 40 feet down a long hall from dining room and goes by a door to kitchen somewhere back there because a chef kept delivering food from that hall and through pool of water. There was no bartender on duty. we had to summon anyone to get us drinks. A grumpy deli manager finally showed up and delivered our beverages. Then a kid arrived with a stack of towels to mop up water. I asked if he couldn't use a mop, but said he didn't think they had one, oh well. The deli manager went back to his food prep counter and offered no suggestions, help or encouragement to young man cleaning up mess. We never got a smile, greeting or asked about more drinks. Kids were banging their silverware on dining table in middle of room & as our party broke up, my husband & I decided to move out to selfserve deli tables, get a meal from food court & sat to enjoy music. There were a lot of dirty tables and being near front doors it was cold and drafty. Something should be done to enclose east side of deli dining room! Our food was okay, fried chicken dinners. I needed groceries from cheese island so proceeded to shop the store. I noticed produce area floor needed to be swept and mopped as I walked through. This is not where I do my regular grocery shop, only for gourmet items. I had a long list, my back was aching from time on bar stool so kept plugging through. First stop - cheese island at 7:15 PM & staff was cleaning slicer & covering the food in display cases. I have no idea what times specialty shops close, but this was ridiculous. They didn't want to but they relented, put slicer back into service and cut ham & cheese to my request. Next stop was meat counter & they didn't have any fresh chicken breast with skin & bones intact. Staff had to go looking for it in self-serve case. Meat staff wasn't certain where to find a couple more items on my list, so I asked to have help meet me. I waited about 5 minutes, no one came so I set out to try looking for big tortillas, dried fruit & jam. The meat staff came out to ask if anyone had ever arrived & so he found a couple young kids who knew exactly which aisles i should check, they were correct. By now I had been all over half of store, was really in pain, so I called it a night and headed to check out. I'll go to my little grocery another time for rest of the list. As it was, 2 paper grocery sacks cost me $54.00 each! The store seems to have plenty of staff around in various areas, but to me it appears that no one is working very hard, rather they are working hard to look like they are working. Somewhere it gets lost in translation that staff are loafing off. From what I observed this evening it seems none of young folks were ever trained to WORK, they seem not to know what they should be doing and the managers are sick of babysitting. The only saving Grace was that symphony group were finished performing at 8:00PM as I headed to my vehicle. I'll add one star to my review because that was really enjoyable.

Horrible quality control. I do curbside and they forgot eggs and my bag of lemons was completely…read moremoldy and mushy. Gross. I got a bag Saturday and the lemons were perfect. These must of been the picked over ones. Why pick it if they're bad?

Terrible customer service by the general manager who just hung up on me…read more Had to reorder as they canceled it due to suspicious activity. NOT CANCELLED BY MY CARD. They are short-handed. No more $300-500 business from me. Zero stars. She needs to retake a PR class.

Dont go here for your oil changes!!!! They will mess up your engine horribly!!!! I went in and thry…read morenever put the seal on my oil filter and also forgot but put the oil cap on, and lost it when I ask about it.

Experience was terrible. There was a woman at the self checkout station today around 2:50pm, Older…read moreCaucasian woman with a head of tight curls, who heavily observed myself and my husband while making our purchases. I understand these areas need to be especially monitored but this woman stood right over our checkout and watched only us the entire time. We felt very uncomfortable. We travel for a living and no one has EVER made us feel this way. I hate to have to say this because I love Iowa but I am calling this racism and stereotyping out. I am Mexican, Spanish, & German. My husband is Mexican & Irish. Both of us born in America. Now, We love the Lord so we don't wish bad upon this woman but pray she gets her heart right.

Ok, I admit this store really grows on ya. The first time I came to visit this place, I think I was…read moremore interested in the Mennonites filling thier carts instead of actually paying attention to the food items I needed to buy. Either way...I think they've added more organic items or they constantly change and the organics come and go like they do in Grocery Outlets. I still haven't figured Aldi's out yet, but I'm really liking them. I was told they are connected to Trader Joe's? Kinda like a German version of Trader Joe's? I dunno, but it's kinda cool with all the unique brands they offer from Germany. Aldi's carries their own organic brands called "Simply Nature." Super great prices for Simply Nature organic milk, almond milk, soy milk, peanut butter, salad dressing, grass fed meats, ice creams, chips, spinach, mixed salads, frozen veggies ect. I'm still not able to go full on grocery shopping here, but I'm getting close.

Alid grocery store is from Germany. The seasonal products from Germany are excellent. The clerks…read moreare kind and friendly and check out is super fast. The clerks check out and do not visit or talk like other grocery stores. The products are all excellent and the variety of items are endless.