I got to go food from the HyVee Market Grill tonight and it was sooo good! I've had a few meals from here over the last few months and it's always good, or 98% of the time it is. It was fish Friday and we got the meal for $5(a great deal!) while the fish was good, they failed to give us tartar sauce (and utensils). I dipped my fish in the Cole slaw sauce. Omdog!!! It's been a LONG time since I had their coleslaw. And it's nearly identical to my mom's(master chef). I'd have to give west HyVee Market Grill as the BEST coleslaw in Ames. Even better than KFC. Lot parking. Friendly staff. CyHawkApproved. read more

They have a great Cobb salad that is reasonably priced and very healthy. It's my go to when I need my salad fix.

When we come to Ames, we always make a point to stop by Hy-Vee Market Cafe for breakfast the morning we're heading back to WI. We are never disappointed with our meals. They have great omelettes, pancakes, breakfast burritos, and so much more. Give their cinnamon rolls a try! They're even better when shared. The cafe is clean and comfortable. The service is good. And, the prices are great! We've made this a tradition and look forward to coming here the next time we visit. read more

Stopped in for breakfast. This is not your old Hy-Vee deli! Service was very attentive. The food (we ordered off of the $1.69 al a carte menu) was solid. Coffee, just $1.29, was frequently refilled. The atmosphere, from booths to tables to televisions to the bar, was definitely a nice leap upscale for Hy-Vee. Any downside? If you were a fan of the basic decor and cheaper prices of the old deli, you'll probably not be as pleased as would be a new customer. Be prepared. This transformation is scheduled to happen at all Hy-Vees. The other Ames location is about to have an even larger version called The Grille. Their goal, I'm guessing, is to not just have higher profit margins, but to also extend the operation well into the night. I think I would have liked to have had a separate outside entrance. The more sophisticated vibe is undermined a bit by having to walk by cantaloupes on your way in, but I'm sure they're hoping you'll buy a cantaloupe... It might take some time before folks will think of going to Hy-Vee for an evening cocktail, which I think is their hope. That said, I do believe the cafe could work very well as a sports bar alternative. And just think, you might even earn Hy-Vee gas points. read more

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Noah M. is an amazing bartender. His attitude is exactly what you want in a bartender. I was going through a rough patch in my life and he not only made me forget my troubles for awhile (not alcohol induced) but also was a perfect person to just converse with. Whatever hes being paid it should be more. Literally an amazing person and one of the best experiences I've had at the Market Grill. Pay this man more Hyvee. read more

Huge variety of food, always delicious, great service, amazing brunch on Sundays. It doesn't feel like eating in a cafeteria or like you're surrounded with senior citizens. The interior is very nice and games are always playing on TV. We frequent the restaurant very often, as we live nearby and love it. They recently updated the menu to the more expansive variety. There are appetizers, salads, pizza, Flatbread, sushi, sandwiches, burgers, pasta, seafood, steak, desserts, really anything you could ever want. I would personally recommend the bacon, jalapeño, maple wontons from the appetizer list. My favorite meals are the baked cavatappi, the Hy-waiian burger and the spicy thai peanut chicken sandwich. My fiancé loves the Monte Cristo club. During lunch you can choose to make any sandwich into a wrap, so the Buffalo chicken sandwich (as a wrap) is one of the best. The Market Grille also offers a brunch buffer on Sundays. The buffet is amazing! There is usually egg bake, biscuits and gravy, sausage, bacon, breakfast potatoes, pancakes or waffles and lunch options like chicken strips or baked chicken, Mac and cheese and cheesy potatoes. There is also a chef station where you can order any type of eggs including a variety of eggs benedicts. There are also donuts, pastries, cupcakes, fresh fruit, shrimp cocktail, and crab cakes. During lunch you can also order bottomless Bloody Marys and they have a station full of toppings - bacon, olives, shrimp, celery, pickles, etc. As always with HyVee the service is great. We love the servers, chefs, bar tenders, and managers. We have never had any complaints and frequent this restaurant quite frequently. read more

I do not really get the point of adding this to the store. Essentially I get the same food I would get if I go into a normal Hy-Vee with the classic cafeteria style food service (like the east Hy-Vee has in Ames), but now I have to wait for an additional amount of time and tip a waitress for serving me. That being said, tried the place out for breakfast, the staff was friendly and nice, food was good, and the prices are very reasonable. I guess to sum it up, if you're in Ames looking for a sit down restaurant and the local Hy-Vee grocery store is the first thing that pops into your head, it's a good place to eat. read more

The Market Cafe itself is excellent, my only complaint is that the Chinese part is poorly run. The Asian man who works full time there acts like it's a chore to scoop your food onto the plate, and refuses to make eye contact. I always get charged for a two entree meal when I only get one entree. The price at that point is comparable to New China, which is right next to Hy-Vee, and the food there is much much better. Won't be returning any time soon. read more

I went here for the first time this past week. While I like the idea and the friendly servers that work there, I was less than impressed with food and organization. I do think the concept of having an upscale cafe in a supermarket is a good idea, but they need to improve the organization and food. They are not at all organized. They have a menu inside but also allow you to bring food in from the deli counters outside of the cafe. While the idea is good, it can be confusing. The servers seem to get easily confused dealing with a menu and with customers bringing food in. I ordered from the in-cafe menu. I got a "Mac and cheese burger" and fries. $9 for a cruddy, undercooked burger and over-salted fries. Not impressed with that for being an upscale cafe. They have a bar in there, which is a nice touch, but this isn't what it's advertised to be. read more

I am a very laid back person who never behaves rudely or impatiently even if my order is wrong. Today I ordered a steak medium well. It took 30 minutes even though the restaurant was not crowded. My server apologized for the delay. When I cut into it, it was still very rare and pink. I politely asked if I could have it cooked a bit longer. It came back to me the 2nd time STILL undercooked. When asked how it was now I showed my server (and the host who also asked) that it was still too pink. My server asked if I wanted him to put it on the grill again. I said no because I had to be somewhere. He brought me a box and the bill. No apology. No coupon for a discount next time. No comp dessert. I still tipped 20% because I use to be a server. Can't help but wonder if I had been a man and/or been angry and difficult if they would have done something to compensate me? read more

I wasn't expecting much from this restaurant when it opened, but I've only had good experiences here. Some of the dishes I've enjoyed are the chicken cheese quesadilla (uses real grilled chicken breast, excellent salsa on the side - found on the appetizer menu), Cobb salad (too much blue cheese, ask for it on the side), Asian chicken salad, salmon dinner, grilled chicken sandwich, and the burger. The burgers and chicken sandwiches are customizable with bacon, fresh sliced avocado, cheese, or sautéed mushrooms. The buns they use are large, chewy, and soft. The fries are excellent. They also have gluten free bread and buns. My best friend is gluten intolerant and prefers the bread to the buns. She really enjoyed the monte cristo on gluten free bread. We have gone here for breakfast twice. The Sunday brunch buffet was awful, over-crowded and over-priced. We chose the buffet because the wait for food off the menu was over an hour. However, we got breakfast off the menu (not the buffet) on a Saturday and it was awesome. Lots of tasty, hot, fresh breakfast food for a great price. I would say the new Hyvee Market Cafe is as good or better than many of the local sports bar style restaurants in town. The decor is clean, there's a great bar, and plenty of TVs to watch sports, if you like that. Another bonus is that you can get carry out of many menu items and you can do grocery shopping while you wait for dinner. The food is usually ready in 10-20min. If you order in store. Give it a try! read more

My wife and I chose to stop in here on a Friday evening. We are regulars at the East Ames Hyvee, and have a bit of a bias against the Market Grille concept. Everything about the East Hyvee dining area is outstanding. We even liked the cafe in the Ames Dahl's store. But we were here for a beer and a meal. The chicken quesadilla off the appetizer menu is the best I've ever had. I had a Peace Tree beer and met one of the Peace Tree guys from Knoxville. The only knock against the Market Grille concept is the price. We walked out of Hyvee with a $32 bill for 2 beers and 2 appetizers. read more

All you can eat wings in Ames, very suspect and over priced 10/10 would not recommend to anybody. This is a stay away. Fries are very suspect as well... read more

Excellent, fresh dishes in an upscale setting. Small selection of beer and wine can be purchased in the liquor store and served in the Cafe. Whatever is left can be recorked and taken home. Great addition to Boone! read more

A great selection for kids and adults. The customer service is great! And most Market places you can help yourself.

It's been two and a half years since I reviewed this restaurant (which is now called Market Grill), so I thought an update was called for, particularly because my wife and I have eaten here quite a few times in the interim. I have come to terms with the fact that the nice convenient tables that HyVee used to have are gone and you can't just order something from the hot case or Chinese or pizza stations and eat it in the grocery like I used to do on my Saturday shopping trips. But at least HyVee has now improved things a little by (no doubt after getting a ton of complaints) reinstating a lot of food in the hot case, including their pork tenderloins, so you can grab one to go without having to go through the restaurant experience. The restaurant itself serves pretty decent meals, but is, especially at lunch and dinner, overpriced. Their burgers are quite good and their fries are excellent, but a typical burger and fries dish will cost between 12 and 15 dollars. Breakfast options are more reasonable: you can get a pretty good plate of eggs, potatoes and toast for five dollars, which is not bad, although 16 dollars for steak and eggs seems exorbitant. What has still not changed, however, is the quality (or lack of it) of the Sunday buffet. In my previous review I mentioned that my wife and I left without eating it after being misinformed on two occasions about what is available. Today, however, we decided to try it out because we got a two-for-one coupon in the mail. Even with the coupon, the meal wasn't worth it; if I were reviewing just this restaurant solely on the Sunday buffet, I would likely give it just 1 star, for several reasons. First, the service was lousy. The place was crowded, so we had to sit at one of those small tables where the seats are like high chairs. OK, that's not their fault. What is their fault, however, is the fact that our waitress never came by to remove our used plates and glasses, which quickly began to overtake the limited table room. Things were so bad that at one point I just took a stack of plates and glasses and moved them myself to the recently-vacated table adjacent to ours-- which, by the way, nobody came around to clear either. (I timed it on my watch: the table sat with a mound of stuff on it for fifteen minutes, at which point we left; for all I know, the dirty dishes are still there.) I asked for ketchup with my eggs and the waitress brought over a squeeze bottle; that would be fine, but for the fact that it was practically empty. I got about a table-spoon's worth of ketchup out of it and then it died, and I never did see our waitress to order some more. There was only one item available for carving (ham, which I don't like); sometimes, I'm told, there is also turkey, but trying to find it on the buffet seems to be like playing a slot machine: sometimes you get lucky, sometimes you don't. On my first pass through the buffet about one third of the items were gone, and many other items were nearly empty; clearly, nobody was paying much attention to refilling things. The scrambled eggs were poor, the cheesy potatoes so-so at best, and the bacon practically raw except for one or two pieces that were (sort of) adequately cooked. On my second pass through, some items had been replenished; the chicken tenders were actually fairly tasty, the only item on the buffet that I can say that about. My wife had something advertised as a "crab cake", but she said it tasted like some kind of fish patty rather than actual crab. She also had a build-your-own omelet which she said was poor, and wound up leaving half of it over. Charging 15 dollars for this buffet is a travesty. Even at half off, I could have gotten a cheaper and better meal off the menu. We won't ever order the buffet again. read more

So incredibly disappointing, chicken Parmesan topped with a glob of congealed cheese and the grilled chicken was charred, tough, and dried out. The marinara pasta was bland and tasteless. My husband steak was tough. Very overpriced and the food was terrible. read more

My boyfriend and I went to the market grill to be seated and served. We then were told by our "server" that we needed to leave the cafe, and order out of it. The manager was okay She gave us our cups. My boyfriend felt rushed when order. We sat down we had to pour our own coffee. There were no cups for water. We asked for a a cup of water and it took our "server" (if you should even call her that. I guess I was the server.) she took 5 minutes to bring it to us. She never even checked up on us we had to find her. I got my pancakes and they were soggy and gross. My hash browns had bacon in them. So they did not even clean there grill for it. I am vegetarian so that was okay at all. I asked for sugar free syrup and the server gave me a dirty look. They brought me a bottle and it was not even opened we had to break the seal on it. I would rather drive 40 minutes to the Jefferson cafe before stepping foot in this one again read more