This is the only grocery store located on Washington Island, and this follows a theme of other basic services located in this small community (one bank, one post office, one hardware store, etc.) If you are staying on the Island for an extended period (my last stay was 9 days) you will eventually grow tired of eating out for every meal.
When you decide it's time to stock up on essentials I think you will be pleasantly surprised at how well stocked it is for a small town grocery. Seriously, unless you have some mutant level food allergies or are about as picky of an eater as I was around age 5, you should be able to find just about anything you are going to need for your kitchen here. They have a surprisingly robust fresh produce section as well as a deli to pick up everything from deli ham to homemade brats (these rock, BTW).
The staff here is not unlike anywhere else on the Island in that it is all local folks who have been in business for an eternity and are extremely friendly to visitors. The clerk remembered me from the previous summer when I was on the island and asked how long I was staying and that if I needed anything special they could have it for me in two days. I could not think of anything, but it was still a very nice and accommodating gesture on their part.
Now granted that you have no choice but to turn to Mann's when you are on the island, but they are way more accommodating than most people would be who have a virtual monopoly. Groceries, like most everything else, can only get here one way; by boat, and while prices are maybe 20% higher than the mainland, this is way more reasonable than you would expect pricing to be. Consequentially, these folks also own the island's only hardware and everything else type of store, Mann's Mercantile, which is just a few blocks down the road.
If you just got to town and are coming from the docks, Mann's is easy to find. Just drive down Lobdell Point Road leaving the docks and hang a left on Main Road and you will run right into it. read more