Best Of 2025: Fresh Market Recognized For Quality And Service In Hingham

Hingham, MA — Every community has its bright spots — the neighbors, businesses and local favorites that make it feel like home. As 2025 comes to a close, Patch and T-Mobile are recognizing the people, places and moments that made this year brighter in Hingham through our Best of 2025 series.

This story was submitted by Maria Lisa Crisafulli, who nominated Fresh Market, Hingham, MA. To share your own Best of 2025 nomination, click here to answer a few questions, and we’ll take it from there.

Who or what are you nominating for Best of 2025?

Fresh Market, Hingham, MA

How did this person, place or experience make a difference in your life or community this year?

Neighbors and friends. Once we were first introduced to this market, we had been overtaken by pricing which appeared very high in relation to all of surrounding grocery chains for sure. However, we can all say is the very best in quality, which unlike any other could compare to. We all loved this grocery store, as it has many things you do not find today in that of a grocery store, such as their very own butchers that are able to cut to the consumers’ wishes. Let’s begin by stating the quality of meats is of the highest of quality. No need to purchase multipacks, but rather what you choose from the case and to as how you wish the butcher to cut it for you, which I have not seen in today’s market and as to any other grocer. To not only having the highest of quality but onsite butchers to be more than qualified to answer any questions as to each and every product that you see in that display case right before you, and you do not have to worry about things being prepackaged and most often not to your likings nor as to your specifications, as in today’s world you have no choice but to purchase a prepackaged item as is, without choice, and must be purchased under circumstance as there is no butcher on site.

What would you like everyone in town to know about your nominee?

As a loyalty member, which one is only required to put in an email and a phone number at the register, one will be able to receive discounts per day as to items that are of the highest quality and have a daily special as to each and every day, making it of the highest quality and most affordable dinners and lunches on the market. Each and every day there is a special, and it makes it so worth it to go in there for just that one special, as well as many other things that are on sale that are buy one get one free along with deep discounts.

Once you have become a loyalty member, you will see that provided by email before you go in, set foot into the store. Once you do set foot in the doors, you are greeted by that first person at the register, and they will recognize you, and they are so happy to see you, and I can, as well as my family members, neighbors, and friends, can say the same thing and name each and every individual as to each and every department today.

It does not stop there. After walking in, the first thing you pass is produce. They have the finest quality in produce, and there is always something on sale that makes it worth the trip. However, what makes it even better is, as to each and every department one passes, an employee seems to get to know you in a short amount of time, to come out and talk to you and make you feel especially welcome. From that moment you walk in those doors and until the moment you leave, you are made to feel special. They will share with you what is on sale. They know their products as to each and every department, to tell you anything you wish to know — what’s the best deal — and they are so happy to help you.

So, as I’m breathing personally — but let’s say Laura, who’s at the front register now — I am greeted firsthand as a walk-in. Previously, there was a lady by the name of Nelly, who was at that first register, but now she has gone over to Floral, which is on the right-hand side as you enter, and she has become the assistant manager in the Floral Department, where she too will greet you and answer any questions you may have as to any products you see, and if you ask what the best deal is, she will tell you.

If you could tell them one thing, what would it be?

As to each and every employee at each and every counter or section of that grocery store, you are not left alone, but you are served in that acknowledge, and that of great knowledge as to each and every department. It is more than a grocery store. It provides the highest quality that is out there on the market today as to any other grocery store that is in the area. I myself, as well as my mother, my family members, my neighbors, and my friends, have now become loyal members of Fresh Market — and for good reason — as to each day of the week, they offer one extremely affordable menu that would be a dinner or that of a sandwich, and as to the highest quality and as to your choosing of what’s available on that certain day for between five and fifteen dollars, which you cannot even get something at a fast food chain for that same money that is only junk food and not that of a quality product or products.

All of the employees — and we can name them all — in which we are first greeted by Laura at the first register as we walk in, and Joshua, the manager. As we go to the right to the Floral section, we will be greeted by Nelly, who is the assistant manager of the Floral Department. We are greeted by Sue, who’s mostly in the back, but will pop out if she sees any one of us in order to greet us, and she, too, like the rest of them, tells us what the best deal that one can have in their shopping experience. These products are unlike any other at any other store in the surrounding area, as they are of the highest quality.

When we approach the deli counter, we are greeted by the most magnificent of gentlemen — Jimmy — and Jimmy will go out of his way to ensure that you receive everything that you like, and he will guide you as to products you are unaware of. All you have to do is ask him, and he is a wealth of information as to have taught me what to buy, what days to buy, and he is able to describe, when asked, as to each and every product that you see before you, in depth, of what the consumer will receive — which helps you in making a decision as to being a very educated one, ensuring you’re purchasing a product that you do like. Also in that same area is Justin, and others that are there daily each and every day.

Once you leave that deli area — which also holds hot foods that have many specials as well as to each and every day if you follow it — which are very low in price, on Sundays they have a whole rotisserie chicken, which is not your average ... type of a chicken. It is of the highest quality, and it has been voted the number one rotisserie chicken in the United States. It uses no antibiotics, no artificial anything, no preservatives. It is of the highest quality. It is prepared in many different ways as a rotisserie chicken. You can have it in white wine sauce, you can have it original, and so many other different variations. It will come with two large sides, a package of corn muffins, for $15 on a Sunday — enough to feed a whole family — which I think is extremely beyond reasonable.

On Wednesdays, that same section has a grilled panini that is huge, on a rustic bread, that comes in different choices such as a Reuben, a roast beef with caramelized onions, an Italian, a ham and cheese with fig jam, a turkey with spinach and tomatoes and onions, and so much more, for five dollars on a Tuesday. These are the highest quality in meats, vegetables, bread, and pressed with the panini press, that in one sandwich for five dollars I get two meals out of that — that’s how big the sandwich is — and you cannot beat that.

So what I thought was once unaffordable when I first walked in through those doors, we all later found out to be the most affordable, the highest of quality, and the best of service in the industry. These employees are most willing to help you out. They are so friendly, and they are very happy to ensure that you leave happy as well.

When you cross over to the butcher, you will also be greeted by the same very people, and they are just not butchers. They know each and every product behind those glass-encased refrigeration [cases] that show you each and every product. On a Thursday, there’s 25% off certain products, and certain products are very inexpensive, and all you have to do is put them in the oven. They come — like everything else does — with instructions right on the label when it’s printed out. You do not need to buy a prepackaged item anymore like you would at any other store, and what you get is what you see — that cannot be modified, not changed — as there are no more butchers in these counterparts.

Also, if you see something that you like, but you want it thinner or thicker, or you need something specifically done to it such as a ribeye roast — in which they will carve out the meat of it, and they will take the bones and cradle it to act as a rack for easy cutting after cooking and for your guests to enjoy — it will also come with instructions on how to prepare it. And if you have any questions, these butchers will not only do anything of your request — they are extremely knowledgeable as to the taste of each marinated product, as to what’s on sale and what isn’t.

I believe it’s on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday they have a sirloin strip steak, which is an amazing deal — and I believe $9.99 or $10.99 per pound — which is amazing, and it is Grade A, and it is custom cut. If you do not like what you see — but I must say — you will like what you see. I am confident of that. They are very friendly, they are very happy to help you there,

What’s something you love most about your town or community?

Fresh Market is not located in the town I reside; however, through experience of both myself, my family, my neighbors, my friends, they are — along with the employees — what makes it feel like a community of our very own by providing us the most of knowledge, the utmost of experience, the utmost of making our experience the most welcoming and pleasurable by providing us the best deals of the week as to each and every day in each and every department, to make it feel like a family of our own once we enter those doors — and that gives us the feeling of community.

From Laura as we walk in and is at the first cash register, Joshua as to the manager, Nelly as to the assistant manager of the Floral Department, Sue the redhead at the Produce Department, Jimmy in that of Deli, the Butcher Department, Tony as she’s in charge of the Bakery, and Ed, who I believe may be the assistant director — I do not know — but again, these people are beyond in helping us as a consumer living on a fixed income to purchase the highest quality items, making us feel so welcome and inviting. That is our community that we have chosen to frequent, as to each and all of us, two to three times per week.

We do not find that at any other grocery chain nor grocery store that is located in our area or within a 20- to 40-mile radius of our area in which some of us reside, which makes it well worth the trip. And not only do we go in happy — our experience throughout is happy — and we leave happy, and we do not go hungry by any means. We enjoy everything we purchase from there, and their specials cannot be beat by any other, nor their services, as there are no butchers out there in today’s market ... what you see in a packaged item of meats is what you get. It cannot be changed, it cannot be modified, it cannot be cut, it cannot be anything — you have to purchase it as you see it, as there are no butchers in these markets.

In Fresh Market, you have the choice to purchase one steak, a half of a kebab — anything you want — they will custom cut as professionals to your liking. They also, in each and every department, are able to tell you things that are in season, tell you things that are on sale, tell you what the best deals are. And as speaking as to the butcher shop, they have the most amazing deals on, I believe, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. They now have a sirloin strip, which is a great deal, and they can cut it — if you want it a little thinner or a little thicker — they’ll do that for you too. It doesn’t have to be touched — it’s perfect in my eyes — but as a consumer, it’s as to how you like it, and that’s how they wish to please you.

So yes — they’re rated the number one supermarket in the U.S.

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