Wegmans Pittsford
3195 Monroe Ave., Rochester, NY 14618
Web: Wegmans Pittsford
Phone: 585.586.6680
See More Restaurant Reviews For:
Clarence Favorites Markets Pittsford

"It's easy to support a company that brings so much to its stores, which in turn expand the options available to the communities they serve - all without exploiting workers."

Free facials. A Godiva chocolate shop. Gourmet food offerings in a standalone restaurant... at a supermarket? This week, in an effort to understand what Clarence might gain from a proposed new 140,000-square foot Wegmans - the #1 national supermarket chain from Western New York, discussed in a two-part Buffalo Chow article last December - we paid a visit to the Wegmans of the future. Pittsford, New York's so-called "Super Wegmans" is the flagship location of the chain that has surged to the top of its industry, blowing customers away with massive, well-stocked, and well-maintained stores. Having recently looked at two of its key competitors, the country's number two grocer Trader Joe's, and Walmart, which is expanding its retail stores to include more impressive food offerings, we wanted to see first hand how Wegmans plans to evolve. Since the Pittsford shop has the same square footage as has been proposed for Clarence, and serves as a testing site for the chain's other locations, this was as good of a place to start as any. Here are just some of the interesting differences we found.

Tastings Restaurant. The dinner menu starts with a smoked and cured meats plate, continues with gourmet sushi, and includes entrees ranging from grilled quail to bacon-dusted halibut. Then there's the stand outside offering free sundaes on a Saturday afternoon. That's just a sampling of what's at Tastings, the on-site restaurant that sits off to the left of the Pittsford Wegmans, featuring indoor and patio dining, plus a "Bubbles Before Your Bite" promotion: those who book reservations at 8pm or later get a free glass of sparkling wine with their meals. Expect entrees in the $25 range, give or take, and mostly $7 to $14 appetizers; the lunch menu is smaller, with salads, sandwiches, and sushi.

It's Just Larger. From the moment you walk in the front doors of the Pittsford Wegmans, it's obvious that this location is spacious in the same way that the Amherst and Williamsville stores are, plus some, and little touches make it look nicer: icicle strand lighting in the expansive restaurant, deli, and prepared foods section, plus dedicated stands and mid-aisle displays for especially interesting items. For instance, Emma's Fresh Squeezed Lemonade Stand quickly convinced us to drop $2.50 on a small bottle of lemonade, just one of a number of juices squeezed on site, while another stand called CocoPop offered samples of just-made, pita-sized rice cakes, popped from a machine.

More familiar sections such as the cheese and caviar "Wegmans Fromagerie," and the "Fresh Food Bar," are at least as large as at other stores, perhaps bigger, with even more cheese options - contemplate that for a moment if you've visited another Wegmans - and a dedicated "Fresh Indian Bar" with Indian foods. Large, spacious aisles elsewhere stock the same sorts of items that you'd find at other Wegmans, plus extras. Lanovara's pizzelle cookies are found at many Wegmans stores; here, fair-style sugar waffles are added to the mix. There's also a Wegmans line of Premium Ice Creams, Tiger and Xingu beers from Singapore and Brazil, and many other options, small and large. Maybe you've seen some of them before at a Wegmans; maybe you haven't.

Staffed Appliances Section. Between the substantial line of Cuisinart products, the Le Creuset cookware, and the numerous coffee makers, the Pittsford Wegmans' "appliances, cookware, bakeware and kitchen tools" section isn't hugely different from what's at other stores - there's just a lot more of it, plus a counter with staff dedicated to these aisles.

A True Godiva Chocolate Shop. We're partial to See's Candies, which may or may not still be found in some Wegmans stores, but the Pittsford location has its own Godiva section, and it's not just some set of shelves with stale candy boxes. Instead, the Godiva shop is near the front of the store, and actually really impressive by U.S. supermarket standards: it's stacked with giftwrapped chocolate boxes, and includes a beautiful, staffed display case with truffles and the like in a rainbow of colors.

Media Center. Arguably the least impressive of this store's different sections, the Pittsford Wegmans shifts its magazine, newspaper, and book collection into an area that appears to have once been the video rental section. Called the Media Center, this part of the store has lots of periodical racks and a couple of Redbox vending machines, but is oddly located on the wrong side of the cash registers to make an easy purchase. It feels almost like a holding pen for everything the Internet is rendering obsolete.

Shopping Carts. Funky new shopping carts are designed in three layers: a small top basket with room for two small children to sit side-by-side, a lower, larger basket, and a bottom half-shelf for bottles and other leftover items. Parents may find the safety belt system a little hard to initially understand, but it quickly makes a lot of sense: a retractable band runs from the front of one side of the body to the other, then locks into place. That said, we're not sure that the rest of the design is necessary or useful.

So What About Those Free Facials? When a supermarket in a nice neighborhood has a sizable drugstore inside, funny things can happen - like visits from Neutrogena, which had signs up in the store's entrance promoting "Free Mini Facials in the Skincare Department" on two different upcoming days, for four hours each. Free. At a supermarket. That's in addition to those random free sundaes out front, the bourbon-aged cheese samples that were being given away in the Frommagerie in back, and everything else that's going on in between. This Wegmans seems to be doing more and better in the freebies department than others we've seen.

We've said it before and we'll say it again: if Wegmans wants to grow in Clarence or East Amherst, bring it on. It's easy to support the growth of a company that brings so much to its stores, which in turn expand the options available to the communities they serve - all without exploiting workers or engaging in other offensive practices. Buffalo would be a lot better off with a store as impressive as the one we visited, so we're crossing our fingers that Wegmans gets its approval and makes the most of its new location; who wants to drive all the way to Pittsford to see this many cool things at a supermarket?