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Market Grille Express now serving

New look, new food at Hy-Vee

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson Dan DeWolf, bar manager, stands behind the bar inside the Hy-Vee Market Grille Express recently.

A newly remodeled area inside Hy-Vee in Fort Dodge is offering customers an improved dining experience with increased food and beverage options.

Within that area, a service station called the Market Grille Express, has a full menu featuring salads, entrees, burgers, breakfast items and more, according to Tim Flaherty, store director.

The Market Grille Express opened March 6. It is located in the southwest corner of the store.

At the Market Grille Express, customers order their food from a pay station and enjoy their meal in the new dining area, Flaherty said.

Hy-Vee wanted to improve the atmosphere and options available at the store, according to Flaherty.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson Tim Flaherty, store director, left, and Mike Minkoff, manager, show one of their gourmet burgers inside the Hy-Vee Market Grille Express recently.

“Hy-Vee has always had a very good breakfast and lunch,” Flaherty said. “But when it came to evening dining, we weren’t utilizing the space the best we could. By adding a restaurant feel to where you can go and enjoy the experience has created a better environment.”

Although the dining area is part of the store itself, it appears separate.

“Once the doors close, you can’t really tell you are in a grocery store,” Flaherty said. “It’s a different environment.”

The menu offers all-day breakfast, an option to create your own flatbreads, as well as desserts from The Cheesecake Factory Bakery.

“The menu has turned out great,” Flaherty said. “The quality of the food has been very good.”

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson A Hy-Waiian Burger is shown here with a side of hand cut-fries. The burger is glazed in soy sauce and is topped with mango-pineapple salsa and candied bacon.

Customers can still order food from other outlets within the store and eat their meal in the dining area.

“Our concept is to have a centralized express station where you order and pay from,” Flaherty said. “If you want to have Chinese or Italian salad bar, it works with that same concept,” Flaherty said. “You pay at the station, and you seat yourself where you want to be seated.”

Once in the dining area, customers are greeted with 12 flat-screen TV’s and a bar.

“During your meal, if you would like a beverage, the bartender will bring it to you,” Flaherty said. “If you want a Coca-Cola, they will give you a glass and you can fill up your own drink.”

The bar features 16 different beers on tap, including two local taps from ShinyTop Brewing.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson Jeff Espinoza, a Hy-Vee cook, works on some hashbrowns inside the kitchen at Hy-Vee recently.

Liquor and wine is also served.

“A lot of times when people go out to dinner, they like to have those beverage options,” Flaherty said. “Not everyone needs that, but it’s a nice option.”

Flaherty, a Fort Dodge native, said the Market Grille Express is designed to accommodate any customer.

“It’s the best of both worlds where the staff is here to take care of you, but you can also eat quickly and go,” Flaherty said. “If you want to hang out for a while and take in a basketball or baseball game, you can do that too.”

The dining area seats 122 people, about 10 less seats than the old dining room, Flaherty said.

-Messenger photo by Chad Thompson Emily Schoo, left, and Miracle Holder, employees at Hy-Vee, work at the centralized express station inside the recently remodeled Hy-Vee recently.

“We stayed roughly the same size,” he said. “It’s very comparable. If people want to combine tables and chairs for larger gatherings, that’s not an issue.”

Between eight and 10 employees will work the Market Grille Express throughout the day.

Cooks, bartenders, cashiers, and dishwashers make up the staff.

“The crew has done an outstanding job so far in learning the new menu and striving to take care of customer needs and making sure they are enjoying their experience,” Flaherty said. “We want to make sure customers enjoy their experience.”

Flaherty has been with Hy-Vee since 1987. He moved back to Fort Dodge five years ago.

He said customer service is an area Hy-Vee prides itself on.

“I think it will be a nice family gathering place,” Flaherty said. “Any experience you get at Hy-Vee, you get served with a helpful smile and get told ‘thank you.’ You will get good quality food at a fair price. It’s another place you can stop in and have a meal or grab some groceries before you leave.”

The Market Grille Express is part of extensive renovations that have taken place at Hy-Vee since July, according to Flaherty.

On Jan. 1, Hy-Vee opened a new pharmacy that doubles the size of the old one.

“We expanded the pharmacy to make room for the drug store,” Flaherty said. “In January we moved the drug store over. To make room for everything that we had to get done we had to shift some aisles around.”

All pharmacy staff is now under the same roof.

In December, the renovations began in the dining room.

Six remodeled restrooms and a more open produce area are also benefits of the project.

Additionally, Starbucks, the Seattle-based coffeehouse chain, will open inside Hy-Vee on Tuesday.

“It’s a newer concept,” Flaherty said. “With Starbucks being very popular that was something we thought we could offer. I am sure it will have your favorite cup of coffee.”

Flaherty said changes were needed to at the store.

“It needed an update,” he said. “The store was 20 years old. It opened in 1997. It needed some new colors and needed some work. We went through and updated the color schemes and lighting system of the store. It’s got a new feel to it.”

About 385 people are employed by Hy-Vee in Fort Dodge, between the main Hy-Vee store and Hy-Vee Wine & Spirits, according to Flaherty.

More than 240 stores Hy-Vee stores are located in eight Midwestern states: Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, Minnesota and Wisconsin.

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