We know you’ve all been waiting for this news… Our Menomonie location’s beloved hot bar, salad bar, and seating area are all back open, and with a few improvements!

HOT BAR: One of the questions our shoppers have asked most frequently since the hot bar first closed in March 2020 was when it would reopen, and our staff is just as glad to have it as an option for lunch again. Similar to pre-pandemic times, our self-serve hot bar will offer a rotating daily menu of seasonal scratch-made recipes (with special diet options available most days) for dine-in or carryout from 11:00am-3:00pm on weekdays. Plus, new for 2022, the hot bar is also open for dinner on weekdays too. From 4:00pm-7:00pm, you can swing by for weekly dinner deals featuring either a half or whole rotisserie chicken and rotating sides. And before you ask, yes, Taco Tuesdays are a thing again! Bookmark this link to view the rest of the weekly menu: mmfc.coop/deli/hotbar.

SALAD BAR: In addition to the hot bar, our self-serve salad bar is back open as well. It features fresh organic greens and lots of toppings, many of which are sourced from local suppliers, so you can customize your salad based on your dietary preferences. We also make our own salad dressings in-house and offer several for purchase in bottles too, if you didn’t already know. Stop by the salad bar from 11:00am-7:00pm on weekdays and weekends for dine-in or carryout.

SOUP: Freshly made soups have still been available for carryout throughout the last two years, but our self-serve option is back again from 11:00am-7:00pm every day of the week! The flavor of soup typically changes each day and is the chef’s choice based on the time of year and availability of ingredients. If you prefer to plan ahead before stopping in, you can call the Menomonie store to find out what type of soup is offered that day.

Hopefully, just the sound of these delicious meals being offered again each day by our Deli is enough to get you to stop in, fill up a plate, and settle into a seat, not just to enjoy a tasty dish but also to enjoy some camaraderie with staff and fellow shoppers. We’ve missed seeing you all! If you need one more reason to make the trip though, our Deli’s commitment to sourcing from local suppliers is a great one. Back in 2021, our Deli set a goal to source at least 40% of the ingredients used to make our recipes from local suppliers within five years. We still hope to make that vision a reality now that we’re preparing more meals for our community again, and increasing our support for local farmers and producers isn’t the only benefit of doing so. By focusing on local, we are able to create more seasonal menus that change depending on what’s being grown that time of year, so you get to try a lot more options than the average grocery store hot bar offers if you come in often enough.

This article was originally published in the September/October 2022 issue of our bi-monthly newsletter, The Morsel. If you’d like to read more stories like this one and stay up to date on the latest co-op news and events, pick up a print copy in-store on your next grocery run or find more news on our website here.