★ (1 Star)

I went a couple of weeks ago and they had very little produce.
Prices were more expensive than Whole Foods and Central Market.

Farmer’s Markets, at least in the west coast, were a cheap way of getting locally grown, organic foods.  Here, what’s the point other than to meet up with the rest of your yuppie buddies and say that you shopped at a ‘Farmer’s Market?’  All that was missing was some Napa Valley wine and Mimosas.

Yeah, it sucked that bad.  I’m desperately hoping I caught them on a bad day.

★★★★ (4 Stars)

Where can you get a 16 oz. bottle of Coca Cola, Sprite, or Dr. Pepper downtown for only $1? This little Coke machine at the Houston Street Garage, also known as the MidCity Garage, has saved me many times when I’ve looked in the fridge for a cold soda only to find that, yet again, I had only stocked beer.

All the convenience stores around the area charge at least $1.79 for a 16 oz. bottle of soda and this doesn’t even include tax.  You can almost get 2 sodas at this soda machine for the price the convenience stores around downtown charge.

I would have given this machine 5 stars, but I’m deducting one star because its a fancy machine that has a clear glass front where you can see the machine grabbing the soda and placing it in the little drop box.  While it looks cool, this process takes so damn long.  Just drop it down into the drop box like the old machines used to!  That was so much faster.

This machine is located in the elevator lobby area.

★★★★ (4 Stars)

There aren’t many shops to visit in downtown San Antonio other than those in the mall and the tourist shops that sell Texas related junk and Davy Crockett ‘coon-skin hats.  The Pink Giraffe is a Hallmark-type store.  I’m not going to say it is a Hallmark store since it’s not listed on their website, but it carries the same items, cards, and nick-knacks that the typical Hallmark does.

They had the exact card I was looking for and I couldn’t help but buy one of their soy candles they stock.  I’m hoping the candle’s clean smell will help my apartment smell clean too!  hehe  The staff was also extremely friendly and very helpful.

★★★ (3 Stars)

There weren’t many places open downtown San Antonio on Memorial Day Weekend.  I was walking around to see what was open and found Delivery Market.

They had a nice little selection of sandwiches with fresh deli meats they slice right there.  The sandwich was tasty and they were quick to get the order out.

The sandwich I ordered was around 7 dollars.  I bought a soda and chips to go with it which brought the total to about 11 dollars; a little expensive for a sandwich, chips, and a soda, IMO.  Their website says that they offer pizza 1 large for 11.99.  Sounds like a better deal.  I’ll have to try it next time.

The service was really friendly and I think I’ll go every now and then when everywhere else is closed.  This way, I’m not paying a premium price for a sandwich.

In addition to the deli, they offer various grocery items such as chips, vegetables, bread, canned soup, and other regular grocery goods.  Of course, being that it’s a small market located downtown in a tourist area, the prices are a bit higher than going to a bigger grocery store such as H-E-B.

When did these anthropomorphic, hard-shell candies become such big icons?!   This store reminds me of the Disney stores, only with the M&M characters on T-Shirts, Cups, etc.  A lot of the items appeared cheaply manufactured and high in price.

I suppose the best attraction is the giant M&M spigots that contain M&Ms of only one color each.  So, if you wanted only green M&M’s you can purchase them.  I wanted to get M&Ms that resembled my favorite sports team’s colors, but at $9 a pound, I felt it was a bit much.  Especially if I was just going to eat them.

M&M's World in Las Vegas, NV

It’s just overpriced children’s fodder and it works since there aren’t many places for children to enjoy themselves in Vegas.  I would have avoided this place, except we had to bring something back to my 5-year-old nephew.

★★★ (3 Stars)

I visit Mamaya Market for all my Japanese cooking needs.  Doesn’t the name remind you of Cooking Mama for Nintendo DS or WII?  ”Ahhh, better than Mama,” exclaims Cooking Mama… ahh, getting back on track now… For the most part, they have everything you need for Japanese cooking, but there are a couple of things they don’t have.  I’ve picked up some sushi rice, frozen udon noodles, kamaboko, edamame, tofu, miso paste, tonkatsu sauce, panko crumbs, and some tasty mochi snacks to name a few things.  Ahh, and they have sake too!  :)  Need I say more?

In addition to the grocery items, they also offer maki sushi and nigiri.  And, they have a few other dishes such as tonkatsu and udon.  The sushi is decent and cheap.  I haven’t tried the tonkatsu or udon, but the next time I’m in the area I’ll pick some up!