Adonis

Where do you start when wanting to talk about this Adonis store?
First, it's in the Cote Vertu mall and it's got lots of parking.
It describes itself as "Grocery store specializing in Mediterranean products, with a bakery, meat counter & prepared foods."
It's HUGE. It's got stuff from so many different countries, you'll spend lots of time looking at all the stuff on the shelves you don't see everywhere else.
It's also got a fabulous fish and seafood counter as well as a lunch counter.
Excellent system for lining up for a cash, so you won't wait more than 3 or 4 minutes, even with 10 people in front of you.
It's very clean, their fresh nuts and seeds counter is fun to check out and their prices are really good. You should go!

I came here for a special that I saw in the Adonis flyer during the COVID-19 issue at about 9:45AM on a Saturday and I noticed a line-up outside Adonis waiting to go inside as they were controlling the number of people allowed to enter the store. Luckily it was a sunny day so I didn't have any issues standing outside for safety reasons. The line looked pretty long but I would estimate that there were about or under 50 people in front of me in total (but some people were together so maybe 35 customers in total). I had parked in a 60 minute parking spot not realizing how long the line was but managed to get inside Adonis in about 30 minutes.

The line moved pretty fast and once I was at the front of the line, the person pointed me to the hand cleaner/sanitizer which I used. Since I was only there to purchase 3 things, I quickly managed to find what I was looking for and didn't spend too much time inside the store. During my limited interactions with the staff, I found them to be polite and helpful.

I didn't shop around that much inside the store partly because of the COVID-19 situation so couldn't compare prices that much. Just like when entering inside any store during the COVID-19 situation, I just wanted to go inside, purchase what I wanted, and then leave.

Once inside, I managed to find the articles that I was looking for. I paid with my credit card which was a tap based system (good) and there wasn't too much of a line to pay. From what I observed, the aisles were smaller than a typical and larger grocery store. There were no self-check out machines that I could see in my quick visit. There was an entrance inside the mall but it was closed due to the COVID-19 situation since the mall itself was closed.

In terms of whether I would be back here, I would definitely not go out of my way to come here for groceries unless I'm in Place Vertu area. However, generally I can say the same thing about most grocery stores.

The first time I visited Adonis, I nearly wept from a mixture of grief and joy. Grief that a place like this doesn't exist 500 miles further south, but joy that it does exist somewhere. It's hard not to resent Montreal for having half a dozen of them in one city, but hey, more power to their diverse and quality-driven grocery market, and another reason for us to visit frequently!

The Cote-Vertu location is the one we frequent most regularly, but I have visited two others in the past, and all seem to me roughly the same. All locations have a huge selection of Middle Eastern foods, both raw ingredients and prepared dishes: you'll find tender thin-skinned Persian cucumbers, crispy-salty spinach pies, creamy labneh and dried rose-petal tea, and whole aisles dedicated to fresh flatbread, bottled olive oil and dried beans. The major difference is that stores in heavily Indian or Asian neighborhoods will stock more ingredients that pertain to that national cuisine.

The Montrealais have extremely high standards and visit more frequently, so probably I am more forgiving, but for me the impeccable quality and friendly service I have encountered here is at least equal to the dizzyingly wide selection. Their clerks will let you taste any one of their dozens of varieties of nuts or cheeses; they will make recommendations for preparation and storage; and they will always ask, with a smile, "quelque chose d'autre? / something else?" Once my husband broke a jar of mustard when he tripped in their parking lot, and they replaced it. In fact, the most unpleasantness I have endured at Adonis has not been with the staff at all, but with other customers. They often block the aisles, make unreasonable demands and don't know how to wait in an orderly line. So maybe these bad reviews should be taken with a grain of salt.

My only complaint, and the reason I regrettably cannot give five stars, is that they do not accept credit cards. To me, this is ridiculous. I understand there are fees; I see no reason why they cannot pass those fees on to the customers who prefer to pay this way. It's absurd and dangerous to carry hundreds of dollars in cash just so you can shop for a party. Hopefully they will soon correct the only bump in what is otherwise a sublime shopping experience!

The last couple of trips have been a bit of a letdown when it comes to the prepared meals.

The prices are now on par with any Lebanese shawarma place. But the meat in the sandwich was really coarse, dry and had no flavour.

The garlic potatoes look very dehydrated and lack any tanginess. The paella looks pretty awful and missing those huge chunks of seafood like before.

The service was never great, but really awful last time.
Both employees just slacking about and skipping numbers for customers holding tickets.

At the cashier, she was ringing up the items and bagging them while 4 employees were just chatting it up nearby at a closed counter.

It's the go-to place for my colleagues, so i went myself to check it out. I liked the immense variety of fruits and vegetables, and many products that I don't see in regular grocery stores. The clerks are professional and get the job done of preparing your food or helping you find aan item. Plus its very big so that's great. But it's very crowded, it's a good sign, but I can get annoying for me. Also I find it weird that they don't accept credit cards.

I have been a loyal customer for many years but I am so disappointed with the prices and the product. People, especially Lebanese, appreciated the selection of Mediterranean products and the prices but every time I go now I am shocked at how expensive it has become. I bought a flat grilled chicken which cost the usual $12.99. It is pricey but good. I get home, open the box and there was the chicken wrapped in tin foil instead of the customary pita bread and no garlic mayo which has always been included. No warning and they still charge $12.99. Sorry guys! I'll get the rotisserie chicken elsewhere from now on ( Costco $6.99 Mourelatos $9.99) This afternoon I picked up a 5 lb. bag of Yukon gold potatoes and they wanted $5.99! I put them back and got them at Mourelatos for $2.99. It's no wonder there were so few people in the store. Now you have one less customer.

Awesome place! Great options, a lot of fresh fruits. the chicken Shawarma was reasonable priced and very tasty. I will definitely go there another time.

This ever growing ethnic grocery store is the place to go to find whatever you need and the prices are almost as competitive as going to Maxi without being eye gouged by other places like IGA.

This place's specialty to me? It's hard to limit to just one.

The fruit selection is impressive. The butchery shop always have what I need (even though they don't know how to properly wrap their mild and hot Italian sausages apart).

Want a variety of cold cuts or cheese? Check. Fish? Check.

Do you want to go in for a hot lunch or supper with a take-out counter? Check.

Pastries and... CHECK!

Prices are solid. Variety is there and specials are a plenty.

My gripes? Far too popular, people act the way they do in grocery stores. Unable to park their carriages properly. Clients are rude. Aisles are too small. So pick your time slots when you visit.

At least it's not as bad as some of the Laval locations, particularly on the parking front.

The Cote Vertu location has hired many mean and rude clerks. They refuse to speak to me in English. The other day I asked a butcher a question in English in which he replied to me IN ENGLISH, "I don't understand English.???? . I left the store as this was no way to treat a customer. It was suggested to me to go back to this same clerk and when he again in ENGLISH tells me that he does not understand what I Am saying, I should look at him in the eyes and say since you don't understand what I am saying, then you won't mind if I tell you that you are not only fat, but ugly as well. Oh, and brush up on your personal hygiene. You have a face only a mother would have to love.

We bought two pounds of shrimp (1130gram) @ $3.99 today in Cote Vertu store. The person who weighted the shrimp put a sticker of "Poisson Divers S/P NT FM901221 with a best before date of December 10, Unit price is $3.99/ PIECE and 5 pieces". So the sticker price of 1130 gram shrimp is $19.95!!!!! 1130 Gram = 2.49 pounds!!!! Either your scale need to be tuned to be more accurate or your staff need to be trained to be more ethical!!!