Did you know…

8 Mar

That there’s a produce market downtown and that it’s been there for almost 20 years? 

The State of Georgia office building at 2 Peachtree Street, with its gates, revolving doors and empty street-level retail spaces, doesn’t look particularly inviting at ground level. Everything about it seems to say “keep going” rather than “come in.” It certainly doesn’t give the impression that one could walk in with $10 and leave with three apples, three oranges, a pound of strawberries, some freshly roasted cashews, a slice of cheesecake and a couple of dollars change. 

 

 

There’s no sign for R & R Produce on either the Marietta or Peachtree Street side of the building. The store is about as deep as a large office cubicle and it takes only around 15 steps to walk the length of it. But the sliver of ground floor space is jammed with fruits and vegetables, most of them from the Forest Park Farmers Market.

 

The owners greet some of the shoppers by name, but even speak to those they’ve just met as if they’re long-separated friends. Office workers, students and people struggling to wrangle small, antsy children stand patiently in the single line to pay (cash or EBT only). As they wait, the shoppers marvel at the variety of foods and remark on the low prices. Usually at least one person says “I had no idea this place was here.”

 

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4 Responses to “Did you know…”

  1. Terry 03/08/2012 at 8:59 pm #

    That is nice to know. Thanks.

  2. Darin 03/09/2012 at 12:13 am #

    I love this place! And the people who own it are super nice. I only get to shop here on the one day a week when I telework from my downtown home, but it’s worth the wait. The prices are unbelievably low and they’ve got an impressive selection. My son loves the old fashioned jars of little candies.

    Why was I thinking it was called Luke’s? Maybe the owner’s name is Luke.

    Between this produce stand, the grungy-but-cute Walton Food Market (at Walton and Fairlie Streets), and the grungy-but-not-so-cute CVS at 5 Points, you can actually get some decent grocery shopping done in this central downtown area on a weekday afternoon.

    • OO 03/09/2012 at 1:08 pm #

      Yeah, the guy who runs the place with his wife told me that his name is Luke. I need to ask him where the “R&R” came from.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Food Chatter: Q&A with new St. Regis Chef Joe Trevino | - 07/17/2014

    […] Question of the Week:  Who has Ford Fry chosen to helm the kitchen of his next restaurant, the Optimist?     P.S. The answer to last week’s QOTW—What produce market has operated in downtown Atlanta for almost 20 years?—is R&R Produce at 2 Peachtree Street. (H/T to the Oppidan Omnibus.) […]

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