Red Onion Market

Red Onion Market

Written by Mark Collins Friday, 15 August 2008

This grocery store is the kind of place where they know your name.

Red Onion Market is the kind of neighborhood store where the person behind the counter knows your name, the produce is grown down the street and you half expect to find a group of kids out front scraping coins together to buy a baseball.

“We are bringing back the neighborhood market,” store manager Michael Kiefer said. “The store is smaller, more personal and right around the corner. We are a family owned and operated business, and we really care about the local community.”

That includes listening to customers’ needs. When Red Onion first opened, it carried traditional grocery items, but when shoppers requested more organic and gluten-free products, Red Onion adapted.

“I believe that our customer service is what sets us apart,” Kiefer said. “We know our customers very well, and we take good care of them.”

Red Onion Market in Cedar Park is the second store opened by Eli Saadeh and his sister, Hiam Klimsa. The siblings opened their first store in Round Rock in December 2006. It was a success, allowing them to open the Cedar Park location in January.

The market has a full-service meat department and a produce section comprised of locally grown products. The cheese selection is broad and includes hard-to-find cheeses that pair nicely with the equally expansive wine collection.

Unique to the Cedar Park location is the adjoining café. The restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, serving fresh salads, sandwiches and items hot off the grill. Kiefer, a graduate of the Texas Culinary Academy in Austin, designed the menu and is constantly adding and removing items.

One popular option allows the diner to choose a cut of steak from the meat counter and have it prepared to his liking with a choice of sides.

“The café was something that [the owner] always wanted to do,” Kiefer said. “We put only the finest ingredients in everything we make, and it shows because everything tastes really good.”

Kiefer said business usually slows during dinnertime, something he hopes to combat with more special offers.

Red Onion Market is content with the two-store configuration for now, but the owners hope to build more someday and are open to the idea of franchising. Kiefer is quick to add that even if Red Onion expands, the neighborhood feel will not be lost.

“I’ve worked other places, and it is nothing like working for a family business,” Kiefer said. “Here you know all the cousins, sisters and brothers — you’re part of the family.”

Decisions, Decisions

• Despite being a smaller, neighborhood grocery store with less floor space than average grocery stores, Red Onion Market aims to provide as many choices of the highest quality products as possible.

• Meat department - Premium meats with little to no preservatives are cut to the customer’s liking to ensure the freshest meats possible. Customers can also special order any meat products the market doesn’t have in stock.
• Produce - Red Onion buys as much of its produce as possible from local growers and sells Texas-made products such as local honey and salsa.
• Wine - An entire shelf is dedicated to rare wines and a selection of boutique wines.
• Beer - The large beer cooler stocks rare imports from Germany, Belgium and Holland as well as local Texas brews and traditional domestic beers.

Red Onion Market, 1201 N. Lakeline Blvd., 528-8880, www.redonionmarket.com

Mon.-Sun. 8 a.m.-9 p.m.