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Category: Fruits & Veggies [Edit]
Neighborhood: BallardMon-Sun. 9:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m.
I wish you were still my neighbor, Top Banana. Who am I kidding? We always call you "Jimmy's", as a nod to the owner, Jimmy Wild. And what's truly wild are the deals you'll find here. It may not be Farmers Market quality at all times, but I'm reminded of fruit stands from my childhood when I shop here. Push through the plastic strips over the entryway, grab a basket, and go to town! Herbs are always cheaper here than at Ballard Market, as are most other things including Washington fruit and veggies, flowers, and even some dairy in the reach-in.
The staff will remember you if you're a regular shopper, and you'll become such a devoted Top Banana patron that you'll rue the day they shut down for the winter! But it's only natural, right? We sometimes forget that all produce is not always available 365 days a year. During the holiday season, TB turns into a Christmas tree lot. I actually only bought a tree from them once, but it always looks so cozy with the strings of white lights on the corner lot. In the springtime, the ground thaws and TB throws their doors open once again! Hooray!
Stay wild, Jimmy's. Stay wild.
Ballard neighborhood churns out yet another succesful local biz!
If I were Donkey Kong, I would totally be all over this spot everyday. However I do try to make it a point to drop by here as much as I crave fresh fruit.
Selection is good, fresh, and it dosen't hurt that this place isn't over-run with crowds all the time either.
AND yes, the prices are pretty friendly to the wallet if your savvy about what you pick and choose.
I have never, ever, EVER purchased berries other than the straw variety in the grocery store.
My reasoning? MY DAD GROWS 'EM BEST.
I grew up with my parents having gardens. Lots of gardens. Carrots, pumpkins, strawberries, currants, potatoes, zucchini, tomatoes, plums, rhubarb, etc.... you get the idea.
And blueberries. Tons of blueberries that still grow in force out on the plantation to this very day. Every summer, like clockwork, Papa S loads me up with delicious, fresh, handpicked berries. Sometimes I pick them myself.
So when I moved to Seattle over 10 years ago, and I saw pints of blueberries for $3.99 and $4.99, I almost blew a gasket... no really. I did. And I also swore I'd never pay an arm and a leg, and another leg for small tubs of berries.
So imagine my surprise when I hauled ass into Top Banana this evening before closing and found the little blue buggers for $2.50 a pint.
Seriously, if you're buying your berries (or your produce anywhere else), you're paying too much.
Just thanking Ballard's good ol' Top Banana for once again for not gouging me on things like… Read more »
This place is bananas... ba na na s!
Great prices, great products, and a guy was walking around cutting slices of white peaches for customers to try. So good and juicy that I bought some to take home myself.
Want some good produce at great prices? Head here.
Thank you Top Banana for your bountiful offerings of the freshest produce, the most reasonable prices,the yummy melon sampler plate, the hardworking staff and the quirky food items otherwise difficult to locate.
If you are moving - they have lots of boxes.
Yet another reason to be in Ballard.
Today I spent $8 at Top Banana. I got: three onions, five Fuji apples, a cucumber, and a loaf of Tall Grass baguette. Awesome! In addition to all kinds of inexpensive and frequently Washington-grown produce, they have chips, bread, tortillas, milk, sour cream, yogurt, some cheese, pistachios, flower baskets, tomato starts, honey, Mexican Coke, and a lot of other stuff. I can almost do all my grocery shopping here. Love!!
Thank you. Thank you . Thank you.
For being here. Itis a treat, driving around Ballard and finding a great place for excellent quality fruits and vegies!
My first peach, pear and honeycrisp apple of the season were purchased here, and all were WAY better than I could have even imagined. I love that they have good local dairy products so I don't have to schlep the heavy stuff for miles. I was sold on my current apartment in part because I stopped in on my way to look at the place and the owner guy was so hilariously gloomy and sassy that I felt right at home. The displays are always nice looking, unlike the other fruit stand I used to frequent which shall remain unnamed.
How do I drive by this place every single day and forget about it when I need to stock up on produce? I made a mental note to stop by this little stand on my way to trader joes yesterday and I'm so glad I did! First of all, it's in walking distance...hello! I'm so glad this is around the corner, I often start cooking and realize I don't have key ingredients. Second, its cheap. Third, it's fresh and fourth the peeps who run this joint are helpful and friendly. Looking forward to my next visit!
Pretty nifty little produce stand. Their produce is competitively priced, and they even have a convenient dairy cooler. They still offer regular staples, like bananas and citrus, that aren't as local. Each week you can find a good local special (or two or three), too. Awesome.
Honestly I expected a larger "organic" section. But that's forgivable. Local produce makes it so.
I'll make my weekly produce-run here. But you can still find equally good deals and just as tasty produce at Town & Country Ballard Market just down the street.
I avoided this place b/c I was sure they wouldn't accept credit cards, but this is false. So, they have Mexican Coke made with real sugar. I am a fan.
Oh yeah, cheap produce, blah blah blah.
Sweet jesus.
I finally made it to Top Banana after pining away for their produce for weeks (months, really), and boy did I go overboard. My head was spinning. Everywhere I looked, there were delicious, fresh, ripe, aromatic fruits and veggies. Mangos, nectarines, grapes, lemons, cherries (99 cents a pound!!), onions, shallots, tomatoes, bell peppers.... nothing was safe from my quest for produce. $37 later, I was well-laden with produce and feeling mighty fine about money well spent. Seriously, folks. I know it feels like a pain to go to two different places to buy your groceries, but the joy you will feel when biting into a ripe, juicy, delicious nectarine from Top Banana will soothe your tortured soul. A salad made from these ingredients will sing in your mouth. Trust me. I know.
Also, when I was trying to decide between "sweet cherries" and "red cherries" (which looked the same to me) for making a pie, the nice Top Banana chica said "try one! but I would go with the red cherries... I think they're pretty similar, they are a bit firmer, and they are cheaper!".
And then I fell in love with Top Banana.
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL FARMERS AND SMALL BUSINESSES!
That being said, I cry every year when Top Banana shuts down for the 'winter months' and anxiously await their re-opening so that I can enjoy the bounty/booty/beautifuulll produce here. I shop here at least 2-3 times a week. Staff is helpful, knowledgeable and often offer samples to entice you..
You seriously can't beat the quality or price of their wares. I find the freshest produce, some even hard to find items or limited amounts like Frosted Artichokes or Celebration Melons at peak season. Oh Top Banana, I relish in your mini mandarin oranges, Muscat grapes that melt on the tip of the tongue, Mangos ripe and ready to be added to a salad or a curry, Avocados that feed my need for fresh guac, Tomatoes on or off the vine awaiting addition to the fold.
They even offer local dairy products, salsas and smoked salmons at intervals.
As far as price goes..this is it.. forget Ballard Market, Whole Foods, Metropolitan Market and support a local legend that deserves it's time in the sun where a bounty of the freshest succulence awaits your palate..
Top Banana is Tops in my book.. it keeps me coming..again and again..
Friendly, cleanly, fresh, and cheap? Does it get more Seattle than a local market that offers a quality product at a ridiculously low price? Can I be more incredulous that such a place exists within the city?
If I hadn't just bought a bunch of vegetables in Fiesta Foods in Yakima I would be on my way right now. That's how good it is. Only East side prices straight from the orchard can compete. Go now! Eat your veggies!
(p.s. and they accept credit cards as long as you spend more then $5)
Woowoo! Shop Top Banana!
So, I'm making a concerted effort to cook and eat at home more often- for three reasons: 1) I'd like to be a better cook, 2) I'm sick of dropping $20-30 every time I go out for a meal, and 3) I'm practicing for the recession.
Those three reasons, plus the crappy selection I found at my favorite Safeway, the sticker-shock I experience every time I go to Whole Foods, and the mediocre selection that one can expect from a produce-delivery service in winter, helped me steer me in the direction of Top Banana.
I picked up a head of green leaf lettuce, three honeycrisp apples, five russet potatoes, a head of celery, a bag of baby carrots, some garlic, three onions (red, white, yellow), two green bell peppers, and a large chuck of ginger for... wait for it... for...
Twelve dollars.
I honestly did a double-take as I pocketed the extra $20 that I'd pulled out. Feeling quite proud of myself for outsmarting the chain grocery stores, I stuck my tongue out at Safeway and continued on my merry way.
[I should add that Top Banana will be closing this week for the season- in it's place will be a Christmas Tree Shop through the holidays]
Dearest fellow Yelpers/TB lovers,
Upon my latest visit to your beloved Top Banana, SO and myself were, shall we say, less than impressed by said produce.
Could it be the season? Doubt it - August is said to be good for growing in these parts.
Could it be the Yelp hype? Possibly, although I do concur with Yelp's high standards quite regularly and live by the gospel of Yelp.
Was our basket barren upon leaving? No, no, no, dearest fellow Yelper. We did enjoy some fine summer tomatoes and a mango at quite competitive prices. Yes, sirs and ma'ams, they do have nice fruits and veggies at prices that a young family can enjoy.
However, bare in mind the collection of 5 star reviews bestowed upon the Top Banana. It seems as though fruit mania might have gotten the best of some reviewers.
Three stars is fair, so three stars is what I give.
Sincerely and with kind regard,
TO
It's so much more satisfying to purchase produce at an old fashioned fruit stand than a large chain store any old day, and I've taken this place for granted too long. Great prices, nice selection, and they even have a little fridge with milk, eggs, etc. The very nice staff will help you select only the very best fruits and veggies! What a great neighborhood place.
Top Banana is my personal Mecca. I love - LOVE - great produce and hate paying way too much for things that aren't that good. I used to live within walking distance of this place. I'm mostly glad that I don't anymore (better for my wallet) but now when I wake up on Saturday morning and really want a spinach omelet and don't have any spinach...I wind up at the QFC by my house and pay SO MUCH MONEY for a dirty wilted bunch of spinach. Gross.
Need an eggplant fix? Go to Top Banana. Beautiful eggplants for not a lot of money. Tired of the old garlic at Safeway? The garlic at Top Banana is so fresh that it will burn you! Feeling bored with life in general? Top Banana probably has some random produce item for sale that you've never seen before and have no idea what to do with.
Did I mention that they take cards? I never have cash on me and I love knowing that I don't have to have it if I want to make a stop at what is ostensibly a produce stand.
The one downside to this place? THEY CLOSE FOR WINTER. I'm going through the phases...denial and anger are over. Nothing left now but the tears.
I love Top Banana. I always make two stops when I'm shopping. One for everything else, and one at Top Banana for fruit and veggies. They are always the best and have the best prices, and it's just a really pleasant experience too. The people there are nice. The owner is super congenial, and says hi and make it known that he recognizes me. That's enough... there are always a lot of people and who really wants to talk a long time when you're just going to get a tomato and some limes?
I LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE Top Banana.
I mean LOVE. I would buy Top Banana a big ol' diamond ring, take it out to Morton's, and fly off to a romantic trip to Italy if it were possible.
The produce here is always cheaper than the grocery stores, and is usually* fresher, too.
Additionally, the people here are also very helpful, and always willing to crack something open for you to try. The other day, I was here shopping and a guy working here asked if I wanted to try a honey mango.
A what??
I, of course, obliged, and while I'm here at work, I'm enjoying some more of it (for those interested, it tastes like a blend of mango and papaya, it's quite delicious).
Also for those interested, they sell Smith Bros. brand milk. This is something that I was searching for for a while. When I was a kid, we had this milk delivered to the house. Our milkman Pete was always so nice. Now living in a condo, Smith Bros does not deliver here. I found it at Top Banana, and now I can feel like a kid again.
* - usually - sometimes the produce is a bit too ripe, but so rare, it does not drop a star.
Quality produce, low prices, family owned--Top Banana is the Gibbons' Market* to Safeway's Fairsley Foods.
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* http://www.youtube.com...
I'm not sure what I am missing, or perhaps it is that I am too early in the season to be blown away by this place?
I stopped by for the first time ever today, and if I hadn't heard so many raving reviews, I probably wouldn't be as underwhelmed. From all that y'all have said, I expected my arm to be sore from the pounds of fresh produce that would be overburdening my basket.
Instead, I left with only a few items.
Sure, the avocados were 21 cents less each than the ones that I had just left behind at Safeway, but they also seem to be 21% smaller, and I can't see anything else about them yet that puts them above and beyond. The tomatoes on the vine were probably the best find today, at $1.49/lb and lookin' fine. The 2 packs of strawberries for $4 is a good price, but these berries are no more spectacular than the ones Greenwood Market has to offer.
The bell peppers (green) were cheap, but I couldn't find a single one that was unblemished enough for my basket. And because I was working on the makings for guacamole, I figured a lovely lime would round out my basket, but alas, I saw not a single one.
I did notice that they have milk super cheap (???) but I wasn't expecting that, so I'd already bought some. But I also noticed that not everything in there looks local - unless Del Monte grows grapes here? I don't mind, but local is part of the appeal.
Maybe, just maybe, I should just stop back by in high summer. And I'm sure I will should I happen to be driving by. At least then there won't be packs of high school kids to avoid running over!
A small family run fruit and vegetable stand. Here are the reasons I love this place (not in any particular order):
1. Its got a giant monkey on the sign. Who doesn't love giant monkeys?
2. As David said, the owner Jerry does look like a short Al Pacino. I just wish he would yell, "Say hello to my little friend" once in awhile. (Or do I.....)
3. Jerry loves to haggle. The first time I came here I was looking for lemons and limes. I didn't like the price so I walked out. Jerry followed me out of the store and asked me why I was leaving. I told him the price was too high so he made me a deal I could not refuse.
4. I like to pretend that Jerry is a mobster and I work the for the FBI.
5. The prices really are good and the quality beats anything your going to find out side of whole foods.
Just moved to this hood, this is a dream come true... Fresh produce stand with amazing quality and prices. Helpful and friendly staff to boot.
Thanks for the heirloom tomatoes and best avocados in town.
With a bakery and fresh fish/butcher shop (with great beer prices) up the road, I never have to give my money to Safeway or QFC again!
I love the idea the local non-chain market. Right in the Ballard residential area - totally walkable for all!
Quality and affordable produce often a bit cheaper that the local Safeway even! Aside from your typical apples, bananas, cherries, lettuce etc... they also have ginger, yummy fruit snacks and homemade jams and dressing. (hooray since I ran out and didn't want to actually drive to a grocery store with these high gas prices.
David and Sean are right. The owner DOES look like a diminutive Al Pacino. He's smokin hot and his fruits and veggies are awesome.
Who doesn't abuse avocados so they SEEM fine but when you cut 'em they are little black turds inside (like BALLARD MARKET does)?
Top Banana doesn't.
These.
Guys.
Rule.
You don't even need to go to the store, there's a dairy case here.
Get some bread, tomatoes, basil, etc, go home and make a bread salad. You might need some wine.
Summer's almost here; life is good.
top banana is awesome because they are local, family-owned, support local farmers, fairly priced, and have THE nicest people working there.
plus, they give the ballard high school kids the option of balancing out their zesto's deep fry with an apple after lunch. now, that's community service.
That will be $5 please? hello $5......Wait what, did I hear you right? Only $5 for all my delicious produce. Okay. Sounds good. Passed this place on a walk and would love to come here and buy all of my produce. The prices are much better than the chain grocery stores and it's a local and convenient place.
Moved in a few blocks down, and now refuse to by produce anywhere else.
Here's why:
- Berries are routinely 2/$5 or 2/$4. Compare that with $4 for a small plastic wrapped bunch from California at Safeway, and there's no comparison.
- 69 cent avacados
- Fun "fancy" pasta
- They sell Christmas trees in the winter
- Never met Jimmy, but he sounds wonderful.
- Open 7 days a week
- Great staff
Top Banana is an excellent little neighborhood fruit stand. Don't let its "side of the freeway" locale on 15th Ave NW scare you off. They have a terrific seasonal selection and staff and the prices beat the pants off of all the nearby grocery chains. I seem to remember that they have a credit card minimum (which is tough to meet, being that the prices are so low) so I recommend bringing cash.
If I keep going back, I might not have much to Yelp about in the dining scene since I'll be eating at home! Local goods, quality selection, excellent prices, friendly service. What a find!
Great produce. Where else can you get a perfect avocado for 69 cents?
cheap and fresh little fruit stand nothing beats stoping by here to get in-season produce especially during the summer. just remeber to bring cash.
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