Popular searches:
The Water Street Stop and Shop, a short walk from the ferry: carts on the sidewalk and a delivery truck at the door.
Every supermarket and market on Martha's Vineyard with posted hours: Stop and Shop, Cronig's, Reliable Market, Alley's, the meat and fish markets, the Falmouth Stop and Shop before the ferry, Instacart and pre-stocking delivery, and an honest word on island prices.
The first question every rental guest asks after the ferry is where the supermarket is, and the second, a day later, is why the bill was so high. Both have straight answers. The island has real supermarkets, a pair of very good independent grocers, a handful of specialty markets that are better than anything you left behind, and a mainland store fifteen minutes from the ferry that the locals themselves use. This is how we shop, town by town, with the hours as the stores post them.
Table of contents [Show]
For a big weekly shop, use Stop and Shop in Vineyard Haven or Edgartown, or Cronig's in Vineyard Haven. For a rental up-island, Cronig's Up-Island in West Tisbury is the store, with Alley's for the things you forgot. For meat, fish and the good bread, go to the specialty markets listed below. If you are driving over, the biggest saving is to shop at the Stop and Shop on Teaticket Highway in Falmouth before you reach Woods Hole and bring it across in the car.
Stop and Shop. The chain's locator lists three island stores: 50 Water Street in Vineyard Haven, a two-minute walk from the ferry; 225 Upper Main Street in Edgartown; and 245 Vineyard Haven Road in Edgartown, by the Triangle. Posted hours are 6 in the morning to 11 at night Monday to Saturday and 6 to 10 on Sunday at Water Street and Upper Main, and 7 to 10 (Sunday 7 to 9) at Vineyard Haven Road. The Vineyard Haven Road store has the pharmacy, which closes for lunch and is shut on Mondays. Both towns' stores take online orders for pickup, and Instacart delivers from them. These are the only chain supermarkets on the island, and they are the reason the "no chains" reputation has an asterisk.
Cronig's Market, Vineyard Haven. 357 State Road, a mile up from the harbor. Open 7 to 7 Monday to Saturday and 9 to 6 on Sunday, with a deli counter and a salad bar on weekdays. Cronig's is the island's own supermarket: full range, a strong natural and organic side, local produce and eggs in season, and staff who have worked there for decades. It closes on Easter, Thanksgiving and Christmas and nothing else. Our Vineyard Haven guide has the rest of the State Road strip, including the Park and Ride behind it.
Reliable Market, Oak Bluffs. 36 Circuit Avenue, in the middle of town, a proper full-service grocery with a butcher's counter in a space that has been a market for generations. It is the store for anyone staying in the Campground or along the harbor without a car. Directory listings give Monday to Saturday from 8:30 to 6 and a short Sunday morning; confirm before a Sunday run. See the Oak Bluffs guide for what else is walkable from there. Working here for the summer? Our seasonal staff guide covers the rest of settling in.
Cronig's Market on State Road, the island's own supermarket since 1917 and the one most islanders name first.
Carts stacked outside the Water Street Stop and Shop.
The island letter
Three island guides, free on arrival
The Beach Guide, The Vineyard in the Fall and Where to Stay, plus a short letter from the island when there is something worth telling.
One-click unsubscribe, and we never share your email.
Cronig's Up-Island, West Tisbury. 469 State Road, the only supermarket west of the airport. Open 7 to 6 Monday to Saturday and 8 to 5 on Sunday, deli from 8. Smaller than the Vineyard Haven store but stocked for people who cook, and the noticeboard by the door is the best listing of up-island events you will find anywhere. Read the West Tisbury guide before you decide a car is optional out here: it is not.
Aisle 6 at Cronig's Up-Island: juice, cereal and a painted island landscape over the dairy case at the end.
Alley's General Store, West Tisbury. 1045 State Road, trading since 1858 and owned by the Vineyard Preservation Trust. It is a general store in the old sense: milk, bread, hardware, newspapers, penny candy and a porch. Posted hours are roughly 7:30 to 6 in the week and 9 to 5 on Sunday. The farm stand next door and the Saturday farmers market across the road cover the fresh side; the farm stands guide has all of them.
Chilmark and Menemsha. The Chilmark General Store at Beetlebung Corner does groceries, sandwiches and pizza, and in Menemsha the fish markets on the harbor sell what came off the boats that morning. Chilmark is a dry town, so none of these sell alcohol; the dry towns guide explains where the nearest package store is. Our Chilmark guide covers the village.
The Chilmark General Store at Beetlebung Corner, the up-island stop for a sandwich, a newspaper and the milk you forgot.
Edgartown Meat and Fish Market. 240 Edgartown to Vineyard Haven Road, open daily and year-round, a butcher and fishmonger with prepared foods, a serious cheese case and, improbably, a licensed Starbucks counter. It is where Edgartown households buy the thing they are cooking that night.
Your Market at the Triangle. 249B Edgartown to Vineyard Haven Road, next door. Wine, beer and spirits with a grocery aisle of cheeses, meats and treats, open 8 in the morning to 10 at night in summer and an hour earlier in the evening from early September. They deliver non-refrigerated orders island-wide Monday to Saturday for a small fee with a 30-dollar minimum, which makes them the answer to "can someone bring wine to the house".
Your Market at the Triangle: shingles, green awnings, beach murals in the windows, and the only grocery-and-liquor combination on the island.
Fish. The Net Result and John's Fish Market in Vineyard Haven, Larsen's and the Menemsha Fish Market on Menemsha harbor, and the counter at Edgartown Meat and Fish. Buy it the day you cook it; the island fleet is small and the good fish is gone by mid-afternoon.
Everything else. Vineyard Grocer on State Road in Vineyard Haven for organic staples and Brazilian specialties, JL Meat Market a little further out at 426 State Road (the shingled building shared with Trindade Hardware) for a proper Brazilian grocery with a butcher counter, pão de queijo, guaraná and the coffee and farofa brands from home, the Ackee Tree on Beach Road for Caribbean groceries, Our Market at the Oak Bluffs harbor for the things a boat needs, and Tony's Market in Oak Bluffs for a sandwich the size of a brick. The farm stands are where the vegetables, eggs and flowers should come from between June and October.
JL Meat Market: two flags over the door, a butcher counter inside, and the building it shares with Trindade Hardware. Small, and worth knowing about.
Local raw honey at eighteen dollars a jar and plant-based bug repellent on the same shelf, which is about the most Vineyard pairing there is.
On the wall inside John’s Fish Market: a dried blowfish and a photo of the original Five Corners shop, 1949 to 1986.
Islanders do a lot of their bulk shopping off-island, and if you are bringing a car over there is no reason not to copy them. The Stop and Shop at 20 Teaticket Highway in East Falmouth is about fifteen minutes from the Woods Hole terminal, open 6 to 11 (Sunday 6 to 10), and a full shop there arrives on the island in your trunk at mainland prices. Leave yourself the time: the terminal wants you in the standby or reserved line well before sailing, and a cooler in the back seat is entirely normal on the Vineyard boat.
Walk-on passengers can do a smaller version. The Steamship Authority allows coolers, cartons and duffels as personal baggage at no charge, and there are free luggage carts on the pier at both ends. Carry what you can lift yourself; the carts stay on the dock, and on the island side the bus stop and the taxi rank are a hundred yards away.
Instacart delivers from Stop and Shop across the down-island towns, with fees that start at a few dollars on orders over 35 dollars and delivery windows that run from morning to late evening; coverage thins up-island, so check your address before you count on it. The Stop and Shop stores also take their own pickup orders. Ahead of Arrival is an island service that shops and stocks a rental house before you arrive; the pricing and the delivery zones are on their site, and it is worth it for a large group landing late. For wine and dry goods, Your Market's own delivery is the simplest option.
Everything on the island arrives by ferry, and the freight, the labor and the short season are in the price. A Martha's Vineyard Times comparison a few years ago found the island Stop and Shops and Cronig's highest on most of a basket of staples against mainland stores, and nothing has moved in the other direction since. Expect a noticeably bigger bill than at home for the same list. What keeps it manageable: shop in Falmouth if you have the car, buy produce and eggs at the farm stands rather than the supermarket, buy fish from the fish markets rather than the supermarket counter, and plan meals around what the island does well in season. The year-round guide lists which stores stay open in the off-season, and the parking guide covers the supermarket lots, which matter more than you would think in July.
A Stop and Shop trailer in Vineyard Haven: everything on the shelves came over on a ferry.
| Store | Where | Posted hours | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stop and Shop | 50 Water St, Vineyard Haven | 6 to 11, Sun 6 to 10 | Big shop by the ferry, pickup |
| Stop and Shop | 225 Upper Main St, Edgartown | 6 to 11, Sun 6 to 10 | Big shop, Edgartown side |
| Stop and Shop | 245 Vineyard Haven Rd, Edgartown | 7 to 10, Sun 7 to 9 | Pharmacy, the Triangle |
| Cronig's Market | 357 State Rd, Vineyard Haven | 7 to 7, Sun 9 to 6 | Local produce, deli, natural foods |
| Cronig's Up-Island | 469 State Rd, West Tisbury | 7 to 6, Sun 8 to 5 | The up-island supermarket |
| Reliable Market | 36 Circuit Ave, Oak Bluffs | About 8:30 to 6, short Sunday | Oak Bluffs on foot, butcher |
| Alley's General Store | 1045 State Rd, West Tisbury | About 7:30 to 6, Sun 9 to 5 | Basics, newspapers, the porch |
| Edgartown Meat and Fish | 240 Edgartown VH Rd | Daily, year-round | Butcher, fish, cheese, prepared |
| Your Market at the Triangle | 249B Edgartown VH Rd | 8 to 10 summer, to 9 from Sept | Wine and spirits, delivery |
| Stop and Shop, Falmouth | 20 Teaticket Hwy, East Falmouth | 6 to 11, Sun 6 to 10 | Mainland prices before the ferry |
Supermarket hours are from the Stop and Shop store locator and Cronig's own locations page as of September 2026. Your Market's hours and delivery terms are from its website; Instacart coverage and fees from Instacart's Vineyard Haven page. Alley's and Reliable Market hours come from directory listings and are marked as approximate. Store hours on the island change with the season and at holidays, so treat the table as a starting point and the sign on the door as the truth.
Stop and Shop at 50 Water Street in Vineyard Haven, a two-minute walk from the ferry, and two Edgartown stores at 225 Upper Main Street and 245 Vineyard Haven Road by the Triangle. Cronig’s at 357 State Road in Vineyard Haven is the island’s own supermarket; Cronig’s Up-Island in West Tisbury serves the up-island rentals.
Stop and Shop is the only chain supermarket on the island, the asterisk on the “no chains” reputation.
If you are driving over, shop at the Stop and Shop on Teaticket Highway in Falmouth before Woods Hole and bring it across in the car; the locals do.
In the Stop and Shop on Vineyard Haven Road in Edgartown; it closes for lunch and is shut on Mondays.
Both towns’ Stop and Shops take online orders for pickup and Instacart delivers from them. Cronig’s has a deli counter and a weekday salad bar.
Island tip of the day Transport No. 11 of 86 New tip at midnight, island time
Uber and Lyft operate on MV but surge hard in peak season. Local taxis are often steadier: a typical cross-town ride runs about $28, van-pool style, and airport pickups add a small rideshare surcharge.
Solo travel on Martha's Vineyard: the $11 walk-on ferry and the bus from Boston, the $40 hostel and B&Bs with breakfast, the free bus and $30 bikes, the $20 church lobster roll, the free concerts, dock dances and community sing where you meet people, the small-group tours, five solo days and the honest safety notes (ticks, currents, the last bus).
The cheapest way to get to Martha's Vineyard: walk onto the Steamship Authority at Woods Hole for $22 round trip, every other boat ranked by fare (Island Queen $30, Seastreak $55 same-day, Hy-Line $78), what Woods Hole parking and the Boston bus cost, the car question in dollars and the cheapest route from Boston, the Cape, Rhode Island and New York.
Where Martha's Vineyard's oysters, bay scallops and quahogs come from: the public solar hatchery on Lagoon Pond that turned fifty in 2026, the dozen oyster farms in Katama Bay, Menemsha Pond and Vineyard Sound, the wild beds in the great ponds, the autumn scallop season and its limits, visitor shellfish permits by town, why rain closes a pond, and where to eat them.
Lobster on Martha's Vineyard from trap to paper plate: how the small Menemsha fleet fishes, the Massachusetts rules on size, egg-bearing females and whale-safe gear, where to buy lobster off the boat (Larsen's, Menemsha Fish Market, The Net Result), how to eat it on the dock with your own bottle, and how a visitor can get a permit and catch a few.
What to do if you get sick or hurt on Martha's Vineyard: the one hospital and its 24-hour emergency department, the new Express Care and Tick Clinic, the walk-in practice in Vineyard Haven, Island Health Care's evening hours, 24/7 virtual care for $130, the island's three remaining pharmacies (no CVS, no 24-hour counter, Leslie's closed), bus and taxi access, and travel insurance for visitors.
The rules visitors break on Martha's Vineyard, sorted into state law, town bylaw and plain custom: speed limits and one-way streets, bike lights and sidewalks, beach regulations and fines, dog rules by town, noise hours, boat sewage, shellfish permits, and the manners that mark a guest from a tourist.
The free island library · 2026
Beach reports, events worth a day, ferry heads-ups. Sent when there is something worth telling. The Beach Guide, The Vineyard in the Fall and Where to Stay arrive with your welcome email.
Get the free guides
Island prices, hours and details change often. Please verify with businesses before you go. Full disclaimer
The island right now
1:55 PM island time
Four free downloads · 2026
The island guides, in your inbox
The Beach Guide, The Vineyard in the Fall, Where to Stay and What It Really Costs. No spam, one-click unsubscribe.
