Whole Foods/Trader Joe's

MINT----I agree with you on Target's Archer Farms line of products.....some good, interesting stuff there...especially in the snack aisle. Good and reasonably priced? Go figure......

 

I just got a gift card in the mail. Do they have online shopping? I looked and didn't see anything for it.

 

I was at Moddy's Whole Foods tonight, the first time I've been to one. I liked it fine, though I can see where doing my regular shopping there wouldn't be an option unless my salary tripled overnight. Bought a few things for the trip back just to say I got something. The honeycrisp apples lived up to their name, and their cola is interesting -- more honey and spice than you'd expect from cola if, like me, you grew up on Coke and Pepsi. Nice atmosphere, but then after all this time I'm still a sucker for brick, metal, neutral wood and wide-open spaces.

I liked it; a lot like a bigger Fresh Market.

 

I've only been to the Whole Foods in the Time Warner Center. Overpriced and overrated.

I have a TJ's in my little neck of suburbia. I believe that we are the only one in my state (or at least my part of the state) which has the beer and wine. Love the place -- heading over in 15 minutes when they open. Great cereals, produce and frozen food choices at prices usually way cheaper than the local supermarkets. The negative is that the lack of product choices still require me to go to a supermarket.

The Charles Shaw wine is swill, but the merlot isn't awful.

 

I don't think you can use either as a true grocery store. Whole Foods requires shelling out megabucks for such staples as flour and baking soda. Trader Joe's requires someone who doesn't care about selection. I use Trader Joe's mostly for canned goods and frozen vegetables. I use Whole Foods for produce in wintertime, and sometimes, for its meat.

But at the end of the month, I've probably spent more at Shop Rite. I'd spend it at Wegmans if it weren't 45 minutes away.

 

Of course it's swill... but you drink it as the second or third or four bottle of wine at a party or with friends... you need to be drunk to crack the bottle.

 

I think the only real value for the money I've found at Whole Foods is the cheese. Certainly not cheap, but not a ripoff considering the quality. I've read good reviews of the WF-label budget extra-virgin olive oil but have not yet tried it.

 

I have... it's pretty good.. and there are some good wine deals and the pizza is outstanding at any price

 

I've only shopped at a WF once or twice, a little pricey and out of the way for me. But I hit up Trader Joe's about once a month to stock up on frozen food, cereal, their excellent chicken sausage and other specialty stuff done cheap and right. I also buy the majority of my wine there. Even beyond two buck Chuck, they have an excellent selection of cheap wine.
They're good for that sort of stuff, but not so much for everyday groceries. Their perishables tend to be overpriced.

 

Jeez, Girl, you gotta like the frozen mexican food at Trader Joe's. Or the cereal. Organic Lite Crunch ... close your eyes and pretend its Count Chocula, or something ...

 

Damn, Moddy, you come by your Birkenstocks honestly now, you socialist hippie you.

One question: What's healthy cheese?