unimpressed

henapple

There's rumors flying around about my hometown getting a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. ..visited both in Nashville today in Green Hills. Not my cup of tea. I'm not a huge organic or gluten free individual nor do i like paying $12 for 16 oz of almond - coconut milk. Traders was tiny...WF did have a decent lunch but not ground breaking. Their meat was ridiculously priced...

I'll stick with Kroger, Publix or Restaurant Depot.

On a side note. ..The snotty f$@%king asshats of Green Hills didn't make it very enjoyable. Evidently the folks never learned thank you or excuse me. I fought the urge to throat punch men and women all morning. Money or location doesn't mean **** to me...just your character.

Little Steven

henapple said:

There's rumors flying around about my hometown getting a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. ..visited both in Nashville today in Green Hills. Not my cup of tea. I'm not a huge organic or gluten free individual nor do i like paying $12 for 16 oz of almond - coconut milk. Traders was tiny...WF did have a decent lunch but not ground breaking. Their meat was ridiculously priced... I'll stick with Kroger, Publix or Restaurant Depot. On a side note. ..The snotty f$@%king asshats of Green Hills didn't make it very enjoyable. Evidently the folks never learned thank you or excuse me. I fought the urge to throat punch men and women all morning. Money or location doesn't mean **** to me...just your character.

Whoa man...chill out! Throat punch? Geez. A head butt is always way more effective

Cymbaline65

A kick in the nuts always gets the attention.

JohnInCarolina

Obligatory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2UFc1pr2yUU

ShadowNick

I like TJ for some things.  Depending on what you are looking for(1.99 for a grinder of Himalayan pink salt, for example, and a lot of meats), can be far cheaper than anywhere but Walmart, atleast in my neck of the woods.  And its the only place in the city I can get tri-tip.

Carolina Q

Both stores are considerably out of my way so I don't go often. Not impressed with TJs, but WF sometimes has things you might not find elsewhere. I like SAF Red instant yeast and WF is the only store that carries it around here. 'Course, a vac sealed pound of that will last me forever! Was looking for some black garlic once upon a time. WF has that too. And you're right about meat prices!!

Bottom line, I will rarely go out of my way to shop at either store. And just for hard to find stuff. However, throat punches aren't my style.

cazzy

I'm unimpressed with this whinny thread.  Not your cup of tea?  Of course not, you're from Murfreesboro, remember?  Henapple, any place that doesn't sell PBR is obviously going to be unimpressive.  In fact, your cute lil home was unimpressive until brought a case of PBR over!   :P

henapple

Should have...

BREWnQ

There are several Trader Joe's near my house and work.  I can't stand the place.  The store itself might be cool the people who shop there just drive me nuts.  The last time I went to TJ's I got to the door then just couldn't do it anymore and walked away.

@JohnInCarolina I was gonna post the same the same video when I read the OP

Z_Eggineer

TJ's is not the best ever, but has great hard-to-find ingredients for BBQ: maple sugar, cherry juice, etc.  They also have a good selection of value wine and spirits.

SmokinTiger81

We have both here, along with Fresh Market also. I think they are very different--WF is pricey but has unusual items as noted. Also WF, for some reason, has the best prices around here on jalapenos and usually good quality. Trader Joes seems reasonbly priced, especially on meats and cheeses. Plus they have some really decent store brand items--pumpkin pancake mix, some gonzagola cheese flavored crackers, my wife loves the large spiced apple cider they carry at Christmas, etc. They are small as you noted.

caliking

I shop at Whole Paycheck once every 4 years to remind myself why i don't shop there more often. I kinda like TJ's though for some things but only end up there 1-2 times a year since it is not that close to work or home.

Eggcelsior

KennyLee

I don't go to TJ very often, but we do buy Three Buck Chuck wine and their ready-made pizza dough which is great for doing pizza on the Egg and far more convenient than making it ourselves. And I'm no wine expert/snob by any stretch and am really more of a beer man, but that Charles Shaw is a pretty good drop for $3 a bottle.

cazzy

@Eggcelsior...that would have been much better if it was a gif.  You let me down man lol

Eggcelsior

henapple said:

There's rumors flying around about my hometown getting a Trader Joe's or Whole Foods. ..visited both in Nashville today in Green Hills. Not my cup of tea. I'm not a huge organic or gluten free individual nor do i like paying $12 for 16 oz of almond - coconut milk. Traders was tiny...WF did have a decent lunch but not ground breaking. Their meat was ridiculously priced... I'll stick with Kroger, Publix or Restaurant Depot. On a side note. ..The snotty f$@%king asshats of Green Hills didn't make it very enjoyable. Evidently the folks never learned thank you or excuse me. I fought the urge to throat punch men and women all morning. Money or location doesn't mean **** to me...just your character.

I sense some cognitive dissonance.

Eggcelsior

cazzy said:

@Eggcelsior...that would have been much better if it was a gif.  You let me down man lol

Fixed it.

gdenby

Don't have a Trader's around here. Did get a Whole Food$ a few months ago. I was looking forward to it, but was somewhat let down. Everything I've bought was of good quality, and some things are not available else where. But everything that is available elsewhere is more expensive at WF. My elder son lives where there are both store's. He mentioned that Trader's has somewhat more interesting food. I can get some organic foods straight from the producers around here. The prices are only marginally less than WF, but it is always a pleasure to deal w. the folks that make the foods. The produce at the local farmer's market may not be organic, but it definitely is fresh, and only comes in from maybe 40 miles, tops. The problem at the farmer's market is not overt rudeness. But people seem to be more inclined to stop and chat, and there are a fair number of people with strollers, or creeping along on scooters. Getting from stall A where the snap peas are, to stall M where the black walnuts are can sometimes be maddening.

Acn

I can't stand Whole Foods either, although we do go to TJs fairly often, although we can't do a full grocery shop there, but what we do like, we really like. Our list usually includes dog treats, peach salsa, spices (esp cumin and cinnamon), and kalamata olives. My wife swears by their hand soap and pita crackers and my daughter loves their cereal bars. Their cheese selection isn't extensive, but what they have is really good and very reasonably priced. They also have a quality selection of dried fruit and nuts, and their cut flowers are great. Their meat is OK, but I have crap luck with their produce, but that could be a location thing, the one in Chapel Hill, NC had a much nicer produce section than any I've seen in MD/VA. I did really like their wine and beer selection too, although Baltimore County doesn't allow alcohol sales in grocery stores so that doesn't do me any good.

Wegmans remains far and away the best grocery store I've ever been in.

Austin Egghead

Did not like/trust the over priced TJ in the Bay area. Preferred Andronicos in B'zerkely, Podestos, Safeway or Costco. Whole Wallet was just going into Norcal when we returned to TX.... The 6th street WW is not even the ghost small little store on Lamar that we remembered.

Little Steven

KennyLee said:

I don't go to TJ very often, but we do buy Three Buck Chuck wine and their ready-made pizza dough which is great for doing pizza on the Egg and far more convenient than making it ourselves. And I'm no wine expert/snob by any stretch and am really more of a beer man, but that Charles Shaw is a pretty good drop for $3 a bottle.

Two Buck Chuck went up 50%?

flynnbob

KennyLee said:

I don't go to TJ very often, but we do buy Three Buck Chuck wine and their ready-made pizza dough which is great for doing pizza on the Egg and far more convenient than making it ourselves. And I'm no wine expert/snob by any stretch and am really more of a beer man, but that Charles Shaw is a pretty good drop for $3 a bottle.

Hmm - I will have to try the dough. Just got a new computer and I don't know how this will come out...

Eggcelsior

+1 on Wegmans. It is hands down the greatest grocer ever. Piggly Wiggly is #2. Costco isn't really a grocery store but it is the best membership club period. I have limited experience with Kroger(in Myrtle Beach) but it sucks. I've been to Whole Foods in Mt Pleasant, SC and it is a novelty. They have some neat stuff but nothing I really need at the beach.

NDG

I shop Whole Foods and Traders - I think they both have their place. I now know the butcher now at Whole Foods and they always have a quality protein on sale that he will cut/grind/etc for me and discuss ways to prepare it. At Kroger/Giant Eagle I am lucky to find someone behind the counter - let alone someone who can suggest cuts, etc. I am 29 and have been caught drinkin a PBR, so I am sure I fit the "hipster" profile to some on this forum - but variety is the spice of life . . so its all good!

henapple

I like the Super Target's I've been to and H E B in TX. Here, Kroger has a decent meat dept..Walmart has a good selection of fresh produce and publix has unbelievable service and hard to find items. Walmart has a meat dept full of road kill, Kroger has service equal to the taliban and publix produce will surely pass food poisoning along.

I'm screwed.

KennyLee

Little Steven said:

KennyLee said:

I don't go to TJ very often, but we do buy Three Buck Chuck wine and their ready-made pizza dough which is great for doing pizza on the Egg and far more convenient than making it ourselves. And I'm no wine expert/snob by any stretch and am really more of a beer man, but that Charles Shaw is a pretty good drop for $3 a bottle.

Two Buck Chuck went up 50%?

Yep.....huge increase, but still....$3? I don't get there often because it's not close for me, but when I do I get a case of the red.

KennyLee

flynnbob said:

KennyLee said:

I don't go to TJ very often, but we do buy Three Buck Chuck wine and their ready-made pizza dough which is great for doing pizza on the Egg and far more convenient than making it ourselves. And I'm no wine expert/snob by any stretch and am really more of a beer man, but that Charles Shaw is a pretty good drop for $3 a bottle.

Hmm - I will have to try the dough. Just got a new computer and I don't know how this will come out...

Give it a try. It's really pretty good and is like $2 for like a pound of dough, enough for one pizza. I wouldn't cook pizza nearly as often as I do without it because it makes the dough process so much easier.

Skiddymarker

Little Steven said:

KennyLee said:

I don't go to TJ very often, but we do buy Three Buck Chuck wine and their ready-made pizza dough which is great for doing pizza on the Egg and far more convenient than making it ourselves. And I'm no wine expert/snob by any stretch and am really more of a beer man, but that Charles Shaw is a pretty good drop for $3 a bottle.

Two Buck Chuck went up 50%?

Yep - When we first went to TJ's Charles Shaw Zinny was $2.19 a bottle - still two buck chuck. Now it is on the other side of $3 bottle. It is an OK wine for the price, course in either the LCBO or BC's LDB it would be at least $8… On day trips I would declare a bottle (normally we have to be out of the country at least 48 hours before returning with a 1.14 litre bottle of wine duty free). When customs asks what did it cost and the answer is $3US, the duty is like $3 and not worth their effort to do the paperwork.

Little Steven

I know, I've had it. You can't buy two beers at the LCBO for $8.00 let alone wine.

Coastalcooker

Eggcelsior
Glad to know I'm not the only one who has been to the Pig. At our little local store, the market manager had frozen filet and would cut them for us. He even threw in the ends sometimes. However, he said he had to buy $500.00 worth to get the good filet, so he no longer carried them., He moved to the larger Pig, which is now a Buy-Lo. Selection is just too limited and some prices so high, we now make a weekly trip to town and Publix.
For Atlantans, Dekalb Farmers Market and later the one in Norcross, his brother Harry, I think, was always a great place to shop. Store made sausage, produce, I had never even heard of, lot of seafood and a wide variety of meat. All of the help spoke at least some English and probably would have cut meat, if I requested.
The only thing I miss about that place.
Bob

stantrb

I recently moved to KY from FL, and let me tell you: Whole Foods and TJ are the bomb when there's no Publix. Publix is such a gigantic leap above the competition that it manages to provide a boutique experience and feel with chain prices. Absolutely unbeatable, and sadly missed north of Tennessee.