Grocery Stores around the country..... - Page 2

>if it all writers were perfect,<

You mean we're not?
Sumofagun! :o

The grocery that blew me away is any of the Andronico's chain in Northern California. They are HUGE stores with a gigantic selection of gourmet everything and fantastic produce, wines, cheeses, meats, you name it. What's more, I thought the prices were quite reasonable.

My daughter's moved back east to Pittsburgh, so I can't visit her in Walnut Creek any more, and hang out at the WC Andronico's. :mad:

Oh, well, she and her family are a lot closer.

Mike

The grocery in Walnut Creek that really blew me away was Oakville Grocery (branch of a much smaller store in Oakville in the Napa Valley). I had been looking for Pomegranate Molasses, which earned me a lot of really blank looks around the Chicago suburbs.
I walked into Oakville (my first visit) and found a clerk standing in front of a line of shelves. I asked if he had, by chance, any Pomegranate Molasses? He didn't even answer, or move. He turned slightly to his left , reached out with his left hand, and handed me a bottle of PM. I was deeply impressed, and returned every time we got to Walnut Creek to visit my daughter.

Once I said I would assemble a picnic brunch for us to take to a winery (Retzlaff, where I optioned my first case of investment wine) near the Altamont Pass. I went through Oakville and wound up with a $75 bill. It was a great picnic.
Great wine, too.

Couple years ago, Andronico's opened a big store in WC, and then Trader Joe's.

Oakville... shut down. :mad:

Glad my daughter moved to Pittsburgh.

Mike

Tomorrow I'll be going to my favorite Italian market: Tenuta's in Kenosha, WI. Tenut's Deli
My friends and I will dedicate at least one hour to browsing and buying. I'll have a cooler in my truck to store any perishables (Italian sausage, cheeses, prosciutto, etc. On my list: olive oil, pancetta, parmigiano. We'll see what else looks good!

Yeah, my northern California are all upset about Oakville closing (especially the supplier to whom they owed money! :mad: )

And yes, Ferry Plaza is my idea of heaven. I thought the Santa Monica Farmers' Market was great -- but then I saw FP. Ooooooh. And even on a nonmarket day, the shops there are worth a visit on their own. But the special draw on farmers' market days is that my buddy Rancho Gordo is there with his beans and spices. :D

Anybody have a suggestion of a neighborhood market or similar to visit next week in Chicago? Preferably reachable by CTA.

hi, i too would love shopping for ethnic foods and ingredients but have not got any where near by to visit, i make do by buying all my indian food and chinese food ingredients etc online from The Asian Cookshop they're great but i'd love to visit a shop like that in person to feel and smell the different food. I'm a big fan of sushi and that really has nt taken off yet in u.k that much!! Kay

My fondest memory of Walnut Creek (besides Oakville Grocery,) when we visited my daughter and her family, was the year-round Sunday Farmers' Market. Just marvelous fruits and vegetables, most of the year, and gourmet treats of all kinds.

We were especially happy with a guy with a pickup who drove down from the southwest corner of Oregon. He filled the bed of his truck with ice and oysters, harvested the day before. Great stuff. Another brought salmon down from the Oregon coast, caught - he claimed - on Saturday and sold on Sunday. We tasted the salmon and believed him.

Since my daughter moved to Pittsburgh, we have to make do with the attractions of the Strip- the old market area with dozens of funky produce, meat, and ethnic stores as well as restaurants. It's a lot of fun, but it ain't California!

But, it's a lot closer. :bounce:

Mike

I live near two Andronico's. They both are overpriced compared to other stores, sometimes by a wide margin. I shop there only in an emergency. As for size, they pale in comparison to Berkeley Bowl, Whole Foods, a couple of Albertson's, and so on.

Their "selection" compared to what's available in other Berkeley stores is mostly limited to name brands, the deli products pale in comparison to a couple of the local delis in their own neighborhoods wrt taste, price, and quality of ingredients. Their cheese selection is nowhere near as good as that of smaller local stores, like the Pasta Shop or the Cheese Board. Their produce sections contain little in the way of organic produce. They sell their regular stuff at prices equal to or higher than other local organic produce, and their selection is almost non-existent compared to nearby Berkeley Bowl or Whole Foods.

I could go on, and detail some of thethings that really piss me off about them. The final straw was a few weeks ago when I needed a turkey thigh, and bought one from their poultry department. It was just a plain old turkey thigh, and I paid a relatively high price for it for the convenience. When I got it home I noticed that it contained a lot of back bone relative to the amount of thigh meat. $2.89 per pound for a piece of turkey back bone with some thigh attached. Imitation crab meat for $6.00 per pound while down the street a package of the same stuff sells for $2.00 per pound.

Andronico's? Feh!

Shel

You're probably thinking of Berkeley Bowl, the unequaled hands-down winner for produce in the area - both in terms of selection AND price. Come to the Gourmet Ghetto and see what food and food shopping can be.

Ferry Plaza is great - I love when the Frog Hollow guys are down there with their fresh picked a perfectly ripe peaches - GAWD!

Cowgirl Creamery makes some great cheeses. Sometimes we go up to Point Reyes Station and get the stuff at their factory store, where they sell some items not available elsewhere and can watch the cheese being made. There's a great little local cafe around the corner that has surprisngly decent food. Nice place for an inexpensive lunch or a filling breakfast.

This is great! There's actually normal people in the world, just like me!! :)
I always say I'd rather shop for groceries than go to the mall! Down south I enjoy going to any store, just to poke around and see what they've got. Steen's and boiled peanuts are definitely not on the list of available items in Pennsylvania. In our town, our list is very short. :(
Wegman's is about a 50 mile drive for me, so every now and then I coax my DH or DD into making a day trip with me. And I really can just shop all day.....I kinda get mesmorized walking up and down the aisles!
I found a Trader Joe's in Indianapolis a few years ago, and then another in Tyson's Corner, MD.
Delis in upstate NY....I'll stop every time to get a knish or pastrami sandwich.
My DD and I will be going to CA in July, specifically San Francisco, LA, San Diego and then to Rosarito, Mx, so feel free to shout out more good stores to stop at!

AB

I gave up on S'berger a long time ago. They've always been no more than an average chocolateier, IMO, and since they were taken over by Hershey's, well, there's just no reason to give them my $$ any more.

AS for olive oil, there are so many places in CA making good, fruity green olive oil it would be hard to know just which one you're referemcing.

Not Pt. Reyes, Pt Reyes Station. two very different places, but each with it's own charm and interests.

For a real cheese treat, you've got to check out the Cheese Board in Berkeley, across the street from Chez Panise. Probably the best, most fully stocked cheese shop in the area, although there are some places, like the Pasta Shop, that may have some more interesting cheeses at times.

The thing about the Gourmet Ghetto is that there's little or no need to ever go into a regular supermarket. You can shop in specialty shops all day long. Apart for some staples, like milk or ketchup, I rarely shop at typical supermarkets, unless you include Whole Foods as a typical supermarket. And even there I limit my purchases to just a few items.

Come to Berkeley, bring your shopping basket, and we'll cruise the Ghetto ... La Farine for brioch and their wonderful rustic loaf, Acme Baking, Semifreddi, and the Cheese Board for wonderful, fresh from the oven sourdogh baguettes, AG Ferrari for some amazing Italian products, including some of the most amazingly delicious DOP San Marzano tomatoes, Berkeley Bowl and Monterey Market for produce, Magnani Poultry - you want birds, they got birds! - a couple of Halal markets, Tokyo Fish market for your sashimi grade fish ... and so much more. It's paradise for foodies.

Shel

Shel

Grocery stores

Just returned from a trip to Austin, TX. Naturally we had to spend some time at Central Market and enjoy their huge selection of every food imaginable as well as their awsome selection of prepared food. Another day we spent the entire afternoon in the new flagship store for
Whole Foods located at their HQ bldg--5th and Lamar. Shopping there was a treat, and dining from their food court was spectacular! I would love to have either one of these stores within reach here on the Central California coast.

Indeed! A good friend comes in to the Bay Area from Kansas every now and then, and off we go ..it's amazing how much stuff she takes back to Dorothyville. We spend an entire day at her favorite chocolate shops and Ferry Plaza, and at various stores in the Gourmet Ghetto. There have been times she's scheduled her flights to coincide when the rustic baguettes come out of the oven at La Farine, one of the great bakeries in the area.

I've brought home cases of BBQ sauce (before internet ordering) from Arthur Bryant's and Gates in KC, or a gross of bagels from my favorite bagel bakery in NYC.

Shel