Food Shopping!!
#11
  Re: (...)
I love to go food shopping!! I really do! And I'm priviledged to have some great choices nearby, too - Trader Joe's (farthest, 10 miles, only been there a couple times), Whole Foods (I hit this after work on Fridays for meats), Wegman's, and two Acmes.

In the past two weeks I've noticed a huge dropoff of shoppers at the Acme (I call this one the little one - it's only 75K sq ft as opposed to its larger brother a few towns over at 110K sq ft). Then I heard that a new Shop Rite had opened in a new shopping center only 4 miles from me. So I decided to go there today and check out the hub-bub.

O M G.

It's the biggest Shop Rite in the country! About 130K sq ft! And lordy lordy!! It has a liquor/wine/beer store in the middle!! Verifiable one-stop shopping!! Not a huge choice, but good enough to stock Stoly vodka and Balvenie Double Wood scotch! And the hubby's beer - Beck's light.

But in spite of its hugeness and the bonus spirits store, it was just meh. Trust me, I'm grateful to have this abundance of choices and mutter "Only in America" a lot, but I didn't have the orgasmic experiences I've had in the other stores I've mentioned.

Some observations:

Great produce section. Better than the little Acme, but second to Wegman's.

Bakery. Ditto with produce. Wegman's bakery is thumbs up un-freaking unbelievable.

Specialty cheese case. Pretty darn good. Had that manchengo cheese you peoples were raving over a few threads ago. It was $18 per lb. I didn't realize it was a semi-hard cheese. Also had this Black Bear Sweet Vidalia Onion spread tasting stop that made me buy some. Love sweet onions! But Wegman's again takes first place.

Seafood section was okay. Didn't have the wambo (6-9 count) King Crab legs that leave me stuffed. The big Acme has these and I can only manage two legs before I'm done. Wegman's is too expensive on the same products. Sorry, I don't do fish.

Meat/Poultry section. Huge, but oddly mediocre. Had Empire kosher chicken and turkey breasts. I could only get these at Wegman's and will still continue to do so as I noticed SR only had skinless/boneless breasts where Weggies has every part, skinless/skin-on and whole chicks. Also not impressed with filet cuts. I like mine about 2" thick for filet en croute (puff pastry). However, got a pot roast today for Guiness Pot Roast tomorrow, so we'll see.

Ethnic foods sections. SR had practically a whole aisle dedicated to hispanic foods as there is a big population in this area. Lots and lots of brands of stuff I've never seen before. A little disapointed in the Aisan selection and they didn't have any Indian or Thai selections like the big Acme does. Wegman's excels in food selections from around the world.

Spices. SR was mediocre in this area also. Just your basic, run-of-the-mill spices and seasonings. Even the little Acme has a selection of sea salts and more specialty spices.

Oils/Vinegars. Meh. The little (and big) Acme gets the plus on this. Safflower, grapeseed, almond, hazelnut, and coconut specialty oils, to name a few. Heck, they even stock white and black truffle oils. Don't know where Weggies stands on this since they stock oils everywhere.

Frozen food. Saw some frozen fruit I've never been able to locate before - frozen sweet cherries and blueberries, so this is a plus. Their frozen entrees were a little disappointing. I had a coupon for Kashi entrees and they only had two different entrees! Rats!!

Dairy. Lots of products, but no different than any other store.

Again, don't get me wrong, I've been to stores in foreign countries that had green meat in their cases, I'm ever grateful for all the choices I have when it comes to food shopping. But I think I'll just stick with meats from Whole Foods, the occasional whatever from Wegman's, and shopping between the two Acmes.

Barbara
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Then find someone whose life has given them vodka.
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#12
  Re: Food Shopping!! by BarbaraS (I love to go food sh...)
Now that's a review

I only have 2 stores where I can get grociers - Stater Bros which is only in S. Calif and Trader Joes about 15 miles away. And it's one of the smallest TJ's in the state so their selection is really small.

I so even you with your Whole Foods and Bristol Farms
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#13
  Re: Re: Food Shopping!! by DFen911 (Now that's a review ...)
What's Bristol farms?

Barbara
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Then find someone whose life has given them vodka.
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#14
  Re: Re: Food Shopping!! by DFen911 (Now that's a review ...)
Great review...I am so envious! I have one little independent grocery close by owned by a skinflint.....is that the right word here? There's a pretty good Food Lion close enough to run to if I need anything more than basic and it's on my way home from work. Then for a day trip there's a pretty good but small Whole Foods and a very good Lowes Food...both much more expensive. But it's so worth it for unusual ingredients and great cuts of meats and seafood....not as unusual as some of you can find, but much better than anything close by. So your variety is staggering! Even if I've never seen any of the stores you mention other than the WF.
Daphne
Keep your mind wide open.
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#15
  Re: Re: Food Shopping!! by Gourmet_Mom (Great review...I am ...)
It wasn't my intent to "brag" about the stores around here. We're heavily populated in this area of NJ and there's plenty room for competition.

I guess the point I was trying to get across was, bigger isn't necessarily better.

Barbara
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Then find someone whose life has given them vodka.
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#16
  Re: Re: Food Shopping!! by BarbaraS (It wasn't my intent ...)
Oh, I didn't take it that way at all....don't think Denise did either. I love hearing about grocery shopping...only type of shopping I really enjoy. I felt like I was shopping with you vicariously!
Daphne
Keep your mind wide open.
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#17
  Re: Re: Food Shopping!! by Gourmet_Mom (Great review...I am ...)
Bristol Farms is a wonderful food store!
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#18
  Re: Re: Food Shopping!! by BarbaraS (It wasn't my intent ...)
We are so lucky to be 70 miles from Houston and 100 miles from the Gulf--Central Mkt, Spec's (Spc foods, wine, liquor) Itlian Mkts, Cajun Mkts (turtle meat), cajun sausage, Whole Foods (although I'm not that into organic), Gulf coast fish mkts, Costco, farmers markets in the summer, and a meat mkt 30 miles from me that dry ages meat and makes great hot Italian sausage.

I may not be that lucky in my next life, so I'm enjoying it now!!
And God is so good I can order my salmon, Dungeness Crabs, and halibut on the web (when I can afford it!!)
"He who sups with the devil should have a. long spoon".
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#19
  Re: Re: Food Shopping!! by Old Bay (We are so lucky to b...)
Hey Bill, have you ever heard of turtle duff? That used to be a specialty dish in Southport when it was legal to "hunt" them. Hard to believe they'd be able to eat that...the kids used to ride the sea turtles for fun...LOL!
Daphne
Keep your mind wide open.
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#20
  Re: Re: Food Shopping!! by Gourmet_Mom (Oh, I didn't take it...)
Cool! The only other shopping I really enjoy is kitchen supply places like Kitchen Kapers, Sur la Table, etc.

If I'm with the hubby, I always say "Danger, danger, Will Robinson!!" before we enter.

Barbara
When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Then find someone whose life has given them vodka.
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