Who LOVES Trader Joes!

[neildmitchell]

So who loves the Store Trader Joes?
I do I do, They are so dang cheap and carry great stuff. :)

[katie ta achoo]

I went when I was in Cali. I thought it was gonna be totally awesome.

I was less-than-thrilled with it.
Yeah, it was cool, but I thought it was totally over-priced!
Maybe I'm just comparing TX prices V CA prices, but.. DAMN!

It's a cool place, but too rich for my blood.


I got the soymilk though.. pretty good :)
and some veggie sushi rolls.. not good. They tasted like fish.. Ew. (I've never had sushi, nor will I ever again. Ewww... {not the raw fish part, I don't do any fish, the weird tasting rice part})

[e²Studios]

Too rich? hehe i think compared to places like Whole Foods it is rather cheap for what you get. Most my grocery shopping is done at TJ's now, im in love with it! Great wine and beer selection, good pre-prepared food, i couldnt be happier with it :P

the Vienna beer from TJ's is great, im nto fond of 2 buck chuck, but they have a decent selection of wines that they constantly rotate. I like the Chilean wines, but i was never fond of the Yellow Tail from Australia.

Ed

[neildmitchell]

I like the Chilean wines, but i was never fond of the Yellow Tail from Australia.
Ed
I absolutely love Chilean wines, a well kept secret, SHHHH! :)

I picked up a bottle of the Yellow Tail Shiraz tonight for a later time, what was it that you didnt care for?

[devilot]

I love Trader Joe's! I don't shop there that often, but whenever I need something that might be a little more difficult to find, I head over there. And I generally find that TJ's is cheaper than Whole Foods or Gene's or whatever else.

[Ph4lynx]

haaa i bike down to trader joes every morning on my way to school..
Love the Place

[joepunk]

I like to get tofu cream cheese and Thai peanut sauce there. I love the Joe-Joe's chocolate cream cookies. I guess I shall have to try out those Chilean wines after all. Great place for the unique/hard to find food items.

[CanadaRAM]

Shopped at Trader Joes in Palm Springs a few years ago. Nicer than Albertsons, but on the whole about 30% more expensive than Canadian groceries on staples (milk, fruit, veg.), cheaper on manufactured foods.

[e²Studios]

I love Trader Joe's! I don't shop there that often, but whenever I need something that might be a little more difficult to find, I head over there. And I generally find that TJ's is cheaper than Whole Foods or Gene's or whatever else.


They have nice samples at times too! I dont shop there for staples, but for meal add-ons, wines, and ideas for new dishes (I'm a wannabe chef) its a GREAT store and has some great prices imho.

I <3 TJ's

*ticks devilot in to their cool people list*

*wanders off to bed*

Ed

[devilot]

Nicer than Albertsons, but on the whole about 30% more expensive than Canadian groceries on staples (milk, fruit, veg.), cheaper on manufactured foods.But that's the thing, isn't it? Supposedly, TJ's is marketing towards organic-minded, tree-loving people who will pay a premium for healthier alternatives. ;) :D But then along comes a greedy piggy (much like myself) and partakes of the delicious yummies. I really like their juices, too. All those lovely sparkling juices... lemonade, pink lemonade, berry lemonade... mmmm. *drooling a bit*

*ticks devilot in to their cool people list*Yay! I'm on a cool people list. Haha, that's gotta be a first in a loooooong time. :eek:

[vniow]

Trader Joes + Whole Foods within walking distance from my place = yum.

[XIII]

I went to TJ's when I was in Cali. Seemed fairly cool, but my highlight were the chocolate covered caramels. :D

[gwuMACaddict]

not a bad store... i prefer my whole foods stores though :D

or wegmans :D

[blueflame]

trader joes is great.
ajk

[iGary]

It's where we get all of our groceries - we have one about a mile down the road.

[krimson]

i used to have a TJ's 2 blocks from my house, now i have to drive all the way to pasadena :(

for those suffering in heat, they have a lemon popsicle pack for like $2.. so yummy. :D

[cyanide]

If you think trader joe's is great, you should see Jungle Jim's here in Cincinnati (fairfield really, just north of the city). it blows joe's out of the water.

[njmac]

I love:
Whole Foods
Trader Joes
Wegmans

but I usually shop at ShopRite.

[Mr. Anderson]

Trader Joes is fantastic. Until last year when we moved to Indiana, we had one about 1.5 miles from our house in Old Town Alexandria - now we have to drive 2 1/2 hours to Chicago to get our fix.

The wines are great, some of the best cheap wines out there. I think 1/2 of our pantry is full of Trader Joes stuff :D

I'm hoping they eventually open one up in Fort Wayne or at least closer than Chicago....

D

[jelloshotsrule]

there's a safeway down the street from me, so it's hard not to go there for convenience, but we've been trying to go to trader joe's more often lately. they are somewhere between cheaper and slightly more expensive than safeway, plus they have better products (more organic, gelatin free yogurts, etc etc). whole foods is overpriced for the same products, and seems like people go there just because they have money and it makes them feel good to spend more money on food. it's a good sign that there is competition among organic markets, and i guess trader joe's is the shopper's food warehouse of organic stuff. which is cool with me.

[Black&Tan]

Their salt & vinegar potato chips (crisps) are fantastic. If you get the bag anywhere near your face, it'll bring a tear to your eye!

[Silencio]

Great place. Most of their stuff is bargain-priced. I think it gets "expensive" in that you tend to buy more esoteric food items from there that you don't necessarily need and it eventually adds up! It's also very nice that most of their products aren't full of trans fats and other bad stuff.

It's impossible to buy your groceries there exclusively, since they have some gaps in their coverage and some of the products are flat-out subpar (their produce and their cheeses are definitely not grade "a" quality), but that's outweighed by the huge list of inexpensive goodies: organic/free range meats, cheap soy milk, fairly cheap/good cereal, good selection of inexpensive wine, rock bottom prices on microbrewed/imported beers and liquor, exotic snacks and frozen goods, very cheap yet tasty whole bean coffee.

There's a decent largish healthfood store down the street from me where I get most of my produce, though their selection is fairly basic.

Whole Paycheck is the supermarket that's expensive!

I can't stand Safeway anymore. I feel dirty just walking into one now. Kind of jarring to see the zombies pushing around their shopping carts full of Hot Pockets and Pringles and other toxic treats.

[wdlove]

My wife really likes Trader Joe's. They have quality items, things that you just can't purchase anywhere else. I have a friend that love's the place also.

[zyuzin4]

I used to always shop at Trader Joe's but I recently moved and there is no one around. I love their sparkling french lemonade and their sparkling cranberry drink. Their frozen fettucine alfredo is good especially if you put a little nutmeg and sherry in it. Good selection of breads too

[jelloshotsrule]

I can't stand Safeway anymore. I feel dirty just walking into one now. Kind of jarring to see the zombies pushing around their shopping carts full of Hot Pockets and Pringles and other toxic treats.

maybe it's just because i don't really go to other places (ie, giant, etc). but safeway seems to actually be relatively decent for a lot of things.

for instance, their "safeway select" products are pretty good, including their breads, frozen pizzas, etc. not the most specialized items of course. also, at some safeways (not the one close to me, but another one about 2 miles away), there are organic/natural sections that are actually pretty huge. sort of miniature trader joe's, filling an entire double aisle... pretty impressive really.

that doesn't mean that most people avoid those sections like the plague though. hah

[neildmitchell]

I can't stand Safeway anymore. I feel dirty just walking into one now. Kind of jarring to see the zombies pushing around their shopping carts full of Hot Pockets and Pringles and other toxic treats.
LOL, couldnt have said it better myself :D

[blueflame]

why dont we turn this thread into a what we cook from trader joes thread? its always nice to learn to make things from people and things we know. and we for sure know we will be shoping at the same place.
ajk

[homerjward]

i dont *think* we have trader joe's in san antonio, but then again most of my shopping is done at heb :o
sounds like a pretty cool place, although i'm not really into the whole "organic, healthy" thing :p sounds kinda like this place we have here called "central market." yeah, it's a pretty stupid name imo, and it's owned by heb, although they wont admit it. like someone else mentioned about trader joe's, not good for doing all your shopping since their "normal" stuff is overpriced and not much of a selection, but for hard-to-find stuff and more upscale items it's great.

[jefhatfield]

when i got divorced back in 1989, i moved up to the bay area and got a girlfriend who introduced me to a lot of cool institutions there, including trader joe's (along with cool poetry, independent movies, coffeeshop hangouts for artists, incense, and great hangouts in san francisco)

the prices were, and are, better than chain grocery stores, and most importantly, the quality is better and there are many hard to find items...for some reason, during those hard months, i could always look forward to trader joe's and i will always have fond memories of the place

[3rdpath]

how i love TJ's! i'm there at least twice a week. i go to whole foods about once every 2 weeks and i'm always shocked with the $$$. TJ's is much cheaper.

i'm a little po'd that they don't stock valrhona dark chocolate anymore-its the best.

fwiw, if you ever get the chance to hit TJ's in La Canada-look at their chalkboards. their artist is an ex-disney animator who is truly amazing.

[Silencio]

I do like the recipe posting idea, though it might be tough to do "exclusively bought at Trader Joe's" recipes due to some of their deficiencies in what they stock. Cooking has become kind of a hobby of mine, much to the delight of my girlfriend.

I will have to say about Safeway that, of the major supermarket chains, they suck the least. But every time I go there (or Whole Foods, for that matter), I feel like their prices are just sky high. TJ's prices have skewed my perspective on what certain items should cost.

I've thought about leaving the Bay Area many times, but I would miss the access to so many great fresh ingredients and the wide variety of high quality and organic produce, not to mention all the great restaurants across the spectrum of cuisines and price ranges. I'm spoiled! :)

[jefhatfield]

I've thought about leaving the Bay Area many times, but I would miss the access to so many great fresh ingredients and the wide variety of high quality and organic produce, not to mention all the great restaurants across the spectrum of cuisines and price ranges. I'm spoiled! :)

was the main motivation for leaving the bay area the high price of rent and/or real estate?

actually, the bay area is more affordable than ever and i think there will actually be more people moving into the region as opposed to migrating out (as a lot of techies and their familes did to texas, nevada, and the northeast) after the big bust

he he...well, at least the bay area is more reasonable compared to its dot.com days when the average house in san jose was 1.5 million

i just saw a recent listing of average prices in san jose and they ranged from 460k to 1.1 million for a house...not that it makes it "easy" to buy a home in the bay area, but there was no time as inaffordable as those days in the late 1990s which forced many people to leave the bay area

if you remember the restaurants, even the cheap places jacked up their prices because there was the perception that there was wealth everywhere (which isn't really true) and i can't remember any reasonable eateries except for mc d's and taco hell

my wife and i thought about moving to the bay area when the housing prices were the equivalent of a baseball player's salary but now that things have come down to earth more, we would like to possibly move up there...but we do have one trader joe's on the monterey peninsula area that i know about...but i know the bay area must have many trader joe stores besides the one i used to frequent in san rafael