Trader joes and whole foods...

[GreyhoundsRUs]

Not impressed with Giant Eagle either. Some locations are better than others though.

So true! I had to lol re: "Iggle"

[SoonerTexan]

One thing we do well is high end grocery stores. Whole Foods abound (including the largest in the world, as of 2010 in Dallas), Market Street, Trader Joes, and the king of them all, Central Market. I'd pit Central Market against anything. It's truly a palace of foodie delights.

[Pollyanna]

I've heard good things about Publix!

We LOVE our Publix! Equally as good as the HT

[WolfpackWife]

We LOVE our Publix! Equally as good as the HT

You have HT in TN??!

[Phoebe]

We just got an Earthfare. Whole Foods, Trader Joes and Fresh Market were already here.

[Pollyanna]

You have HT in TN??!

Yep! Honestly, many of the products at HT and Publix are equal to if not better (and certainly cheaper ) than Whole Foods. We compared produce once by buying the same type of mixed fruits (melon, pineapple,grapes,strawberries) from WF, Publix, and HT. WF cost 21% more and the fruit was not nearly as good. Of course WF has a variety of meats and other items that can't be found in other stores but overall it's not practical for our family.

[WolfpackWife]

Yep! Honestly, many of the products at HT and Publix are equal to if not better (and certainly cheaper ) than Whole Foods. We compared produce once by buying the same type of mixed fruits (melon, pineapple,grapes,strawberries) from WF, Publix, and HT. WF cost 21% more and the fruit was not nearly as good. Of course WF has a variety of meats and other items that can't be found in other stores but overall it's not practical for our family.

That's good to know - I never did an HT/WF comparison while in NC, because our neighborhood HT was so awesome. We've become fans of WF just because the grocery store chains here SUCK. And I do mean SUCK. Our Kroger is gigantic, and yet the produce and meat sections are complete shit - I get freaky about chicken and there is nothing that upsets me more than walking through the refridgerated meats section and smelling the chicken...the way it smells when you've thrown away packaging the night before and it's starting to "ripen"...ugh. We got lucky with our HT in NC - it was amazing. And the sales they had on filet? OMG, we miss those. We're fortunate that our TJs has good produce for the most part, and we'll supplement at WF's or a farmer's market for what we need, produce-wise. I have noticed that packaged boneless breasts, bone-in breasts, wings, and ground beef at WF are fairly on-par price wise with Kroger. After another thread on here scared me away from TJs chicken, I just feel better about WF meats. I refuse to buy meats from Kroger, Food Lion, or Martin's here. Our WF here is HUGE and pretty amazing. I just got a news alert from Raleigh this morning saying a Publix was coming to an area right down the street from my parents house in 2014 so I'll be checking that out for sure!

[TulipsAndSunscreen]

And unfortunately for us, Kroger and HT are merging. I want to cry. I love my amazing NC HTs.

[Pollyanna]

And unfortunately for us, Kroger and HT are merging. I want to cry. I love my amazing NC HTs.

I'm interested to see how it changes HT. They keep saying it won't but that's hard to believe.

[WolfpackWife]

I'm interested to see how it changes HT. They keep saying it won't but that's hard to believe.

Exactly. Fingers crossed they don't muck it up with their Kroger ways. Hate Kroger.

[Pollyanna]

Hate Kroger.

Me too! I bought their ground sirloin once and almost vomited while I cooked it. It just looked and smelled wrong. The meat was not bad, just crap quality.

[WolfpackWife]

Me too! I bought their ground sirloin once and almost vomited while I cooked it. It just looked and smelled wrong. The meat was not bad, just crap quality.

I will NOT touch a single meat product from Kroger. Their chicken is just...gross. Ugh. I hate it so much.

[SoonerTexan]

Too bad you don't have sprouts...awesome meat. They put their very good chicken on sale for $1.99 lb about once a month...I always stock up and freeze it. It's not loaded with fillers and crap...ever make something and have the dish flooded because the chicken is 10% broth?

[ladymoreta]

I have given up on Kroger for meat, but sadly it's our best grocery store for produce. So I go to Kroger for produce and non-perishables, Albertson's or Sam's for meat, and Braums for milk. Then the farmer's market for eggs if I'm in town on the weekend. What do I do all day? I shop for groceries. *sigh* I would kill for a good grocery store.

[v-girl]

I want a Sprouts closer to me. The nearest one requires a drive through the country (and past Southfork Ranch from the Dallas soap).