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tessie-in-cincy

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Last week a friend suggested going to the Customer Advisory Panel which involved a tour, free tastings and discussion about the store.

I must say, the 4 staff members were very passionate about their jobs and the food they sell.

Are there any premade dishes/groceries/products you buy there that you really dig?

 
Their house-made fresh sausages are really good and often go

on sale for $3.99/lb which makes them a great buy. I don't do a lot of shopping at WF as I find their prices too high for my taste on alot of items. There's a reason they're referred to as Whole Paycheck..lol. That said, some items I like at WF are:

Their 365 brand items are pretty good and reasonably priced, especially the balsamic vinegar and olive oil for everyday use.

Good selection of harder-to-find cheeses, though they can be pricey.

Nice wine selection too, and great coffee beans. Also an extensive produce section, though I think their produce prices are way too high most of the time, or at least compared to other markets in this area. The sale items are often good buys. Have had some iffy fresh seafood from WF so I don't usually buy it there now, except for fresh clams or mussels.

Try their pizza...it seems to be a decent crust. In fact, you can even purchase their pizza dough, if you want to make your own pizza at home but are short on time to make dough. I see folks buying just the dough (at the pizza counter) all the time.

One of my favorite things about WF are the bulk bin items. Good variety of beans, legumes, nuts, rices, alternative sugars, flours, etc. I like that you can purchase a small quantity, if that's all you need, instead of a big bag of something that may spoil before you need it again. Pretty good prices too on many of the bin items.

Another thing I go to WF for is their Muir Glen tomatoes and also San Marzono tomatoes, which are rather hard to find at other stores in this area. Also, their canned beans are good...black beans, garbanzos, kidney beans, etc., especially the cannellini beans which are also very hard to find here of late (I know there was a cannellini shortage not long ago).

Not fond of their pre-made soups...you can sample them, before buying, to see how they measure up for you. Maybe different WF make different soups for their stores but the ones here aren't up to snuff for me. Haven't tried any of their other prepared foods, I'd rather make my own from scratch.

 
Good selection of some hard to find vitamins and the bulk spices

are nice because you can buy small amounts. I've never had any luck with their prepared foods though, other than pizza. I think the cheese prices are outrageous unless there is something you can't get anywhere else. Look at TJ's first. Ditto Muir Glen and I also buy great crackers there called Fin Crisp. Luckily we have The Fresh Market which has similar items at a better price. Non factory farmed chicken, for instance.

 
Funny, I went to one of those, too. Here are my favorites:

1. Agree with Pat about the fresh sausages! Great for tossing with sauteed greens, pasta, rice, etc.

2. I like their frozen whole-wheat crusts a lot for quiche and pies. (Heresy, I know, but I can't make crust. Don't everyone yell at me, now.)

3. Good granola.

4. Their Indian hot-food bar is usually great.

5. Their house-brand lemon cookies are insanely good.

6. Never had any problem with their meats or poultry; my husband says their sushi is great.

7. The nut butters you can extrude yourself are pretty fun, if pricey.

8. House brand of extra virgin olive oil tastes good and is good value.

The one thing that drives me nuts is their imported sparkling Italian water. Really? Whole Foods, earth-mother grocery store: you're shipping in Italian water?! Ok, aged balsamico I can understand, but water?!

My fix for preventing wallet meltdown is to carry a basket (instead of wheeling around a cart), since I figure when my arm gives out, it's time to head for the checkout line.

 
Thanks for the input girls. "Whole Paycheck", too funny. - More -

Haven't been there many times due to the cost issue but when there's an ingredient needed for a recipe the normal groceries around here don't carry I can usually count on them.

They said they have a new wine guy and they're trying to bring in some more affordable wines. He also said they'd soon have it where you can consume in the store while you shop/eat - in addition to the Friday wine tastings. (envisioning chugging wine out of the bottle w/ one hand and pushing cart in other, heehee).

They said they would cut down any cheese and repackage as well as happily give samples of all cheeses, premade foods as well as the salad bar. I hope they mean that smileys/smile.gif

Tuesday is bogo pizza day. Guess what's for dinner?

Thursdays their rotisserie chickens are $5.99. Wonder how they compare to Costco chickens which are downright yummy (and $1 cheaper).

The jist I got was they would like to be more competitive, especially with Trader Joes frozen foods. They have some serious price issues to work on for most grocery items.

 
My mother loved their fresh pasta, especially the lasagna.

We don't have one here and it's been years since I shopped at one, so unfortunately I can't be too much help.

 
My list...

The ground beef. I'm picked about ground meat and if it is slightly old I can't stand the taste. I pretty much buy all my ground beef here now and I've had guests notice the difference in taste. Several of them now only buy their ground beef here too. It goes on sale often.

Premade chicken curry salad. I keep this often in the fridge at home as a go to snack. It's expensive but it's saved me when last minute guests show up (and from late night junk food binges, lol.)

A friend fed me, I think it was a chicken breast in marinara sauce, that I was shocked to find came from their premade food. It was really good. This same friend likes their chocolate chip espresso cookies. She isn't fond of baking and her husband is diabetic so it's good for them not to have batches of cookies in the house.

I too like their bulk spices. Along with a selection of local grown veggies. I used to always get fresh squeezed strawberry-orange juice but they stopped making this (sob!)

Also, different stores have slightly different selections. The one by me is rather small but a few miles away they opened a super HUGE one that has what seems to be everything under the sun in it. I love going to that one, but then again so does everyone else. Getting in there on a Friday night is like going clubbing because they have a section on take out that is nearly as big as my store alone.

 
It's the only grocery store in walking distance to me, except the Safeway where the gangs mug people

in the parking lot (Western Addition) which is out of the question, so I shop at WF more frequently than I should!

Of course the produce and meat & fish counters are excellent. The Black Forest bacon that Traca recommended to me during my bacon-booze experiments is amazing. Wish I could buy it all the time!

Their fresh pizza dough in the tub is great when I'm feeling lazy.

Natures Path apple cinnamon toaster pastries should be labelled a controlled substance. Don't say I didn't warn you!

They carry some local things that I love like Primavera's hand thrown tortillas, tamales and chipotle salsa. But the one in Santa Fe didn't carry this line do I think each store has its own ordering protocol. I sure wish my store made the chipotle roasted fresh salsa like the Santa Fe store makes. Yum!

I like the sheep and goat yogurts and Strauss butter, and the cheeses of course. Their slabs of cornbread are really good.

I also like their salmon patties, so frsh and great combos of flavors.

 
I was there yesterday. I was shopping for a catering job. The client requested wild salmon, and I

needed both dried chick peas and semolina flour, so Whole Foods was the obvious choice. While I was there, the organic spinach looked so good I bought the six bunches I needed, along with carrots, celery, cauliflower and a few other things, rather than go to the cheap Mexican market on my list for those items. It cost several dollars more but it saved me a trip and the produce was all organic and very nice.

They also had beautiful Shitake mushrooms. which saved me yet another trip to the local gourmet grocery store. (Wild Mushroom Lasnagna, T&T) I also bought some fancy olives to garnish the cheese tray. (The cheeses were already bought at TJ's, but WF has a good selection.)

They're expensive, for sure, but they have things you can't find elsewhere, and a good selection of everything else if you're short on time. Their bulk items are an amazing resource--all kinds of beans, rye flour, buckwheat flour--these are things I used to have so much trouble finding.

I realize this doesn't answer your question about premade items, but I wanted to share.

 
It's in that part of central SF that has all the projects around it.

I can get there by a short bus ride, the other Safeway is all the way out by the Beach (45 min bus ride), or the one in the Marina (no direct public transport). Shopping in the City is a challenge! Sure we have lots of great things here but it's not like we have a great superstore like the burbs. I have burb envy sometime.

Especially this very moment. Big traffic jam down below, everyone's just leaning on the horn like it's the accelerator pedal. grrr.

 
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