Trader Joe’s Noob

[Jim Cook]

I'm sure this is old news to plenty of you so don't roll your eyes.

I just went to Trader Joe's this evening for the first time. There isn't one in my town but there's one just down the street from my hotel. The place is awesome. I probably could have purchased a ton of stuff if I didn't have to squeeze it into my travel bag. Five whole shelves of nuts and dried fruits, plenty of rice and bean dishes… a guy could find enough stuff here for any long trail through-hike. Lots of ethnic flavorings too that I can't find at home.

[ End rave ]

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Took ya long enough :-P

Hehheh….

Seriously though, it is way too much fun in there. Almost nothing in the store has artificial dyes so I can often shop without reading too deeply. That and I can shop so cheaply and get good tasting food!

[Christopher Chupka]

I was looking online at the Whole Foods site. There is a Whole Foods in Birmingham in Mountain Brook. There are a few locations in GA as well, Atalanta, Duluth, Marietta, and Roswell. Very similar to Trader Joes, they seems a little less homey and a little more grocery store like but carry the same kind of goodies.

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/

I regularly stop at the Whole Foods in Dallas, I think there are a couple of locations there.

Mountain High Outfitters is a cool shop if you get up to Birmingham. They opened a new store next to the Whole Foods. I have only been to the Summit Mall store near the CheeseCake Factory. Sorry I start drooling when I think of the CheeseCake Factory.

http://www.mountainhighoutfitters.com/

[Laurie Ann March]

this is where I pout – no trader joe's in Canada and as far as I know – no whole foods either – pout pout pout

[Steve O]

Us poor college students call Whole Foods, "Whole Paycheck." IMO Trader Joes is much better for most things (try your local food co-op as well). Mail/internet order food might solve your particular issue though Laurie.

BTW: Trader Joes is known for their cheap wine under the "Charles Shaw" label. It costs ~$3/bottle (3 buck Chuck) around here and is very drinkable.

[Craig Lewis]

Pronto Market liquor store at the corner of Citrus and Hwy 10 in West Covina is the original location for TJ's. When I was eight years old, I bought bubble gum for the baseball cards and Rocky Road candy bars because it was close to our neigborhood Little League fields.
Their location was between the South Hills country club and the freeway so they sold a lot of wine, beer, cig's.
In'nOut Burger started 5 miles down the freeway in the LA direction.
Craig

[Jim Cook]

@Sarah – Dang! That's the second time you've taken a poke at me in a post. Does I gotta buy another book or something? :)

@Christopher – I've heard good things about Whole Foods but, alas, Atlanta is 2 hours from me, Birmingham 2 1/2. Far venture for such goodies. Alas, Columbus, GA is not yet enough of a cultural hub to support such stores (yet). Maybe Ft. Benning's new population surge will push us over the ledge.

[Sarah Kirkconnell]

Jim, there is that feeling I get when blogging about finding cool new foods….oh what is it? Oh yeah: I can get nearly everything ;-) Hehheh!!

But seriously, I used to live on an island and our selections were awful. I'd wait up for mainland trips to get anything good. On the other hand I have started to take it for granted that there are 3 Trader Joes nearby, Whole Foods and multitudes of other natural food stores (PCC, Marlene's, etc) In summer we have unlimited farmers markets (you can hit one nearly every day in this county) and we have Asian mega marts everywhere you look. I can find a grocery store aimed at nearly any audience within 30 miles of my house. Even our grocery stores carry items that most consider "gourmet" or "ethnic" in the normal section.

There are times I do like where I live….but it shows in my blog and when I post on forums – that unlike me, a lot of you cannot get the stuff I find unless you order it online.

And btw, did you see TJ's newer "trekking mix"? It is their spicy chili mangoes in a salty/sweet nut mix. Good stuff!

[Jim Cook]

Saw the trekking mix but did not get it. I had a small amount to spend (we're a single income family and broke all the time) so I chose to get some honey sesame sticks, dried fruit bars and some organic mint cocoa for the missus back home. She spent an entire week with the two little girls so she deserved a little something.

We have a great little organic health food store here in town but they are strictly vegan. The combination of their bulk supplies and Joe's meats, cheeses, groceries and snacks would pretty much supply all my outdoor fare.

Edit: I was hoping that Trader Joe's would offer some of their packaged staples online. Alas, it be not so.

[Anitra Kass]

FYI, it's called 2buck Chuck in California. It's a bargain for us (which I usually don't get to say because it seems like everything is more expensive in SoCal). But alas, I have to drive an hour each way to get to a TJ's so I don't get to go frequently either.
Anitra

[Steve O]

"FYI, it's called 2buck Chuck in California."
—I've heard that before… it must have a 1 dollar train ticket eh? Next thing you know, it'll be called 4 buck chuck (I'd still buy it though).

Does anyone drink the "Fat Weasel" beer they sell? Its 5$ for a six-pack. It doesn't even taste very good but, IMO,it's definitely better than most 5$ range alternatives!

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