Trader Joe’s just opened in Colorado Springs. Last time I was in one was in Cincinnati about 10 years ago). Went to the grand opening yesterday and, obviously, didn’t get to browse much because the place was a madhouse. The line for the cashier literally went around the entire perimeter of the store (though the cashiers were very efficient and the line moved fast).
The prices were relatively good and I hear a lot of good things from people here. So what should I try. I like most ethnic foods, I’m not crazy about vegetarian stuff in general, but if its really tasty (i.e. not “tasty for vegetarian food:D”) I’m open. I’m particularly not fond of tofu though. Otherwise, I’m not picky.
I buy quite a lot of the wine I drink at Trader Joe’s. Many people rave about the “Two Buck Chuck” there. I am not a fan of that, but the rest of the wine department is nicely stocked and priced. I don’t know about the whole chain, but the produce department at the one near me is very nice, as are the cut flowers.
We’ve shopped there for many years. Almost all their prepared meals pall after a few tries, in my opinion. What we continue to buy: wine, cheese, julienned dried tomatoes in oil. Bottled pesto. Organic chicken. Dried fruit and nuts. Essentially they function for us as a high-quality, low price basics store.
The goat cheese is extremely well priced for the amount you get, like 11 ounces for $4 or something. I also like their wasabi peas, horseradish chips and goddess dressing. Plus, they have some chicken medallions in coconut curry sauce that’s the bomb for reheatable fare. Oh, and everyone loves the cookie butter. It’s awesome! I recommend many of their sauces, too. Gyoza is one of my favorites.
What’s good?
[ul][li]Pizza dough. Seriously, for $1.29 (or so) it beats making it from scratch. Always good to have one in the freezer (and one in the fridge!).[/li][li]Triple Ginger Snaps. Fresh ginger, ground ginger, and crystallised ginger. I grew up with Nabisco ginger snaps being about the only option. Never cared for them. TJ’s TGSs are really, really good.[/li][li]Pound Plus chocolates. I tend to buy the darkest, and treat myself to a square in the evening.[/li][li]Nuts. Almonds, cashews, walnuts, pecans… Full salt, half the salt, whole, pieces, wasabi, honey-sesame… You can’t go wrong with the nuts. Nice variety, and reasonably priced. I only buy pecans there, lest my pecan pies become too expensive.[/li][li]Candies. Large variety, too many to list. The truffles are nice for the holidays, and cheaper than other places.[/li][li]Cheeses. Again, too many to list and quite reasonably priced. I can heartily recommend the triple-cream brie.[/li][li]Avocados. They’re consistently good. Like all avocados, you’ll occasionally get a not-so-nice one; but the ratio in their four-avocado bags (Note: I don’t but the organic ones) is far better than at a supermarket. Trader Joe’s is my go-to place for avocados.[/li][li]Guacamole. Speaking of avocados, TJ’s pre-made guacamole is pretty tasty. A bit on the salty side, but quicker and easier than making it at home. (OK, the SO makes it. But you know…)[/li][li]Roast beef, and Carnitas. These are pre-cooked meats in the refrigerated section over by the salads. Just the things for tacos when you don’t want to take the time to make the meat from scratch. Tasty, tender, and juicy. The SO was surprised.[/li][li]Salads. The pre-made salads are great. They’re inexpensive, and they’re generous with the chicken. I think the best is the BBQ Chicken Salad (or Southwest Salad – I don’t remember). The Chinese Chicken Salad is another good one. Their Thai Chicken Salad is noodle-based and comes with peanut sauce.[/li][li]Frozen fish. Unfortunately, they discontinued the haddock, which I prefer for fish’n’chips; but their wild-caught salmon is tasty and cheap. The cod and other fish are also good.[/li][li]100% Cranberry Juice. It’s really 100% cranberry juice. Very tart, and you mightn’t be used to it if you are used to drinking ‘cranberry juice cocktail’. But you can cut it if you want to.[/li][li]100% Pure Grade B Maple Syrup. I’ve posted enough about that. Really good. $13.98 for 24 ounces.[/li][/ul]
That’s enough for now. They’re loaded with good stuff!
Shu-Mai. Salads. Pot stickers. Nice selection of microbrew beer. Oatmeal, pre-cooked. Some days if don’t have much time and it’s good. Flatbreads. I love their pre-brined chicken. Flat croutons.
I have been buying frozen pizzas from there for years. (I prefer the 3 cheese to the 4 cheese.) You do need to buy your own toppings if you want something other than a cheese pizza.
Since you mentioned pizza, TJ’s pepperoni is good. I use it with their pizza dough. I prefer their pizza sauce in the glass jar to the refrigerated sauce in the plastic tub. I know another Doper feels opposite. I use their Quattro Formaggio. Three of the cheeses are all fairly strong, and I’m still looking for the perfect blend with mozzarella. Of course, TJ’s has great mozzarella if you just want to go with that.
Pizza reminds me of mushrooms, since mushrooms are often on them. The SO has remarked that TJ’s mushrooms are very good. (The SO doesn’t go to TJ’s. Too crowded for her.) Mushrooms remind me of vegetables, and the asparagus is good, and cheaper than the supermarket.
Ditto on the nuts. Theirs are always fresh and of good quality, and they’re not overpriced.
My current favorite: Their chicken pie, which you’ll find in the refrigerated section (not freezer). The chicken stew itself tastes homemade and delicate, and it’s topped with crispy puff pastry. All you do is heat it in the oven until it’s hot throughout. It’s better than my homemade.
In the cheese section are “Brie Bites”, little snack-sized whole brie cheeses packaged individually in little pop-top cups. Good quality brie, and you can pack them in your lunch.
One opened this week about 10 minutes from me. I’ve never been to one. Guess I’ll check it out in a few weeks, after the rush dies down a bit.
Hmm. I’m throwing a big party in a few weeks, too. I wonder if there is anything snacky that’s special, and that my friends from down here wouldn’t be familiar with.
ETA: Acknowledging, of course, that several things listed above may qualify. I just need to go look and compare to what I normally can find at Publix and Whole Foods.
You can make a helluva cheese platter. Did I forget to mention the triple-cream brie? Also pic up some prosciutto, gravlax, pepperoni, salami, etc.
Trader Joe’s will have a demo counter where the staff use things from the store to put together a ‘dish’. Sometimes it’s sweet, sometimes it’s savoury. Usually it’s good. One thing they demoed was their meatballs cooked in a slow cooker with some of their salsa. Everyone’s had ‘party meatballs’ in BBQ sauce. The salsa was a nice twist. (First time I had it, actually.) Better than BBQ meatballs, and would be good for your party.
TJ’s has their own brand of ‘Ritz’ crackers that are the same as the national brand. Serve those (and other crackers) with the cheese platter, and also pick up some salmon dip and spinach dip.
Definitely try the cheesecake in the blue box. (Here is the page I took the image from. Nice looking caprese salad there.)
Also pic up some prosciutto, gravlax, pepperoni, salami, etc.