The first Trader Joe’s in this area opens up on April 1 (no foolin’) and I want to be ready. Their shelves are half-stocked and the handbaskets are at the doorways…I drive by every day to check on their progress, and finally there was a sign! So what items should I not miss on my first trip there? Tell me your favorite things that they alone carry that you can’t live without. What items have been, in your opinion, horribly overrated? What delicacies await me? Keep in mind that every grocery store around here is a full-out, upscale, no-holds-barred shopping extravaganza…the gourmet cheese display at the new Giant Eagle down the street is a work of art . Everything I know about Trader Joe’s I learned on the Dope, and one small article in the local paper. So enlighten me…help me make a list!
They have a terrific wasabi mayonnaise. I also like their bags of raw nuts. I don’t go often enough to remember anything else offhand, though…
Yes, definitely the nuts. Their coffees are pretty good, too. They have a lot of unusual items, but one of the main attractions is the prices. My favorite aisle is the canned goods/condiments section. Good olive oils, vinegars, fancy olives and other similar veggies. Their prices on good canned tuna and salmon are also great. If you do any Asian or Indian cooking, they have a selection of sauces and canned goods that go with that.
I also stock up on their frozen lunch items. They tend to be healthier and more interesting than typical Lean Cuisine type things. I especially like the eggplant rollups and the vegetable stuffed chiles relleno. They also tend to have higher-quality frozen veggies, like real French-style green beans.
The cheese selection might not top your grocery stores in selection, but I’ll bet it does in price, especially for their “bulk” cheeses.
They are also well-known for stocking high-quality, reasonably-priced wines and beers, including the famous 2-buck Chuck, which I haven’t tried.
TJ’s has some really nummy frozen pizzas. Just yesterday I picked up two each of:
• Goat cheese
• Cilantro garlic pesto
• Cornmeal crust with spinach, kalamata olives, feta, and red bell peppers.
They have all kinds of wonderful pre-made salads. (I had their couscous salad today–sweet, with a hint of lime, with baby greens, tiny tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, and cocktail onions.) And for dessert, the Miroir au Chocolat cake. Mmmmmm.
We’re really fond of their frozen stuffed pasta…I don’t know what they’re called, but one is spinach (green) with cheese and black pepper, one has a red pasta (probably bell pepper) with a spicier cheese, and my fav is the Bumblebee pasta that is filled with butternut squash.
I’m also quite fond of their creamy, natural peanut, almond and cashew butters.
Dulche du Leche Chocolate Caramel Balls are a must.
If you like grapefruit juice, get a pack of their Italian Grapefruit Soda cans (called pomello I think).
There wine is usually very good value for money, some of their spirits are good value. but others aren’t good value.
As has been mentioned they have a good cheese selection (better than any chain us supermarket I have visited). They also have some decent speciality sausages.
The pickles and preserves section is very good as are their pre-washed salad bags. Produce can be expensive though, and sometimes not of the best quality.
T.J.'s is also a place to stock up on energy bars and vitamin pills if you are into that sort of thing.
One last thing, if you like cosmo’s T.J. has the best value unsweetened Cranberry juice I have seen available in CA.
Reading the OP a bit closer, I actually won’t recomend TJ’s cheese to you. As it is not as good as the top gourmet markets in CA and so probably not as good as the Egle place you mentioned. TJ’s frozen pizza is very good, I especially like their Greek style (fetta and olives) pizza that Biffy mentioned.
The only thing I find overated are the fresh salsa’s and dips.
Trader Joes has the best liquor prices around. Better than beverages and more, better than costco. Booze is all ways something good to get at Trader Joes.
They have a good bloody mary mix there.
They also have some good frozen seafood soups.
Stroopwaffels. Best. Cookie. Ever. I’ve only ever found them at Trader Joe’s around here.
Hit the frozen section for:
Mochi ice cream (sinfully good!)
Pre-packaged garlic chicken stir fry (mmm… whatever they put in that sauce, it’s addictive)
It’s also a great place to get Odwalla drinks. I love the “superfood” (green), and so has everyone brave enough to try it.
I’m also fond of the teriyaki chicken stir fry; the sauce is a little sweeter than the usual teriyaki sauce, and very tasty.
Check out all their trail mixes.
My favorite is “Sweet Salty and Nutty”. It has chunks of peanut brittle, honey roasted peanuts and cashews, and then, regular peanuts and cashews.
There is also a trail mix with dried cherries, nuts and chocolate chips…yum!
Their store brands of cereal which resembles the Post “flakes and granola” type…(banana nut , blueberry, etc.) is about half the price of the Post brand.
I also buy cases of Texas ruby red grapefruit. If you like grapefruit, these are delicious.
This is useless in Ohio, as are many things. The state controls liquor prices. All must be marked up 1/3 over their wholesale cost.
And, kittenblue, why haven’t you driven the few miles to their store in Woodmere? http://www.traderjoes.com/locations/map/676.asp Right off 271. Why wait?
You absolutely must get some of their peanut butter cups. It makes Reese’s peanut butter cups look like badly aging crack whores.
If you buy nothing else, get some
Cocoa Almonds!!!
They’re the best.
Also:
French Onion Soup (Frozen)
Dolmas
Triple-Ginger Snaps
Cheeses
Two- (or Three-) Buck Chuck
French Roast Coffee
If you’re a cheese expert, you may or may not like them; but they do me fine. The quality of Charles Shaw (‘Two-Buck Chuck’) wine is debatable. Some people like it, some people hate it. I like it. The dolmas are better than some I’ve had in Greek restaurants. The French Roast coffee is not as good as the ‘local’ brands we have here in the PNW, but I think it’s really good – and cheap! (about $8 for a really big can of beans, which you can grind in the store if you want). The Triple-Ginger Snaps are great. Oh, and I like the sliced roast beef in the deli section.
Browse around. Try things. Most of it is really good.
Do try the free samples. They should have a different offering every day. It could be a single item, or it could be something that one of the staff cooked using store ingredients.
Yes, yes, and yes!!!
Also, they have potstickers in their frozen section that are delicious!! So much so that I had a friend visiting from Alabama and he got so hooked on them that he went through the effort to transport a couple bags on the plane home.
Third!
Browse around; some of their best buys and most interesting products are things they just get in once – and once it’s gone, it’s gone. So if you see something you want to try, try it.
Try the pumpkin seeds (not too salty); their breads can be amazing (coffee cakes, mini pitas, etc.). I’m not too happy with their cheese selection, but I think my TJ’s is the smallest one in history (someone told me it was the original TJ’s, but who knows?) Out here, at least, they also have really good deals on fresh flowers, and if you browse the wines carefully, you can find some really interesting ones.
Johnny L.A., I hear you on the two-buck Chuck. You can have my share. But you’re spot on with pretty much everything else.
I missed TJs while I was exiled in the south and the midwest, so I’m happy to hear they’re expanding into new parts of the country. Everyone should have a Trader Joe’s in their neighborhood!
MOCHI ICE CREAM.
Head for the cookie aisle! The Vegan Trail Mix cookies and Vegan Chocolate Chip cookies are heavenly. I really like their flour tortillas; they are better than what I get at the regular stores.
Salsa Verde gets inhaled around here. Their frozen French green beans actually taste like green beans.
Have fun. Even though their prices are great I always drop a bundle there.
Best advice - don’t get too excited. I went in with high hopes and didn’t quite get it. Of course, mine is in Maryland, which forbids alcohol being sold in grocery stores, that cripples the Trader Joe’s experience. Also, it seems to be mostly a snacks store, and I’m not a big snack person.
Because I haven’t had the time to get over to the Eastside much (except for CleveDope and the CedarLee) and I was holding out for the store opening just a few blocks from me. Since I can’t afford to shop anywhere else in the Crocker Park lifestyle center, I wanted to have one store as a goal.
And while I admire the gourmet cheese selections at my local stores, I can’t afford them often…I’m strictly a bulk chunk cheddar kind of girl, so TJ’s selection may be just my thing. The good thing about this gastric bypass thing is that small quantities last me quite a while, and I’m constantly on the look out for new and interesting flavors, though not too exotic. The salads and the frozen stuff sounds great.