Here’s a relevenat Yahoo article from earlier this year on what to hit & miss at TJs.
I’ve liked the produce I’ve bought at Trader Joe’s. I’ve mentioned the avocados. Roomie is pretty picky about avocados, and she says that TJ’s are better and more consistent than supermarket ones. I’ve always had better luck with them from TJ’s as well. The four-packs are a little small, but they’re cheaper than the ones of similar size from a supermarket. The larger ones (from California) are about the same price as supermarket ones (from Chile), and better.
The author mentions asparagus. I usually buy asparagus at the supermaket. But if I want asparagus and am at Trader Joe’s, I’ll get it there. I don’t know about the comparative prices, but TJ’s asparagus is as good as or better than supermarket asparagus. TJ’s appears ‘healthier’ to me, as supermarkets’ often seem a little dried out at the heads.
The other produce is fine, and seems to be packaged in usable portions. The packages of chopped veg in the produce section (e.g., onions, peppers, sweet potatoes, carrots medley) are very convenient and tasty. Sometimes I pay more at TJ’s, and sometimes less. It doesn’t matter, since produce tends not to be very expensive compared to other foodstuffs anyway.
I find the meat at Trader Joe’s to be quite good. I rarely buy it, though. The corner market where I live gets their rib-eyes from Costco, and it’s very, very good – and priced competitively. I used to always get my leg of lamb from TJ’s. It was pre-seasoned and inexpensive. They no longer carry it, though. Now I buy it unfrozen at a butcher’s. TJ’s seasoning was the same as I make myself (just olive oil, salt, and rosemary), so that’s not a problem. Lamb from the butcher’s is much more expensive and I have to plan ahead, so I don’t eat un-ground lamb as often as I used to. If leg-o-lamb is available at your local TJ’s, I’d say to get it.
I’ve never been thrilled about TJ’s bakery products. I like the baguettes, but the rest are… ‘Meh.’
I completely agree with the author’s comments about the cheeses. The selection is great, and the prices are too.
Staples are cheap enough that it doesn’t matter where I buy them. But I do buy Trader Giotto’s olive oil instead of buying it at the supermarket. Nice quality, and lower price.
I like the frozen wild salmon. In season, I can get fresh (or previously-frozen) wild salmon at the supermarket – particularly the more upscale one – for about the same price, or even a dollar a pound less. But TJ’s frozen fish is very convenient.
The frozen prepared foods, which the author likes, I find hit-or-miss. Some of them are very, very good. Others are pretty good. But package sizes are often a little on the small side for someone who likes leftovers, and my impression is that they can be a little pricey. Still, I do buy them with some frequency since they are generally good and always convenient.
One thing I love is their selection of pre-made salads. BBQ Chicken, Southwest Chicken, Chinese Chicken, Thai Chicken, Shrimp Louis, Niçoise… They’re all good, and cost about four bucks. Portions are adequate for large appetites, and they don’t skimp on the meat or the dressing. And they come with plastic forks, so you can eat them whenever/wherever. I like to dump everything into a large zip-top bag and toss it all together.
This biggest problem with Trader Joe’s is that they discontinue items all the time – and they always seem to discontinue the things I like! For example, Cocoa Almonds. (These were almonds covered in milk chocolate and coated with cocoa powder.) I’d been buying those for over 20 years. I’d get a package every time I went. A couple of years ago they got onto the Dark Chocolate Band Wagon and replaced the Cocoa Almonds with Dark Cocoa Almonds. These were almonds covered with dark chocolate and coated with dark cocoa powder. They overdid the Dark Side. Completely unbalanced. (And I like dark chocolate better than milk chocolate!) Messier to eat, too. Where the originals lasted a couple of decades, the new offering disappeared in a year or two.
Back in the '80s you could get frozen ducks. A certain group complained that ducks are not killed ‘humanely’, and they were discontinued. I rarely have roast duck anymore. They also had great, hot, merguez sausages. They quit those a long time ago, and the locally-made ones are half as hot as they should be. (The sausage maker said he’d cut the spices in half for the local crowd.) In the '80s I liked to buy large bags of heat-and-eat escargots in the shell. Five bucks. Wonderful. Gone. ‘Prelude to a Quiche’… no more. Escargots en Brioche… gone. Caviar… may be seasonal, but I haven’t seen any in a couple of years. Wisconsin cheese curds are not to be found. I’ve mentioned the frozen pre-seasoned leg of lamb.
There are several other things I used to buy that don’t come to mind right now, that they’ve discontinued. Their strategy is to discontinue things that don’t meet a certain sales metric. On the face of it, that’s a good way to do business. But the practical result is that it tends toward mediocrity. For me the appeal of Trader Joe’s since the '80s has been that I could get new and different things, or things that have been around a while but are not generally available elsewhere, and at a good price to boot. They need to be careful about becoming ‘mainstream’.
Final note: 750 ml bottles of Grade B maple syrup. It’s getting expensive ($13.99 now, compared to $8.99 when I started buying it), but it’s Really Good Stuff.
It’s a good place if you’re willing to accept what it is that they sell, and don’t go in with any preconceived notions of what you want.
It’s not a supermarket.
One day a year or two ago I decided that I wanted to make risotto. I headed off to TJs with expectations that I’d find all of the ingredients I needed. I started with rice. Arboreo or sushi rice was what I needed.
I looked and looked, and couldn’t find rice anywhere. I finally asked someone, who said “Do you mean, like, frozen rice?” WTF?!? Frozen rice? No, like, you know, rice! That you cook.
I finally found the rice section. It was a tiny little selection, mostly of instant dishes. Certainly nothing as fancy as arboreo. My mission had failed already. But while I was there, I decided to pick up some frozen dishes. To my amazement, I found all sorts of frozen rice dishes.
Do not go to TJs with a specific recipe in mind.
I was thinking Simpler Times, which has 2 varieties (lager/pilsner? forget). I recall that one of those has higher content than even Red Oval.
I’ll put another me-too for the olive oil. It’s flavorful, plentiful and cheap. We buy the Spanish version in a large bottle between $5-$6.
TJs AND Penzey’s - I’d definitely drive an hour for that!
I opened the thread to revise my answer. Since I do have a local Trader Joe’s, and a very limited grocery budget my typical TJ’s trip is for just a few things and rarely exceeds $20 - certainly not worth an hour’s drive each way. They have enough good things that if I could afford to fill a shopping cart and planned to stock deep on some pantry items I’d make that trip, especially with a friend along, just not every week.
Penzey’s is the exact example I shaped my earlier answer on. There is a Penzey’s retail store a little over an hour’s drive from me, in Fall’s Church, VA. I’m a member of a trade association. We rotate the location of our meetings throughout the three states that our chapter covers. When Falls Church rolls around I plan to get there early enough to include a Penzey’s shop.
Also, if you are wanting to browse in Trader Joe’s I’d recommend trying to avoid peak shopping times. I find it much less pleasant just to be there when it’s jam packed. No evening that ever started out with “Oh I can just stop in quickly at Trader Joe’s after work” has ever turned out the way I’d hoped.
They have some different salsas that we like, particularly their salsa verde.
Since both their creamy and crunchy PB come in salted and unsalted versions, I have to ask: have you tried the unsalted?
And I agree with you that the consistency is too liquid, but that’s VERY easy to fix. When you open the jar, there’s usually some peanut oil on top that’s separated out. Pour that off, or as much of it as it takes for you to obtain your desired consistency.
I generally buy enough at one time so it can sit on the pantry shelf awhile and separate out some more at home, because I like it when the consistency is such that I can barely stir it. That’s not the way everyone would want their PB, but you can adjust the consistency quite a ways if you want.
Damn, that’s weird. Their white basmati rice is one of our staples. Not frozen, not instant, just basmati rice in a bag on the shelf at room temperature that takes the usual 20 minutes or so to cook.
Can’t tell you about other kinds of rice there; my wife picks out the rice.
This is still true.
I spend a lot of time inside various Trader Joe’s stores, and I’ve never seen anything resembling fresh baked bread. Most of the stuff they have is full of preservatives and trucked from a long way off, it seems.
I love the frozen section, pantry items, meat, wine and beer. Their produce is hit-or-miss, and their bread is mediocre.
I remember that they did have basmati and maybe one or two other types. I think they were long grain, which makes terrible risotto.
Like I said, it’s not a supermarket. TJ’s sells what TJ’s sells.
On that note, I cannot recommend their Alsace pizza enough.
Yes! The Torte d’Alsace is the best thing there.
Forgot about the Simpler Times as I almost always get Red Oval. I believe they’re actually made by the same company (makes sense that they would), and the Simpler Times lager is the higher ABV at 6.2%, but it’s got a sweet taste that I dislike.
Absolutely. Their other frozen pizzas don’t even compare.
White balsamic vinegar.
~VOW
I’ve never tried it - I’ll have to pick one up on my next TJ’s run!
(They better not discontinue it before I do - or even worse, after I’ve tried it once and decide I really like it. That happened to my wife with their lemongrass chicken bowls. Maybe if I get energetic, I’ll start a thread about our favorite discontinued TJ’s items. Where’s my peanut satay chicken? Or my limeade?)
I get a vague uneasiness when I shop at TJ’s. It’s as if they’re trying to pull off pre-packaged junk food as gourmet or health food. Then I think, I’m in a paradise of pre-packaged junk food! What do I care?
I used to get the Coconut Curry Chicken Stix (like mini Thai flavored spring rolls) in the freezer section, and the mini quiches, and the breakfast cereals are well priced.
I haven’t tried TJ’s chocolate, but if I was in Indy anyways, I would get the best chocolate in town.
My experience is that eating TJ’s prepackaged meals is less harmful to my waistline than similarly prepackaged fare in the ‘regular’ grocery stores.
Plus generally fewer chemical additives and preservatives.
Nobody has mentioned the one thing my family buys in bulk at TJs - steel cut oats. They sell 1 pound canisters for about $2.50, as opposed to the $7 or $8 for the fancy can kind at the grocery store.
Also, if you’re going to TJs on the northwest side, I might be able to get you into the Sam’s Club across the street. Bulk TP FTW!
TJ’s, Penzey’s, AND Sam’s? That’s worth a trip.
I have a Sam’s here in Bloomington, but it’s always fun to look at another one, and I’ve been dying to get to a Penzey’s.
It sounds like I’d find some things I like at TJ’s. I hardly ever buy any frozen or prepared meals, although definitely the pizza/torte sounds good. I know I can get good produce locally, but I can compare prices/quality and see what’s the best deal.
But coffee, cheese, chocolate, oats, weird stuff, I’m all about that. 
Thanks for all the links, too. I’m going to keep reading.