OK, not specifically mine in that I don’t actually own it. The Publix near my home moved across the street recently to occupy the space that was formerly a Winn Dixie. They’re calling this a concept store. It’s got lots of interesting that all of the other Publixes don’t have.
My husband and I went this weekend (during the grand opening which was an ungodly clusterf#$k of people) and perused the goods. The Deli counter has an extensive cooked to order hot food section. We tried the blackened grouper sandwiches (there’s a little area with tables and chairs to eat) which were pretty tasty but the bread was chewy rather than crusty which we didn’t care for. The Deli is what everyone is raving about but I was thrilled with the produce and meat sections.
The produce section has items that I’ve never seen before. South African baby Pineapples, golden beets, red baby carrots, 4 different varieties of eggplant, beautiful and delicious heirloom tomatoes in many varieties. Several different types of bananas.
So, last night we purchase prime filet mignon from the butcher counter, golden beets and red baby carrots (which when peeled are regular carrot colored on the inside) chippolini onions and from the bakery, baby cannoli and baby eclairs.
Dinner was a salad of heirloom tomatoes and icicle radishes in a light vinegarette, pan seared filet mignon (bad weather, couldn’t get the grill going) roasted beets, carrots, chippolinis and assorted fingerling potatoes. Beet and carrot greens sautteed in olive oil and loads of garlic and for dessert, baby cannoli and eclairs.
We also had a bottle of cabernet sauvignon the make of which I can’t remember but it was quite delicious.
The filet was just about the tastiest, most tender, melt in your mouth steak I’ve ever had.
I’m so happy to have this new grocery store less than 2 miles away. I’ll never shop at Albertson’s again unless it’s in the middle of the night.
That sounds totally awesome. Have you ever seen this hilarious blog? It’s publixpackaging.com and it’s totally and completely serious critiques of that classy generic packaging they have. Ever since I’ve read that I’ve bought a lot more of their cute snack stuff because it’s just so darling!
That does sound cool, velvetjones. I go back and forth between Publix and Albertson’s since I live so close to both of them – they’re both on Red Bug Road on opposite sides of Tuskawilla. The nicest Publix I’ve been to is actually in Brandon (suburb of Tampa), and it sounds a lot like yours. Where exactly is your new Publix?
I also love Petty’s and Fresh Market, both in Longwood, but they’re both SO expensive!
Oh, down in Fernandina Beach where my parents live, their Publix is so much more awesome than ours. It has a HUGE wine section, and a large cheese section as well. The people who work in the wine section are really knowledgeable, too.
Did you know they have real butchers at Publix? I had no idea - they’ll get you exactly what you need, they’ll even cut it up the way you need it!
Some day all the supermarkets in the country will be imitations of Wegman’s. Until then the rest of you only have the barest idea of what that could be like. (Hint. What’s described above and much more.)
I noticed that Wegman’s got ranked as the best supermarket in the USA. I gotta say, when I was in Florida, I really liked the Publix. Huge stores, sensible organization, great meat selection, huge cheap deli sandwiches and reasonable prices. Orders of magnitude better than Albertson’s.
The Publix store in Brandon I mean is on Lumsden Road, right across the street from a Wal-Mart Supercenter in a very suburban area – there’s a huge Borders, a Costco, and dozens of chain restaurants all around it. I have good friends who live near there, and I often have dinner or spend the night with them when I have late classes at USF. Shopping really is a pleasure there!
There are several Publix here, and they’re all excellent. But up in the northernmost suburbs, where all the mega-rich people live, there is a Super Swanky Publix. I’ve only been there once, but it was huge and expansive and modern and spotless. They had departments I’d never seen before, and there was a woman giving out samples of wine, of all things. Every employee I passed said hello, and wondered if they could help me find anything. These didn’t seem to be the college kids who worked at the other locations, closer to downtown. We’d go back, if not for the fact that in seven years, we’ve never had another occasion to be in that part of town. It’s way out of the way for a regular shopping trip for us, but the people who live up there must like it.
One of my roommates is from Buffalo, NY, and she’s always told us how much worse Meijer is than Wegmans. When she brought the lot of us back to Buffalo to visit, I was blown away. There’s really no way to describe it other than amazing. Great selections, stuff you’ve never seen anywhere else, and tons and tons of all of it.
It’s in Lake Mary, Florida on the corner of Greenwood Blvd. and Lake Mary Blvd. in whatever that plaza is right near Target.
Hey Lou Nice to see you checking in. I’m with you on Fresh Market and Petty’s. Love their stuff but I have to be prepared to spend, they are not for the budget minded. What’s cool is that many of the items that we really love from the fresh market we’ve now found at Publix. Yay!
I was watching the Food Network awards on Sunday and I think Wegman’s won for best supermarket. The other contenders were Trader Joes and…oh, heck, I can’t remember the other one.
My plan is to walk to Publix after work and pick up dinner.
