Since Trader Joe’s finally opened a store here I’ve spent less time at Cost [del]Sl[/del]Cutter. Certainly the local market has cheaper meat, and things like Best Foods mayonnaise; but TJ’s has the bulk of what I like to eat.
Except bread. If I want a plain old sandwich I like my bread a little soft. But the white or wheat bread I get at TJ’s is always dry. What’s up with that?
I’ve noticed that, too. But I think they do have softer ones, at least in the store I go to.
The bottom line is you simply can’t make TJ your everything market…I’m sure as hell not going to buy that gray sandpaper TP. Plus, they don’t have the cheap meats essential to certain dishes.
But luckily for me, both TJs I frequent are within a mile of the other grocery stores and I can just swing by both. Plus, they’re both maybe 10 minutes from my house, so it’s no biggie to make a special trip.
I view TJs as a niche market. I go there every so often to buy certain luxury items and certain things but it sadly is no replacement for a grocery. I don’t like their produce all that much because they don’t have much selection.
I go there for certain snacks, some dairy, certain lunchmeats, beer and wine. It is convenient for me since there is one a few blocks from my office and right on my way home.
Back to the OP, I like some of there breads but I went to a barbeque for the 4th of July, and they bought the hot dog buns at TJs. No one including the host was really happy.
I buy almost all my groceries at Trader Joe’s but I’ve also found much of their bread to be far too dry. They do have good sourdough loaves and specialty breads, but the best general-purpose bread I’ve found there is the Milton’s multi-grain. Dark, very sweet, not overly dry.
Their bread does nothing for me. Their whole wheat hamburger buns are pretty good though. I go to TJs to buy Fage yogurt (best price anywhere), dark chocolate pretzels (my 4 year old’s favorites), nuts, OJ, BBQ sauce, and some of their snack stuff.
Would you consider switching to flat bread? TJ’s now has whole wheat lavash. It’s great for wrapping anything from a basic salad to a hot dog to a chunk of smoked salmon with an avocado slice.
My issue with TJ bread is that everytime I buy it, it goes moldy after 2-3 days (the naan type bread). So I stopped buying bread from them.
Milton’s is good, but it’s not the right bread for, say, a balogna sanga.
Actually, I just finished off a bag of TJ’s hot dog buns (with hot dogs in them, of course). I thought they were pretty good.