Trader Joe's

[VinylTurnip]

@guizot

The thing about Trader Joe’s is what NOT to get, though those things are few.

Don’t bother with their bagels. They’re terrible. In fact, their breads are pretty bad in general. Go to the bagel shop next door.

Yeah. I just made my first visit to a Trader Joe’s here (several opened recently in my city) and I thought the baguette was mediocre; any number of local grocery stores do a better one.

I was also quite disappointed with a four-flavor sampler of Trader Joe’s hummus. It seemed really “processed,” and the flavors seemed to be a) whipped sand, b) green whipped sand that tasted like mown grass, c) pink whipped sand with puddles of reddish fluid, and d) whipped sand with a bunch of garlic powder stirred in. For store-bought hummus, I’ve yet to find anything better than the "Sabra " brand, and this stuff came nowhere close.

I did like most of what I bought, though. The TJ’s Vienna Lager and Hefeweizen are both good (and inexpensive compared to comparable beers), and I found the “Two-Buck Chuck” (actually $2.50 here) Shiraz to be drinkable. Nice selection of olives, good cheese. Chicken mini-tacos aren’t bad. Bought a “cabernet pot roast” and did it in the Crock-Pot, which turned out well.

I probably won’t be shopping there all that regularly except maybe to stock up on cheap beer & wine; everything else there seems more expensive than what’s available at grocery stores and farmer’s markets around here.

[DSYoungEsq]

@LifeOnWry

See, this is just weird. Some people are claiming the place is expensive, while others (myself included) find it surprisingly cheap. I wonder if TJ’s prices aren’t pretty standard from store-to-store, and our perception depends on our local grocery chains. Everything is relative?

I hit Trader Joe’s maybe once a month for the fun extras I like (I grocery-shop weekly) and I routinely walk out of there with three or four bags full of stuff, and have never spent more than $60 there. Now, I don’t buy meat, and I only buy a bottle of wine every so often, but still, that doesn’t seem like an awful lot of money.

I didn’t say it was expensive!!! I said I always go hog wild in there!!!
The most favorite thing I ever got there was a jar of cherries from Hungary. They were wonderful to use in recipes, and I’ve never seen anything like them elsewhere. And that isn’t some sort of touchy-feely wannabe green product, either.

[Nightsong]

@Trunk

Jesus, I didn’t know I was taking my life into my hands. That stuff is sticky, but they coat it with a lot of flour. Once your hands take off some of the flour, though, it’s definitely very sticky.

Heee, yup: you also want to keep an eye on small children (or anyone who tends to swallow large chunks o’ stuff instead of small bits) as well. Bet that would make a great plot for a murder mystery, or a band name: The Killer Mochi!

Back to the subject at hand…

When I do manage to visit Trader Joe’s (none closer than at least a four hour drive away I believe) I almost always pick up whatever pure Hawai’ian coffee they have and a random assortment of raw nuts. I just love the creaminess of raw sunflower seeds. Nummy.

[vivalostwages]

Ribeye report: It is very tasty, though not as easy for me to chew as tenderloin.
Tried their canned beef stew last night. Very hearty and delicious. Just add a few vegetables to it, have some fruit on the side, and there’s your dinner.

[anu-la1979]

a) Fish: I like their frozen tilapia fillets, those are pretty good. But I wasn’t terribly impressed by their frozen salmon. Thought it was a bit dry, myself. They have an okay selection of fish but I am really picky. Shrimp are a’ight.

b) Fresh fruits & veggies: lemons, onions and tomatoes are alright but I find their fruit to be of abysmal quality considering what you get at California farmer’s markets. (sob I am so spoiled by California farmer’s markets)

c) Dairy: well, they had FAGE and now have released their own fat-free Greek yoghurt so they’ve forever won my dairy loyalty on that alone. Whole Paycheck actually has a better tasting fat-free milk but I’ll grab the TJs one just to save the trip since I’m usually there for the greek yoghurt.

d) Soups: their soups are overwhelmingly awesome. The only ones I’ve hated have been the butternut squash offerings and that’s because I hate that as a soup, not just the TJs ones. Recently tried the organic lentil and it was quite tasty.

e) The naan are the same ones you get at Indian grocery stores and for a while they were competitively priced though now they’ve gone downhill.

I like Trader Joe’s a lot. I try to stick to staples because in reality it’s basically just gourmet junk food and I try not to get suckered in to buying it. But what I’ve tasted of their gourmet junk food is overwhelmingly yummy.

The only thing I’ve ever hated is their packaged Indian food. I spit out the pau bhaji. It was an abomination.

[vivalostwages]

I just bought milk, fruit cups, a bag of salad, some sliced deli meat, and salad dressing at Albertson’s. The total cost was in excess of sixteen dollars. I have a feeling that I could have gotten the same things at TJ’s for less, though it’s four miles away, so maybe the gas costs would eat up the savings. I’ll find out.

[Johnny_L.A]

@anu-la1979

The only thing I’ve ever hated is their packaged Indian food. I spit out the pau bhaji. It was an abomination.

At the stores I’ve been to, they’ll let you return something you don’t like.

@vivalostwages

I just bought milk, fruit cups, a bag of salad, some sliced deli meat, and salad dressing at Albertson’s. The total cost was in excess of sixteen dollars. I have a feeling that I could have gotten the same things at TJ’s for less, though it’s four miles away, so maybe the gas costs would eat up the savings. I’ll find out.

A couple of the stores I went to a couple of months ago had boards by the checkouts that contained a good assorment of items (actual, or at least their packaging) bought at a supermarket (Ralph’s, I think) one one board, and the same or similar items bought at Trader Joe’s. They had the receipts enlarged. Trader Joe’s totals were like 70% of the major store’s total.

[scotandrsn]

@Johnny L.A.

A couple of the stores I went to a couple of months ago had boards by the checkouts that contained a good assorment of items (actual, or at least their packaging) bought at a supermarket (Ralph’s, I think) one one board, and the same or similar items bought at Trader Joe’s. They had the receipts enlarged. Trader Joe’s totals were like 70% of the major store’s total.

They have that at the one I go to, but I think the comparison is between Trader Joe’s and the major store’s prices without using a club card, a practice TJ does not engage in.

[MizGrand]

Regular butter is half the price of the national stores. A pound goes for $2 @ TJ’s and sometimes over $4 at SW or Albertsons. Thieves.

[vivalostwages]

@RSSchen

Regular butter is half the price of the national stores. A pound goes for $2 @ TJ’s and sometimes over $4 at SW or Albertsons. Thieves.

“Thieves” is right! I just compared the prices at TJ’s re: applesauce cups, milk, balsamic dressing, sliced turkey, and bag salad. The last item had the same price as at Albertson’s, but the others were lower. The dressing at TJ’s was 1.89 and came in a bigger bottle, whereas the one at Alb’s was $2.49. The total came out to at least four dollars less at TJ’s for the same stuff.

And here’s what I actually bought today at TJ’s: three bags of multigrain sesame pretzels, two cups of yogurt, box of facial tissue, two boxes of organic toaster pastries, big jar of manzanilla olives, three Belgian chocolate bars, dried mango, can of mandarin oranges. Total price: $15.88.

It cost me nearly $17.00 just for the five items mentioned earlier from Alb’s!
Highway robbery!

But here’s the thing: TJ’s spends virtually nothing on advertising and has no middleman that I’m aware of.

[vivalostwages]

Tj’s own potato salad is my new favorite. It has green onions and very little mayo, so you can really taste the potato.

[fluiddruid]

I hate you all. I just can’t understand why Trader Joe’s hasn’t gotten into our market yet. I can only get a fix in Chicago or Minneapolis… WHY, TRADER JOE’S, WHY?!

[Trunk]

@Nightsong

Heee, yup: you also want to keep an eye on small children (or anyone who tends to swallow large chunks o’ stuff instead of small bits) as well. Bet that would make a great plot for a murder mystery, or a band name: The Killer Mochi! :D.

For anyone who knows. . .the pronunciation:

mo-chee

or

mo-kee

?

There’s a small little tea shop near me that sells it, and they say “mo-chee”. We’ve always said mo-kee, but that’s probably just because it looks like “mocha”.

[twopiecesofeight]

Top 3 Reasons for my love of Trader Joe’s:

1. Brie Cheese - The TJ brand of Brie is a marvelous value. Made in Canada and a double-creme. Forgot the exact price, but it’s cheaper than what I could get at Albertson’s.

2. Root Beer - TJ carries Virgil’s Roor Beer. Cane sugar (no high fructose corn syrup garbage) and twelve other not-so-secret spices. 'Nuff said.

3. No cards! - TJ doesn’t use cards. Prices are as marked. I get the “flyer” in the mail, which is a booklet sent infrequently (four times a year?) describing their seasonal products. The flyer cheerfully breaks most high budget marketing rules: newsprint (no glossy paper here), black and white text, and red or green boxes (that look hand drawn) around product descriptions. Speaking of product descriptions, they are written in a light-hearted way that sometimes makes me feel like they’ve been written by a Doper.

On the flip side, I’m not impressed with their bread. (Does TJ carry French bread? I only see Italian varieties.) Their olive oil (under their cute “Trader Giotto” name) has the lowest price but I would pay a few dollars more for another brand. And for the record, Trader Joe Bread + Trade Joe Olive Oil = unimpressed.

Edit: “Mochi” is pronounced “moh chee”

[silenus]

OTOH, their pita pockets are pretty tasty. I generally find that the wines TJ’s stock fit my palate quite nicely. No other store can say that.

[Kyla]

cries

[RTFirefly]

@DSYoungEsq

I miss Trader Joe’s. They are fun to shop at, but not worth going to Ann Arbor for (60 min. north).

If I were 60 miles from the nearest TJ’s, you can bet I’d make a run every 6-7 weeks to stock up on stuff.

My take on the store: if you get out of there without spending $100, you either shop there regularly, or you are really disciplined.

In response to LifeOnWry, it’s not that they’re expensive, it’s just that their stuff is hard to resist. Many’s the time I’ve gone in for two or three things, and walked out with 3-4 bags full of groceries.

My latest find is their chile lime chicken burgers, in the frozen foods section.

I still love their stir-fry meals, which I usually augment with their frozen shrimp and frozen veggies.

Their single-serving oriental bowl meals (lemongrass chicken and massaman chicken are my favorites) are great, but they’ve had a supply problem with them lately.

Their cheese tamales are a staple, as is their 100% natural peanut butter.

It’s a great place to get the fixin’s for homemade pizza: crust in a bag, a ton of tomato/pasta sauce variants to choose from, grated cheeses, pepperoni, their melange a trois frozen bell pepper slices, etc.

If you don’t have a good BBQ joint nearby, their BBQ sauces and containers of pulled pork will tide you over.

Coffee. I love trying all their different varieties. (Since most of their coffees are whole beans, it helps to own a grind n’ brew coffeemaker.)

Their frozen hors d’oeuvres, such as their “prelude to a quiche” mini-quiches.

Their amazing assortment of trail mixes.

Dolmas. Hummus.

[RTFirefly]

@tarragon918

Dang, I so want to go to Trader Joe’s! Especially after reading all the glowing reviews here as well as actually hearing reports from friends at work. Ima try to find one that I might be able to get to–there’s none close to me, unfortunately.

Where in the MD 'burbs do you live? They’ve got stores in Annapolis, Silver Spring, Bethesda, Rockville, and Gaithersburg, plus Old Town Alexandria and downtown DC. I recommend the Annapolis store if you’re on the eastern side of the DC area - it’s less crowded than any of the other locations I’ve been to. Sunday mornings tend to be good times to shop, and even Saturday mornings before about 10:30 are pretty good.

[Helena]

Trader Joe’s is on my poopy list right now because they haven’t had their frozen naan in over a month. I need to ask somebody if they’ll still be carrying it.

[Vimp]

I am totally addicted to their Peanut-butter chocolate-chip cookies. I force myself to buy no more than one bag of them per visit. I think I could eat myself sick on them if I had free access to them.

Also love the frozen cheese & chile tamales. Often eat them for a quick breakfast.

A big favorite is one of their frozen appetizers, I don’t remember what the name is but they’re little bites of puffy pastry filled with feta cheese and caramelized onions. I occasionally take them as snackies to a weekly floating bridge game that Mr Roo and I go to, and everyone adores them.

They have little ginger cookies in a can – marvelous.