I normally go to a lot of different market because different neighborhoods in Los Angeles have different things to offer. When I need grits, I go to Ralphs in Ladera Heights (an upscale Black neighborhood), but if I want Brie, I go to Bristol Farms in Westchester, where I will not find grits, but I won't find a selection of Brie in Ladera Heights.

I go to Marukai Market in Little Osaka for Japanese ingredients and to a variety of supermarkets in Koreatown for Korean ingredients. More frequently, I go to a Middle Eastern market in Palms/Culver City, where I can find a lot of staple ingredients that I buy for a better price - particularly olive oil, beans, tahini, feta, etc. Lately, I've been stocking up on dried chilies when I go to Cárdenas Market in Cathedral City, as I do not have large Latin markets near me in L.A. There are some small ones, but the selection in Cathedral City is infinitely better. I vacuum pack the chilies after I buy them, and then they keep well for several months.

I have not been going to Trader Joe's during the pandemic because the TJ stores near me (and there are quite a few) are all very cramped and usually crowded. I have also seen lines to get in at the one in Westchester. In CC, I've been going to Gelson's for most of my groceries because I feel safer, even though it is much more expensive than Cárdenas. We did go back to Cárdenas a few times the last time we were in CC, however, as we could not resist our cravings for their tamales and (for me) their chicharrones. If we go early in the day, that store is not crowded, and it is quite large.

I think the "cultural charade" where I live is somewhat different than the one in the article, mainly because I never expect to find anything in one store, and I try to avoid big box stores. I've never been inside a Walmart, and there aren't any near me in L.A., but I've driven past one in Palm Springs that is close to my house in Cathedral City. I think I've seen one in Palm Desert, which surprised me, since that is the most upscale city in Coachella Valley. Gelson's is in Rancho Mirage, however.

Lynda, TJ's hasn't been owned by the family for a long time, though the headquarters are still in California. It was sold to a German company, or the founder of that company, and since, his heirs, depending on what you read. They're cousins, or something, of the Aldi chain of smaller discount markets that's growing in the US, and they themselves own a chain of supermarkets in Germany also called Aldi, but a separate company, among other things.

”Tis true about the parking. There's a larger than normal TJ's in a suburban multiple strip shopping center with a huge parking lot, and it's still overcrowded and white knuckle crazy. It's the customers. ;)

I anticipate lines to get in our new trader's joes when it's built. I heard it will be smaller than our newly remodeled Aldi. I heard they were brothers who split and one is TJs , the other Aldi.

I recently read a death notice of a senior man who was raised on a farm outside of Chicago. One of his early jobs was to drive into the city to buy produce to sell at the family's 'farmstand'. Made me chuckle.

A friend and former coworker of mine joined the senior management team in LA a few years ago. He told me it is still very much a family business, but the family are the ones that have owned it since the late 1970s and not the original founders. The company is not publicly traded, which is really what I was referring to by 'family owned'. Once a company goes public, quarterly results become paramount. By comparison, a privately held company has more latitude to make long term investments.

LOL! It probably was things they didn't grow. I get bananas through my farm box service. They partner with other farms, but not many bananas are grown in California. The bananas are Dole, and imported. I appreciate the convenience of being able to get them with my regular local farm produce.

Oh! Yes, privately owned. Publicly traded don't have to live and die by the quarter, but it's standard to link CEO pay to such benchmarks, which drives the silliness.

I don't know why there's so much confusion about Aldi but there is.

Aldi was founded by a German man named Albrecht. ALbrecht DIskont=ALDI. He offered discount prices in a country where prices for standard goods were mostly the same everywhere. His sons inherited the business, found they couldn't agree, and split the company in two - ALDI Sud (south) took that part of Germany for one, and ALDI Nord (north) the north. They also split up the world - Aldi Sud got parts of Eastern Europe, British Isles, US and Australia, while Aldi Nord got Northern Europe, Spain, and Portugal. Each company has the sole right to call itself Aldi in the assigned countries and the other doesn't.. More details can be found in Wikipedia.

The brother who owns Aldi North bought Trader Joes in 1979. Whether there's any management from Aldi North or it's separate, I don't know. Aldi South operates all Aldi branded stores in the US. They're wholly separate companies. Whether or not they cooperate on procurement anywhere I also don't know.

I've been to Aldi stores on three continents - many places in Europe representing ops of both A Nord and A Sud, the US, and Australia. All operate with the same vibe - smallish stores with mostly house brands, good quality, limited SKU selection, good prices, and insert a coin to get a shopping cart from a rack and return it yourself to get your coin back, to avoid having employees collect them. Pack your own groceries.

An Aldi is very different from Trader Joes. Although TJs also has a lot of house brands and modest prices, the TJs orientation to quirky, unusual, and "only find it here", special buy for a limited time product selection is not so much echoed in Aldi stores.

The confusion is from only knowing what's posted in various places on the ‘net, which agree in substance but not detail. Thank-you for sharing your personal experience.

Interesting story but I disagree about the "only find it here" part. At Aldi in their quirky aisle, if you see a product buy it because you will never see it again. I bought a plastic cup with a lid and a tiny silicone cup in the bottom in which you put popcorn kernels and pop in the microwave for two minutes to get a huge filled to the top fresh popcorn. I love it and told my SIL about it and the same day they were gone never to appear again months later.

Lily316 - I agree...around here all of the Aldi stores have a 'Aldi finds' aisle that is ever changing. Recently they had these Pig tail food flippers for $7 each which are pretty handy for a number of uses I've found already. I went back a couple days later and they were all gone.

lily, sorry, but I'm going to guess you're not a regular TJ customer. TJs has products that are always available you find nowhere else. What you're describing at Aldi is that they call "Aldi Finds". These are sometimes one time, one-off, purchases that are available for a limited time and then often not again. Costco does the same thing sometimes. I'm a regular shopper at TJ and at Aldi when we're in SoCal, they're very different.

Trader Joes has products not to be seen elsewhere. I don't mean because they're house branded, but really, not available elsewhere. The first things that come to mind are their "Speculoos" butter products. Speculoos are a type of cookie popular in Belgium and Netherlands and these products, which I think are from one of those two countries, taste like the cookies. How about kale or cauliflower gnocchi? How about arugula (roquette in French), which even in my produce astute state, I think TJ single-handledly popularized and is now widely available. Two Buck Chuck (now a bit more expensive) that was the cheapest if barely drinkable wine around, a TJ exclusive. Dried apricots? Usually four kinds to chose from - organic or not, from the US or from Turkey (I prefer the ones from Turkey). Frozen chocolate covered bananas. And on and on, I know there are dozens and dozens, probably hundreds, of unique product types or flavors not sold elsewhere. THIS is what makes for loyal TJ shoppers and this was the TJ vibe created by its founder long before the acquisitions, you could buy things there other stores had nothing similar to. Ask a TJ customer and you'll hear why they go regularly. Attached is a link to a very short list. With the second link, click through to the photos. These pieces don't do it justice, every aisle is full of wonder and amazement even for regular TJ shoppers.

Only at TJs

More unique TJ things

You are right Elmer. I have never been in a TJs in my life. The products I've gotten from them were bought by my daughter and her husband who travel to State College to the nearest store. They are what you could call nuts...lol. Obsessed with TJ's. The news they and everyone are excited about, there will be a TJs one mile from my house which will be only 1/2 mile from my Aldi.

Obsessed is a mild word, it's much more than that for many. Maniacal for some maybe.

A TJ located near an Aldi is no different than a TJ being near a CVS - they're completely different companies, have different stock for sale and have different customer bases.

I agree Aldi's and TJ's are two very different stores. I visited Aldi's once, didn't like it. I went to Trader Joes yesterday. I like lots of things there.

I’ve got three TJ’s ranging between 10 and 20 minutes from my house. I used to try to go every few years with an fresh, open mind but I never “got” it. Produce was nothing special and often past its prime. If there was a meat case it left no impression. Lots of frozen prepared foods which I finally tried a few of but left me underwhelmed. Aside from that, lots of cookies and crackers and other “inner aisle” stuff which I don’t gravitate towards. I loved their 1000 layer cookies, but must have discovered them a week before they were discontinued. Good, as they were pretty expensive.

I‘ve been going to Whole Foods a bit more since my favorite market closed. At this point it has about the best produce selection around, esp organic. Yes it’s a bit more expensive, but they usually have enough good sales to entice me to make the trip. (It’s only like 15 minutes away, but relative to a lot of other markets that seems far and out of the way.)

Some people luck out with being able to get great food cheaply, but that’s just not going to happen for all of us. At some point we have to decide what factors most define “value” for us individually.

Foas, I agree with you about Trader Joe's. I liked it when I was big into drinking wine and I bought a lot of their prepared foods, breads and cheeses but I'm on a different food course now and there's very little there that appeals to me except for regular stuff that I can find anywhere. I find the produce to be very limited and overall the vast majority of the lure is food that I don't eat much these days.

Oh no, they’ve got good cheeses? I’ve been interested in expanding my horizons lately. Might be time for a quick visit.

Hah, they are probably just normal grocery store offerings but I found them interesting enough!

On the differences between Aldi and TJ's:

Trader Joe's has a fun, funky hippie vibe with colorful hand lettered signs with playful descriptions of products. Aldi is more traditional - definitely not funky fun. TJ's employees are also fun and funky, and encouraged to be that way. You can also ask to sample anything within reason at TJ's and they will gladly open a package for you. I understand they specifically look for extroverted types when hiring.

I have a lot of great Aldi finds: garden hoses, sprayers and tools, camp chairs, kitchen tools and cookware, stainless insulated water bottles, and more. TJ's doesn't carry home & garden goods like that. Aldi even has apparel. All at much lower prices and often higher quality than traditional supermarkets. It's true, the finds are often for a limited time only, and can sell out quickly.

I get a good amount of our toiletries and vitamins/supplements at TJ's. They have very good quality stuff for a lot less money than anywhere else.

And the produce at our TJ's here is pretty good - esp. the organics - same for dairy products. I only shop there now late on Sunday evenings because that's when the store isn't jam packed and I feel safer. It's the only store I actually go inside any more.

I use Instacart to do curbside pickup at Aldi now so I'm saving money, I guess, by not browsing their finds aisles. I do look at their fliers online, but I haven't seen much that interests me.

There isn't one where I live now but before I moved I gave up on going to Trader Joe's because the "vibe" there included ineffectively masked employees doing bagging at their already in your face (compact and up close) design checkout counters. One time a manager walked right by in his Hawaiian shirt while the kid bagging me had his mask down off his face (he kept letting it slip and then eventually pulling it back up the whole time I was in line and then being bagged).

Another time I was bagged by a short elderly woman whose head barely cleared the rim of the bags when they were on the counter. She was wearing a bandanna with the usual open bottom so every time she put her chin over the rim of the bag to see how she was arranging my purchases her breath was being directed onto them.

Such details about personal containment and protection of others will surely become all the more significant as the virus continues to become even more contagious than it already was.

I'm curious about the niche (Canyon?) occupied by Costco in all of this.

Back in the day, I used to like to shop Wegman's because I liked their food court buffet and could grab lunch or dinner before doing my grocery shopping. Also liked to do that so I didn't also have to make dinner after shopping and unloading I could relax and not have to do dishes that night either. I didn't eat out much, so that was a fun part of the week unlike now when I dread grocery shopping. Not really much more than I used to before the pandemic, but definitely somewhat more. I also used to be able to afford more in the way of artisnal or prepared foods or specialty produce. No more. Now it's just in and out for the basics, and if we want artisnal prepared foods, we have to be the artists. And if I want specialty produce, I'll have to grow it in the summer. Winter is apples and bananas, oranges, root vegetables, squash and cabbage. Frozen or canned out of season stuff and even then, just the basics. We're not suffering. It's still a blessing and miles above what humanity has had for most of its history.

Our Aldi down the street was a nonsequential looking building and they did a half-ass reno on it, but in October they bought the small store next door, and now there is a whole brand new look to the store. I buy all poultry there and organic fruits and veggies. I pay 59 cents for avocados compared to over $2 at Wegmans. And they are always fresh and never mushy. I love their organic highly grained bread and other baguettes and rolls, 1/2 the price of my other groceries. I love theGerman cookies and candy and other treats from Germany. I am in and out in ten minutes and will be heading down shortly since my Monday visit didn't happen because we had a foot of snow. But I still can't wait till the TJs opens near me.

I love Aldi's too, sales of .59 cent blackberries usually excite me but my everyday, sprouted wheat bread, pea crisps, kombucha, free range eggs, Irish butter, red pepper hummus, high pulp oj, angus beef and smoked gouda do too but I think they are very weak on basics such as pantry goods like flour and spices.

It's not one stop shopping at all but still very good.

Each TJ's will carry mostly the same products, like any chain, but has it's own personality within the main structure. It always sounds to me like there's a lot of regional variation as well, and for sure the management sets the tone. Near me, they were competently masked and gloved, and limiting numbers going in, back before the protocols were in place. I don't go anywhere, so don’t know what it's like now. I miss things.

It took living a block away for a time for me to appreciate TJ’s. What they do most brilliantly with their branded goods is find the “right” one. I think canned enchilada sauce falls on a spectrum of horrible to horrific, but TJ’s bottled is close enough to what I make that I keep (kept) some on hand for throwing some homestyle together (as opposed to three days of cooking).

Their nuts and dried fruit are fresher and better than the famous vendor’s. While the produce department is limited—this is not a supermarket—here, the offerings they do have are better than most of the big chains. One of the big chains has improved their produce to be the best variety, quality and organic selection, and TJ's can’t compete with that, plus most items, even before pandemic shopping changes, are packaged, which cuts down on labor, a lot. OTOH, if you're there already, and need some basic produce, it's good (here).

They do have meat, including some kosher selections. No butcher, but it’s hermetically sealed and lasts better in the fridge than meat from the butcher. It's decent quality—great for the price—compared to the best available.

My milk connoisseur (think oenophile of the dairy set) isn’t moved to delight by their milk but thinks it's perfectly drinkable (the $15 bottle of wine of milk, not the Two Buck Chuck), which store brands usually aren't. The cheese selection is good, but not exotic, but it's more likely to get moldy fast, so change the wrapping and wipe it off, immediately. Definitely significantly less money than the same thing elsewhere.

Most of the alcohol is under its own name. Not a huge selection, but great prices if they have what you want. Veuve Clicquot for astonishingly good price around New Year’s.

A fun game is guessing who packages which product for TJ’s. Some aren't exactly the same, so hard to be 100% sure. Some are dead obvious.

It's not for everybody. I live in grocery heaven. For me, TJ’s is the corner convenience store (five blocks away now), where the best store is five miles away. But I miss it in these days of delivery,

Wegmans -- I've been wondering how they are handling food courts, are they all closed in all their stores?

DH and I love going to grocery stores when we (used to pre-pandemic) travel. Didn't matter if it was hoity-toity or down-to-earth, it was fun just seeing how other people shop.

Locally we have 11 grocery stores within 5 miles of us, not including tiny ethnic shops. Plus a Costco and a Walmart and a Target. We regularly shop at five of those 10 grocery stores, deciding which to go to based on our grocery list and which store is the best fit. We have a new Aldi's which I have no interest in going to, because (a) it's six miles away and (b) grocery store choice fatigue! It's too much already!

Closest Aldi is about 8 miles away. It is our first stop for groceries. Visit weekly. Shop Wal-Mart grocery a couple of times per month. There is an upscale grocery store about 2 miles from the house. I go there about 2x per year and only for items that I can't get at Aldi or WMT. DH goes to SavALot about once a week expressly for LaLa Peach yogurt, LaLa Mexican sour cream, Senor Rico Mexican style chocolate pudding and store brand BBQ potato chips. I go less often to stock up on discounted fresh meat. SAL has mostly just meat in the meat case, very little of the 'enhanced w/ broth, H20, sodium, & more sodium & other preservatives so-called 'fresh' meat. We often shop Aldi in the next town, about 14 miles away. Mostly all highway to get to that store so the travel time is about the same as going to the store here in town. Oh, and LOVE going to Woodman's but get there only 2-3x a year--about 60 miles away.

I love, love going in grocery stores when I travel. It's so interesting to see the different brands, different products, produce, cheeses, etc. A great way to get a feel for differing sub cultures within our broader national identity. I also love going into the groceries when I'm in MX. Always pick up pintos to bring home because they are nice, fresh, light colored beans...nothing like the stale old crop beans I mostly see here in the upper mid-west that look like they were packaged three years ago.

We've long tried to take advantage of what each store or chain does best or what we like best. It's not any one consistently for any one thing. During our child-raising years, it was make do with one during the week and save the hunting/gathering of multiple stores for the weekends, when time permitted. Now we have more time but like others are using delivery and curbside pickup. That eliminates TJ for now.

As for what we like from each store - Whole Foods fish counter for fresh salmon, Icelandic cod, monkfish, and other things from time to time. Produce is inconsistent, though the greens like kale are good. Certain (not all) cheeses like a great French camembert they have off and on of a quality that's been hard to find elsewhere. Certain of the breads.

TJ - peanut butter, Swiss emmenthal, arugula, some of the crackers, some of the frozen entrees and novelties. Little ones like the small ice cream cones. We buy little or no produce there.

Aldi- has shockingly good quality. They have dry scallops that are hard to find elsewhere consistently. I just looked at my last receipt - $10.66 for a 12 oz package. I pay $25 a pound from a seafood wholesaler. Whole Foods normally has wet scallops but can order dry on request - usually $30 a pound or a bit more. Aldi has frozen mussels in butter garlic or tomato sauce, 16 oz for $2.55. it takes two for a generous dinner entry but that's still cheap. Forgetting the price, I know of no similarly consistent supply of mussels at other stores. Really good produce, often much better than Whole Foods. Other favorites too and ridiculously low prices.

There are two family owned small upscale chains, Lunardi's and Draeger's, that have large bakery, meat and produce departments with vast selections, better service and higher quality than other stores.

For us, the picking and choosing for best quality and to get particular items makes a difference. I understand for others, it doesn't matter.

PS - I've been shopping at a couple of different Wegmans locations back east. Great stores. They also seem to put a lot of effort into their meat and fish departments. Huge stores. Wegmans would be a runaway success in my area but I know that will never be.

+1 on Aldi's dried scallops. Usually $9.99/12 oz. at the Aldi store I go to, but they had them marked down to $9.29 a few weeks ago so of course I bought a whole box of 12 packages. We usually have them at least twice a month as the surf with the turf. Ready to eat in 5 minutes.

Aldi sometimes also has very good frozen whole lobster at a comparatively good price but it seems to be seasonal.

Not dried, lonejack, but dry. Maybe you know that and typed it wrong.

Scallops can be described as being wet or dry. The wet ones are treated with a chemical that causes them to absorb water which makes it impossible to sear them because they continue to release water as they heat and that prevents browning. Dry scallops are untreated and can be deliciously browned in, as you say, just a few minutes.

Kenji Alt-Lopez posted a funny piece about scallops. As I recall the tale, during his single days, he invited a hot date to his house for dinner. His plan was to impress her with his savoir faire with scallops. As a restaurant chef who only ordered from a seafood supplier at work, he wasn't aware there were different kinds of scallops. He bought scallops at the store and when the time came to impress his date, the scallops hit the pan and released water like wringing a sponge. He was unable to salvage the situation and the evening turned into a disaster. That was his last date with this woman.

That was his last date with this woman.

Probably for the best if that's all it took.

Yep, typo. Sear them in my Lodge enameled cast iron on high heat in grape seed oil. Salt/pepper, 2 minutes, flip, a pat of butter and a little home made garlic powder, 2 minutes. Eat....then clean up the splatter on the stove!

I've never been able to get satisfactory results with scallops on the charcoal grill. Just a rubbery puck.

I'm also a big fan of Aldi's Remer brand Italian meatballs. I make cocktail meatballs in the crockpot and take them to real American football game watch parties.

Try the mussels, you'll get fond of them too.

I'm a big fan of Aldi scallops too.

Big white mushrooms at Aldi tonight ....70 cents a package!

I look at the large cities where folks are trapped in neighborhoods. Yes there are mom/pop groceries and cultural stores, but many times the goods are artificially high priced. People can't get out and have to pay more ... even in small rural towns it is a big issue ... 5-6 dollar milk, TP for $1 a roll and much more ... people can't afford to 'move up.' Sad

Bragu - I think what you are referring to are called 'food islands' located in poor areas of inner cities. If someone doesn't own a car and relies on public transit to go shopping it can be very limiting.

Earlier in this thread I mentioned stocking up on Aldi scallops at $9.29 per 12 oz. bag on sale from the normal $9.99. I'm sure glad I did that because I noticed they are now asking $11.99/bag at my store.

The term I've heard used for lower socio-economic inner city neighborhoods lacking reasonable grocery shopping choices is "food deserts", not "food islands".

Chisue, I think the class you're talking about was Home Economics. It was a requirement for the girls in 7th grade -- a semester of sewing and a semester of cooking. The cooking class featured bland and unhealthy recipes (but they were cheap to make, especially using that government lard!) I would have preferred to do like the boys, take Industrial Arts and learn how to use tools.

I shopped in Manhattan much like the way Lars does, except on foot. We had a supermarket less than half a block away but I only used it for things like ice cream bars. I much prefer buying from ethnic groceries, butchers, bakeries, etc. Since Covid, we've been living way out in the middle of Nowheresville, where it takes 20 minutes, driving, just to get to a crappy little IGA grocery. When we finally move back to civilization, I'm going to really appreciate that nearby supermarket. And I may even go to the Trader Joe's ten blocks away. Sounds like it's worth checking out.

I always at least wander through a grocery store or two when I used to travel. All the better to pick out some thing to have with coffee or tea in the evening. When traveling by car often had a box full of stuff that I had never seen or something that I had heard about but was not available here. I have to drive to the southern part of the city for either of our TJs and find the two have different things. The one south-midtown is fully stocked with fruits and veggies while the other one is mostly stocked with packaged stuff. Within my normal 10 mile grocery shopping area there are two Aldi's. The newer one in an area with many apartments the one time I went in it was poorly managed. Some of the produce should never have reached the sales floor. The other one, nearer, the produce is run of the mill and basic but at least not moldy. Their frozen cases seldom have much in them so have not purchased anything other than the mussels which did have a nice flavor. For now am using a dairy that delivers along with a regular grocery store. For whatever reason the demographics of what is in the grocery stores in this immediate 10 mile area have changed even before the virus. Gone are the seasonal fruits and veggies in favor of the same old same old.

Nearly shut in relative in Orlando area was having most things - including grocery items - delivered or shipped by sometime last year even without a pandemic and need to isolate having come into the picture.

My Italian exchange student is very food particular. Only the best for him. Yesterday we went grocery shopping and to let them pick up some personal care items for themselves. He wanted instant mashed potatoes so I put the Walmart brand in my cart when he was away getting his own stuff. He came back and asked if we could get those potatoes and I said I already got them and pointed them out. He didn't want the ones I had gotten. He took them back to the instant potato isle and got Idahoan brand. Got them home and he was outraged and shocked that his potatoes had no inner lining. lol . He was wanting to pour them into a plastic bag which I have very few of (trying to not use them) and I told him he would have to leave them the way they were.

First off, I think it's funny he likes instant mashed potatoes but doesn't like our cheeses here because they aren't as good, not aged enough, and not Italian. I was shocked that he likes my lasagna and spaghetti sauce. I made lasagna again yesterday and he ate 3 giant helpings. Most Americans turn their noses up at instant potatoes. I didn't tell him that but maybe I should have. I did tell him that those two boxes of potatoes could have been made at the same factory and just labeled different for the two companies but he didn't seem to care. I used to work at an onion dehydration plant that dehydrated onions and it wasn't the most sanitary thing in the world. I'm sure potatoes aren't much different. One year we did celery and you wouldn't believe the crap that got by us on the belt because there was so much stuff in it, slimy vegetation, slugs, some type of spidery looking bug, frogs, etc...one woman cut the tip of her finger off in the slicer area that year. Hopefully it was retrieved before it went to the hopper.

My other student, from France, although not as particular bought a bunch of different higher end chocolate bars because he went to San Francisco with his father a year or two ago and they went to a Ghirardelli chocolate store there and loved their chocolate. I told him I liked Lindt better. He said Chirardelli was more expensive and therefore was better. LOL. We did a taste test of the first two last night and of course, Lidnt won.

I do like Trader Joes and was wanting to go there after we went to Costco on Saturday but ran out of time so I did the rest of my shopping at Walmart. Most Costco items are too expensive or too big for my small freezer/fridge. I did stock up on Kleenex. I won't have to buy any for six months or more now. Now that I have these two boys eating me out of house and home, I also like Save A Lot more and have been going there quite often lately. Most basic items are so much less expensive.

I am inundated by so many grocery stores I'd have to sit down and count. Probably at least 15 within five minutes of my house including four Giants, one Wegmans, many Weis and multiple local ones. Less than a mile is my Aldi that I love and one mile away will be the new Trader Joes which my daughter is salivating about. Yesterday she even said to me how she's plotting the best times to shop there and they haven't even broken ground yet.

Maifleur - Your experience with Aldi produce is interesting and not at all similar to mine. I usually go to an older but recently remodeled one in Lee's Summit and their produce is always high quality and normally well stocked when I go there. I try to get there around 9:00 am when they first open. Occasionally I'll go to an Aldi in Warrensburg that is only a few years old and it seems to have the same quality and selection. I'll have to give Aldi mussels a try next time I shop there. Both you and Elmer have recommended them on this thread. I've had them steamed in white wine with garlic at seafood restaurants a couple times but have never prepared them myself.

I've never ventured to either of the TJs on the Kansas side. There may still be a warrant out for my arrest over there from my younger days. lol Maybe they will open one up for us poor Missourians some day.

@ Kaths - your comments about the onion factory reminded me of 'How It's Made' videos I've watched on YouTube. So much of the food manufacturing looks so skeevy! I realize the videos are old, but the machinery looks so crusty and workers have no gloves or hairnets 🙁

Here's a couple I watched recently:

The guy's hairy arms in this one really bother me.

This one features some fancy long fingernails - the ladies wear hairnets, but not the guys.

Lonejack there is a TJ's at Ward Parkway Center on the northeast corner of the old part. It is the first one that was opened in KC. It is the one I normally go to. The one on 119th is at the base of a fairly steep slope. Not a place to visit during the winter or let lose of your cart. You are wise not to visit that one because some of those warrants never drop off in parts of Kansas.

Very positive experiences with Aldi produce in SoCal. Very good quality and ridiculously low prices, shocking value for money propositions.

The mussels are frozen in their sauce. We open the package, dump one each into a pyrex bowl with lid, and microwave for a few minutes, however long the package says. One package = light hors d'oeuvres for two or a dinner main course for one. Couldn't be faster, easier, or cheaper. Or more delicious. (I think less than $3 per package and consistently good quality).

Coined terms, 'food deserts' and 'grocery wastelands' have been spoken about for 20+years. Less than desirable produce has been sent to wasteland zip-codes for decades.

Makes sense if you have been in the 'above-the-less-fortunate-bubble' for years...may not have noticed.

No one has mentioned Sprouts, I love their produce!

Corollary: When I was a kid, we were travelling in Western Canada, and in the quite nice supermarket there was a largish sign hawking "California" tomatoes. My mother was so appalled when she saw them. "Those may be from California, but they're the culls."