Sign me up for Aldi.
I don’t get those that are disparaging TJs as being only for people who rely on frozen, prepared, or otherwise unhealthy or chemical-filled foods. To be sure, they have plenty of frozen pre-made meal options, and I contend that many if not most of them are healthier than many of the alternatives at typical grocery stores. That being said, what I buy regularly is real, high quality food at a great price: oils (olive and avocado), spices, rice and other grains (including frozen small bags of jasmine or brown rice and frozen cauliflower rice), canned goods (beans, crushed tomatoes, etc), coffee beans, tea, almond milk, smoked salmon, half and half, butter, unsweetened Greek yogurt, kale/greek yogurt dip, nuts, dried and freeze dried fruit, unsweetened coconut flakes, avocados, bagged greens and salads, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, tofu, eggs, cheese, pita bread, frozen salmon, frozen shrimp, frozen zoodles. Sometimes organic berries in season are a great price. I tend not to buy chocolate covered nuts, espresso beans and fruits but they are awesome. Just discovered their new (?) fresh flatbread pizza crusts and I really like those. I buy soaps and laundry detergent from time to time. I don’t love everything I have tried but have only found one product ever that I truly hated: their sushi. Literally the worst. But honestly no reason to buy that there; I was just curious. In addition, their pre-sliced melon can be iffy.
Here is something TJs is good at. Orchids. Just picked up a lovely, huge, double stemmed orchid for a friend for $13.
Also, for dessert last night we had a peach & cream tart from the freezer case. It was pretty good.
Personally, my parents loved Trader Joes but I much prefer Wholefoods. I pretty much exclusively shop their since Prime Members get a discount. Although TJ’s Pizzas are pretty good actually.
“I pretty much exclusively shop their since Prime Members get a discount.”
As a Prime member, you’re only getting a discount on certain items on sale. It’s not a discount on all your shopping.
Well, it’s close enough of a discount lol. Their quality is excellent though!
WF is better quality and selection, but TJ is much cheaper, that pretty much sums it.
I love Trader Joe’s and have been shopping there for many years. Within a 5 minute walk from my house is a Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods and Ralph’s grocery store. I shop at all three for different items. I live in SoCal and the fruits and veggies at my Trader Joe’s are excellent. Some things we love are the organic arugula, spinach and cheese tortelinni, cheeses, crackers and the mini ice cream cones.
I agree, they have the worst sushi I’ve ever had. We had to throw it away, it was so bad.
We buy gifts to bring back home because there are no TJs in HI. Mostly we buy spices, dried fruit and small items that pack well. Have also bought wool dryer balls.
No TJs nearby, but I occasionally hit one on the way home from my parents’ house. Love the frozen Argentinian red shrimp ($9.99/lb and they actually do taste slightly more like lobster than shrimp) and the chicken chili lime burgers. The frozen Chinese foods (dumplings, fried rice, etc.) are cheap and quick and slightly healthier than takeout. I also like the refrigerated ravioli (various flavors) and tortellini, and the frozen garlic naan.
I’m looking forward to trying some of the things that numerous people love.
The typical grocery stores here in the SF Bay Area are WF, Safeway, Mollie Stone, Draegers, Lunardi’s and smaller independents, all WAY WAY better for buying fruits and vegetables and whatever else I need. I try to avoid boxed and bagged food (unless I’m bagging it), if I can. Generally bagged and boxed food consists of processed or heavily processed foods.
Coffee beans? I’ll go to a store, like Peets or a specialty shop, where I can get high quality beans from various parts of the world.
I/we keep reading about increased cancer rates and I’m wondering if there’s a connection to processed food. I dunno, but I try my best to stay away.
It probably comes down to what you buy there, but I’m surprised to see those two listed as comparable or interchangeable. Have to admit that I don’t frequent either of them since there are better alternatives for most of my shopping but around here WF changed drastically after Amazon bought it - it’s just as expensive (except for the few deals for Prime Members), the quality has decreased and it’s visibly filthy. Not just grime on cases and shelves, it’s become the sort of place where you’re not shocked to find a homeless guy rooting around in the bulk dried fruit container. No, thanks.
TJ here is clean and has good employees, but the only things I buy there are dried fruits, nuts, bulk chocolate for baking and every once in a while cheese.
But there’s no way I’d call them comparable or in competition with the other - at least around here.
I buy cheap bananas at both. When I was going to school, there was a WF around the corner from class but I wouldn’t go out of my way. I am on a very tight budget and as the sole person in my household, I can bring home a bag of stuff from Trader Joe’s almost every week.
I put the two up for comparison (if we could have a poll) because it seems through these 9 pages many people ARE comparing WF and TJ’s.
@LuckyCharms913 “No TJs nearby, but I occasionally hit one on the way home from my parents’ house. Love the frozen Argentinian red shrimp ($9.99/lb and they actually do taste slightly more like lobster than shrimp) and the chicken chili lime burgers.”
I’ve had both of those within the last two weeks. I’ll get some Brioche buns and guacamole and tomatoes to go with the chili lime burgers and I used the shrimp to make some shrimp and andouille jambalaya yesterday. $10/pound for peeled deveined shrimp is pretty good.
Yes, I’m seeing what you’re seeing, it’s just surprising. Could be different cleanliness and alternatives/lack of alternatives in different places or could be people just buying different things. My friends that buy a lot of pre-prepared foods all like our Whole Foods and since Amazon bought it, the pre-prepared foods section was enlarged to be around 1/4 or more of the store, so maybe since I don’t buy that I’m missing the appeal.
Neither WF or TJs has the best produce quality or prices around here.
Their chocolate covered almonds always taste burnt.
I think they are overrated.
I go for flowers and suntan lotion.
WF’s meat and sea foods all have clear information about their sources, not so at TJ.
TJ’s sushi (if we could call then that) is horrid.
Agree that since Amazon’s purchase of WFs, it has slowly changed. Slightly reduced prices, more sales, but also more conventional produces. I really love WFs and don’t want it to become another Kroger/Publix.
Trader Joe’s always seems to be mentioned in my daily legal reporter a lot more than Whole Foods- and not in a good way! The TJs in our area is not close to us, but my daughter enjoys shopping there. I don’t do our grocery shopping, but I love the Whole Foods salad/hot food bar. Pricey, though.
The only time I bought something from WF it went moldy so fast I never bothered to go back. It’s not located in a town that I go to anymore. (I used to do a lot of work in that town, and there used to be a nice art store in the same mall, but no longer!) The TJ’s I could easily shop at more often - I pass it regularly. I haven’t seen anything on anyone’s list of must buys that tempts me. We have a very nice local small chain where I do much of my shopping and a big Fairway (nicer than the Manhattan one) that I also shop at a lot. That Fairway also has a nice wine store associated with it with tastings on Sunday, so it’s become a ritual to go to the gym, then taste wine then buy staples.