Here’s a new thread for 2021 Grocery Outlet finds for the Western States. Almost all of Grocery Outlet’s stores are in California, Nevada, Washington, Oregon and Idaho. There are now about 20 stores in Pennsylvania. The SF Bay Area GO thread has been, by far, the most active since the only other GO thread, in the Culture,Chains board, has not had a new post in over a year and consolidating the Western States Grocery Outlet posts into this thread seems convenient and efficient since it is a chain.
Here’s a link to the last post on the old 2020 Grocery Outlet thread:
Tazely Kosher Dill pickle wholes , $1.99 (they also have spears, same price I think). Only vinegar pickles and not the real lacto-fermented stuff, but the branding made it look like they could be decent. Weirdly small for dill pickles, haven’t tasted yet. Product of Turkey.
L’Italy sundried tomatoes “with olive oil”, $5.99 for 35 oz, also product of Turkey
TCHO Mint Chocolate gelato chocolate bar, $2.49. Pretty good.
TCHO Egg Nog white chocolate bar, $2.49. I am opposed to white chocolate on general principle, but this is definitely faithful to the eggnog flavor it’s trying to be. Nice.
TCHO Rum Raisin chocolate bar, $2.49. This is…not good. I sort of guessed rum raisin and chocolate would be a hard combo to make work, and my guess was not wrong in this case. Most of the problem seems to be with whatever is supposed to be the “rum” flavor here; to me it tastes more off and plasticky than lending any note of booziness or funkiness from the flavor of a pot-distilled rum.
I noticed they have the D’Vash date syrup back in stock. The bottle is small and I wouldn’t get another for $3.99, but if they lower the price I’d pick up more for sure.
$2.99/4 oz. - Trois Petits Cochons Organic Mousse Aux Cepes - Organic Chicken Liver, Pork and and Wild Mushroom Mousse - organic, made in USA, Best By 1/30/2021, delicious.
$1.99/8.5 oz. - Bubbies Prepared Horseradish, no preservatives, non-GMO prepared for Bubbies of Ventura, CA. I used to get horseradish at Trader Joe’s but they no longer carry it.
I opened the jar of pickles - they’re fine, but nothing to write home about. The strange part is that it almost seems like the manufacturer made garlic dill pickles out of the type/size of cucumbers that are typically used to make sweet gherkins.
It’s funny because if anything GO (and possibly the Mission store owners specifically) tend to inflate the “elsewhere” price on the tag. Example: I just checked Total Wine/Bevmo/Safeway; they carry Kahlua in the $15-22 range, not $26.49. So it’s especially odd to not see GO inflate the “elsewhere” price to the moon on a well-known premium product like HS.
I’ve gone back to the San Lorenzo GO now a 2nd time to re-stock on the 2015 Trenel Beaujolais-Villages. $4.99. Ridiculous.
I’ve heard that a lot of ‘steal wines’ out in the market these days (from GO or otherwise) are from Cruise lines cancelling their 2020/21 orders; wouldn’t be surprised if this Trenel suffered a similar fate. I just hope to see subsequent vintages come to GO in the coming months…maybe!
I stopped in to the Mission GO last night and grabbed two pints of the Humphry Slocombe. (The “jam” is blueberry.) The fourth ingredient is actually buttermilk, and you can taste the tartness. Kind of reminds me of those funky Salt and Straw flavors with balsamic vinegar and blue cheese and whatnot. Wouldn’t rush to get this again, but it’s definitely a deal if you like these flavors in ice cream.
99 cents/32 oz. Elmhurst Milked Cashews, with a small amount of sugar (2 gr. of cane sugar per 8 oz. serving, no gums or stabilizers) Located in a stack near the end of the long freezer aisle, close to the deli section, not refrigerated. This is the closest I’ve tasted a plant-based milk to the taste of real dairy milk, extraordinary. I’m glad that I bought 4 cartons and will buy more if I see it again. It has good reviews on Amazon.
$2.99/13 oz. Hillshire Farm Pastrami Ultra-Thin, no added nitrates or nitrites. Not super salty and for about $3.70/lb. I’ll take it. Yes, I know, the photo below from a google image is of a 7 oz. package but the package I bought is in fact 13 oz.
Also
99 cents/9 oz.Hillshire Farm Mesquite Smoked Turkey Breast Ultra-Thin
99 cents/9 oz. Hillshire Farm Brown Sugar Ham Ultra-Thin
$1.99/16 oz. Rust Belt Ajvar Extra Spicy Roasted Mediterranean Pepper Relish, from a Macedonian recipe, a touch of sweetness to go with the garlic, habanero and roasted red peppers. Manufactured by Rust Belt Pepper of Boardman, OH. It pairs well with the Hillshire Farm Roasted Turkey Breast.
$4.99 Adulation California Zinfandel 2016, 14.5% ABV, vinted and bottled in Napa. A very heavy bottle with a deep punt (I think that’s what you call the large dimple at the bottom of the bottle) . I had an Adulation Pinot Noir a few weeks ago and enjoyed it. I wonder who really makes this wine if it’s a secondary label.
