Is that the one on B Street? My daughter lives near there and I shopped it last week, looking for wine. I live in SoCal and was hoping to find a better (or at least a different) selection. Odd……. of maybe 300+ wines, only 25 or so were whites. I did buy several reds though, and so far so good.
More on topic, the cheese section was very small but I did find a few aged cheddars I hope to enjoy.
Yup, that’s the one. Let’s just say that Grocery Outlet stores are tailored to the neighborhood they’re in, so what they have in Palo Alto doesn’t make it to East Hayward.
Well I agree, but I had no luck making that case somewhere else when I said that my local GO had a selection that was much less exciting/interesting than those described in the SF area. I was told, essentially, that I wasn’t looking hard enough.
Hi sck,
I’ll probably go back to the Oakland Grocery Outlet in 2 or 3 weeks when they have their Spring 20% Off Wine Sale from April 6 through 12 and April 12 will be a twice-a-year double dip sale when the wine sale coincides with Oakland’s senior discount morning for a total 28% discount on wine.
I also saw the Port Salut and Black Diamond 2- and 3-year aged cheddars but did not buy them. Melanie Wong at Chowhound, in probably her last Grocery Outlet post there, had pictures and prices for the Port Salut, Carr Valley Glacier Point Blue, and the Black Diamond cheeses which I copied and posted below. They are from the Marina GO on the Monterey Peninsula.
Port Salut, $1.99/5.3 oz
Black Diamond 2 y.o. premium reserve cheddar, $3.99/6 oz or 3 y.o grand reserve cheddar, $4.49/6 oz
Thanks baron 45,
That cheese display in GO South San Francisco looks similar to Oakland but more fully stocked. I recognize the Bulgarian White Sheep Milk, Carr Valley, the aged cheddars, Bear State and the others. Some of the repackaged wedges may be imported grass-fed Gouda.
Oakland had a lot of the Miyoko’s vegan cheeses but maybe the other stores place them in the deli wall and not in the cheese island. There seems to be a lot of cheese recently and GO has a very respectable selection for their price point - a good excuse to experiment.
This looks very similar to the counter at the GO that I frequent most (Santa Cruz). I picked up the Black Diamond last week when there were 2 left. That is not a common find. I’ve found, at least at my store, some of the more interesting finds in cheese are not always in the primary cheese display but rather in the “specials” case located at the front of the store (usually where the smoked salmon is). They had a sonoma triple cream wheel up there last month, but it didn’t last long and may not have been in too many stores. Another note is that the few times I’ve purchased a GO feta (usually b/c my primary market was out of the French feta that is my day-to-day) it was either turned, or on the brink. Feta’s relatively short freshness window works against GO’s purchasing model.
Also looks like Medford here in Oregon.
I sense a trend.
Those cheese sections are outstanding. My local GO has maybe 2 dozen cheeses and, of those, most are NOT small maker craft cheeses. When I was in Hayward (2 weeks ago) I picked up some interesting ones: Carr Valley Mobay, Somerset Farm (English) , and Old Crock (Australian). Really never see anything that intriguing here.
If any of the feta lovers here have tried the Rodopa Bulgarian White Sheep’s Milk Cheese (formerly called feta), let me know what you think.
Looks like the PA store as well.
I frequent Pacifica, Geary, and San Rafael GOs, with occasional visits to Novato and Petaluma (San Raf is my local).
Geary looks like this, with the “cheese island” which sounds like a common feature. Pacifica and San Rafael both (if I’m recalling correctly) have the cheese in the “dairy/meat” refrigerated shelves.
I haven’t done the math, but I feel like I get better cheese-weight-and-quality-per-pound by buying the rotating featured cheeses at Costco vs. GO. You do wind up with a lot of cheese tho.
I can’t think of any notable differences in cheese carried lately between Pacifica/San Rafael/Geary. (but certainly could happen, as although I’d say about 80% of the products in the stores are on the same schedule, there’s a 20% that seems to vary store to store). Given what I’ve heard of how the wine works, I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that there’s probably a regional list of inventory that store managers choose from. (e.g., when I visited the Tahoe store, I would say the products were at least 60% similar). Would love to hear from someone who knows the true inside details of GO! 
I haven’t found too much that excites me in the cheese section lately. I feel like it’s a lot of packed (vs. by weight) semi-mass market cheddar cheeses. Certainly there’s winners to be found, there was a stretch there where they had a bunch of the Cypress Grove cheese (e.g. Lamb Chopper ) Anyways, I guess that’s what one loves about Grocery Outlet, there’s always something different.
I’m totally envious of people who live by fancy GOs.
That might be a self contradictory term!
The GO in the Mission in SF has a long wall of organic products though, probably the biggest I’ve seen at any GO.
Your last picture reminds me of the famous Andreas Gursky photo of the 99 Cent store. I think I see some Miyoko’s cashew milk vegan cheese on the top right shelf.
No, not if you compared my GO with the ones with the cheese islands, or the huge one in Truckee I visited last summer. The stores in wealthy areas get better and fancier selections than the stores in places like where I live, which is heavily working class.
I doubt that the GO in Palo Alto, for instance, would have canned fish that expired a year ago out on the shelves.
I’ve tried it and liked it! All sheep, if I recall correctly. Intense flavor, a bit on the dry side, but good texture.
Recently at Oakland Grocery Outlet -
The Spring 20% off Wine Sale starts Wednesday, April 6 and lasts for a week. There are now about 2 dozen stacks of wine in the various aisles for a preview of what’s to come. The Villa Stellaria 2020 Petite Sirah looked interesting.
Isle de Cheese de Groceriana Outletandia
$8.99/1 lb (in wedges around $4 each ) -Prairie Farms Guoda, grass-fed,
$1.99/5.3 oz - Port Salut semi-soft cheese, product of France.
$1.99/7 oz - Ammerlander Havarti, sliced, product of Germany.
$4.99/5.29 oz wedge - Parmigiano Reggiano, aged more than 12 months, product of Italy. certified.
Deli -
$1.99/8 oz (4x2oz single containers) - Good Foods Avocado Mash, Hass avocados, lemon juice, black pepper, sea salt, no preservatives, product of Mexico.
$1.99/16 oz - Strauss Family Creamery Organic Sour Cream, from pasture-based herds.
$1.99/8 oz tub -Good Foods Spicy Queso Blanco-style dip, plant based, with cauliflower, chiles, almonds, cashew butter, from Good Foods of Pleasant Prairie WI.
Edited to add:
50 cents/16.9 oz - Vita Coco Boosted, coconut water, coconut cream, caffeine from tea, coconut mct oil, with added B-vitamins, product of Canada.
$1.49/3.53.oz - Polar Kipper Snacks naturally smoked boneless herring fillets in brine and own juice, 1500mg of omega-3 fatty acids per serving, no preservatives, wild caught from North East Atlantic, product of Germany.
These are my favorite kippers and I’ve gone heavy on small canned fish during the pandemic. This is a very good price and will go well with the Strauss Family Organic Sour Cream.
