Friends and I are renting a house 3 miles west of the airport (Arden neighborhood) for a few days, a Friday to a Tuesday. We’re a large enough group that we can’t eat at restaurants, so plan to cook or shop instead.
Any suggestions for farmers markets or places for fresh produce (dino kale desired)? Any delis or takeout places that shouldn’t be missed by people coming from the SF Bay Area? Our group has vegetarians, vegans, kids, and spice-averse folks in the mix.
In addition to Trader Joe’s and Costco, I was planning to get fresh tortillas from Mariana’s (any better suggestions?), and Ethiopian takeout from Peace Ethiopian Cafe (they said they had tef injera, but other recommendations welcome). We also plan to hit Ranch 99 for Asian ingredients (their produce in the SF Bay Area is mixed quality, is it any better in Vegas and is SF Market preferable?).
Ron’s Market looks good for Eastern European meats and cheeses.
meatn3
(equal opportunity eater in the NC Triangle)
2
I had a tenative trip planned for Las Vegas and started some food reseasrch. There is a monthly food fair at the Buddhist Monastery which might be a fun outing for your group if the timeing works.
The Buddhist Monastery doesn’t have a fair this time of year, but I’ll check that out if I return in another month!
Shopping was successful, and I’ll write up in other threads our restaurant meals at Chada Thai, Mian (an offshoot of Chengdu Taste), Fuku Burger, and Chino Poblano.
Mariana’s was a large, well stocked Latino (Mexican?) grocery store and I was able to get freshly made corn and flour tortillas. They also had fresh huaraches and one or two other masa items. Lots of cheap spices. Tamales were available hot, but not refrigerated or frozen.
Ranch 99 was in a large, primarily Asian food, shopping center. Produce quality was a step above the Bay Area Ranch 99 I used to go to, but bakery selection was inferior. I didn’t catch the names, but the shopping center had a Taiwanese steam-table takeout place with tasty cold dishes. There are two bakeries in the complex, a Chinese bakery which had stale pineapple buns, and a recently opened Paris Baguette (Korean chain).
We got most of what we needed at the above markets and picked up yuppie foods at Sprouts, which was decent for bulk items and had good quality, but an odd stocking of product (e.g., they were out of basil, which Albertson’s had in abundance).
The sources of 100% tef injera I had called ahead of time failed to have any the day I needed some. We wound up getting takeout from Merkato Ethiopian. Their injera was made from a wheat and tef mix, and lacked any sour tang, but we all were happy at its freshness. Meat and vegetarian dishes had a good amount of spice heat.
I never cease to marvel at the diversity of food shopping in the USA. Here in the UK a similar post on shopping in unfamiliar territory would major on whether the local Tesco (dominant supermarket chain) was offering a 2 for 1 on potatoes!
We do have local and farmers’ markets, but 90% of what they offer are simply superior and expensive versions of items carried by most supermarkets. You really are most fortunate.
