Safeway bought the Andronico’s chain, and they just closed the stores to remodel them branded as some kind of “community market”. They should reopen in a couple of weeks.
That’s interesting. Our original 1958 era Safeway up here in Ashland (think Marina)became a Haggen’s in the merger with Albertson’s, then closed.
Safeway bought back its old store and is “upgrading” it. Supposed to have a Sushi bar and other unique features. Sounds like the same concept.
No Straus or Talenti at the Geary GO today. They had Tillamook ice cream, and Jack Nicklaus (!) brand.
Portola GO: 52 oz bag of assorted mini Reese’s peanut butter cups for $6. As the TJs price for these is about $4 for 16 oz, I figured it was worth a shot.
Various jams and preserves are going for $1 each.
Has anyone tried the Gallo dry salame? They are pretty large for only about $6.
So far the Geary GO seems to beat the other SF stores in terms of wine selection. Wonder if it is the owners, the closer proximity to Napa/Sonoma, or some other factor.
Geary GO: Talenti Gelato for $2 or $2.50 I think, Tiramisu, Coffee Toffee, Oatmeal Raisin Cookie flavors
Picked up the Gallo dry salame for $5 (2 lbs). Not bad.
There was an interesting gourmet-looking olive oil for about $6 for 1L, passed only because I have a full bottle at the moment.
The Slovenian winery whose pinot grigio they were selling last month (Puklavec) now has a moscato there for about $5. I picked up a bottle for a friend. Incidentally, the dry-ish moscato (Le French Frog) they had a few months ago was a really nice quaff; hoping against hope they get some more.
Your inventories make me wonder if Grocery Outlet is anything more than an outlet for remaindered haute junk food. It sounds like an overgrown Trader Joe’s without the staples. .
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It is my understanding that about 1/2
of inventory is distributed among all stores and then locals order according to their store clientele. We have 2 here in the Rogue Valley and the Medford one is much more TJ/natural than the GP one.
I don’t think they still do, but in the past that used to carry foods that, based on the expiration dates and coincidences or inventory, were either secondhand from Whole Foods or, or at least had the same distributors.
Edit: they claim to Buy from manufacturers, but not from other retail stores so I guess I’m wrong about Whole Foods
Went there today, and was unimpressed. Someone on Yelp! described it as 80% Safeway, 20% Andronico’s, and that seems about right to me. They did reportedly keep the staff (my checker this morning was the same one I always see at 7:30 on a Saturday morning). Visually they didn’t change much–it still looks like Andronico’s–but the selection is diminished in some unfortunate ways. I relied on Andronico’s to keep me supplied with Dolin Blanc; today the only vermouth they had was Gallo, which is the Number One Vermouth of People Who Don’t Put Any Vermouth at All in Their Martinis (because the vermouth they know tastes like ass). The olive etc. bar has been stocked with the standard Safeway stock (goodbye to Andronico’s feta-stuffed olives). The meat counter still looks pretty good, but I don’t know if they have the same suppliers and all.
On the whole, one less reason to venture south of the Park.
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Which Andronicos are you referring to?
What are they going to do with the two Safeways now they are 2 blocks from each other on Shattuck…
The Sunset location (Irving between Funston & 14th).
Andronicos is still being remodeled on Shattuck.
My dad, who goes there all the time, did say that they are keeping all the staff. He also said that one reason for the change in selection is that some places won’t sell to Safeway.
New at Trader Joe’s (my local one, at least): Trader Joe’s Mixed Nut Butter. This could be called Fancy Mixed Nut Butter, because no peanuts are involved, and it’s a real treat for nut butter fans like me. The nuts, in the order listed, are Almonds, Cashews, Walnuts, Brazil Nuts, Hazelnuts & Pecans. For some reason, the flavor of Brazil nuts really comes out for me, even though it’s the fourth of six ingredients in quantity. It’s a little on the oily side, which makes it easy to stir, and good for dipping your favorite crunchy in, which is how I’ve consumed most of my first jar.
There’s no disclaimer on the jar about it being made in a facility where peanuts are used, but you might want to double check with TJ’s if you have a peanut allergy.
It was $5.99 IIRC for a 12 oz. jar.
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We were doing a cheese/charcuterie lunch so I was grabbing various bags of chippies while at Piedmont Grocery/Oakland. The one that everybody raved over and emptied first was the Sweet Potato chips from a Denver company called Food Should Taste Good, Inc. So good the next time I was in the store I bought another bag just for me to nosh on!
We can buy Talenti gelato at Safeway, but the only flavor I’ve really liked is their Alphonse Mango. It’s amazing. Closest thing to fresh mangos, my HK-born spouse loves this.
If anybody ever finds any good - meaning not air-whipped - black walnut ice cream, please call out. Hagan Daz has discontinued theirs and now I have to make it myself at home, which is no biggie but I really liked theirs. Since black walnuts are not popular out here I have to mailorder both the nuts and extract.
For some reason I’d just never tried the butcher dept. at Piedmont Grocery. I finally did, earlier this month (Feb 2017) with a bang - a massive 5-rib, 14 lb. prime rib roast. I checked out Clove & Hoof’s dry-aged at $29.99/lb but decided to get Piedmont’s roast at $19.99/lb.
The butcher offered to cut the bone away and retie it for easy roasting/slicing, so I took him up on that. I marinate my beef so cutting it away from the bone made it easier to spread the marinade on both top and bottom of the meat.
Very pleased with the roast. Not the best/fanciest grade beef but way above the usual Safeway/Lucky carp. Good firm texture, not watery or excessively chewy. A bargain for the price. I’ll definitely be patronizing their meat dept more often.
Price drop. The Straus icecream are now at Palo Alto Grocery Outlet at $1.99. Same selection as before.
Grocery Outlet is open at 24th and Van Ness.
Milk Pail in Mountain View is this funky little market that, besides produce, cheese, bread, etc, carry one-off interesting items in a little shelf near the icecream. Starting this thread to document some of these finds.
Boules de Miel from Provence- I got the one on the left. Anyone tried the one on the right?
L’epicurien preserved lemons, Rougie pate/ rilettes.
They also have Sabatino Tartufi whole black summer truffle, though I am skeptical about jarred truffles in general.
1 oz San Daniele Principe prosciutto $1.49. 2 for $2. best before 4/12.
