Since things have settled more, I’m back to my old 6 am run through Wegmans. I know where everything is and I’m out with a week’s worth of groceries in 15 minutes since mostly it’s just me and the employees at that hour.
The reason I’m posting however is for those who, like me, over the years found Wegmans lobster salad to be the best one around. I’d tried them all from Delicious Orchards to Sickles and Wegmans was the clear winner. All of them are outrageously priced, but for a treat, a Wegmans lobster salad sandwich was my go to.
I hadn’t had one in a long while so I was seriously psyched to pick up a small container of the $40 a pound lobster salad and one of their excellent onion rolls. Lunch couldn’t come fast enough. That is, until I ate my sandwich. I had a clue as I loaded up the roll. ALL the pieces of lobster were the worst parts, bits of spiny leg and the small, bad end of the claw. Gone were the huge chunks of tail meat and big juicy ends of claw. And it tasted of it! Until today I have never thrown out even a small part of any lobster sandwich!
So, big downhill alert to any of my fellow Wegmans lobster salad lovers. RIP to the old king.
If you are ever in Manasquan, check out the lobster salad from Hinck’s on Atlantic Avenue. I am not a lobster lover, but my family is, and they love it! We get it primarily around the holidays because it is pricey.
The food court is open for “eat-in”, though there are fewer tables than before. Ordering is at one of four or so kiosks; you pick up at the window when they call your number. Their menu is limited: sundaes, frozen yogurt, iced coffee, smoothies, hot dogs, pizza (cheese or pepperoni–Mark reports the pepperoni pizza is really greasy), chicken bakes, and soda. There is ketchup and (yellow) mustard, but no deli mustard and no onions. There are also the packets of Parmesan and pepper flakes. If you want to refill your soda, you need to get a new cup. The plasticware is in a dispenser where you grab the handle of what you want and pull–no more just having them loose in large cups. Straws are individually wrapped and handed to you with your cup/drink.
They now have self-service checkouts for the store, but the lines were really long at all the checkouts, so we did not do any shopping. (The main reason we went was to pick up my eyeglasses.) So I don’t know if samples are back–supposedly they will be sometime this month. Oh, and no masks required for the fully vaccinated, although they say some parts of the store may require them (e.g., optical, audiology, pharmacy).
Went to middletown shoprite opening today. It’s real nice, but it’s a standard style shoprite but not the “wegmans style” shoprite that some of the new places are.
They also had A5 wagyu for 90 bucks, apparently long branch has this too now. Can’t believe we are living in a day where shoprites have wagyu, but I ain’t complaining!
Also they had a GIANT whole octopus for 9 bucks/lb. I wonder who is buying a 10+ lb octopus around these parts.
I notice that Shoprite in Aberdeen no longer has bins for bulk grains, nuts, etc., but has everything pre-packaged in what looked like cellophane. (I saw it only as I passed by the end of the aisle.) I’m pretty sure it’s a hygiene thing, because single-use bags are still allowed for produce and such.
Also, Oikos Yogurt, which has been $1 since Hector was a pup, is now $1.25. I guess they’re following Dollar-and-a-Quarter Tree’s lead.
So as long as this subject is still thriving I would like to bitch about Wegmans. The Manalapan store in particular.
I feel they are squeezing out brand name products and substituting sub par private label products.
The latest outrage to me anyway is Talenti (?) Gelato. The selection of this premium brand is diminishing by the day & additional shelf space given to terrible private label Gelato.
It’s happening throughout the store with many different products most notably to me cereals, cookies & that 90 second rice that this bachelor can’t live without.
Is it me or does anyone else think they are eliminating brand name products.?
That’s been a long standing complaint of mine. Wegmans has seemed to always prioritized their private label brands as the expense of wider variety most other super markets offer.
I don’t shop there enough to notice any recent changes but I have no reason not to believe it.
That may or may not be true. I had trouble finding Sabra hummus at my local ShopRite (Rt 34 in Wall) for the past several weeks. They only had their store brand - which wasn’t bad. I was there Sunday and Sabra was back but only in the smaller containers. Maybe Sabra had issues.
Now that I moved to Monroe I don’t get to Wegman’s anymore, but for 30 years living nearby the Manalapan store they were my go to.
A few things I loved:
Produce. They were always well stocked with quality veg and fruit that, while not cheap, was fairly priced. I lived equidistant from Delicious Orchards and I preferred Wegman’s.
Bakery. I’m mostly off carbs now, but omg. I will always have a soft spot in my heart for Wegman’s jalapeno cheddar bread and a few other loaves. Their pastry and desserts were always spot on too.
Wegman’s brand. I have a recipe I love that begins, Pour in one large jar of Wegman’s medium salsa. And there are lots of other examples. Maybe I’m not buying their coffee, but most things are as good as any “name” brand.
I also miss those quarter-sized blueberries they had there…
Okay it’s a totally different experience for me.
Wegmans produce seems to go bad a lot quicker than produce from my other haunts.
The bread selection has become very narrow whatever happened to my Marco Polo bread & I find the semolina bread not great.
The fruit tart is never the same twice.
Okay my morning rant is over, off to NYC for a decent bagel ( not really) Happy Tuesday
Is it just me (I basically only shop sales on fresh food) or are we not seeing much of this food inflation everyone keeps talking about? Some things have gone up modestly but nothing out of the ordinary. Loin/ribeye steaks/roasts are still going between 4.99-6.99… Chicken parts can be found for a buck or two… Pork seems to have gone up more but still in a reasonable range. Produce is only up slightly if at all?
(1.) I tend to agree, however I don’t generally buy more than we need for immediate use, so I’m not sure about the shelf life as Ragtop mentioned.
(2,) Never really experienced. However surprisingly Lidl has an excellent bakery section. lol
(3.) I have also found the Wegmans brand to be a suitable substitute for most brands I use. There has been more than one occasion I haven’t been able to find the brand i was looking for, so I “tried” the Wegmans brand and was salified. That said, they do sacrifice many other brands in favor of their own.
(most likely higher margins on their private label brand)
4.) This one is my own, I miss the hot and cold buffet style foods they had. They took away most of their hot food selections as well as their to go mix and match meals. I’m assuming that wasn’t a good seller since they got rid of it, but several times I found that as a big easy and budget friendly last minute answer to the age old questions: “What’s for dinner”.
Honorable mention to their sub/sandwich shop as well. I am a big fan of their wraps and other sandwiches too. (pizza while not “good” in a traditional pizza way, Barstool is never going to review Wegmans, but for whatever kind of pizza you want to call it, it aint half bad - as well as their to-go sushi)
