My son and daughter-in-law just finished shopping at Wagon Wheel on Waltham St. in Lexington. It’s conveniently located off of Rte. 2 near the Waltham border. The farmstand closed for a week or so and converted this week to mostly an open-air market. It seems to be well-thought out and my kids were comfortable in the open air and happy with the offerings.
Staff were all wearing masks and gloves and keeping a good distance apart. There was a good selection of greens, herbs, aromatics, tomatoes, root veggies, etc. There were also some grocery items available such as Kitchen Basics stocks, pastas, condiments, etc. as well as breads, including baguettes, cookies and candies and miscellaneous other items. They also have a walk-up window where you can ask for any items that are inside, which includes cheeses and other refrigerated items. The deli counter is still operational and you can get Boar’s Head meats and cheeses sliced to order (as well as good old Land O’ Lakes American.) (The website says you can still get simple sandwiches, but I’m not sure if they are made to order.) They also grabbed some uncured hot dogs and some cryovaced Dom’s marinated steak tips, and didn’t have to go inside for any of these things. Everyone was very friendly and helpful and happy to grab stuff from inside. The garden supply store was also stocked and open-air and had a decent supply of potted herbs.
They will definitely do most of their shopping here and wanted to encourage people who are skittish about heading inside a regular supermarket to check it out.
Definitely smaller than Idylwilde, and markedly less upscale. The quality is solid and in these times it seems like a good alternative to the grocery for those of us who don’t want to venture inside for whatever reason.
And, yes, I, too, long for the days when we can be carefree in our shopping/visiting again!
Awesome intel. I’ve never been so it seems like as good a time as any to check it out.
I just back from Whole Foods ARL. There was no line to get in, very few people in the store. Seemed well-stocked. Fish counter particularly looked great. Maybe I’m getting complacent, but I felt very much at ease. Everyone being respectful, nearly everyone with a mask. Nothing like the weird WF Medford experience I had last week with the strange and sad older man (which, of course, was no fault of the store).
Oh, good to know. ARL is pretty convenient for me and there are definitely things I can get there and not at Wagon Wheel. If you’re still comfortable at WF, though, you’d probably find more variety than you will at WW. It sounds like they are on top of their game. I went to Newton at the beginning of the quarantine (before social distancing) and they were out of sanitizing wipes for the carts, the lines seemed eternal, etc. I have to say, though, that the staff and other customers were awesome. I’m sure, just like the rest of us, that they are learning as this evolves. I’d be happy to head to ARL in a week or two if it doesn’t look too crazy.
Elmendorf in Cambridge has King Arthur flour, yeast, and lots of other baking supplies for curbside pick up. Check the web site because it’s a changing situation. Same for Clear Flour…although the bakery isn’t open, you can order KAF and yeast and other baking supplies, or at least you could the last time I checked the web site.
A few days ago, I read a NYC -centric article about individuals now being allowed to shop at a restaurant supply company, Baldor. It has a Boston location too, but I don’t know if IT shares the new policy. I don’t recall if anything was said about shopping in person. This piece detailed online ordering. There’s a $250 minimum. Most products are in large packs, like 5 or 10# of meat. But milk was by the gallon and there were other things that are sold in home-size amounts. They bill and deliver the entire order to one location, so the suggestion was that neighbors or relatives get together to amass an order, which one person will pay for with a credit card. S/he will take delivery. The rest of the group can come to pick up and pay for their share.
I believe that on another thread, it was mentioned that in NJ, you can now shop at Restaurant Depot without a business tax I.D.
That’s super interesting. I wonder if this will be the kind of disruption to the current business model that would continue long term.
On a similar note, I have a friend who has an in with Katsiroubas produce supply company and they are dropping produce boxes on her porch of 20# of produce (you don’t get to pick) for $25 apiece if she can pull together at least 4 orders. It’s very unofficial and I wasn’t able to find anything on their website about it, but I went in on her order last week and picked up a box which contained a nice mix of fruits and vegetables. I’d love to offer more info but I don’t have any! It’s all been very hush hush…
Interesting. I didn’t see anything on their website either, but there is reference to boxes they are supplying for people in need, maybe free of charge? And then after one of their posts on facebook, this:
Question: are these just for food pantries?
Katsiroubas Bros: no they are for the public. Keep an eye on our social media. I’ll be posting more pick up sites for next week and launching our e-commerce site.
There is no more info on the site yet, though. I’d be interested in buying from them just to support their efforts.
We are open, fully stocked, and everything is available for curbside pickup or delivery. We are offering delivery for a discounted rate of $5 within 2 miles of the Huron Avenue store. We will provide FREE delivery for all orders over $100. We can also offer delivery to locations beyond this 2-mile radius. Please note our amended hours, for the time being, below.
Please note that we are currently not allowing customers inside the store, and the best way to place an order is to order online using our online ordering form.
Monday - Saturday: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm
Sunday: 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
I’m the biggest fan ever of FK, and I’ll duel anybody with my rapier wit at dawn who thinks they’re bigger, but I must say I find their policies and approach baffling. If you look for the delivery option, where is it?
Plus, their form requires you to call first and place a CC on file.
What I am seeing over and over again is that people who are good at the food business often are bad at websites and logistics. I bet if you call them live you can get it sorted out. Of course that is not their purported preferred method except that it is, lol.
I went to Wagon Wheel in person yesterday around 11 am, and it was a pretty comfortable experience. There were maybe three or four other shoppers so it was easy to keep a distance. They had a decent selection of produce, and the open air felt pretty safe. Shoppers aren’t allowed in the store, but they happily dug out some BelGioioso fontina and asiago for me and I snagged a lb. of sliced Boar’s Head mozzarella to stash in the freezer. They had a selection of store-baked breads (I’m assuming from frozen par-baked) as well as commercial Arnold breads and hamburg rolls. It’s comforting to know that I can grab many of the basics there without heading inside.
A little over 25 years ago, when I was closer in age to many of the FK staff and hung out occasionally with them, I told them about a little technology that was just emerging called the world wide web. They said it was not for them – they relied on person-to-person contact and saw no use for this impersonal internutty thing.
Dom’s Sausage in Medford closed rather abruptly yesterday. This was surprising given that they have been doing a robust take away and delivery business. Orders already placed for later this week were cancelled. It is unclear if their wholesale operations are also suspended. I hope everything is OK with the staff and owners.
Of course that is not their purported preferred method except that it is, lol.