Trader Joes

[Irulan]

They opened last year near mean, and I still don't get it. Sure there's a few staple type products, and I agree that the frozen fish is a great buy. However, what I see when I go there is aisles of "healthy" prepared and frozen foods, and "healthy" junk and snacks. Each time I go in there I come out pretty empty handed.

[SadieKate]

They opened last year near mean, and I still don't get it. Sure there's a few staple type products, and I agree that the frozen fish is a great buy. However, what I see when I go there is aisles of "healthy" prepared and frozen foods, and "healthy" junk and snacks. Each time I go in there I come out pretty empty handed.

DITTO! I do pick up their small housebrand granola bars because it is so difficult to find good granola bars that aren't sized to feed King Kong. However, I far prefer Bunny Bars (especially the choco cherry).

[roo4]

I buy olive oil and maple syrup from trees and balsamic vinegar and honey and oh, who am I kidding? I go for the impulse items--dark chocolate covered dried cherries and anything else that looks good. We don't have one locally, so it isn't a problem to buy a couple of treats once or twice a year.

[Crankin]

Oh yeah, and dark chocolate bars, for my nightly 2 squares of chocolate. 3.99 a bar.

[Owlie]

I get some of their boxed Indian food. It's not bad for the price. They used to have amazing frozen naan. I also like the huge bags of nuts and things. Oh, and the junk food--the chocolate-covered espresso beans, the toffee, and some of the cookies. I haven't been to one in ages, though. Neither the one here nor the one in Cincinnati are in terribly convenient locations for me. (And the one in Cincy is nearly impossible to get out of.)

[carlotta]

In addition to the occasional junk food, I buy this stuff fairly often:

Olive oil (the Spanish extra virgin is good/cheap).
The generic balsamic is good enough for daily use.
Almond/flax seed butter.
Almond meal, great addition to breads/muffins.
Greek yogurt, the plain 16oz 2% variety is a good deal.
Nuts, although our local co-op has expanded their bulk section recently and I need to re-price per lb.
Either the dark chocolate lovers' bars (72%?) or the little three-pack of dark chocolate bars live in my desk at work for the occasional chocolate fix.
Lara bars and Kind bars (work snacks/emergency lunch) are cheaper there than elsewhere. I sometimes buy the trail mixes for airplane or other travel food too.
The smoked trout/sardines make good salad additions and are cheaper than grocery canned fish.
The veggie potstickers (Gyoza? clear bag with blue/black label) are fairly healthy and fill my 'I need dumplings' fix occasionally.
They have a chicken chili that's pretty tasty and good for occasional 'I don't feel like cooking' dinners.

And you can get a pretty bouquet for $4

I REALLY miss the reasonable/cheap wine and am tempted to make a drive to the NJ store that has wine one of these days....2 buck chuck isn't great, but there is a ton of decent ~$5-6 wine that is way better than what the state wine stores in PA sell for similar prices.

[azfiddle]

I shop a lot at Trader Joe's. Honey, quick-cooking steel cut oats, cheeses, frozen teriyaki chicken, Thai green curry sauce, chicken sausages, cats cookies, frozen fruit especially mangos, nuts & dried fruit are some of the main things. And chocolate.... I don't care for some of the pre-seasoned prepared foods- chicken marinated in a curry sauce and pollo asado are both very salty to me, and some of the frozen mixed vegetables have a seasoning I don't care for.

[Sylvia]

I'm a regular at Trader Joe's. However, as others have said, they don't have everything, so I also shop elsewhere.
Some of the items I purchase include nuts, chocolate, soy milk, organic tortilla chips, fruits and veggies, dog treats (I've found they have dog treats made in the USA, many places have them made in China and I don't trust that).

[PamNY]

Trader Joe's has good price/quality on nut butters, cheeses, kefir, vinegar, olive oil, jam and yogurt. Prices on Cliff and Pure bars are better than elsewhere. I love their Cuban-style canned black beans. Hummus, beet salad and pre-cooked lentils are good.

I don't like their breads, and their cottage cheese is too salty.

If your TJ has a wine store, they have good wines in the $6-8 range.

The employees are generally cheerful and helpful, which is a pleasant change from a lot of stores.

[Norse]

We were lucky enough to have a TJs open just about 1 mile from our home. We buy most of our stuff from the farmer's market (rarely go to Whole Foods - it is too pricey), supplemented by TJs and rare trips to the regular locally-owned grocery store and one co-op. Among the many regular purchases and faves:
- peanut butter
- hummus
- bagged greens
- nuts of all sorts
- mini-carrots for our dog (her favorite snack) and dried chicken breast strips, also for the dog; for the cats, "holistic" kitty treats
- olive oil
- dijon mustard
- boxed soups and stocks
- some dried pasta and gnocchi
- tuscan bread
- greek yogurt and cottage cheese
- various frozen desserts (the lava cakes and apple blossoms are a special treat)
- ham and gruyere tart
- jojoba oil, face lotion, hand lotion, Tom's toothpaste...

... and of course, cheap wine Honestly, they have the lowest prices for many everyday items.

[Norse]

Oh yes, also canned white and black beans and artichoke hearts, breakfast/snack fruit bars, and quick-cooking steel-cut oats. DP and I literally jumped up and down for joy when we first learned that we were getting a TJs in our neighborhood.

[spokewench]

We do not have TJs in our town so I miss them. When I go to visit my sister, I always buy a case of wine (Charles Shaw, of course) they call it two buck chuck (that's what it sells for in California TJs. Here in AZ it is 3 buck chuck. Also, they carry some very good wines in the range of $3.99 to $8.99. I also buy my proseco there it is half price of what I can buy it here in my town.
I like the cherry jam, montmorency cherries, all packaged nuts are good.
I don't usually buy fresh goods there or frozen since I have a 4 hour trip to get home.

[bluebug32]

I don't live near a TJ's, but whenever I do go I have to buy their ginger snaps. Three kinds of ginger, a soft center and perfectly crunchy outer...oh yeah. Nothing else quite like them.

[GLC1968]

This is a timely thread for me. We rarely ever shopped at TJ's (the one time I did, I was disappointed that I couldn't buy what I considered basics like certain types of flour) and often walked out empty handed since I didn't eat prepared foods and avoided nuts.

Now there is one on my route home (and a Whole Foods and a Peet's!!), so I'm looking forward to exploring what they have to offer. I will definitely look for nuts and olive oils since we use a lot of both...but you all have given me some other good ideas. Thanks!

[Dogmama]

Love their organic veggies.

And dog treats - as somebody mentioned - made in the US from real food. Even organic dog treats (like he notices...not!)

I do like their organic peanut butter. I pour off the extra oil.