Which Supermarket do you shop at?

[SL2024 149]

14 minutes ago, ETM8986 said:

It's been an interesting experience trying to shop for groceries here in CA on a very tight budget (husband is in school FT and I haven't been able to find a job yet) - we were going to Aldi's for a while but the selection is limited and lately the quality has been very questionable. Sadness!

(I visited the in-laws in TX over the new year though and they took us to Central Market. Oh my goodness that was quite an experience.)

 

We go Walmart just purely for cost even if the quality isn't amazing

10 minutes ago, Ontarkie said:

It's the stuff we end up getting. I'm sure other things are not too bad, but when you have 5 to buy for it is never under $70 

 

Ahhh that makes sense!

[Crazy Cat 42,682]

99 Ranch Asian Market- for all our fresh green veggies, carrots, rice

Walmart Neighborhood Market- for some veggies in between visits to the Asian Market and broiled chickens sometimes

Tom Thumb- for the pork shoulder

Aldi- for the lower sodium bacon

In that order

 

My wife and I have been married for almost 10 years.  She has NEVER cooked anything from a can...other than Spam (rarely). 

Edited Wednesday at 11:56 PM by Crazy Cat

[TBoneTX 46,373]

Sam's smacks of Walmart.

I like Costco for their monthly specials and high quality.  Hard to resist buying more than what I went for.

The only Buc-ee's that I ever went into, the bathroom was the worst disaster ever.  Turned me off.

[PGA 267]

3 hours ago, Ontarkie said:

I don't care for Aldi's. Went in there and nothing worth it for me. 

Maybe it's a regional thing but MOST, not all, things I have purchased from Aldi is pretty good. Their fish selection here is excellent and it's my go-to place. 

18 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

Sam's smacks of Walmart.

I like Costco for their monthly specials and high quality.  Hard to resist buying more than what I went for.

The only Buc-ee's that I ever went into, the bathroom was the worst disaster ever.  Turned me off.

Yeah, I like Costco too but the closest one to me is too far. Word is they're supposed to be building one closer but I haven't seen anything yet.  

[Ontarkie 14,597]

2 hours ago, PGA said:

Maybe it's a regional thing but MOST, not all, things I have purchased from Aldi is pretty good. Their fish selection here is excellent and it's my go-to place. 

Yeah, I like Costco too but the closest one to me is too far. Word is they're supposed to be building one closer but I haven't seen anything yet.  

That could be it.  I found that they barely had anything. The stuff I would normally buy form them is just sold in small packs. In the long run would cost more. Fish is probably more regional too. I would not ever buy fish from them. 

 

We buy primal cuts of meat. So Costco is the best place for that. Sam's club doesn't carry the big chunks of meat like that. Luckily it is only 25 minutes away. 

 

 

[TBoneTX 46,373]

Nearest regular Costco is 4.5 miles away.

Costco Business Center (also source of cool specials) is ~8 miles away.

[SL2024 149]

We go Costco every now and then. I still haven't had their $1.50 hot dog yet 

[ETM8986 11]

On 2/27/2025 at 7:23 AM, SL2024 said:

We go Walmart just purely for cost even if the quality isn't amazing

I used to shop at Aldis when I was living in Australia and it was never disappointing, so it was a bit of an adjustment to realise that Aldis here aren't quite the same. We've found some good deals though.

 

We try to avoid Walmart if we can for various reasons - we've also had bad luck with meat purchases there too for some reason. I guess it's unavoidable for some household goods though.

 

On 2/27/2025 at 7:55 AM, Crazy Cat said:

99 Ranch Asian Market- for all our fresh green veggies, carrots, rice

Oh yes - 99Ranch is great! But where we are there isn't one remotely nearby to where we are now (nearest one is 97 miles away according to Google 😂).

I've heard Costco is the stuff of legends, but we don't have a membership with them and I guess it's hard to justify it for a household of just 2. I certainly do like Kirkland for the quality though.

[SL2024 149]

2 minutes ago, ETM8986 said:

I used to shop at Aldis when I was living in Australia and it was never disappointing, so it was a bit of an adjustment to realise that Aldis here aren't quite the same. We've found some good deals though.

 

We try to avoid Walmart if we can for various reasons - we've also had bad luck with meat purchases there too for some reason. I guess it's unavoidable for some household goods though.

 

Yeah I always found Aldi to be ok and even though they were cheaper than most supermarkets in the UK the quality wasn't bad. Usually Aldi and Lidl are very popular especially since the pandemic and when inflation was high. I haven't seen an Aldi since I have been here though.

 

I am hoping to convince my wife for us to go Safeway once I am working. Their banana cream pies are so good! 

[TBoneTX 46,373]

On 2/27/2025 at 1:37 AM, SL2024 said:

We go Costco every now and then. I still haven't had their $1.50 hot dog yet 

It's a full meal that I avail myself of as often as possible.   

[Dashinka 24,959]

On 2/27/2025 at 12:56 AM, TBoneTX said:

Nearest regular Costco is 4.5 miles away.

Costco Business Center (also source of cool specials) is ~8 miles away.

We actually have 4 Costco's within about 30 minutes from us.  We tend to prefer those for some things, but sometimes the sizes are just too big for a family of two.

[SL2024 149]

2 hours ago, Dashinka said:

We actually have 4 Costco's within about 30 minutes from us.  We tend to prefer those for some things, but sometimes the sizes are just too big for a family of two.

 

We have 2 each about 10 miles from us and we do enjoy getting some items from there but I do agree with you that sometimes it is hard to get through those items when there is only just 2 of you.

[mam521 2,284]

On 2/26/2025 at 1:16 AM, TBoneTX said:

The only thing that I hate about HEB is all the personal shoppers gathering curbside orders.  The miserable carts are as tall as the Empire State Building and block the aisles.

This drives me absolutely bananas.  I was in there last week, on the hunt for meat and of course, there were 3 of them parked right in front of the meat cooler I needed into and during peak hours of the store.  Really, that personal shopping should be an off peak hours thing because it ruins the store experience.  

 

On 2/26/2025 at 5:05 AM, Dashinka said:

That is definitely true, plus you don't have to deal with the semis coming in and going out.

That depends if you can actually get in.  We have passed the one in Madisonville a couple of times where the lineup on the offramp to get into the place is backed up all the way onto I-45.  Hard pass.  I'll mosey on up the road to Centerville, make a pit stop and hit Woody's to buy jerky that Buc-ee's would have charged 3x the price for.  

 

On 2/26/2025 at 5:08 PM, ETM8986 said:

they took us to Central Market. Oh my goodness that was quite an experience.

I'm perturbed that I have to go into Houston proper to hit a Central Market.  They carry St. Viateur bagels, direct from Montreal, under some exclusive agreement.  The regular, old HEB's don't.  It makes me sad.     

On 2/26/2025 at 5:55 PM, Crazy Cat said:

She has NEVER cooked anything from a can...other than Spam (rarely).

Hawaiians would be proud!  

[Dashinka 24,959]

1 hour ago, mam521 said:

This drives me absolutely bananas.  I was in there last week, on the hunt for meat and of course, there were 3 of them parked right in front of the meat cooler I needed into and during peak hours of the store.  Really, that personal shopping should be an off peak hours thing because it ruins the store experience.  

 

That depends if you can actually get in.  We have passed the one in Madisonville a couple of times where the lineup on the offramp to get into the place is backed up all the way onto I-45.  Hard pass.  I'll mosey on up the road to Centerville, make a pit stop and hit Woody's to buy jerky that Buc-ee's would have charged 3x the price for.  

 

I'm perturbed that I have to go into Houston proper to hit a Central Market.  They carry St. Viateur bagels, direct from Montreal, under some exclusive agreement.  The regular, old HEB's don't.  It makes me sad.     

Hawaiians would be proud!  

So far, I have only had one experience at Buc-ees (I75 in central Kentucky), and I guess we hit it at a good time as it was not too busy, so it was just like a normal fuel stop.  Regardless, I would definitely not go out of my way to hit a Buc-ees.  I rather like Love's when traveling out West, easy in, easy out, plus they always have (at least to my experience) good windshield squeegee's with long handles which is nice for cleaning the bugs off the window.