Hi
I was wondering if anyone could let me know if there is any "order" of quality/price for food shopping in the OC/CA area?
Ie: in england from cheapest to more expensive I would say
Asda, tesco, sainsbury etc...
could anyone help me with the shops here like Ralphs, trader joes, albertsons etc..
thank you!
Laety

Out of that list I say
1. Trader joes
We shop Safeway which is Vons in OC.
Walmart is the bottom of my food shopping list, nasty place.
I don't like Albertsons I've never been in a Ralphs.
Not sure if you have Raleys/BelAir in SoCal but they are really nice too.

actually just been to a trader joes which was good! it was very small though so I might try another one nearby. Ill see for the others as I never heard about them
thanks! :-)

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/s...oe-trader.html

I like all 3 of these listed.

#1 Trader Joes
#2 Stater Brothers
#3 Ralphs

Walmart and Target has fairly good prices but limited selection and usually don't have very good specials on their groceries. Target generally has fairly good prices on laundry, cosmetic, and hygiene products.

Of the major chains, Albertsons probably has the overall lowest prices.

Safeway has good meats and produce and generally have weekly specials that can be very good.

We don't have Ralphs in Northern California but Raleys is also good and similar to Safeway.

Trader Joes is nice but generally more expensive since it is a speciality store.

In Northern California we also have supermarkets called Dragers which is a step above all the others but is also more expensive.

great thanks! and are you aware of any stores that sell "dorset cereals" or equivalent? we only have been here 2 weeks and my husband already "craves" them! :-)

Mothers Market in Santa Ana sells the Dorset cereals brand of Muesli etc.

http://www.mothersmarket.com/

They have Markets all over the OC.

thats great!! thank you very much! hubby will be thrilled
I was going to say : he found them while on business trip in Japan so they had to be somewhere here too!
thanks again !

I seem to think that I might have seen them in Whole Foods, but can't say 100%. If not, they'll definitely have something similar.
And in terms of positioning, I'd say WF is much more expensive then Target, Safeway, Albertsons; more expensive than Trader Joe's; but cheaper than Dragers (surely everywhere is cheaper than Dragers, I spotted a large pot of marmite there for $24 last week!!! Yikes).

http://wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/all/

Really? I've found it generally to be very good on prices and a lot cheaper for a lot of stuff.

The thing about grocery shopping here, rarely do I find doing it all in one shop as some are great for certain things, TJ for frozen and snacks, Hannafords for meats, Target for household stuff, etc, etc.

Totally different around here. Albertsons is the most expensive, Ralphs very similar to Albertsons, Trader Joes is much cheaper.

Wal Mart is good if you like super-sweet bread

I prefer to shop in Vons/pavillions ~ I would say they are like sainsbury's at home. They are slightly more expensive but have great deals and great range of products. I have an albertsons at the end of my street so tend to run in there for emergency stuff (wine, mostly.....) I would say it's like Tesco, but I don't think it's cheap. Do you have a Fresh and Easy near you ~ I wouldn't be able to do a weekly shop there but they do have great fresh produce, if you're not worried about a long sell by date.

I found Trader Joes to be cheaper and better for speciality items such as Indian curries but is more expensive for the run of the mill products such as breads, dairy products, soda, meats, produce, and general canned products.

I do most of my shopping at Pavilions (Safeway) and sometimes go to Ralphs or Albertsons. Hate Trader Joes. If you have a Big Lots near you check them out for toilet paper, paper towel, laundry soap, cleaning products and wine. Hubby gets most of his wine there for $3.50 - $4.00 a bottle.

What are you doing on here and how did you know there was a post on OC or do you check up on here everyday and not post?

I love Fresh and Easy, do virtually all my shopping there, it's especially great now they have such a wide stock of British food