Pump62kin

When I was growing-up in the SF Valley, Gelson's was extremely posh. Before it expanded, the original store was often frequented by various film stars and famous athletes. Back then, my family couldn't afford to shop there, but it was something to aspire to...

My father (a limo driver) often drove celebrities to the SF Valley store in the 1970s, and we lived vicariously through his anecdotes.

scrubbedexpat091

Same up here more or less except for Mexican, aside from Old El Paso crap it's near impossible to find real Mexican food stuffs of any sort, so I don't even try anymore....


I found it odd you'd have trouble finding Mexican stuff in California, every location of any major chain I have been to in San Diego carries Mexican stuff, but I always lived in mixed diverse area's, maybe in the more affluent area's it could be harder, who knows.

No clue about Asian and Indian, never looked for it.



When I lived in Vancouver, I had to go 5km's out of my way to grocery shop at the same chain that was 1km from my house, but they carried almost nothing but Chinese oriented products and couldn't find much else, but if you want chicken feet, fish heads and so on, good place.

No 2 stores of the same chain are ever the same, the local store now has nearly no Asian/Indian stuff, but go 1 hour away, and it's the opposite.

We have a lot of organic though, more then you'd find elsewhere because of the local demographics.

I miss US grocery stores and the selection of goods. We have crummy selection compared to the US.

sherbert

Locate a Trader Joe's. Buy everything there except for cleaning products and branded stuff if you can't live without your cheerios or coke etc. Locate a Costco. Buy all your branded products and washing powder there in bulk (and I do mean bulk). I've always found Albertsons more expensive than Ralph's/Vons. And don't forget to use your club card each and every time and scan the bottom and top part of the shelves (they put the cheaper goods here rather than at eye level.)

N1cky

Mexican stuff is easy here, as is Indian and Chinese, but you can't buy it all in one store, like in the UK, which was my point.

Pulaski

And that, I suspect is the reason that US groceries cater mostly only to their local minorities - Americans seem to me to be very conservative in their dining habits, especially at home.

Nutmegger

All my local supermarkets carry the basics of all these cuisines, plus Thai and Korean. However, if I want a big bag of my favorite Indian hot mix, a few packages of papadums, or a handful of curry leaves, I do have to go to the Indian store.

sherbert

...probably because it's cheaper to eat out/whack a frozen/prepped meal in the microwave than to cook from scratch.

scrubbedexpat091

Certainly cheaper that is for sure. I spend double when I buy all fresh and cook from scratch. Not much out there I can make cheaper then buying it already made, doesn't taste as good though.

Lasagna is a big one, can buy a frozen one for 5-6 dollars, if I make it, looking at 20-25 dollars from scratch, the cheese alone will cost 10-12 dollars.

Hamburger's at fast food places 1.39 to 1.79 depending on where, no way I can make a burger that cheap at home, but then it's not as good, but when short on cash, it does fill the belly.

WJS

But you could do if you used the fillers (crap) they use to make it. For example very little "cheese" in the cheese used in the lasagna and very little "meat" in the meat used in the lasagna and hamburger. Works out quite a lot cheaper than buying the real thing and making it from scratch at home.

Nutmegger

I don't get this. Buying hamburger meat, a package of buns, a head of lettuce, a few tomatoes, supplies the makings for more than one meal. I have to admit to not having eaten at a fast food place for decades, but I recall the portions as being very meagre and not very nutritious. Doing it oneself seems like a far better bargain to me.

Leslie

It is. For the same nutritional value, it is much cheaper to eat at home with ingredients from scratch. But you actually have to cook, shop wisely, and keep your pantry stocked, which is more than most people want to do.

Pulaski

I think many people have given up juggling all the different uses of perishable foods, such as salad vegetables and fresh meat. If you buy a head of lettuce but can't make productive use of the rest of it having put one leaf on each of two burgers then the rest is going to waste. Similarly with tomatoes.

We might have a regular garden salad, then maybe a Mexican salad with taco meat, then use some beef for burgers and put lettuce and tomato on the burger, then maybe put some meat in a bolognese, perhaps lettuce and tomatoes in sandwich for lunch, make a side salad for a steak. ..... The permutations are endless.

Nutmegger

The permutations are indeed endless with most fresh foods. But if someone can't figure out what to do with a head of lettuce other than stick a couple of leaves on a burger . . . then it may be time to give up all hope for the future of mankind!

S Folinsky

As pointed out already, even within a chain, the stock can vary by demand. For example, we like the bottled herring at Costco in Van Nuys. Costco in Los Feliz doesn't carry it.

For Ralphs, look for "Fresh Fare" stores, they are more upscale with better selection. Gelson's is usually quite good.

Every so often one sees mentions of "food deserts" of neighborhoods where one can't buy fresh food at supermarkets. The term is usually used for the poor areas, but it seems to me that Beverly Hills is a food desert.

Whole Foods tend to be large and pricey. My local Ralphs has closed and will be a smaller version of Whole Foods which they will try.

The best big supermarket I've seen is Wegmans. However, they are in Western New York.

joto

Stater Brothers is quite good and has some good special offers at times. It's a bit less pricy than Albertsons. We have a Haggen which took over Vons. I have only been there once or twice. It's ok for fruit and veg, but over the top in it's prices. There seems to be a lot less people using it than when it was Vons.