for what seemed like forever, you had to be from Western New York to appreciate this family-owned and operated chain, revered by fans for, well, for being a really great grocery (and liquor) store, with its own, competitively-priced store brand, a pretense-free disposition toward the finer things, those terrific in-house sandwich shops, and surprisingly good sushi bars. Read more...

Two years after Whole Foods went public in 1994, lucky Austin, Texas, hit the grocery store jackpot once more. This time, it came courtesy of the state’s best-known supermarket brand, H-E-B. With almost Europe-worthy retail design, an overwhelming amount of fresh produce and exceedingly good prepared foods, there should be Central Markets everywhere—sadly, you’ll have to travel to one of Read more...

Never heard of it? Oh, you will, and sooner than later. Many a European shopper depends on this fiercely budget German supermarket chain, a strong competitor with Aldi back home, and now, here too, looks like. The concept is similar to both Aldi and Trader Joe’s—smaller footprints, lots of private label, lots of low prices—but for Lidl’s American debut, the Read more...

Some people go to church on Sunday, others worship at the altar of TJ’s, and it’s not hard to see why. First launched in Southern California back in the 1960’s, the chain famously packs very nearly a supermarket’s worth into a space smaller than some modern convenience stores. This means that you can do a weekly shopping run here in Read more...

They’re expanding rapidly out into the Southeast, as far north as Virginia, even, but if you ask us, the best examples of this employee-owned brand are easily found in the parts of Florida where people appreciate Cuban food the most, because who doesn’t love a few crispy croquetas, or the odd potato ball, before tackling their weekly shopping? Which highlights Read more...

Fascinating, isn’t it, how quickly things evolved—not so long ago, Whole Foods was as good as it got, American supermarket-wise. Turned out, many of the things that made the stores so special were rather easily rolled out elsewhere; Walmart, for example, now sells more organics than anybody else. Better lighting, better design, more ambitious prepared foods, juice and coffee bars, Read more...

Fun fact—this German discounter, the estranged-ish relation to Trader Joe’s, has been in the United States since the 1970s; it started out in the Chicago area, only rather recently becoming seriously aggressive about expanding to, well, everywhere. (It probably didn’t hurt that a fierce rival back home, Lidl, is now here and opening stores.) Read more...

Take the warehouse aesthetic and some of the pricing, then shrink the floor plan down to a more normal supermarket size, and you have this employee-owned, fast-expanding chain. Starting out in Idaho, WinCo is winning over scores of new fans with their often very affordable in-store brand, and an emphasis on bulk discounts. (Oh, and they make a pretty good Read more...

The vibe is all food co-op, the selection of local and regional product is off-the-charts, as you’d expect in this part of the country, and each store—most are in the Portland area—provides a pretty great snapshot of its neighborhood, thanks in part to a number of lures beyond the usual grocery shopping, including an excellent selection of prepared foods—some stores Read more...

On the first run-through, your typical modern Hy-Vee store might appear like any other supermarket striver, with outlandish prices on prepared foods that used to cost pennies (how much will America actually pay for a pound of potato salad before the revolution begins, we ask you), but trust us—if you haven’t already, you’ll likely end up falling hard for this Read more...