A favorite topic of mine. HEB is king around here. A store that’s fun to shop at; unique to each neighborhood with a ton of variety and great prices.

There’s also a series of farmers markets across my city put on at different locations throughout the week. Typically we’ll shop for produce there once a week and then head to HEB to get meal ingredients later. Super H Mart is another fun one, but we only go there once a month or so (whenever we need taro root and rice.)

When I travel I like to step inside a regional grocery store and check it out.

we usually hit 2 farmers markets per week..one of them is just 3 blocks away

like you, I have a "hobby" of going into local grocery stores when traveling to look at prices and to see if they have that isle that has stuff you just don't see in your local..

Publix and The Fresh Market are my go-to's here. Also, we have a local Asian market called Hong Kong Market that has a great selection of all Asian groceries. Kind of like a mini Uwajimaya in Seattle.

I love Asian supermarkets. Everything is colorful and full of energy, plus they typically have great food courts.

We’re going to Dallas in a couple of days and shopping one there. I have low expectations compared to my Super H Mart, but maybe I’ll be surprised.

We went to check out the brand new massive HEB yesterday and were so very disappointed. Here's why:

1. It's advertised as two stories, which it is. However, "two stories" would lead you to believe there is twice the grocery store, right? Not the case. The first story is actually just a parking garage and entrance area and the entire grocery store is on the second story. Catfished!

(The one cool thing about this is a carts-only escalator next to the humans-only escalator that you get to use to get the groceries back down to the first floor.)

2. There are no food samples given out at this location after 6pm. What is that?

3. No bar. Whole Foods has a bar. Central Market has a bar. This new HEB is TWO STORIES and doesn't have a bar. They have an area with beer taps and wine bottles that would lead you to believe that there is a bar, but no... Just another place to give out samples that aren't available after 6. Catfished again.

4. Produce areas, in particular the garlic bins, were woefully under-stocked. I'm talking two bulbs of garlic total. In the beginning of the week!

I'm not sure how any grocery store is planning to compete with the Whole Foods acquisition by Amazon, because Amazon/WF has been really cagey about what changes we will expect to see. But they'll most likely be rolled out in TX, as that's where WF is headquartered and where Amazon is already offering same-day delivery. So I bet this new HEB will continue to grow and evolve as WF 2.0 becomes more clear.

(Also, the food sample thing makes sense, I think: it's a high-traffic time, and most of the management staff has probably gone home for the day.)

Thanks for preserving my rough draft, trag.

i just changed it to reflect your edit

I love this place with all of my heart: https://tonysmarket.com

To the first point: HEB has already been competing with WF/Amazon in the same-day department. Kind of. https://shop.hebtoyou.com/

To the second point, my beloved Montrose HEB gives samples during volume hours and have plenty of staff to do it. We are actually on a first name basis with the cheese lady. This new HEB might just be understaffed in the early opening phase.

While Whole Foods and HEB are both Texas based grocery chains, HEB seems to be held in much higher esteem than Whole Foods. Rural and urban market is covered by HEB, prices are much better, inventory is curated to local neighborhoods, and shopping there just feels less (I hesitate to say) pretentious (but that's pretty much the long and short of it.)

Lol. You did that while I was responding to (and quoting) your preservation of my pre-edit.

sorry, rming on my phone now, the old edit stays!

good thread

go here if you ever have a chance https://www.sprouts.com/

I've been once or twice. There's one going up in the neighborhood where I work. When an underserved neighborhood skips the natural Fiesta>HEB>Trader Joes>Whole Foods evolution and goes straight to Sprouts, it's definitely gentrifying at an exponential rate.

Looks great!

How many ways can they sell you hatch chili peppers in the month of August? I'd really like to delve into the hatch chili economy. Who is growing all of these peppers?

i had forgotten all about fiesta until my early april sojourn

what a place

Fiesta is great! Where else can you buy high end wine, obscure cuts of meat, regional produce, Mexican pastries, Sonic Youth tickets and affordable guayabera shirts all in one trip?

Six or so years ago, developers tore down my neighborhood Fiesta, put up condos and then put my HEB across the street. As much as I love shopping there, I always feel like pouring one out for the old Fiesta before I walk in. What a place. RIP

sounds awesome

Fiesta in a nutshell:

texas is great