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I'm addicted to Trader Joes

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Litflynt912 said:
On workdays when I just want something comfy and don't feel like cooking...this is the best $5 I can spend
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Damn, my store never gets this. I'm jealous.
 
Alucrid said:
You don't need to be rich to shop at Wholefoods, just pretentious!
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lol. I got the impression whole foods was pretty pricey. I guess I'll see when I get there. either way, bring on the food, I say!
 
Whole Foods can be expensive, but you're also buying a lot of locally sourced product that don't have gigantic distribution chains like the big American brands that dominate the normal grocery stores.

You can also spend less at Whole Foods if you stick with their 365 brand.
 
-Babyteks- said:
Cool, good to know.
If anyone lives in California, can they tell me about the Farmer's Market?
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:lol well California is a big place...there's probably loads of farmer's markets there. If you can specify the city or county someone can probably point you in the direction of where they set up.
 
Houston3000 said:
Any peeps up in the Trader Joe's at 72nd in the Upper West Side (NYC)?

Better than Union Square
I just said that
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Any TJs is better than the Union Square one (being next to an NYU and SVA dorm, Cooper Union, and a massive subway hub and a tiny space is a recipe for disaster). I work at the Chelsea TJs and it probably has the most room without being on two floors like 72nd. The Brooklyn one is pretty roomy but the layout seems a little wonky because it used to be a bank. No clue about the one in Queens or Staten Island but there's a rumor one's opening up in Midtown.

Biggest gripe with TJs: our produce (especially fruit) spoils too quickly and a lot of our bread is pretty high in sodium (you don't taste it but 17-20% of your daily allotment of salt for 2 slices of bread is ridiculous whether you're healthy as a horse or not).

NYC tips to shopping at TJs (Chelsea one anyway)
-Shop before noon or after eight because it will suddenly get busy
-Never shop Mondays or Sundays between noon and eight unless you want to wait in line for 20 min and navigate through a mess of people

The holiday season is coming up meaning TJ is gonna stock up imported Belgian/French/German/seasonal cookies, candies, teas, pastries, etc. If you see something you like but are hesitant to buy it. Seriously just get it because a lot of that stuff is created in smaller batches and often a product once it is sold out, it's just gone or temporarily out of stock for a long ass time.
 
I just can't deal with this place on a regular basis. I like some of their products, but the one near me is the most absurdly busy and chaotic store I've ever been to — and it's like that ALL the time. I usually only go when I want/need a few things and know exactly what I'm getting. I just don't have the patience.
 
vatstep said:
I just can't deal with this place on a regular basis. I like some of their products, but the one near me is the most absurdly busy and chaotic store I've ever been to — and it's like that ALL the time. I usually only go when I want/need a few things and know exactly what I'm getting. I just don't have the patience.
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Yeah, when I used to live in Silver Lake the Trader Joe's was an enormous hassle. It was impossible to park and super-crowded. Once you get out of high population areas they're much more doable.
 
The mall I work in has a Trader Joe's in it. Makes me happy. I think I'll go down and get some pad thai for work tomorrow.
 
Salted Chunky Peanut Butter
Dark Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans
Orange Chicken
Chicken Burritos
Island Soyaki Stir Fry Sauce
 
entrement said:
Best shit ever. So cheap too.
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Yeah, friends will tease me for being snooty and spendy when I mention Trader Joes, but most of their stuff is pretty damn cheap besides tasting great. I don't know how much healthier or eco-friendly there stuff really is compared to any other store, but those aspects are just a cherry on top anyway.
 
I'd love to have a Trader Joe's around West Virginia. We have an Aldi's store, which I do like, but it looks like Trader Joe's is better.
 
One opened near my old neighborhood a few years ago in Brooklyn. We bought some of their frozen meals and humus for a while until we moved to Red Hook. Now we just shop at Fairway :x

I loved these though:

536789993_1c8669c8cc.jpg


Cat_Cookies.jpg
 
Technosteve said:
Ever make the pumpkin bread? Tempted to buy a box to try
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My mom made some of the pumpkin bread last week. Perfect blend of spices though the pumpkin flavor wasn't as pronounced as I'd hoped.

Probably would've been awesome with some warm pumpkin butter.
 
Triple Ginger Snaps -- I almost can't buy them because I will literally sit there and eat the whole tub in one go. Little bits of chewy crystallized ginger, so so good.

I tried out the frozen Soy-Ginger Cod filets last time, and they were freaking fantastic over brown rice.
 
LOL do people really consider Trader Joe's to be a "yuppie hipster" store?

Anyways.. I love the place. Their pre-cooked chicken makes awesome quesadillas.
 
That's how they market themselves, so obviously.

Kermit The Frog said:
For non US GAF: What is trader Joe's?
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America's Aldi Nord.
But with a theme and a house brand.

They've been selling Trader Joe's products in the (Nord) Aldis in Europe too.
 
TJs has a lot of great selections but we definitely don't buy everything from there. You also have to go to a certain one in the area of LA I'm in (the WeHo one) because it has a decent parking lot. We usually hit up very little of their produce (bananas, broccoli, occasionally heirloom tomatoes, and apple pears). The rest of their produce is pretty questionable. They go bad quickly and just don't taste good.

They have awesome salsas, hummus, and random other items. The meat is very hit or miss. They have interesting packaged foods though like chicken sausages with various flavors, chicken lasagna, etc. Their premade salads are tasty too.

I've tried their brand of beer and was disappointed. I won't buy that again.

For wine and cheese we go to Whole Foods.
For deli meat and produce we go to Ralph's.

:)
 
Sealda said:
I disliked Trader Joes for the fact that they only have their own products 99 out of 100 times...
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That's the entire point out our store.


Phantast2k said:
Once I walked inside to get two 6pack of beer and then suddenly decided to grab a few peaches on the way out. So I grabbed them and went back to the cashier, but then I realized I didn't have enough cash (not even for one, lol), so the cashier just went: "it's ok, they're on the house, let me brighten your day" :O
I'm sure that's not store policy though.
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While it's not exactly store policy to give away free food to people who forget their wallets, it IS store policy to let us choose how we write certain things off in order to better serve our customers. If someone comes through my line and they are having an off day, I can offer them candy or flowers on the house if I want to. Last week a regular came into our store and a coworker asked how she was, and she wasn't doing well. He said she looked like she needed a hug and she said she'd just been having a really bad day. He went and got her flowers and said "I know it's not a hug but maybe it'll work the same?" and she started crying and hugging him. We do that shit all the time.


claviertekky said:
Aside from the bananas, the produce is definitely expensive. I buy it for convenience unless I know I'm heading to another market.

A lot of the fresh produce you can find cheaper at your local chain market.

The dairy, eggs, alcohol, snacks, breakfast, and frozen bites are worth looking.
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Not in the parts of California I've lived and worked. WE price our produce by the unit, not by the pound, and research shows that's cheaper. A lime, for example, is $0.29 at Trader Joe's, but walk across the street to Ralph's and it's $0.79.


Kambing said:
Hah, i currently work at trader joes...

Very cool place to work at and all the employees are always encouraged to act super friendly to customers. Food selection is great too. Don't have any horror stories in my 2 1/2 months working there lol(north bay area).

Edit: Come to think of it, i avoid buying red meat from TJ... i know none of the other employees do. There is no particular reason for this haha.
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Give it time. You will have plenty of horror stories the longer you work there. Trader Joe's attracts a very specific, very stupid, very entitled kind of customer. Not all of them are like that, of course, we also attract a genuinely cool customer type too but...You'll learn in time.


Cosmic Bus said:
tumblr_lt8cvpx3hP1qcag09o1_400.png


If these came in dark chocolate with some extra salt, I would gladly submit to obesity. It's hard enough not to devour the entire bag in spite of the mediocre milk chocolate.
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When we got those in I was like "This is the grossest fucking thing I've ever heard of" and then I tried them, and I went through about a bag a day for almost a week. Now they're out of stock at our warehouse since they were so popular. ;__;


richiek said:
There are smoking' hot chicks everytime I go to TJs.

Then again, I do live in Manhattan.
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It's the same at every TJ's I've been to in California, they hire a very specific type of person at Trader Joe's. Laid back, easy-going, genuine, hard working, and for the most part, attractive.

Goldrusher said:
That's how they market themselves, so obviously.

America's Aldi Nord.
But with a theme and a house brand.

They've been selling Trader Joe's products in the (Nord) Aldis in Europe too.
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No we don't. Have you ever looked at our advertising flyers or heard our radio ads? They're the most boring shit imaginable. Trader Joe's markets itself towards old people and those who like cheap healthy food.

Side note to show we've been there too long: Went and saw Paranormal Activity 3 with a coworker the other day and during a scene where the house has been mysteriously torn apart, there is Trader Joe's food all over the floor. Wonderful being the only two people laughing in the theater :p
 
I'd say Whole Foods is the mainstream hippie store and Trader Joes is the specialty organic grocery store. There aren't that many of them, but they're small, they do their thing, and they appear to do everything Whole Foods does, out of a small cornershop. Selection suffers, but prices are pretty good over all, and they really do have a nice selection of stuff you want but have never found anywhere else. I like their organic desserts.
 
Oh god when it opened here in Omaha. Those crowds. Standing room only. I'm afraid to go back much.

I have an Aldi a few blocks away, I'd probably agree with the "Aldi with a theme" sentiment. Although I swear Aldi has their own house brand called Fit&Active.
 
X-Frame said:
Ohhh where'd you hear this from?

I work in Midtown next to Bryant Park, so that would be awesome.
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Huge store meeting a few weeks back stating that around 100 new stores will be opening up in the next five years, two rumored locations being lower Manhattan and Midtown.
 
I miss their chili verde burritos and their mole sauce. Would kill for their Irish Cream chocolates right now. AND I MEAN SLAUGHTER!!!!

Other good stuff:
-Salmon patties
-Their JUST cranberry juice as a mixer. Drinking it straight is so sour it hurts.
-mini toasts with cheese.

As much as I love living in Japan, lack of TJ's makes me a sad bunny.
 
My fiance lives in Lincoln Park right now, and there's a Trader Joe's right by her. They have SO much good stuff there, it's ridiculous. We bought things of pumpkin and coffee ice cream this past weekend and WRECKED them both.
 
TopHatCuddlefish said:
Any TJs is better than the Union Square one (being next to an NYU and SVA dorm, Cooper Union, and a massive subway hub and a tiny space is a recipe for disaster). I work at the Chelsea TJs and it probably has the most room without being on two floors like 72nd. The Brooklyn one is pretty roomy but the layout seems a little wonky because it used to be a bank. No clue about the one in Queens or Staten Island but there's a rumor one's opening up in Midtown.

Biggest gripe with TJs: our produce (especially fruit) spoils too quickly and a lot of our bread is pretty high in sodium (you don't taste it but 17-20% of your daily allotment of salt for 2 slices of bread is ridiculous whether you're healthy as a horse or not).

NYC tips to shopping at TJs (Chelsea one anyway)
-Shop before noon or after eight because it will suddenly get busy
-Never shop Mondays or Sundays between noon and eight unless you want to wait in line for 20 min and navigate through a mess of people

The holiday season is coming up meaning TJ is gonna stock up imported Belgian/French/German/seasonal cookies, candies, teas, pastries, etc. If you see something you like but are hesitant to buy it. Seriously just get it because a lot of that stuff is created in smaller batches and often a product once it is sold out, it's just gone or temporarily out of stock for a long ass time.
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I shop at the Chelsea store. Monday evenings are a zoo.
 
Love the place, we have one not to far from me.

My favorites,

Cinnamon Sugar Pita Chips
Frozen Pizzas (one called Pizza 4Formaggi is god like GOD LIKE I TELL YOU)
Their sliced cheeses are amazing (smoked gouda is a staple everytime I go)
Mac and Cheese (unless I missed it how the hell was this not mentioned yet)
Burritos are all good
Dried fruit (the mango....my god)
Mushroom Alfredo (terrible for you but my god it is a fast amazing meal)
Prepared pastas (ravioli, tortellini etc etc they are cheap and amazing and they sell great sauces too)

I could really go on and on....

I always laugh at the hipster label of this place, mine is always full of older people and maybe one hipster...
 
McLovin said:
Hmmm... whats that cost you like $30??
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Nope. Tangerine/Grapefruit together was $5.50 or so. Potstickers was $3.50 I believe. Meatballs $3.50. Hummus was $2.99 I think. So about $15-16.

The potstickers are 2 meals. The meatballs are 2 meals. The hummus can be a meal by itself. The juice? Last a few days for a normal person. Lasted me one day.
 
shout out to trader joe's quietly awesome bath and beauty products too.
nL6MU.jpg

i'll seriously never be without this stuff if i can help it.
 
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