Your Favorite Supermarket
 

I'm a bit shocked this hasn't yet been a thread.

Nevertheless, based on the diversity and quality of products, I tend to think gourmet market in Bangkok, some Migros in Istanbul, city market in Mexico City, and Ametller Origen in Barcelona top my list, plus an * for Japanese konbini.

If I had to choose two -- which I don't -- from the US, I suppose netcost and Mariano's are sufficient. My taste buds of course would clamor for Trader Joe's, but they put a lot of weird [things] in their merch. Plus, their produce sucks.

Tokyo Fish Market, Berkeley CA. Plenty more than fish, so I put it in the "super" department.

overall:
Sunset Foods, highland park il

At home:
safeway / Trader Joe’s / Costco - staples
Kukje - Asian
prepared foods - Gus’ Market

Tacoma Boys https://tacomaboys.com/

Really, Safeway? From Baltimore to Berkeley, I haven't found one worthy of a repeat visit.

But I'm curious to read why you like them.

US: Wegman's, Central Market, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's.

Locally: Fresh Farms (thanks to an FT tip)

Safeway, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's, but I suspect this is probably the list of almost everyone in the Bay Area.

El Corte Ingles in Spain, La Comer in Mexico and Wegman's, Trader Joe's in the USA. Quebec grocery shopping is quite dull.

What I appreciated about El Corte Ingles is that they cooked the seafood for you while you shopped. It helped this tourist out a couple of times, especially when trying those percebes.

La Grànde Épicerie in the 7eme in Paris.

convenience everyday groceries as needed - I go there often as I’ll walk and fetch a few items every few days.

i used to buy CDs, vinyl, postcards and books at El Corte Ingles :-)

We prefer to shop at local grocery stores, Dorignac’s, Rouse’s & Robért’s. We try to avoid national chains.

They just opened a number of Wegman’s in the Raleigh Durham area. Become a big fan of them.

My wife loves Trader Joe’s — otherwise Harris Teeter is the common option in my neck of the woods.

When I lived in Chicago (close to 10 years ago now), they had just opened up Mariano’s across the street from me (Lakeshore East) and I was a big fan. But no idea how it is these days

Ingles - Ellijay, GA

Edeka - Terminalstraße Mitte 18, 85356 München-Flughafen, Germany

Netto - Prenzlauer Berg, Berlin

IMHO, Mariano's has gone downhill.

Safeway, favorite no, but most convenient to me, multiple locations.

I like TJ for some unique items, as well as a local coop, Common Market, in Frederick, MD.

There is a WF in the community my 100% volunteer fire/EMS station serves. WF has many community programs, but supporting the ingredients, i.e. donating, for 10 members for holiday meals is apparently not one of those programs as the manager has made abundantly clear to me.

Donki/don quijote - sensory overload & mess of a store, but it's great!

technically a discount store in japan - there's a version of "Mega"donki in japan that's more of a hypermarket

outside of japan, it's more of a grocery store (with discount store items )
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/14464675

mostly japan + asia (thailand/malaysia/singapore/macau/hong kong/taiwan) plus hawaii/california
eg: singapore

I'm quite familiar with donki and that saccharine jingle, but never found them to be much of a supermarket in Japan. They had roasted sweet potatoes, cheap oolong tea, and a bunch of foreign products, but mostly were filled with made in China crap like bdsm halloween costumes, and fake Rolexes.

Though, if you say their overseas locations are more supermarket than tchotchke vendors, I should check them out.

hence i added that youtube link in my first post. i know the domestic japanese version is more of a discount store (than fresh meat/vege)

singapore, hong kong, taiwan, malaysia,... - those donkis are better. it's meant to be a one-stop shop for anything japanese including good quality sliced shabu shabu/wagyu, seafood, fruits/vegs, ...)

here's another one from malaysia:

TipTip (Carlsbad) & Migros (Kloten)
 

https://www.tiptopmeats.com/

https://filialen.migros.ch/de/migros...uerich-airport

Harrod's Food Halls in Knightsbridge.

I come from a family that views grocery stores and the like as legitimate tourist destinations when traveling. We're always curious to see how locals shop -- and to pick up some tasty treats. Thankfully I married a man who approaches life the same way, because we would otherwise not be compatible... Particularly since our weekly grocery shopping usually includes a few stops and involves driving past stores we refuse to shop at because there are better stores farther away. It's not uncommon for us to drive half an hour to our favorite Indian grocery store to pick up some new spices (even though we live 10 minutes from the initial neighborhood, we still make the extra drive to the flagship Patel's), then over to Paulina Meat Market for beef, pork and lamb, etc.

Love Trader Joes, Costco, Whole Foods, Winco (Pacific NW area). HATE Safeway and most other national chains. Things cost as much as Whole Foods but the quality and experience stink. A lot depends on what I'm after. I don't mind paying for good stuff but am not going to buy my laundry detergent at a gourmet grocery store due to cost. This is really the root of why I hate Safeway, etc. Staples cost as much as at a gourmet place but the stores are dirty, the lines are long and the employees are rude. I moved to Maui recently and I do big shopping at Costco but in my neighborhood I have a Safeway and something called "Times". Times is kind of old-school Sentry market but gets my business well before Safeway.

I prefer Harrod's food halls over L'Epicerie.

This is how I shop. Well, the open market on Wed/Sat in my area, then at another on Sunday to buy home grown (eastbay this is for you:p) chicken. Spices from the Indian area across town and a neighborhood epicerie. I go all over town for my things just like you.

And just like you, I always visit local markets when I travel, though it gets frustrating because I'd want to know the products and how they are used.

That's disappointing. I'm making my first trip to Chicago in years this summer (haven't been outside the airport since 2014). Guess there's no need to swing back by the old neighborhood to check on Mariano's

I’m a Wegmans guy. However, 90% of my meat comes from my butcher, Haring Brothers. Fish is never a problem. If it’s a species that I regularly catch, (tuna, mahi, cod, ling, Black Sea bass, flounder (winter and summer), porgies, bluefish, weakfish….I’m set. For those that I don’t catch, I visit my lobster guy, my clam/oyster guy, or order for things like salmon or king crab leg,or sablefish.

The KTA in Hilo, Hawai`i
Amazing selection of poke and fish
https://www.ktasuperstores.com/

+1,000. All over the world, and the more different, the better.

"...though it gets frustrating because I'd want to know the products and how they are used.[/QUOTE]

Though it gets frustrating when I haven't checked which day is market day ... More importantly, when it's not.

Winco is our regular go-to as well. Prices are unbeatable, and we find their meat and seafood very very good. On the other hand, we also drive to Costco, several Asian and Mexican markets, and natural food stores. We have a Safeway 1/2 mile away and never set foot in there unless they have a super special on meat or seafood. We also love "touring" supermarkets everywhere we travel.

LOL...I mean, it as if I love it or anything like that, but am I the only one who likes their rewards? As with everything else for me, at a low enough price, anything can become appealing. Anyway, the 10X & 5X CC multiplayers combined with SFWY points have been great.

I have come to the conclusion that fancy brands often times do not equate to quality. I find I tend to use more and more "mundane" ingredients and rely on better prep. We have Wegmans around here - i like their bakery and cheese, but on the whole they are always out of stock, they are over priced, and it's mostly their store brands which I find no better than other market brands. Fortunately we have Market Basket here, which is my go to. Unfortunately our other options - Shaw's. Stop & Shop, and Price Chopper suck. I get a handful of things at Trader Joe's, but that is more specialty than a regular market. Whole Foods used to be great, but now they are just fancy labeling with exorbitant prices for stuff you can find elsewhere for half the price.

See also https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/dini...ighlight=brand

My favorite supermarket is definitely a family-owned market in the Brentwood area of Los Angeles https://vicentefoods.com

My go to is Trader Joe's - ours does have decent produce. During the spring/summer I'm just as likely to stop at a roadside fruit/vegetable stand and/or go to local farmer's markets though.

I think Eataly is a good example of this.

In Italy, their prices might be higher than the average supermarket, but they're not as offensive as those in international Eataly markets. Obviously, the prices are marked up abroad -- because Italian food products are such novelties? -- but are they necessarily much better than anything else? I have not found that to be the case (for instance, the Eataly in my city charge no less than $5 for cans of tomatoes. That's risible).

But then again, everything is overpriced where I am, and sorely lacking in the quality I had gotten accustomed to in other countries.

It all depends on where you live. Here in East Central Florida for me it's ALDI, Publix and Fresh Market

I've found our (once locally-owned, but now owned by SpartanNash) chain Martin's is pretty decent. My biggest gripe is that they pre-slice the cold cuts (or at least the popular ones) and, while they will happily custom slice, they take forever to do so.

Are you saying those are your favorites, or just that those are the only supermarkets around?

I know a lot of places like that. fortunately in my area, if you hunt around you can find many of those same brands in other smaller markets, particularly neighborhood ethnic that are not trying to be fancy - at much cheaper prices.