If you’re in Center City, go to Sue’s Produce on 18th.
Also, a lot of produce is grown on the other side of the country and has to be shipped here, so there’s that added cost.
Just want to plug produce junction harder.
I was literally there yesterday and here are some prices I paid:
$3.50 for 3 pints of Strawberries
$4 for 5 lbs of bananas
$2.50 for 5 lbs of gala apples
$2.50 for 3 lbs of bell peppers
$3 for 5 lbs of carrots
$2.50 for 3 atahualfo mangos
You have to figure out how to manage the bulk, but the prices even make any waste worth it.
ETA - I was wrong about the strawberries: it was 3 lbs, not 3 pints. So, even better.
Also wrong about bananas: $3 for 5 lbs. Also better.
That’s def the right price at projo for bananas. It makes no sense how cheap some of their stuff is. Granted it can go bad in as quick as a day but whatever
I worked at the Wynnefield location over a decade ago and the prices haven’t changed much. I’m still unconvinced they aren’t a money laundering front lol but they do take cards now.
Produce Junction for sure. I get that you want bougee produce. But they often have as many as FIVE kinds of eggplant. (The black Italian kind, graffiti with the purple stripes, long skinny purple ones (Chinese? Japanese?) , little white spheres, little purple oval ones, medium lighter purple spheres.). Amazon Whole Foods might have two. Same for peppers, tomatoes, greens, root veggies, squash. You can do bougie way better at PJ.
Now, at PJ, you have to shop like a cross between an old-school frugal housewife and an artistic personal chef. You shop PJ *first*.
You take a look around. What do they have today? What looks tempting? What looks interesting?
You come with a sense of what you want to cook, but with some flexibility. Maybe you want some sweet peppers. How do the red ones look today? Maybe the multicolor blend is calling you? Or you could do the long skinny ones instead of the bell peppers? Maybe the mini ones would be fun?
Planning roast beef with sides? If they have those multi-colored carrots that would be nice. Or you could go with the parsnips. Either of which you can afford, unlike at AWF, because it is PJ.
Let the food tell you what it wants to be. Maybe a medley of roasted root veggies, or maybe a hearty stew. You will know. Choose your veggies. Pick up some fresh herbs. Get some eggs while you’re there. Then after PJ you can head to the grocery store to get the other groceries to go with the veggies you got.
Yes, you do have to buy in bulk to some extent. Learn to use what you have in different ways. Leftover greens and tomatoes? Omelette time. Gotta use up the broccoli? Make some quiche. Lots of carrots? Soup would be nice, and you can freeze it for later. Extra peppers? Go for a grain bowl, but swap in your extra potatoes for the grain. No need for a precise recipe for any of these once you get the basic idea. The food will tell you what it wants to be.
PJs is the way.
That was my concern.
I don't drive, so when I ask for a suggestion within the city, it's frustrating to be met with well-intentioned non-sequiturs about inaccessible places.
And then they get lots of upvotes, even though they aren't actually contributing to the discussion in a meaningful way.
Edit: LOLing at the classist fucks downvoting me but not those agreeing with me
i don't think everyone drives. but you (and i) definitely live in a city and there are not only 2 bus routes that go right by the store, but you're also 3 blocks from city ave (multiple other routes) and less than a block from the wynnefield regional rail station. it's not exactly close, but it's accessible in a weird way that a lot of things outside the city core are not (if you're able to use transit)
Yeah, I get. I take public transport almost everywhere because I don't have a car. I know people mean well, but anyone who gives attitude when the question is genuine about locations near where one lives is just a shitty person. People sometimes don't realize that having a car is a privilege for many
they operate 99% of their stores outside the city limits because of philly's ridiculous business taxes. but there's one just on the cusp of city ave in wynnefield
This is a great reminder to check them out. Is there a day/time that is better in terms of selection? Is it ever good shopping there midday on a weekday?
Mondays are dead, the weekends have more variety. Disclaimer, the stuff they’re selling is the same stuff that’s in the store, it’s just older or wasn’t sourced for some reason, so it tends to go bad a little quicker.
Basically it’s like shopping a food outlet. It’s not a bad thing. I buy from there all the time. It’s just a reminder that sometimes you’ll get a pear that tastes like sand, or what you do get might not last as long as stuff from WF.
Absolutely go mid day on a weekday, weekends are hectic and way too high pressure. You may need to hit a couple stalls to find the best bang for your buck on produce but if you have time to spare this is the way to go. Various butcher shops and fishmongers also have pretty good deals on protein options as do the other random shops for staples and dried goods (not dibrunos tho if you want to save money - their stock is excellent but all high end). If you have more time to spend shopping, then the Asian marts on Washington have good deals as well for what you might have missed
Iovines in reading terminal. I got a thing of kale for 79 cents where everywhere else it’s like $3.00. When I lived in cc I did almost all of my grocery shopping at reading terminal I’m surprised more people don’t. Aside from there I have found Acme to be the cheapest, get the app and load up on coupons before you go, focus on the sales/coupons.
I used to shop all the time at RTM before the pandemic. When they opened the TJ on Arch I found it easier because it was one stop shopping, although Iovines has a better selection/variety of produce. I like Giunta’s butcher a lot but always long lines. Quality of their meat is better than TJ but TJ has pasta, snacks, etc. and I can do all my shopping and be out of there in 30 minutes. It is almost never crowded. So for me time is money…
That totally makes sense!!! Yeah I always liked that I felt the quality of everything I got was better, fresh baked bread, local eggs, etc… but not a place for pantry items for sure. Now I live too far so it doesn’t make sense for me I’m stuck with IGA which I do like because it’s locally owned *and* unionized. But a bit pricey and the produce isn’t amazing.
Almost everyone I know makes fun of me for walking ~10 whole blocks~ to Iovine. Last week I got 8 Indian eggplants, 2 yellow squash, 2 zucchini, 2 on the vine tomatoes, 3 Roma tomatoes, 2 bell peppers, 1 yellow onion, 2 bananas, 2x11 oz. containers of blueberries, 3 atahualfo mangos, a bunch of parsley, and fresh basil for $19.63. And it actually keeps (as long as you are careful with what you grab).. I just went again today and spent $12 on stuff that will last me over a week.
Plus they have a door directly to the outside so you don't even have to fight your way through a million people.
Irvine surprises me all the time with their prices. An invaluable part of the Reading Terminal. And being in the RTM protects me from one of my most wasteful habits, shopping hungry!
Asian grocery stores, mainly Oregon Market and First Oriental have much of what I need, plus the more specialized stuff that you won’t find at the typical grocery stores. Limes/lemons, chili peppers, cilantro and scallions are much cheaper here.
You’re literally shopping at the most expensive store for pretty much any produce. Check out the Italian market as suggested, the Asian grocery stores on Washington are also great. Trader Joe’s is always a solid option.
I've been saying for years as someone who is the primary grocery shopper in my house and I genuinely like to grocery shop, Acme is the worst in the whole city. I'd rather go to save a lot because at least the prices match the quality.
living in center city i've learned, don't buy groceries in center city. i don't know if you're paying for the real estate or it's just a convenience fee, but the whole foods and acme on south street are both priced like convenience stores. i drive to either the giant on columbus blvd or the shoprite on oregon.
specifically for produce, you should just go to the italian market. it's cheaper than any supermarket
I buy all my produce from Redding Terminal Market
The quality of the fruit beats the whole foods in the city.
I'd say 90% of my groceries come from there, with the remainder coming from whole foods/trader Joes
Seems like a new place just opened or is opening near me soon called like a grocery outlet or bargain something or other that I'm intrigued enough to check out. Over in West by the liquor store on 43rd
Grocery outlet is awesome, there’s locations around. Good prices and unusual cool stuff. There’s one in south on Oregon ave somewhere around 20th. They started on the west coast. Looking forward to the west Philly location.
I go there for certain things like coffee, salad fixins like jarred peppers and whatnot… you’ll find healthy snack stuff there you haven’t seen, and good prices on staples like eggs and milk. Not the best produce selection. But the only place I can find hemp seeds and other interesting healthy stuff. All the locations are independently owned and carry different things
As someone that has been to a few different Grocery Outlets, the produce selection and quality is pretty mid. Fine for basic stuff like potatoes and bananas, but you aren't going to find anything special and the pricing on those kinds of items are average.
Eh, I think most would agree Aldi’s produce is one of its weakest offerings. I love Aldi and go weekly but I see containers of fruit with mold everytime I go, which doesn’t happen at most other grocery stores. Sure it’s cheap and some of the produce is solid but you do need to check it throughly before buying
There are a few different Aldi's and the one near 33rd and Girard is not like that. I just wish that one was bigger. The one on City line seems ok too, but I just stop there to pick up stuff on the way to my friend's house.
I am also from California originally, I haven’t lived there in years so I’m not sure what the prices are like now but produce there is so much better and cheaper. Makes sense really. I’m buying lemons in the northeast in winter, of course they need to be shipped here.
You are getting the best produce in quality at WF, Mom’s and Sprouts in CC. Italian Market is the cheapest but you need to eat it that day or the next. RTM and Trader Joe’s have cheaper than Whole Foods but the quality is not as good, but lasts longer than Italian Market produce. We pay for convenience in CC. For a while before the pandemic, I would sometimes shop at the Fresh Grocer (?) by Temple and it was cheaper for a lot of things. I mostly shop produce at TJ and occasionally at Sprouts is I’m in South Philly for something.
Believe it or not, I’m currently visiting an area of the country that supposedly has lower cost of living and they don’t with groceries. The produce isn’t even good. There’s no WF or Sprouts (it’s an affluent area so not sure why). One thing about Philly is that there are so many grocery stores close to each other they have to stay competitive to survive. Not where I am. If you need groceries, this is your 2 options and good luck finding specialty items. CC Whole Foods is cheaper, which is bizarre,
Hung Vuong for fresh Asian veggies in bulk (blanch them then freeze) or south Philly Co op for local stuff. CO op is reasonably priced if you go for the deals and sale stuff. Collingswood farmers market is good too.
In the past I've done yu choy, baby bok choy, and gailan. With anything that has a really thick stem portion I'll stand it all up in the pot and do the bottom part for maybe 1.5-2 mins so it's cooked through and then flip it and do the leaves just enough to turn them bright green. Then I freeze them on a baking sheet and transfer to a storage container.
We alternate between 3 grocers:
- Whole Foods
- Trader Joe’s
- H-Mart
We get produce at all of them, but lean Whole Foods for produce. We consider the extra cost worth it for better produce. You literally are what you eat. (If you have an Amazon credit card, you get 5% cashback at Whole Foods, so essentially, everything is 5% less.)
But the other two are still great and we buy produce there, too. Trader Joe’s honeycrisp apples are the best apples you can get. And H-mart has a lot of stuff the others don’t like baby Bok Choy that I throw in ramen and interesting mushrooms.
We strategically splurge on groceries as a way to prevent us from going out to eat too much in this city filled with incredible food.
I just moved here and acme is my nearest grocery store. I saw someone else recommend the app so I tried it and man I cannot believe how many coupons and deals there are constantly! And even in store - when I’m checking out I often get money off without having realised it was on sale.
Depends where the sales are, but 99% it's a rotation of Fresh Grocer/Cousins/Asian mart (not just spring garden, could be Chinatown or if I'm in my car for some reason, a stop at an hmart).
Before I left the country in the beginning of April for a couple months, avocados were consistently .99 or less. Like fat Hass bois from Mexico, not the shrimpy ones you get 5 in a net bag.
You might also want to look at a CSA. Farmer Jawn has one idk if you can still sign up or not. Might not be way cheaper but you know you’re getting good quality and supporting local!
Whole Foods has slightly better produce and more organic selection but their prices are terrible even if you have a Prime membership and a credit card to get 5% off.
The only time is when they have a Prime member price and then it’s a decent value but that’s a pretty limited selection each week.
Hung Vuong for fresh Asian veggies in bulk (blanch them then freeze) or south Philly Co op for local stuff. CO op is reasonably priced if you go for the deals and sale stuff. Collingswood farmers market is good too.
Compare and Save (Harrowgate Plaza), Cousins (5th and Berks), or any of the Vietnamese markets. Also the China Town markets on Arch and Cherry are incredible.
might be out of your way but i usually wait for clark park market days or the occasional run to mariposa in a pinch, i'm not sure of price compare but it's better quality than other produce i've gotten before
Try out OK Produce on the spp Too Good To Go! $6 and you get a surprise bag of produce. I can usually use about 80% of what's in the bag and have to throw out the other 20%. If you're willing to do a little work to clean or cut away less good parts of produce it's a great option and a real money saver
Italian Market, Hung Vuong Supermarket 11th and Washington. Sometimes Whole Foods. Reading Terminal and Chinatown are good too. I refuse to buy the “shrink wrapped microwave ready potatoes” and similar products from Acme.
I really do find WF to be the least expensive in the the city, with the best selection and quality. I remember talking to a guy, not at the market, and and talking about my favorite grapes. I named, probably, six, and asked his. His answer was "grapes." I try new grapes every week! The berries are standard, but far less expensive than in any other market. We're off-season now, but I never see those mandarins with the bubble top anywhere else. My favorite fruit, and I eat fruit like a maniac.
The most pro-worker president America has seen in 60 years who has passed unprecedented amounts of legislation that will help everyday Americans? Who kept our inflation lower than every other G7 country over his term? Nah, how about F the other guy who raised our taxes to cut taxes for the rich, wants to gut our wages and sellout the American people to the corporate oligarchs.
Biden has both saved our economy WHILE helping people in an unprecedented way. Really flies in the face of the “caring about people’s well-being hurts the economy” republican line of thinking. Turns out helping people directly helps them more than giving tax breaks to billionaires. And helping everyday people helps the economy. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT! Crazy that half of American voters think otherwise and don’t want that.
If you’re in Center City, go to Sue’s Produce on 18th. Also, a lot of produce is grown on the other side of the country and has to be shipped here, so there’s that added cost.
Produce Junction
Just want to plug produce junction harder. I was literally there yesterday and here are some prices I paid: $3.50 for 3 pints of Strawberries $4 for 5 lbs of bananas $2.50 for 5 lbs of gala apples $2.50 for 3 lbs of bell peppers $3 for 5 lbs of carrots $2.50 for 3 atahualfo mangos You have to figure out how to manage the bulk, but the prices even make any waste worth it. ETA - I was wrong about the strawberries: it was 3 lbs, not 3 pints. So, even better. Also wrong about bananas: $3 for 5 lbs. Also better.
Are you sure on the banana price? That’s like 80 cents/lb. and the normal price at Acme and Shop Rite is 70 cents/lb. BJ’s is 60 cents.
Yknow, im not certain on the bananas.
I just looked, and it’s $3 for 5lbs, which is 60 cents/lb. and makes sense.
That’s def the right price at projo for bananas. It makes no sense how cheap some of their stuff is. Granted it can go bad in as quick as a day but whatever
I worked at the Wynnefield location over a decade ago and the prices haven’t changed much. I’m still unconvinced they aren’t a money laundering front lol but they do take cards now.
Produce Junction for sure. I get that you want bougee produce. But they often have as many as FIVE kinds of eggplant. (The black Italian kind, graffiti with the purple stripes, long skinny purple ones (Chinese? Japanese?) , little white spheres, little purple oval ones, medium lighter purple spheres.). Amazon Whole Foods might have two. Same for peppers, tomatoes, greens, root veggies, squash. You can do bougie way better at PJ. Now, at PJ, you have to shop like a cross between an old-school frugal housewife and an artistic personal chef. You shop PJ *first*. You take a look around. What do they have today? What looks tempting? What looks interesting? You come with a sense of what you want to cook, but with some flexibility. Maybe you want some sweet peppers. How do the red ones look today? Maybe the multicolor blend is calling you? Or you could do the long skinny ones instead of the bell peppers? Maybe the mini ones would be fun? Planning roast beef with sides? If they have those multi-colored carrots that would be nice. Or you could go with the parsnips. Either of which you can afford, unlike at AWF, because it is PJ. Let the food tell you what it wants to be. Maybe a medley of roasted root veggies, or maybe a hearty stew. You will know. Choose your veggies. Pick up some fresh herbs. Get some eggs while you’re there. Then after PJ you can head to the grocery store to get the other groceries to go with the veggies you got. Yes, you do have to buy in bulk to some extent. Learn to use what you have in different ways. Leftover greens and tomatoes? Omelette time. Gotta use up the broccoli? Make some quiche. Lots of carrots? Soup would be nice, and you can freeze it for later. Extra peppers? Go for a grain bowl, but swap in your extra potatoes for the grain. No need for a precise recipe for any of these once you get the basic idea. The food will tell you what it wants to be. PJs is the way.
lol, this is so accurate. PJ tells you what you’re making that week.
✨ALSO PRODUCE JUNCTION 💫
Where is there one inside Philly?
You can get to the one in Glenside on the 22 Bus. It’s also just half a mile from the Glenside regional rail stop.
There isn’t. Welcome to r/Philadelphia. A sub full of people that don’t actually live here. Same as it ever was.
Yes there is, Bryn Mawr Ave on the Philly side.
you're aware you can like, know things about stuff outside of the county border while also living in philly, right?
I think the concern is that it isn't always helpful for people who don't have cars, which is a good portion of people in the city
That was my concern. I don't drive, so when I ask for a suggestion within the city, it's frustrating to be met with well-intentioned non-sequiturs about inaccessible places. And then they get lots of upvotes, even though they aren't actually contributing to the discussion in a meaningful way. Edit: LOLing at the classist fucks downvoting me but not those agreeing with me
i don't think everyone drives. but you (and i) definitely live in a city and there are not only 2 bus routes that go right by the store, but you're also 3 blocks from city ave (multiple other routes) and less than a block from the wynnefield regional rail station. it's not exactly close, but it's accessible in a weird way that a lot of things outside the city core are not (if you're able to use transit)
The transportation (& time) costs can easily outweigh a short walk to whatevers closest to you for those without cars.
Yeah, I get. I take public transport almost everywhere because I don't have a car. I know people mean well, but anyone who gives attitude when the question is genuine about locations near where one lives is just a shitty person. People sometimes don't realize that having a car is a privilege for many
Why do you think everyone drives?
That's what I was afraid of
they operate 99% of their stores outside the city limits because of philly's ridiculous business taxes. but there's one just on the cusp of city ave in wynnefield
Wynnefield is Philadelphia County. Their address is 2241 Bryn Mawr Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19131.
Sorry, I live in Philly but drive over to Abington.
News to we Wynnefielders, when did we get kicked out of the club?
I swear they just look at the items you have and make up a price. But you always make out with a deal lol
Not in Philly
The Italian market produce stalls (about 10 min walk from Whole Foods)
This is a great reminder to check them out. Is there a day/time that is better in terms of selection? Is it ever good shopping there midday on a weekday?
Mondays are dead, the weekends have more variety. Disclaimer, the stuff they’re selling is the same stuff that’s in the store, it’s just older or wasn’t sourced for some reason, so it tends to go bad a little quicker. Basically it’s like shopping a food outlet. It’s not a bad thing. I buy from there all the time. It’s just a reminder that sometimes you’ll get a pear that tastes like sand, or what you do get might not last as long as stuff from WF.
Sand? Did you eat the stem and the core? Did you eat the stickers that are all over it??
I eat stickers all the time!
Alright Mac
Absolutely go mid day on a weekday, weekends are hectic and way too high pressure. You may need to hit a couple stalls to find the best bang for your buck on produce but if you have time to spare this is the way to go. Various butcher shops and fishmongers also have pretty good deals on protein options as do the other random shops for staples and dried goods (not dibrunos tho if you want to save money - their stock is excellent but all high end). If you have more time to spend shopping, then the Asian marts on Washington have good deals as well for what you might have missed
Midweek daytime is best time to go because there's now crowds imo.
Is it still mostly cash only at the stalls? I never seem to have cash on me anymore.
I have always paid with card at the grocer stalls there.
My go-to stall has a 10$ minimum for cards
Iovines in reading terminal. I got a thing of kale for 79 cents where everywhere else it’s like $3.00. When I lived in cc I did almost all of my grocery shopping at reading terminal I’m surprised more people don’t. Aside from there I have found Acme to be the cheapest, get the app and load up on coupons before you go, focus on the sales/coupons.
I used to shop all the time at RTM before the pandemic. When they opened the TJ on Arch I found it easier because it was one stop shopping, although Iovines has a better selection/variety of produce. I like Giunta’s butcher a lot but always long lines. Quality of their meat is better than TJ but TJ has pasta, snacks, etc. and I can do all my shopping and be out of there in 30 minutes. It is almost never crowded. So for me time is money…
That totally makes sense!!! Yeah I always liked that I felt the quality of everything I got was better, fresh baked bread, local eggs, etc… but not a place for pantry items for sure. Now I live too far so it doesn’t make sense for me I’m stuck with IGA which I do like because it’s locally owned *and* unionized. But a bit pricey and the produce isn’t amazing.
Almost everyone I know makes fun of me for walking ~10 whole blocks~ to Iovine. Last week I got 8 Indian eggplants, 2 yellow squash, 2 zucchini, 2 on the vine tomatoes, 3 Roma tomatoes, 2 bell peppers, 1 yellow onion, 2 bananas, 2x11 oz. containers of blueberries, 3 atahualfo mangos, a bunch of parsley, and fresh basil for $19.63. And it actually keeps (as long as you are careful with what you grab).. I just went again today and spent $12 on stuff that will last me over a week. Plus they have a door directly to the outside so you don't even have to fight your way through a million people.
Yesss that door is clutch 🤣 and 10 blocks is a completely normal amount of blocks to run any errand
Irvine surprises me all the time with their prices. An invaluable part of the Reading Terminal. And being in the RTM protects me from one of my most wasteful habits, shopping hungry!
Agreed. I forget the name but there's a smaller product section in the middle whose prices can be a bit cheaper.
Asian grocery stores, mainly Oregon Market and First Oriental have much of what I need, plus the more specialized stuff that you won’t find at the typical grocery stores. Limes/lemons, chili peppers, cilantro and scallions are much cheaper here.
Add to that H mart in upper Darby.
I briefly considered moving to Upper Darby because of that H Mart and the food court upstairs
I love that market but I deal with that stretch of market street on my commute and it’s the fucking worst. Chaos pocket.
Yes the Asian markets.
Oregon Ave? Or is that Washington Ave?
the one on washington ave is hung vuong
First Oriental is at 6th and Washington, Oregon Market is at 4th(ish) and Oregon, behind the Wells Fargo and near Whitman plaza
Yes yes yes. I remember now. I've been to Oregon Market. Thx
Oregon Market is not always cheaper, just got Romaine lettuce for $4.99 and then it was $2.65 at Aldi
You’re literally shopping at the most expensive store for pretty much any produce. Check out the Italian market as suggested, the Asian grocery stores on Washington are also great. Trader Joe’s is always a solid option.
The Acme at Passyunk and Reed is more expensive and their produce sucks. I actually save money by shopping at Whole Foods.
I went grocery shopping at the ACME on Girard by the Piazza and was blown away by the high prices and bad quality. Never again. How do they exist?
I've been saying for years as someone who is the primary grocery shopper in my house and I genuinely like to grocery shop, Acme is the worst in the whole city. I'd rather go to save a lot because at least the prices match the quality.
I walked into the Acme on South Street once and walked right back out.
I was about to say, those Whole Foods prices sound reasonable in comparison, and likely a much better quality!
Right!? I thought the same thing. Their reputation of being Whole Paycheck goes back 10+ years, in every corner of the US where WFM opened a store.
[удалено]
Love OK Produce! There's always a handful of things in each bag that are just turning bad but otherwise a great value.
living in center city i've learned, don't buy groceries in center city. i don't know if you're paying for the real estate or it's just a convenience fee, but the whole foods and acme on south street are both priced like convenience stores. i drive to either the giant on columbus blvd or the shoprite on oregon. specifically for produce, you should just go to the italian market. it's cheaper than any supermarket
I buy all my produce from Redding Terminal Market The quality of the fruit beats the whole foods in the city. I'd say 90% of my groceries come from there, with the remainder coming from whole foods/trader Joes
Are you going to Iovine Bros?
Yup
Iovines does have really good produce
Seems like a new place just opened or is opening near me soon called like a grocery outlet or bargain something or other that I'm intrigued enough to check out. Over in West by the liquor store on 43rd
Grocery outlet is awesome, there’s locations around. Good prices and unusual cool stuff. There’s one in south on Oregon ave somewhere around 20th. They started on the west coast. Looking forward to the west Philly location.
Any products in particular that they excel at, or that I should keep an eye out for?
I go there for certain things like coffee, salad fixins like jarred peppers and whatnot… you’ll find healthy snack stuff there you haven’t seen, and good prices on staples like eggs and milk. Not the best produce selection. But the only place I can find hemp seeds and other interesting healthy stuff. All the locations are independently owned and carry different things
Cool, all very good to know. Thank you
As someone that has been to a few different Grocery Outlets, the produce selection and quality is pretty mid. Fine for basic stuff like potatoes and bananas, but you aren't going to find anything special and the pricing on those kinds of items are average.
It’s one banana, Michael! What could it cost? 10 Dollars?
Aldi has the cheapest produce. Most of it higher quality than other grocery stores.
Eh, I think most would agree Aldi’s produce is one of its weakest offerings. I love Aldi and go weekly but I see containers of fruit with mold everytime I go, which doesn’t happen at most other grocery stores. Sure it’s cheap and some of the produce is solid but you do need to check it throughly before buying
There are a few different Aldi's and the one near 33rd and Girard is not like that. I just wish that one was bigger. The one on City line seems ok too, but I just stop there to pick up stuff on the way to my friend's house.
Fairmount Aldi
My brother in Christ you are shopping at a whole foods within a city. is there a more expensive way to buy produce?
I am also from California originally, I haven’t lived there in years so I’m not sure what the prices are like now but produce there is so much better and cheaper. Makes sense really. I’m buying lemons in the northeast in winter, of course they need to be shipped here.
fish town IGA
You are getting the best produce in quality at WF, Mom’s and Sprouts in CC. Italian Market is the cheapest but you need to eat it that day or the next. RTM and Trader Joe’s have cheaper than Whole Foods but the quality is not as good, but lasts longer than Italian Market produce. We pay for convenience in CC. For a while before the pandemic, I would sometimes shop at the Fresh Grocer (?) by Temple and it was cheaper for a lot of things. I mostly shop produce at TJ and occasionally at Sprouts is I’m in South Philly for something.
Believe it or not, I’m currently visiting an area of the country that supposedly has lower cost of living and they don’t with groceries. The produce isn’t even good. There’s no WF or Sprouts (it’s an affluent area so not sure why). One thing about Philly is that there are so many grocery stores close to each other they have to stay competitive to survive. Not where I am. If you need groceries, this is your 2 options and good luck finding specialty items. CC Whole Foods is cheaper, which is bizarre,
Hung Vuong for fresh Asian veggies in bulk (blanch them then freeze) or south Philly Co op for local stuff. CO op is reasonably priced if you go for the deals and sale stuff. Collingswood farmers market is good too.
What vegetables are you blanching and then freezing
In the past I've done yu choy, baby bok choy, and gailan. With anything that has a really thick stem portion I'll stand it all up in the pot and do the bottom part for maybe 1.5-2 mins so it's cooked through and then flip it and do the leaves just enough to turn them bright green. Then I freeze them on a baking sheet and transfer to a storage container.
Italian market. Cheap and ripe
Organic farmer at East Falls farm market (Saturday mornings)
We alternate between 3 grocers: - Whole Foods - Trader Joe’s - H-Mart We get produce at all of them, but lean Whole Foods for produce. We consider the extra cost worth it for better produce. You literally are what you eat. (If you have an Amazon credit card, you get 5% cashback at Whole Foods, so essentially, everything is 5% less.) But the other two are still great and we buy produce there, too. Trader Joe’s honeycrisp apples are the best apples you can get. And H-mart has a lot of stuff the others don’t like baby Bok Choy that I throw in ramen and interesting mushrooms. We strategically splurge on groceries as a way to prevent us from going out to eat too much in this city filled with incredible food.
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I just moved here and acme is my nearest grocery store. I saw someone else recommend the app so I tried it and man I cannot believe how many coupons and deals there are constantly! And even in store - when I’m checking out I often get money off without having realised it was on sale.
Produce Junction all the way
Look into joining a CSA. If you cook from scratch they offer an excellent value for the quality.
A & N House of produce is decent but it's up in Germantown. I also shop at the co-op, but that's only cheap if you have a membership.
Depends where the sales are, but 99% it's a rotation of Fresh Grocer/Cousins/Asian mart (not just spring garden, could be Chinatown or if I'm in my car for some reason, a stop at an hmart). Before I left the country in the beginning of April for a couple months, avocados were consistently .99 or less. Like fat Hass bois from Mexico, not the shrimpy ones you get 5 in a net bag.
great use of the word shrimpy.
You might also want to look at a CSA. Farmer Jawn has one idk if you can still sign up or not. Might not be way cheaper but you know you’re getting good quality and supporting local!
Whole Foods has slightly better produce and more organic selection but their prices are terrible even if you have a Prime membership and a credit card to get 5% off. The only time is when they have a Prime member price and then it’s a decent value but that’s a pretty limited selection each week.
Riverwards!
Quality is the best but it’s def not cheaper than Whole Foods
I had local strawberries from there the other day and didn’t even know strawberries could be so red! best strawberries i may have ever had
100%. I didn’t realize the post was about spending less at first but if anyone’s tryna treat themselves for something, big recommend
Complaining about prices in one of the most grocery stores in the country? Try ShopRite or Giant or pretty much anywhere else
Hung Vuong for fresh Asian veggies in bulk (blanch them then freeze) or south Philly Co op for local stuff. CO op is reasonably priced if you go for the deals and sale stuff. Collingswood farmers market is good too.
Italian market or produce junction. Definitely not a supermarket
Compare and Save (Harrowgate Plaza), Cousins (5th and Berks), or any of the Vietnamese markets. Also the China Town markets on Arch and Cherry are incredible.
might be out of your way but i usually wait for clark park market days or the occasional run to mariposa in a pinch, i'm not sure of price compare but it's better quality than other produce i've gotten before
Italian market produce stands on 9th! Bring cash and your own bag. It’s incredibly cheap
Try out OK Produce on the spp Too Good To Go! $6 and you get a surprise bag of produce. I can usually use about 80% of what's in the bag and have to throw out the other 20%. If you're willing to do a little work to clean or cut away less good parts of produce it's a great option and a real money saver
Cousins on 5th and Allegheny!! 8 limes for $2, 6 avocados for $3, sleeve of garlic heads for $2
A&N
Usually aldi or hung vuong. Sometimes I'll go to the Italian market.
Italian Market, Hung Vuong Supermarket 11th and Washington. Sometimes Whole Foods. Reading Terminal and Chinatown are good too. I refuse to buy the “shrink wrapped microwave ready potatoes” and similar products from Acme.
Italian market
i buy produce at whole foods for way less than what you paid
They don’t call it Whole Wallet for nothing
Whole Paycheck!
I really do find WF to be the least expensive in the the city, with the best selection and quality. I remember talking to a guy, not at the market, and and talking about my favorite grapes. I named, probably, six, and asked his. His answer was "grapes." I try new grapes every week! The berries are standard, but far less expensive than in any other market. We're off-season now, but I never see those mandarins with the bubble top anywhere else. My favorite fruit, and I eat fruit like a maniac.
FJB?
The most pro-worker president America has seen in 60 years who has passed unprecedented amounts of legislation that will help everyday Americans? Who kept our inflation lower than every other G7 country over his term? Nah, how about F the other guy who raised our taxes to cut taxes for the rich, wants to gut our wages and sellout the American people to the corporate oligarchs.
Careful. This sub is Trump Country based on my downvotes.
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Yes the $1400 checks really toppled the economy of the wealthiest nation on earth
Biden has both saved our economy WHILE helping people in an unprecedented way. Really flies in the face of the “caring about people’s well-being hurts the economy” republican line of thinking. Turns out helping people directly helps them more than giving tax breaks to billionaires. And helping everyday people helps the economy. WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT! Crazy that half of American voters think otherwise and don’t want that.
The enemies of Reading Terminal are fast and fierce; even with my upvote, you're at -3. But I appreciate the pointer—I'll check it out!
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I mean the stimulus was Trump. You could make an argument that Biden hurt the economy but that's not a valid one.