... is an experience these days. First off, one either has to go out south to the MLKJ Parkway or north to Willowdaile to even get to an HT. Second: How long has the movie theater at Willowdaile been torn down for the new HT that's coming along, oh, any decade now? I think it's been like a year and a half, with the Northgate HT having been closed for two years or more. (When the hell is Northgate going to get a grocery store again?)
For the sake of argument, let's assume we've safely made it to an HT. Well, where are my Mini Stoned Wheat Thins? I feel like I personally have been buying enough of them to keep the company afloat. They just don't have them anymore. And the minis taste better than the regular ones. I'm totally serious. If anyone knows where I can find them in Durham, please let me know.
So I guess to make up for the lack of Mini Stoned Wheat Thins, we now have this thing. My God, I think I need to call Pat Robertson about this abomination. If I wanted an apple soaked in grape flavor, I'd just buy, um, an apple and some grape-flavored Kool-Aid -- wait, that sounds like a recipe for mass suicide. Oh, yeaaah!
you could really be on to something here...i mean if you've got people carbonating grapes, why not kool-aid infused apples?
Posted by: blinkingline | 29 October 2007 at 15:54
I'm still waiting for Koolickles to come to town! That's what we need!
Posted by: Varmint | 29 October 2007 at 16:05
I guess no matter how bad things get, they can always get worse.
Hey, if we can have Kool-Aid flavored pickles, why not pickle-flavored Kool-Aid?
Posted by: Joe | 29 October 2007 at 16:17
There's just no accounting for taste. I thought the bacon-flavored chocolate sounded like something tasty to try. Yet a grape-infused apple just sounds godawful.
Posted by: --Lisa S. | 29 October 2007 at 20:29
If you want something that tastes like a grape, wouldn't you just buy grapes? Am I missing something here?
Posted by: Maura | 29 October 2007 at 20:44
If you like bacon/chocolate: you have very good taste.
If you like apples that taste like grapes (they don't, really): you need to be checked into an asylum.
I am in no way judgmental! I swear!
Posted by: durhamfood | 29 October 2007 at 20:51
mmmm..... bacon.
I'm still pissed at HT for closing the store at Northgate. We seldom go to any HT anymore. We manage to get most of our shopping done at Compare and King's Red and White. I can walk to Red and White if I'm not getting too much stuff. If I have to drive, it's three minutes.
I am in no way judgmental! I swear!
Sometimes it's justified. :)
Posted by: Maura | 29 October 2007 at 21:51
Compare Foods rocks my world. Especially their cash-only seafood counter. Seriously, it's actually not half bad.
Posted by: durhamfood | 29 October 2007 at 22:02
Compare Foods is about the only place I've ever been able to walk into and buy fresh pork belly. I was planning on turning it into bacon, but I wound up grinding it for sausage instead. They also have real sausage casings there. OTOH, sometimes I want stuff I'd be able to find at about any other grocery store, but Compare won't have it. ¡Qué lástima!
Posted by: Joe | 29 October 2007 at 22:59
sometimes I want stuff I'd be able to find at about any other grocery store, but Compare won't have it.
And neither will Red and White. That's when we break down and go to HT.
What I really love about Compare? It's the only store I've been to down here where I can always find ditalini for my pasta e fagioli. That alone makes me love it.
Posted by: Maura | 30 October 2007 at 08:45
Bah. If I want to go to a Harris Teeter, I have to drive to fucking North Carolina!!! Hush, the lot of ya! We used to have HT stores in Greenville/the Upstate of SC, but then Bi-Lo bought 'em out. I used to shop at a mammouth HT wherein I could find everything I loved. Now? GONE. I'm reduced to Publix. I'd give anything to have one back.
Posted by: Kira | 30 October 2007 at 20:10
ummm, what's the appeal of HT? whenever i used to go to the Northgate store, i'd have to correct the cashier on half the items that would ring up more than the shelf price. the produce sucked, and except for some cookie varieties, so did the store brands. between Compare, Red & White, Kroger, and Costco, i can get anything i need except CO2 cartridges. those i have to order online.
Posted by: barry | 30 October 2007 at 21:38
I think I like shopping at the HT because it seems to have stuff I want. I know you probably want a fancier answer than that, but I can't really give one. I also don't like shopping at Kroger for some reason, but I will if I need to. Costco/Sam's Club require membership and have huge quantities -- often more than I need. I use Red & White and Compare when I think of them, but again, it can be tough for me to find stuff I want. (BTW, I swore off Food Lion back when they sued ABC, and will only shop there when I can't find something anywhere else).
I keep hearing nice things about Wegmans. Maybe they'll decide to move south of Virginia sometime.
Posted by: Joe | 31 October 2007 at 10:13
the 4 cents a gallon gas discount at Costco, which is pretty much on my way to/from work, pays for the membership fee, and for items like coffee, olive oil, basmati rice, and a few other staples, the quantities are not excessive and the prices are quite good. They've also almost always got pineapples, which you can buy individually, for 3 bucks each, which is at least a dollar less than anyone else, plus they're twice the size. Which comes in handy when i'm making my grilled pineapple salsa.
the cases of bottled water & toilet paper that i usually see people checking out with are generally not discounted enough to justify (for me, anyway) buying a year's supply at a time.
i usually do a Costco run about once every 6 weeks, and i can usually keep my bill down in the 80 - 100 dollar range. they also have that treasure hunt philosophy where there's almost always something in the store that's deeply discounted. Last month i picked up a Waring Pro deep fryer that's about $150 or so at Macy's for forty bucks.
Compare has the best prices around for citrus, avocados (which have finally started coming down after the late freeze in April. They're not two for a buck yet, but they will be before too much longer), and sweet red peppers. Plus the meat counter is always an adventure.
I kinda wish that Lowe's (the grocery, not the home improvement store) had better regional management. They bought out Byrd's a few years back, which was a decent local grocery store, and proceeded to run each of the locations into the ground before shutting them down.
Agreed re: Food Lion.
Posted by: barry | 31 October 2007 at 11:31
The meat counter at Compare is definitely fun. And they also have my favorite kind of juice in decent-sized bottles. Now if they'd just start carrying Mini Stoned Wheat Thins.... ;) BTW folks, I'm totally serious about trying to find those Mini Stoned Wheat Thins elsewhere. They've been a staple of mine for years. I plan other dishes around them. I buy 2 or 3 boxes at the time.
BTW, I've had several people tell me how happy they are generally with the meat at Red & White.
Posted by: Joe | 31 October 2007 at 11:53
The HT that was here before Bi-Lo bought them out was huge and had fantastic service/great produce. The HT that is near my brother's house in Cary is still where I go when he sends me out to pick up this or that for the house if I'm visiting because they have all the items we typically use. Plus, that HT has great produce too. I never had the issue with the cashiers that Barry mentioned, and the rare times when something rang up wrong here in SC at that HT, they gave it to me for free (but it really didn't happen that often). They also always had in stock the sale items in sufficient quantities that I didn't have to deal with rainchecks so much. Oh, and they had double coupons. And when the HT was here, my children were one and four, and they LOVED getting a balloon, cookie, and coloring book whenever we went to the grocery store. The staff knew me by name and bent over backwards to help me out. Yup, I sure did love that HT.
Publix is now where I shop, but I don't even know if you have any of those in the triangle area. It started out in Florida, so it actually was the grocery store my folks went to when I was a child (I was born and raised in Tampa). They have great customer service, a small but nice and fresh seafood case, good produce, and they also carry a lot of the Hispanic products I was used to using too. They'll order things for me with a smile on their faces if they don't carry it in the store, too, so for an incident like what Joe has described...well, I'd just go up to them and say, hey! Order me some mini stoned wheat thins! But I don't think I have to because I believe I've seen them in my local store. Publix came to SC about a decade ago, so I'm not sure if they then continued to go into NC.
Posted by: Kira | 31 October 2007 at 18:44
I do love Costco. We're very careful about what we buy there. I don't have room for a lot of the bulk stuff like toilet paper and paper towels. I wish I had a rice tower and a way to store 25 pounds of flour and sugar. I'd definitely buy those three items there.
They often have 4 1/2 lb bags of chocolate chips, which is a big help to me. I can go through at least three bags of them through the winter.
Red and White is great for so many things. Some of their stuff is a little more expensive than what you'd pay at HT or Kroger (where I refuse to go), but the time and gas I save makes up for it. And other things are cheaper. We're there at least twice a week.
I shopped at HT for a long time because they generally had everything I wanted as far as food. Their non-food section sucks. Why is it that I can no longer find clear Reynolds Plastic Wrap? It's bad enough I use it at all, but why does it have to have a color?
I miss Giant Foods. Now that's a great chain store.
Posted by: Maura | 01 November 2007 at 11:49
The HT in Danville VA has Mini Stone Ground Wheat Thins. I assume that that's the same thing as Mini Stoned Wheat Thins. Yes? If so (and even if not), I am the proud owner of 5 boxes which I will be happy to drop off in Durham later this week. If you want them they are yours. Just tell me somewhere to drop them off. We'll probably head into downtown on Friday afternoon. We'll be coming in 501 to Duke street to downtown (need to be there before 5:00) then to Asia Market on 15-501 and Spice Bazaar at South Square. Then probably back downtown to the Bull McCabe if they have anything that is meat-free on the menu. I've provided my email - let me know if you want these.
Tammie at the farm in Semora
Posted by: tlk | 05 November 2007 at 19:28
Tammie, thank you so much, but don't do it. I'm amazed that someone I don't know would go to so much trouble for me. I imagine those are the store brand HT crackers I've seen before (and bought), but I'll email you directly. Thanks though.
Posted by: Joe | 05 November 2007 at 19:48
Have you checked A Southern Season? Just a thought. Or http://www.amazon.com/Farms-Stoned-Wheat-Thins-Crackers/dp/B003XNYA2A/ref=sr_1_5/177-6351670-8120012?ie=UTF8&s=miscellaneous&qid=1282511061&sr=8-5
Posted by: Kitty Cunningham | 22 August 2010 at 17:05
Kitty -- Yep, Amazon sells them, but it didn't seem worth the trouble and expense. I've finally settled on the HT's store brand as an acceptable alternative, but it was hard. :)
Posted by: Joe Eater | 29 August 2010 at 10:11
I don't love Typepad because it doesn't let me know when there's been a response to something I've written. I have to remember to check back. :-/
I'm glad you've found an acceptable substitute. I hate it when something I really like that just disappears.
Posted by: Kitty Cunningham | 29 August 2010 at 10:26
Kitty, you did pretty well -- I just posted that like 15 minutes ago. :)
Posted by: Joe Eater | 29 August 2010 at 10:30
Ah HA!!!! And if you reply to what I said, rather than reply as a separate response to the original post, I DO get an email notification of the response. Veeeeeeeeeeeeeery interestink. That was a first.
Posted by: Kitty Cunningham | 29 August 2010 at 10:33
There are also syndicated comment feeds for every individual post, so you can use a reader like Google Reader or Sage for Firefox and subscribe to the page's comment feed.
Posted by: Joe Eater | 29 August 2010 at 13:20
I use Google Reader. It shows me new posts but not comments.
Posted by: Kitty Cunningham | 29 August 2010 at 15:11
The comment feed for a page is on that page. So this page:
http://jhv.blogs.com/eatatjoes/2007/10/shopping-at-the.html
has comment feeds of
http://jhv.blogs.com/eatatjoes/2007/10/shopping-at-the/comments/rss.xml (for RSS)
and
http://jhv.blogs.com/eatatjoes/2007/10/shopping-at-the/comments/atom.xml (for Atom)
The feeds from the blog's front page are feeds for the entire blog's posts; those don't include comments.
Posted by: Joe Eater | 29 August 2010 at 16:08