Read my MIL's copy of the latest Monthly, an East Bay tabloid size
magazine that comes out - you guessed it - every month. In the issue
was a rather long article on the Grocery Outlet. Seems that the
place, while selling dented canned goods etc., also sells pretty good
wine in cheapo labels, closeouts from upscale food places, and "test
runs" of new gourmet products. The article mentioned a low-sugar fruit
preserve that sounded interesting.

I'd had no interest in exploring this place until I read the article.
Now it sounds like a kind of bargain bin Trader Joe's, where you might
possibly find gold if you show up regularly. Such hunting is not my
style - inefficient use of my time these days - but it seems worth a
try at least once. The writer claims to have spotted Narsai David in
the 4th Street (Berkeley) store, buying wine.

The Grocery Outlet is a nationwide chain that began in the Bay Area.
It originally sold dented and almost out-of-date cans from local food
processors (where have all the peach factories gone? Sun Microsystems,
Xylinx, Auto Row, I suppose)

In another food and equipment note, The Monthly also interviews the
founding chef of the new Fourth Street restaurant in the old Ginger
Island location, Christopher Somebody. Restaurant will be called
Eccolo. He's a Chez Panisse alum. When asked about kitchen equipment,
our chef said he has little use for food processors or other fancy
stuff at home. No George Foreman Grill? the interviewer asked. "No",
the man answered. His favorite piece of equipment is his cast iron
pan. It costs 15 dollars, will last forever, and does everything. "I
will be buried with my cast iron pans," he says.

I'm collecting these accolades for cast iron. Just a pet obsession
right now.

"Leila A." wrote:
>
> Read my MIL's copy of the latest Monthly, an East Bay tabloid size
> magazine that comes out - you guessed it - every month. In the issue
> was a rather long article on the Grocery Outlet.
<snip most of post>

Is this the "Grocery Outlet" with a rainbow in the logo? If so we have
them here, but the offerings are mostly boxed shortcuts (hamb. helper),
which, if same company, just reflects the tastes of the shoppers.
blacksalt
note deletion of crosspost for my reply

I'm surprised the Monthly would write up Grocery Outlet;
it was about a decade ago that that the Monthly (then
called the Berkeley Monthly) decided the neighborhoods of
central and west Berkeley were too downscale to bother distributing
to. Nicer neighborhoods get the Monthly plopped on their
doorstep each month.

Grocery Outlet was initially called Canned Foods and was
located in the former movie theatre where the Long's now is at
San Pablo and University. I remember then a Safeway executive
saying they were "watching very carefully" both Canned Foods
and Trader Joes. AFAIK they're still watching.

Steve

Leila A. wrote:

> In another food and equipment note, The Monthly also interviews the
> founding chef of the new Fourth Street restaurant in the old Ginger
> Island location, Christopher Somebody. Restaurant will be called
> Eccolo. He's a Chez Panisse alum. ...

Christopher Lee, and he's a very recent alum--he quit at the end of last
year, when he bought Ginger Island.

In article >, Leila A.
> wrote:

>
> The Grocery Outlet is a nationwide chain that began in the Bay Area.
> It originally sold dented and almost out-of-date cans from local food
> processors (where have all the peach factories gone? Sun Microsystems,
> Xylinx, Auto Row, I suppose)

The food processing plants, pretty much the last of them (*), left long
after most of the orchards had been subdivided into housing and
suchlike. (Even before Sun, Intel, etc., most of the Santa Clara Valley
canneries processed stuff brought in from outlying areas.)

I lived in Santa Clara/Sunnyvale/Mountain View during most of the 70s
and 80s and can tell you that almost all (*) of the land south of
Central Expressway was already subdivisions by about 1975. Much of the
land north of Central--the agreed-upon industrial belt when the zoning
tsars split the county into residential and industrial--was a patchwork
of orchards, farms, and corporations, and still is.

(* There may be some small canneries still left, doing specialty work.
And there are certainly isolated pockets of orchards, even corn fields,
that have not yet been sold. But an almost insignificant percentage
compared to, say, the 1960s and earlier.)

--Tim May

kalanamak > wrote in message >...
> "Leila A." wrote:
> >
> > Read my MIL's copy of the latest Monthly, an East Bay tabloid size
> > magazine that comes out - you guessed it - every month. In the issue
> > was a rather long article on the Grocery Outlet.
> <snip most of post>
>
> Is this the "Grocery Outlet" with a rainbow in the logo? If so we have
> them here, but the offerings are mostly boxed shortcuts (hamb. helper),
> which, if same company, just reflects the tastes of the shoppers.

It is the very selfsame. However many stores are independently
operated in an arrangement whose details I didn't really follow - not
a franchise. And yes, the article made it clear that they sell things
in the Berkeley outlet that wouldn't fly in other locations. Again,
makes me consider looking in one day. Had I one less toddler to haul
around, I might head over this week.

Leila

> blacksalt
> note deletion of crosspost for my reply

On 4 Apr 2004 20:47:51 -0700, (Leila A.) wrote:


>It is the very selfsame. However many stores are independently
>operated in an arrangement whose details I didn't really follow - not
>a franchise. And yes, the article made it clear that they sell things
>in the Berkeley outlet that wouldn't fly in other locations. Again,
>makes me consider looking in one day. Had I one less toddler to haul
>around, I might head over this week.
>
>Leila

These stores are throughout many of the western states. Along with
the Berkelely outlet, I like the Oakland one. They seem to have even
more good stuff than the Berkeley outlet.

I have been able to find some really good bargains there from time to
time. Like the Alvarado Street breads. And various other things.
One time I went there and found Niman Ranch hams there, for an
incredibly good price. I got two. And organic cream, at a
rediculously low price. It was all within the sell dates. Sometimes
a really good cheese. I can often find Cabot cheddars there...



Yes there is junk there, but there are treasures there as well.
Sometimes the wine selection can be just very ordinary, and other
times it seems like there are bargains everywhere on really good
wines. And not just the wine.

Yes, it is a crap shoot, for the most part. But I find when I was
going regularly, I was sure to find at least 1-2 incredible bargains
on really good stuff per week.

Christine

Christine Dabney wrote:
> On 4 Apr 2004 20:47:51 -0700, (Leila A.) wrote:
>
>
>
>>It is the very selfsame. However many stores are independently
>>operated in an arrangement whose details I didn't really follow - not
>>a franchise. And yes, the article made it clear that they sell things
>>in the Berkeley outlet that wouldn't fly in other locations. Again,
>>makes me consider looking in one day. Had I one less toddler to haul
>>around, I might head over this week.
>>
>>Leila
>
>
> These stores are throughout many of the western states. Along with
> the Berkelely outlet, I like the Oakland one. They seem to have even
> more good stuff than the Berkeley outlet.
>
> I have been able to find some really good bargains there from time to
> time. Like the Alvarado Street breads. And various other things.
> One time I went there and found Niman Ranch hams there, for an
> incredibly good price. I got two. And organic cream, at a
> rediculously low price. It was all within the sell dates. Sometimes
> a really good cheese. I can often find Cabot cheddars there...
>
>
>
> Yes there is junk there, but there are treasures there as well.
> Sometimes the wine selection can be just very ordinary, and other
> times it seems like there are bargains everywhere on really good
> wines. And not just the wine.
>
> Yes, it is a crap shoot, for the most part. But I find when I was
> going regularly, I was sure to find at least 1-2 incredible bargains
> on really good stuff per week.
>
> Christine


I live around the corner from the one in San Jose. When I go foraging
for food I stop there first. If they have what I want it is the best
price on town.

Different stores seem to have different thing on a regular basis.
The one off winchester has nuts and baking stuff more often.

Al

I found out about Grocery Outlets last year,
when a fellow beer judge brought in a bunch
of Belgian beers he's picked up there $3 a six pack.

It seems they were picking up the over-flow of the
Michael Jackson's Belgian-beer-of-the-month club.

They haven't had anything that good since then,
but about once a month I drop into the Redwood City GO,
to see what they have, and I do find a few "finds" now
and then.

Last week I noticed some Wensleydale cheese,
so I bought a little, just to see if it was any good.
Turns out it was better than any Wensleydale I bought
at Sainsbury's when I was in London last year.


(Leila A.) wrote in message . com>...
> Read my MIL's copy of the latest Monthly, an East Bay tabloid size
> magazine that comes out - you guessed it - every month. In the issue
> was a rather long article on the Grocery Outlet. Seems that the
> place, while selling dented canned goods etc., also sells pretty good
> wine in cheapo labels, closeouts from upscale food places, and "test
> runs" of new gourmet products. The article mentioned a low-sugar fruit
> preserve that sounded interesting

On 6 Apr 2004 22:31:54 -0700, (John S.
Watson) wrote:

> I found out about Grocery Outlets last year,
> when a fellow beer judge brought in a bunch
> of Belgian beers he's picked up there $3 a six pack.
>
We used to have one in San Francisco. Don't know if it
relocated, but it's not where it was. Ours was pretty good
because they were independent from the others, so their
merchandise was a bit different... however, I'd never say
they were top knoch, just interesting.

Sometimes their booze was interesting, but mostly not. You
can get the same "wow" factor at Trader Joes.

They were good for me (back "in the day") because I used to
buy gigantic (industrial sized) cans of whatever it was I
was using a lot of at the time.


Practice safe eating - always use condiments