Whole Foods mixed-use project @ 51/Oak

[Darlene]

I don't shop at those places. I do Walmart usually and save my money in my IRA and for investment properties.

[chrizow]

I just never liked Whole Foods meat selection. All of it just seems pre packaged and shipped in from elsewhere. I don't think they have butchers in the stores but I could be wrong

we haven't been to the 119th or olathe stores, but the 91st street WF store has a great fresh meat selection (and, yeah, some packaged stuff) that is far and away better than any grocery store in KC (we still haven't checked out Costco's meat dept though). most of the meat is organic, grass-fed, free-range, etc. and some of it is usually local(ish) (or, at least, from a specific farm in another state). they also have butchers there, who are quite helpful and friendly and will cut up the meat however you want it. same with seafood - their selection is great and fresh and the staff is really helpful.

one time, we were calling around to find fresh merguez sausage. we called whole foods meat dept and he said they did not have any at that moment, but the guy on the phone offered to make some. so he made a big batch of it and held some back for us!

i know i sound like a whole foods evangelist but i have just never understood people's hate for the place - it almost always is based on something that is based more on stereotype than reality!

[chingon]

I very rarely eat farmed meat with the exception of fish, and haven’t for years. When I do it’s almost always from a butcher shop. I doubt that changes. But I anticipate buying most of my groceries from this Whole Foods after it opens. I’m thrilled to have an alternative to the abysmal Westport sunfresh, the serviceable Brookside Cosentinos or the basic BKS Price Chopper.

The only Kansas grocery store I have ever made a trip to is the mexi price chopper. Trader Joe’s is silly. I usually enjoy their products but it’s not a grocer.

[chrizow]

I very rarely eat farmed meat with the exception of fish, and haven’t for years. When I do it’s almost always from a butcher shop.

that's a fair point. we buy a lot of meat from Broadway Butcher, esp. when we're just like, "we want to grill something, let's see what looks good at broadway butcher." when we're sitting around with cookbooks or magazines planning meals for the week, we tend to go with stuff we can get at whole foods.

we used to go to local pig regularly (and did their meat-box subscription for a while) but it's pretty inconvenient to go down there on a regular basis.

[tower]

According to the Star, this opened today at 9. http://www.kansascity.com/news/business ... 71869.html

[FangKC]

After Years Of Construction And Closure In Kansas, Whole Foods Opens In Kansas City

http://kcur.org/post/after-years-constr ... ansas-city

[earthling]

We checked it out and had a bite, which was just OK but not for the price. Someone next to us complained that the carrot cake was dried out. There is a lot of seating space - in/out and upstairs with outdoor patio. Even if Amazon Prime discount ends out being 10% off it's still very pricey (discount suppose to go nationwide later this summer). Much prefer Trader Joe's and Aldi for specialty things (both much cheaper), Consentino's seafood is priced better and they'll get you most anything you want by next day - City Market and Costco round out rest of needs for much less. There are a lot of specialty products none of those places have so has its place but otherwise would be nice to see a Sprouts in the city, like maybe the Uptown Shops location or old Westport Osco.

Would consider City Market, Consentino's and Trader Joe's more of a destination than Whole Foods but WF is still a good score for the immediate UMKC area.

[Critical_Mass]

We checked it out opening day. This is hands down the best grocery in the city. Our household was already nearly exclusive WF shoppers, and this raises the bar. Makes the newish one in Olathe look wanting. This one is every bit as nice as the new one in Lake View, Chicago (intersection of Belmont, & Ashland) which I never thought I'd see in an urban-ish location in KC. Well done! You cannot compare anything else to this and be taken seriously. I mean, you can order a Crane Tea Weiss from tap or a J. Rieger cocktail and sip it as you browse the aisles. They have little glassware holders at the ends of the aisles to leave your empties. I know there are WF haters out there who scoff at the prices but WF has always had the largest and best selection of organic produce. If you like WF, you will love this. If you already don't like WF, this is a much, much nicer thing you won't like.

[chrizow]

I don't get the appeal of Trader Joe's at all, unless all you're after is frozen food and inexpensive nuts. It is woefully insufficient for a weeks groceries. Cosentinos is passable for a neighborhood store but the produce is bad and costs just as much as Whole Foods. Sprouts is bad as well, I was just in the liberty store a few weeks ago and the produce was incredibly haggard. Whole Foods can be expensive, esp if you're getting frozen entrees or processed snack food, but for produce, meat/seafood, and pantry staples (as well as any esoteric ingredient one might need for a recipe) there is no comparison. Their house brand organic products are great and not that expensive.

Add in the bar, prepared food, etc and like Critical Mass said, there is nothing like it in the entire metro. Unbelievable quality of life improvement for the area.

[mykn]

My takeaway from the last three posts is that everyone has wildly different expectations for grocery stores and shopping lists.

[earthling]

^Apparently. TJ's is more appealing to cooks I suppose wanting above avg quality ingredients for low prices but agree is not a full grocery and didn't expect it to be. IE, a highish grade of Spanish saffron is half the price of other places. Their Spanish olive oil is very good, especially for price.. They also have above avg packaged foods/sauces/condiments/etc for below specialty prices. Didn't think I was hating on WF but it really is as expensive as their reputation (outside _some_ produce) and the prepared foods aren't good enough for what they charge. Agree it's a good score for city core but it probably won't be part of our monthly regular rotation of City Market/Consentinos/TJs/Aldi. Will still check it out once in a while being so close - and it has a bike station in front of it. The space is indeed pretty nice.

edit: The salad/food bar is $10/lb, about as high as it gets. It looked really good so I tried sampling many different things but nothing had any zip, zest or flavor to speak of. Even if upcoming Amazon discount is 10%, it would still be $9/lb - not good enough at that price. Will give other things a shot, the bar small plate menu sounds good on paper.

[brewcrew1000]

I just hope this store is better than Olathe. Once had a breakfast burrito at the Olathe store and it was the single worst breakfast burrito I ever had. Over my last 3 visits to a whole foods for hot food everything has been so underwhelming, nothing had flavor.

For overall meat selection Costco is hands down the best in the Urban Core, just bought some Ribeye steak from Costco and it was out of this world. The Pork and Chicken is pre packaged but for beef it looks like most of it is butchered at Costco.

For price and overall selection I love Sprouts and think it would kill in the urban core. Some of the produce can be hit or miss but the produce nears aldi like prices at sprouts when they run sales

[brewcrew1000]

This kind of sums up Whole Foods, i don't mind shopping there, i would just never make it my go to full time grocer.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIb3nLtmeww

[WSPanic]

^Apparently. TJ's is more appealing to cooks I suppose wanting above avg quality ingredients for low prices but agree is not a full grocery and didn't expect it to be.

I don't anyone who cooks a lot that considers TJs as a good option for ingredients over a traditional grocery store like WF or Cosentino's. It's a ton of frozen food, prepared items and packaged goods. Not sure how you'd even put together a full meal from scratch without stopping by a grocery store. Even their website "Recipes" are completely full of prepared dressings and mixes.

[earthling]

^Agree, not a full store, but it does have some particularly good things. The cooking circles I'm in have TJs on their rotation, not a single stop shop. There's a particular fantastic item I won't mention because they struggle to keep it in stock as it is. We'll go about once a month just to get this as do 'foodie cooks' I know. Some of the packaged items are also doable, but we'll perk them up with extras to raise them up a notch - such as using the mystery item. And no place I've found has as good a grade of saffron at TJs price. Creme fraiche also quite good for the price. TJs has above avg condiments, mixers, etc we may not want to do from scratch at times. Good 'short cut' items, much cheaper than WF.

edit: BTW, we make a great chilled shrimp/feta orzo all items available at TJs. Shrimp or langostino, orzo, feta, lemon, spanish olive oil, fresh dill, green onion, cuces. TJ's feta flavor is great basically carrying the dish, TJ's orzo is better grade (texture) than common brands, TJ's spanish olive oil actually stands out and can make this for much less than WF or Consentino's. Also try TJ's Spanish olive oil mixed with herbs de provence for dipping a toasted baguette, or drizzled on roasted small potatoes - I get reactions for something that simple. Cooks of course stock things from many stores, some last for a year, some for a week/month, some you buy the day you cook. Quite a few above avg quality at a good price TJ items in the mix, though probably mostly stocked with goodies from River Market area Asian stores. Mexican Price Chopper in Roeland Park also one to call out. But to be fair, will likely find a few goodies to stock from WF as well if worth it.

[chrizow]

I will agree that the Whole Foods "hot bar" prepared foods I have tried have not been great, although I am not aware of any grocery store prepared foods that are worth a damn...so we almost never buy them unless we're in a rush on our way somewhere. In a pinch we'll buy a prepared cold salad or side dish from Cosentino's and they are always pretty average and not exactly cheap.

Also, Whole Foods has the best cheese selection other than maybe Better Cheddar. Cosentino's used to have a much stronger cheese selection but it has gone downhill over the past couple of years. I do think that Cosentino's does a very nice job of maximizing the relatively limited store footprint. But I do not really foresee going to Cosentino's ever again now that Whole Foods is open, unless we happen to be immediately near Cosentino's and need a random item.

We stop by the BKS Farmers Market every week, but beyond that really try and get everything we need at a single location so we are not driving all over town getting a few items here and there (not practical or pleasant with a 4 year old!) We do get a few staples at Costco (Kerrygold butter, olive oil, frozen fruit for smoothies, etc.) but for the most part we have not found Costco practical for groceries.

[earthling]

Cosentino's used to have a much stronger cheese selection but it has gone downhill over the past couple of years.

Hah, a cooking friend used to be a self-described fromagée at BKS Consentino's years ago. She also has said it went down hill since she left - thought maybe it was her ego talking. The cheese selection at WF did look good. Imagine she's hit it already. Am not a specialty cheesehead other than experimenting with 'frog' cheese she puts out before dinners but am a sucker for Boursin, great deal at Costco. A high quality Spanish Manchego spread with a fig jam also something I might buy (yes served that way in Spain).

Will be interesting to see how BKS Consentino's responds with WF opening and if they can pickup their game. BKS has a locatarian purism slant so will also be interesting to see any indication if many truly reject WF and support Cons just to support them.

[FangKC]

July 19, 2018.

[kcmiz]

This is the kind of project city leaders should be pushing developers to emulate. Brookside could use 10+ more projects at this scale.

[taxi]

I hear Whole Foods is sinking. Literally/physically.