Where do you get groceries?

[KCPowercat]

I'll start this room off with the question I get asked the very most.  Like everybody else lives next door to a grocery store.


Personally, I usually go to the Price Chopper on Vivian or Westport Sunfresh.

[Tosspot]

Usually Westport SunFresh, but a lot of things really suck about that store, the fruit selection is of shall we say, low-quality. Sometimes I do Hen House in Fairway.

I currently live in the same apartment building that I grew up in (in a different unit), and when I was a small child, there was Scavuzzo's Thriftway right up the street on Westport Rd off of Mercier-- it was literally about a two minute walk-- my mom and I would go up there on occasion and take a cart full of groceries home. Then a pickup truck would make rounds in the neighborhood every so often collecting the grocery carts that the customers had left outside their apartments after shopping.

Currently, that old Thriftway serves as Berbiglia liquor store-- but how great it would be to have a grocery store that close again!

[staubio]

Usually Westport SunFresh, but a lot of things really suck about that store, the fruit selection is of shall we say, low-quality. Sometimes I do Hen House in Fairway.

I currently live in the same apartment building that I grew up in (in a different unit), and when I was a small child, there was Scavuzzo's Thriftway right up the street on Westport Rd off of Mercier-- it was literally about a two minute walk-- my mom and I would go up there on occasion and take a cart full of groceries home. Then a pickup truck would make rounds in the neighborhood every so often collecting the grocery carts that the customers had left outside their apartments after shopping.

Currently, that old Thriftway serves as Berbiglia liquor store-- but how great it would be to have a grocery store that close again!

Great story, toss.  That would be nice to have a grocer there.

I do the SunFresh thing.  It isn't bad for the things I need, I can walk there and they now have self checkout.  For produce, there is no reason to buy from any supermarket when you've got two farmer's market's a week at the City Market, Brookside, etc, and at least one in Merriam, OP, etc. 

I live as close to a grocer as anyone in the suburbs.

[dangerboy]

I generally go to Marsh's Nastyfresh because it's so close.  I disagree that it's more expensive than others.  It just has bad service and bad produce.  Sometimes I'll go to the Brookside Price Chopper for a big stock-up trip.  It's the only urban grocery with decent produce. But like Staubio said, the City Market, Brookside, and Troost farmer's markets are great alternatives.

Even though I'm in Midtown, sometimes I'll hit the Vivion Price Chopper if I'm already up that way for a Target run.  Ditto for the Apple Market on 47th in Fairway, on the way to Wal-Mart in Roeland Park.

[Tosspot]

Marsh's Nastyfresh

Marsh's Nastyfresh!! I love it!

Their produce does suck, but since I no longer work weekends I can go to the City Market on Saturdays now (or any other day I suppose-- I love that place).

I worked at the Westport SunFresh for awhile in my high school daze in the late nineties. The one good thing about that place is Joyce, that really sweet old black lady who's the greeter. She's been a friend of my family for decades, as my paternal grandmother waitressed with Joyce at the Colony Lobsterpot back in the fifties, I think it was. My dad will give her a ride home some and I'll give her a ride home too, when she needs a lift. Her pink Mary Kay Cadillac got stolen a couple years back and it was never recovered.

Anyway, while working at SunFresh once, a customer suggested it should be called "Sun Slow." He wasn't in my checkout line, though. 

[scooterj]

I used to go to Price Chopper on Vivion once a month for the big stuff and the Osco in NKC for weekly restocks of essentials.    But I've since adapted and now make a weekend circuit through the various City Market grocers and the outdoor vendors, plus the Chinatown market, for about 80% of my needs (produce, bread, milk, meat).  I now go over the river mainly for cleaning suplies, paper products, and beer.

[driver 8]

I go to the Hyvee on Englewood. It's very clean and they have a nice beer selection! It takes me 15 min from leaving their parking lot to entering my loft.

[moderne]

      I have timed both the run to Scumfresh and Price Choper on Vivian and Chopper usually is a few seconds quicker, plus they do have a small natural foods section.

[DiggityDawg]

You guys are gonna think I'm nuts...but I do the grocery shopping like I'm going on a commando raid. lol.

Every Wed. I look at several grocery store ads online, writing down who has stuff on sale we want/need. I also cut coupons to maximize the $$$ saved.

Then on Sundays we hit the road - assuming every possible store has stuff to buy, the rotation goes like this :

1. Sun Fresh in Westport
2. World Market ( for wine for the Mrs. )
3. Apple Market near Oklahoma Joe's
4. Price Chopper in Roeland Park
5. Hi-Vee in Mission
6. Target in Mission
7. Wild Oats in Mission ( mainly for organic produce )
8. Hen House in Fairway
9. Costco in Midtown ( just a few blocks from home )

Now, it's rare that we have to hit ALL of those stores...but that's "the route" .

[tat2kc]

Damn, Diggity! talk about a man on a mission!!    I usually do city market for produce, and some meats on the weekend.  If some of the vendors that do sell meats like KC Buffalo had a year around place down there, I'd do even more.  Also, the Westport Sunfresh.  It is not as bad as its been in the past, customer service is much improved.  They are also going to be remodeling the entire store, department by department, so that ought to help out a lot.

[mean]

Ideally I'd like to get everything from the city market, but I do make the Costco run to stock up on freezeables. Local Harvest used to have cool local meats...buffalo, ostrich, etc, but I haven't been since the one on 39th closed. The Vivian Price Chopper is actually pretty nice if you don't want beer. Used to go to Brookside Price Chopper when I lived on 39th, but now it's kind of out of the way.

I'd much prefer to be able to walk everywhere, and as such I end up getting a lot of incidentals at QH Supermart and Osco rather than driving miles to some suburban grocery mecca for Diet Coke and Crisco. It would make my year if they'd get rid of that nasty ass Quizno's and put in a little fresh meat and produce!

[KCLofts]

I usually go to Sun Fresh.  Every once in a while, or for special occasions, we'll head out to Whole Foods and stock up.

The grocery stores in the Northland are definitely nicer.  For some reason it seems to me that they are a lot farther away than Sun Fresh.  Maybe I'll have to try Hy Vee or Price Chopper again.

[KC_Fan]

I still go all the way down to 93rd or 94th and Metcalf to Whole Foods.  I'm hoping my good attendance pays off with a big fat reward of a new location downtown in the P&L district!

[Boognish]

1. Snyder's on Independence Avenue - most of my staples here. Nothing fancy, but it's a fun place, and it's like a block away.

2. Price Chopper on Vivion - I like the feel of this place since they remodeled it, and it's good for bakery and deli items. I try to ignore the in-store Starbucks, though.

3. Whole Foods on 150th and Cluster or wherever it is - I can't help it. It's a nice place. And yeah, I know it's not that far south, but that particular shopping area over there is my second least favorite in the metro, behind only that big box military base on Chipman in Lee's Summit.

4. Aldi on Independence Avenue. It's close and we're broke a lot recently. That makes it the perfect fit. And really, it's definitely not organic, but on everything short of meat (including produce) it's certainly workable quality.

5. Chinatown Grocery (now on 3rd and grand) - Any place that smells that bad and speaks that many languages and has a live tank of eels has got to be in anyone's top 5. A lot of their stuff is lousy, though.

[KC0KEK]

5. Chinatown Grocery (now on 3rd and grand) - Any place that smells that bad and speaks that many languages and has a live tank of eels has got to be in anyone's top 5. A lot of their stuff is lousy, though.

What's the new place like? I always liked the old store because it was jammed floor-to-ceiling, so it felt more like a bazaar than a regular grocery store.

[DiggityDawg]

Damn, Diggity! talk about a man on a mission!! 

I'm sorry....what'd you say? My head was buried in the grocery ads. 

[scooterj]

What's the new place like? I always liked the old store because it was jammed floor-to-ceiling, so it felt more like a bazaar than a regular grocery store.

It's more spacious but still has the same funky smell.     The seafood department is both amazing and terrifying.  It may be the only place in the RM you can go right now to buy such staples as milk.  (As in regular, American corporate cow milk as opposed to milk from other animals in packages labeled in foreign languages.)  They have cookware too.

[LenexatoKCMO]

What's the new place like? I always liked the old store because it was jammed floor-to-ceiling, so it felt more like a bazaar than a regular grocery store.

I haven't been down in several weeks.  Have they done anyting yet with the old space? 

[KC0KEK]

I haven't been down in several weeks.  Have they done anyting yet with the old space? 

I was there a couple of weeks ago but didn't notice any work on the old store.

[KC0KEK]

It's more spacious but still has the same funky smell.     The seafood department is both amazing and terrifying.   It may be the only place in the RM you can go right now to buy such staples as milk.  (As in regular, American corporate cow milk as opposed to milk from other animals in packages labeled in foreign languages.)   They have cookware too.

What about the eels? Still got 'em? Not sure if I'd ever cook one, but nice to know that they can be had if so inclined.