640 replies to this topic

[mktye]

Does anyone know if Whole Foods (particularly the Alexandria location) carries shredded unsweetened coconut? I've always bought it at Trader Joe's, but they no longer sell it.

[cjsadler]

Does anyone know if Whole Foods (particularly the Alexandria location) carries shredded unsweetened coconut?  I've always bought it at Trader Joe's, but they no longer sell it.

Not sure about WF, but Indian grocery stores are a good place to get unsweetened, shredded coconut cheap.

[Barbara]

Not sure about WF, but Indian grocery stores are a good place to get unsweetened, shredded coconut cheap.

The Yes! Gourmet store on Columbia Road carries it, too.

[mktye]

For the record... Yes, the Whole Foods in Alexandria does carry unsweetened coconut. It is in the "bulk" dried food/spice section and inexplicably called "Unsulphured Coconut Macaroon".

[Poivrot Farci]

A presidential dinner was held this evening in the nation’s capital. As sergeant at arms and personal chef to the President [of the company’s 3rd floor bagel club] I oversaw not only the lighting of the candles at the monumental birthday donut‘s zenith but the searing of the sea scallops with the now ubiquitous neanderthal mango salsa. An assistant to the president procured said scallops from her cherished Whole Foods outpost on 14th street, NW. While she may have used her feminine wiles to secure a position as assistant to the president, last week’s “everything” bagels looked like they had fallen on the floor and clumsily been kicked around like a “hacky-sack” and the fishmonger may have been a spiteful ex-boyfriend...or girlfriend (who knows these days). Furthermore, they looked as they had been previously chewed on. As I shucked the pectinidae molluscs from their plastic half-pint shells, an overwhelming sense of not so good smell of sodium tripolyphosphate, confusion and despair consumed me, like those times when I went down to the docks, drunk and such and such.

The Assistant had purchased the scallops for not less than $18.99 per pound! And yet the scallops were treated with a preservative, sodium tripolyphosphate. While the inorganic compound is widely used in toothpaste and is as safe as salt, vinegar and baking powder, STPP helps to retain natural moisture, but in excess. Therefore, the scallops weighs more after being treated than it would if it were dayboat or dry-packed, the quality of which one would only assume if sold at Whole Foods “The World’s Leading Natural and Organic Foods Supermarket.”

In my rare and begrudging tangents into the Whole Foods empire, I have satiated my lust for free cheese and free-when-no-ones-looking nuts but squelched at the sight of orange roughee (a no-no according to NOAA ) and nothing more than organicly priced rutabega during the lean months.Has anyone else purchased a product at Whole Foods whose integrity they feel fell short of the price to which it was paired with?

[giant shrimp]

In my rare and begrudging tangents into the Whole Foods empire, I have satiated my lust for free cheese and free-when-no-ones-looking nuts but squelched at the sight of orange roughee (a no-no according to NOAA ) and nothing more than organicly priced rutabega during the lean months.Has anyone else purchased a product at Whole Foods whose integrity they feel fell short of the price to which it was paired with?

thanks for the info on the scallops. i am beginning to wonder more and more these days about what is going on with this store, especially on p street. i was there last night for a few items, and you didn't need to look far to spot produce that would only be purchased out of desperation. typically, the more expensive the item, the longer it languishes on the shelves. containers of haricot vers would have been tossed out by any store that cared about its reputation, for example, and the regular green beans were border-line acceptable. an employee restocking the shelves said they came in on saturday, but he didn't specify the week.

[JPW]

Has anyone else purchased a product at Whole Foods whose integrity they feel fell short of the price to which it was paired with?

Nothing to do with the integrity of the product just the price.
I don't care if it's been grown in the shade of a eucalyptis tree, fertilized with organic lion dung, watered with only the finest Voss, removed from the stalk with golden scissors, forced through a civet cat, and then cleansed by the healing waters of Lourdes, I'm not going to pay $4 a fucking pound for bell peppers

[zoramargolis]

The Assistant had purchased the scallops for not less than $18.99 per pound! And yet the scallops were treated with a preservative, sodium tripolyphosphate. While the inorganic compound is widely used in toothpaste and is as safe as salt, vinegar and baking powder, STPP helps to retain natural moisture, but in excess. Therefore, the scallops weighs more after being treated than it would if it were dayboat or dry-packed, the quality of which one would only assume if sold at Whole Foods “The World’s Leading Natural and Organic Foods Supermarket.”

Were these large "sea" scallops or small Nantucket Bays? Gd forbid they were farmed bay scallops from Asia--then you really got ripped off. Scallops are extremely perishable if not treated with chemical preservative, and places which offer the shortest "distance in time" between shucker and shopper are likely to provide the freshest product. I'm not sure how long it takes the WF system to distribute seafood to its various stores, but they may have to compensate for the time lag in their system by putting preservative on the scallops. At that price, you would not be able to get top quality true Nantucket Bays, but you could get dry dayboat scallops. Divers would cost a couple of dollars per pound more than that, and Nantucket Bays are going to be at least in the mid $20's range. My advice? Next time buy scallops at BlackSalt Market. I used to be a fish monger there and can vouch for the quality.

[TedE]

In my rare and begrudging tangents into the Whole Foods empire, I have satiated my lust for free cheese and free-when-no-ones-looking nuts but squelched at the sight of orange roughee (a no-no according to NOAA ) and nothing more than organicly priced rutabega during the lean months.Has anyone else purchased a product at Whole Foods whose integrity they feel fell short of the price to which it was paired with?

I shop regularly at that WF, but I also shop very, very carefully. Produce usually only when it's on sale. I, too, cannot stand paying $3.99 for bell peppers. This time of year most of my produce comes from the Dupont farmers market, and I can really feel the pinch on the odd Sundays I miss that and am forced to WF for all of our produce. The prices usually decide the dinner menus on those weeks.

I honestly think the only seafood I ever get from there is of the frozen kind (those bags of 26-30 uncooked shrimp are actually a pretty good deal; I always seem to have 1 or 2 in the freezer). The fresh fish only tempts me when it is a ridiculous deal, and only then after it passes close inspection. I do get mussels there regularly since a) even the most expensive mussels are cheap, and b ) I can loook at the tags to see the day and time when they were harvested. No mysteries. I would buy all of my seafood from BlackSalt, but I don't have a car so it's not often I actually make it over there.

Aside from that it's lunch staples like yogurt and fruit (again, whatever is on sale and looks good). There are whole sections of the store (meat case) that I never even glance at on my way through. It never ceases to amaze me to see folks walking out of there with a single $100 bag of groceries. And that doesn't always include wine!

Oh, and the bulk food section is pretty nice. Besides the normal grain selections they have a good spread of dried mushrooms to balance out the ridiculous prices on their fresh product that is always past its prime. Even dried morels at $129.99/pound are a good deal since a decent size package will only set you back $12 or so.

Edit: I was wrong about the morels. Stopped by this evening for some beer after 9:00 and walked by to double check my numbers. They are actually $199.99/pound . Still, $9 gets you a nice quantity.

[DLB]

I shop and the Arlington Whole Foods, and the seafood is going down hill. I saw on of the guys through a piece of fish in the case, as if it was trash. The seafood always looks like is sitting in water at the store. I have been going to Blacksalt recently, as it is not far from Arlington. The seafood always looks good and fresh, sitting on those marble slabs. Whole Foods to me is not what is used to be, however it is still better than the rest.

[Poivrot Farci]

Were these large "sea" scallops or small Nantucket Bays?

The scallops were U-10 "sea" scallops, presumably Placopecten magellanicus, or giant sea scallop, the most commonly eaten in the US. They are harvested in Argentina, Canada, Chile, Iceland, Japan, Russia, and the United States. I suspect that "these" were harvested in Russia since Chilean and Argentinian mollusc harvest/cultivation has been compromised by frequent episodes of Pfiesteria and red tide. The distance of harvest would explain the STPP. I did not purchase the scallops in question and can only assume.

I choose to eat sustainable or day-boat seafood when I eat fish -with the exception for candy swedish fish whose origins aren't as closely regulated. My reason is idealistic, albeit it flakey and futile. Though my corpse will be stuffed and seated at the bar of The Townhouse Tavern long before the oceans have been depleted of contemporary/conventional fish and fishermen will have to dredge deeper and deeper, I feel I must do my part to balance chi, nature and karma for future posterity through a consumption filter.
(I do not believe in God nor seamonsters, but am afraid of both.)
I will gladly pay more for a product whose yield may be less, but equally less detrimental to the product itself, it's environment and it's producers/harvesters in the short and long term.
While I did not pay for the offending allegedly illegitimate shellfish, I find it morally reprehensible that an establishement such as WF, which prides itself on providing unspoiled bounties of nature, would sell an artificially treated product, if in my case it may be.

I shall try Black Salt if the opportunity and a car and a driver's license present themselves.
Until then I will continue my strict regimen of Grape Nuts, daquiris, TV Guide and the occasion Swedish fish.

[ScotteeM]

The Washington Post today reported that Whole Foods has halted sales of live soft shell crabs, opting instead to sell frozen pre-dressed soft shells, "in keeping with its commitment to the ethical treatment of animals."

What a load of crap! Folks who don't eat soft shells have complained that they don't want to see live crabs cleaned and dressed. So those of us who do eat soft shells lose one more source.

Yeah, they were expensive, but--hey--they were live.

Now folks who shop at Whole Foods don't have to acknowledge that live crabs are killed so that some of us may enjoy them, but nothing changes for the crabs. They're still killed and dressed, but now out of sight of sensitive Whole Foods customers.

The story also said they're thinking about not carrying live lobsters or live bivalves as well.

Carrying already dead and frozen shellfish does not ensure that said shellfish are treated any more humanely at the processing plant. It just removes consumers one step further from the actual source of their food.

This story just yanked my chain!

[Barbara]

The Washington Post today reported that Whole Foods has halted sales of live soft shell crabs, opting instead to sell frozen pre-dressed soft shells, "in keeping with its commitment to the ethical treatment of animals."

What a load of crap! Folks who don't eat soft shells have complained that they don't want to see live crabs cleaned and dressed. So those of us who do eat soft shells lose one more source.

Yeah, they were expensive, but--hey--they were live.

Now folks who shop at Whole Foods don't have to acknowledge that live crabs are killed so that some of us may enjoy them, but nothing changes for the crabs. They're still killed and dressed, but now out of sight of sensitive Whole Foods customers.

The story also said they're thinking about not carrying live lobsters or live bivalves as well.

Carrying already dead and frozen shellfish does not ensure that said shellfish are treated any more humanely at the processing plant. It just removes consumers one step further from the actual source of their food.

This story just yanked my chain!

Here! Here! I, personally, haven't had the intestinal fortitude to buy live soft shell crabs, knowing that the first thing I would need to do is cut off the "face" with a pair of scissors. That doesn't stop me from ordering them in a restaurant knowing that somebody ELSE has to go through this process. That, however, never stops me from dropping a live lobster in a pot of boiling water. Go figure. As an aside, Martha Stewart suggests pouring a slug of vodka into the boiling water just before dropping in the lobster because, "If YOU were going to be boiled alive, you'd like a drink, too."

[Poivrot Farci]

I don't think that the crabs have feelings. At least not feelings that you and I have felt upon the conclusion of Friday's Day's (of our lives) or other soap-opera cliff-hangers.
Think of softshell crabs as an exoskeletal reincarnation of Stefano, or that bastard son of his Peter.
In my youth I worked with a hippie Viet-Namese butcher "Vy Ha" who would cajole the crabs before cutting their faces of. "Steal Your Face."
I found that pulling the eyes out rather than cutting the face off kept lots of the juices in the head, like that time back in Buffalo when Chuck "The Acid Queen" and I dropped 2 tabs of Squeaky Freaky and played foosball to 6/9/77 (Winterland, Good Gig).

[JPW]

What a load of crap! Folks who don't eat soft shells have complained that they don't want to see live crabs cleaned and dressed. So those of us who do eat soft shells lose one more source.

Personally, I'd like to meet the cow I eat before it is butchered, that way I could ensure that the strip steak I had last night would have been the freshest possible. Or at least have the chickens slaughtered before my eyes.

Do these people think that pork chops grow on trees?

[V.H.]

Dead frozen bivalves? Ick. How can you be sure that you don't get a couple that were processed already dead? At least when they're alive you can tell.

[Waitman]

I don't think that the crabs have feelings. At least not feelings that you and I have felt upon the conclusion of Friday's Day's (of our lives) or other soap-opera cliff-hangers.
Think of softshell crabs as an exoskeletal reincarnation of Stefano, or that bastard son of his Peter.
In my youth I worked with a hippie Viet-Namese butcher "Vy Ha" who would cajole the crabs before cutting their faces of. "Steal Your Face."
I found that pulling the eyes out rather than cutting the face off kept lots of the juices in the head, like that time back in Buffalo when Chuck "The Acid Queen" and I dropped 2 tabs of Squeaky Freaky and played foosball to 6/9/77 (Wonderland, Good Gig).

Winterland. Good show. Nice Help/Slipknot/Franklins. Hope you weren't playing with knives, fire or live crabs at the time.

[deangold]

Do these people think that pork chops grow on trees?

Apparently some scientists with too many agridollars fromt he beef industry to spend hooked up ekg or some such devices to lettuce plants. When you cut a lettuce plant, its electrical reactions are very similar to a mamall in pain. The same reasoning that says a crab has no feelings. Maybe we should all just become Janes and follow a breathetarian lifestyle......

I wonder, dows Gravner Ribolla Gialla go with breathing? Does it matter if its LA or DC air?

[ScotteeM]

I had a good experience today at the Clarendon WF. (Should I ask for live soft-shells as an act of protest every time I go in?)

It was PM rush when I left there, and it took me an hour to get home to Burke from there (OK, there was a brief stop at Grand Mart at 7 corners, but I didn't find what I wanted there).

When I unloaded my groceries, I had everything but my 4 ears of corn that were destined for corn pudding tomorrow. Too far to go back. Oh well. At least they weren't very expensive. But bummer.

[monavano]

For those who shop at the Old Town Whole Foods: Alexandria had a power outage last night (ours was about 2 hours) so...
You may want to give them a day or three to restock after having to throw away virtually all of thier refrigerated foods such as dairy, seafood, cold cuts, prepared meals, deli counter, most of the self serve bars. ......
I would have assumed they have these sections on a back-up generator?
Anyway, I'd give a call to check the re-stock status.
What a crying shame

[Al Dente]

For those who shop at the Old Town Whole Foods: Alexandria had a power outage last night (ours was about 2 hours) so...
You may want to give them a day or three to restock after having to throw away virtually all of thier refrigerated foods such as dairy, seafood, cold cuts, prepared meals, deli counter, most of the self serve bars. ......
I would have assumed they have these sections on a back-up generator?
Anyway, I'd give a call to check the re-stock status.
What a crying shame

[Al Dente]

I would have assumed [Whole Foods Old Town] have these sections on a back-up generator?

The backup generator that would be necessary is the size of a tractor trailer. Just isn't feasible to have one on site 24/7/365. The costs are prohibitive.

The power was knocked out again last night-- not nearly as much food lost this time.

[Heather]

Memo to Whole Foods: grilled eggplant needs to be COOKED THROUGH before you put in on a sandwich.

[giant shrimp]

field tomatoes

Oh, how I have been longing to hear those words. Unfortunately no time for market this weekend.

field tomatoes, maybe. but heirloom tomatoes, not yet. there were a few at one stand, not quite ripe, and around $3.50 a pound. hopefully, the price will come down as the crop starts rolling in -- unlike the below-calvert-street whole foods a week or so ago, where just as unripe they were selling for one penny below $7, and where your only reasonable expectation is for the price to climb ever higher until the store notices that nobody is buying these. does anybody buy these miserable specimens? okay, i bought just one because i really needed it and it was only borderline acceptable and the best of a few dozen. i also spent $1.29 for a lemon, although i thought it was 99 cents, because i needed the zest. if the store could figure out a way to sell just the peel the same way it sells (or used to sell?) parmesan rinds, i would gladly pay 49 cents for one and allow them to sell the juice to someone else because i'm really not sure i can afford these days to make an entire pitcher of lemonade. (i have never purchased any cheese rinds, but would if i had a pet pig at home to see how she liked it. i know they like macadamia nuts and it is said to make them taste good, better than acorns, so i would not be surprised if there is some use for parmesan rinds in animal husbandry.)

[Heather]

Dear Whole Foods kitchen staff,

Pushing all of the ingredients to the front of the deli-case sandwiches to make them look less skimpy reminds me of a Junior High School girl stuffing her bra before the school dance. For $5.99 it would be nice to get more than a half ounce of goat cheese.

Yours truly, Heather

[DameEdna]

Has anyone else been to the Tenleytown Whole Foods lately? At least, I think it is still Whole Foods. I stopped
in for a snack after visiting the ironically named "Best Buy" across the street. The WF is under renovation,
open, but everything on wheels. Sheets of plastic separate the store from the work areas. Anything could
be anywhere (or nowhere). The checkers (and the shoppers) were taking the "WF that looks like a parking garage"
look as perfectly normal. I got a bottle of water and enjoyed it among the birds in the picnic area
labelled "Hard Hat Area".

[brr]

my wife picked up a few cheese the other day at Whole Foods Tenleytown - she didn't think the garrotxa looks great but queried the cheesemonger and was told it 'would be fine when she took the wrapper off' - as soon as I saw it I knew we were in trouble - I like garrotxa but this had the consistency and mouthfeel and taste of sawdust......the poor thing had dried out and atrophied to a shadow of what a cheese should be

[ol_ironstomach]

my wife picked up a few cheese the other day at Whole Foods Tenleytown - she didn't think the garrotxa looks great but queried the cheesemonger...

I have yet to see anyone at any Whole Foods who I'd consider worthy of the title "cheesemonger". What they have, as far as I can tell, are employment positions behind the cheese counter...nothing more.

Dear Whole Foods,

Please, for the love of cheese, hire at least ONE good cheesemonger (who can at least spell, if not define, affinage) and have them put a training program in place. What you guys have now, is crap. I find it ironic that a place called "Whole Foods" spends so much effort mindlessly butchering perfectly good whole cheeses into tiny chunks too numerous to represent anything less than a 120-day-supply, then wrapping every nugget in tight cling-wrap, thus ensuring that most of them will become worthless within days. I mean, I like a little age on my boucheron, but it's not supposed to be reduced to a squishy grey mass. I have to restrict my purchases to types that your stooges have obviously just cut fresh. Often, I settle for asking them to cut a new round of Roaring Forties bleu in half for me.

Big hint: except for the fresh cheeses in tubs, all of the ones you sell have lived at least 60 days on their own without any problem. They're protected, you know. It's called a "rind". Look it up.

Also, your Kentlands dairy buyer needs some lessons in basic business. Sending them to community college might be a good start. Visiting a clinical psychologist might not hurt either. Because I'd like to know what thought process led them to believe that there was an overnight market in Gaithersburg (I beg your pardon, I meant North Potomac) for maybe fifteen pounds of four or five varieties of robiola just prior to Christmas, when you stocked practically zero washed-rind soft-ripened cheeses the preceding year. Did somebody receive a "h0t 1nv3stm3nt t1p" spam about cheese futures? Was anybody surprised that most of the robiola was still on display in late January, looking thoroughly defeated by the ordeal?

I know parmigiano reggiano, aged gouda, and mimolette are crowd-pleasers, but it's not necessary to actually ballast the building with them. Unless you're planning for an extended siege, in which case they double as excellent trebuchet projectiles.

Signed,

Guy Who Eats Too Much Cheese

[Waitman]

The cheesemonger at the "Georgetown" WF is dedicated and excellent. Unfortunately, she cut back her days earlier this year, because "there are too many books to read."

[brr]

I have yet to see anyone at any Whole Foods who I'd consider worthy of the title "cheesemonger". What they have, as far as I can tell, are employment positions behind the cheese counter...nothing more.

Dear Whole Foods,

Please, for the love of cheese, hire at least ONE good cheesemonger (who can at least spell, if not define, affinage) and have them put a training program in place.
Signed,

Guy Who Eats Too Much Cheese

funny stuff - in general I agree with you that the staffing is woefully inadequate, although we have had luck with Kevin at Tenleytown....not sure if he's got any formal quals but he's definitely more engaged and informed than the others

[deangold]

The cheesemonger at the "Georgetown" WF is dedicated and excellent. Unfortunately, she cut back her days earlier this year, because "there are too many books to read."

The sad truth of WHole Foods.... their system is very individual dependent.

IF there is a good cheese buyer in a particular store, you get good cheese. If the store or department manager wants cheese displays stacked up to the ceiling then you get old and badly conditioned cheese.

If the sandwich maker like sandwiches that look good but have nothing in them you get the highschool prom effect heather talked about. Some stires ahve lousy looking sandwiches that are stuffed to the gills. But when the mucky mucks walk around that store will get slapped for sandwiches not looking good while no one will notice the "a cup sandwich" looking like a "d cup".

The seafood department is better than Giant or Safeway but that is all I will say. We don't count on buying any seafood there. The last two times I shopped at Silver Spring they forgot to pack an items for my dinner. Its not the $2.00for the potatoes, it that I freaking decided to make steak and potatoes for my wife and we are having steak and canned beans!

Yet they still get the cvast majority of my shopping dollar. We just went to a giant as it was too late to go to WFM and the experience was nearly traumatic!

[JPW]

My general perception of the SS Whole Paycheck

Butcher shop -- Excellent. Everyone I've dealt with there has been extremely helpful and there is no grumbling at special requests (see below). The beef is the best I've found around SS, although the pork they use can occasionally be a little too lean for my tastes.

Produce -- Pretty helpful. Since the redesign there is a vast improvement in selection. (You can now get more than 2 types of mushrooms!!!!!)

Seafood -- Pretty blah. Both the "team members" and the fishies. I'm not a huge consumer of fish, but the prices seem high to me even by Whole Paycheck standards.

Cheese -- Ugh. When the smallest piece of wrapped cheese is 3/4 of a pound, most (but not all) of them act as if it's a personal affront when you ask them to split it for you. Asking them to cut into a new round?

[Al Dente]

The cheesemonger at the "Georgetown" WF is dedicated and excellent.

So are Val and Phuong in Old Town.

[Heather]

The cheesemonger at the "Georgetown" WF is dedicated and excellent. Unfortunately, she cut back her days earlier this year, because "there are too many books to read."

Has she been there for a while? They had great cheese back when it was Fresh Fields, and Bread & Circus before that.

Cheese -- Ugh. When the smallest piece of wrapped cheese is 3/4 of a pound, most (but not all) of them act as if it's a personal affront when you ask them to split it for you. Asking them to cut into a new round?

Thanks for that. SS WF is about to become my regular store.

For fish, there's the place on Georgia near Sniders, right?

And all pork is too lean these days.

[ol_ironstomach]

Thanks, gang, for the existence proof that there are WF locations with decent cheesemongers. I apologize for broadly condemning them all. Now if we could just get WF to improve the numerous lousy locations!

[Escoffier]

So are Val and Phuong in Old Town.

I haven't had any experience with Val but Phuong is excellent (and customer service oriented).

[Waitman]

Thanks, gang, for the existence proof that there are WF locations with decent cheesemongers. I apologize for broadly condemning them all. Now if we could just get WF to improve the numerous lousy locations!

We're lucky (kinda) to be essentially equidistant from three WFs, so it has been no problem for us to shop around. I'm sure it's more difficult for those in less blessed locations.

Heather: She has been there as long as I can recal, the kind of tough-grandma looking woman with a heart of, I don't know, the epoisses she keeps hidden under the counter for those who know to ask?

[Heather]

Heather: She has been there as long as I can recal, the kind of tough-grandma looking woman with a heart of, I don't know, the epoisses she keeps hidden under the counter for those who know to ask?

I think it must be the same person. She had a good staff too - and a great selection. When we told one of the guys there we were moving to Rockville, lo those many years ago, he sniffed "they move a lot of cheddar".

[Waitman]

Oddly enough, another defense of Whole Foods: Their dry-aged beef, while pricy is pretty damn good 4 times out of five and, except for the Ray's carryout service, the best I've bought in the area.

[ScotteeM]

Oddly enough, another defense of Whole Foods: Their dry-aged beef, while pricy is pretty damn good 4 times out of five and, except for the Ray's carryout service, the best I've bought in the area.

I have to agree with you there, although it does vary from store to store. Clarendon and Old Town have excellent dry-aged beef, although Springfield's is all pre-packaged and probably not aged at the store. It's one of our favorite indulgences.

[Heather]

I am happy to report that the Silver Spring WF does carry the slab bacon so I don't have to drive to Gaithersburg for it. And the butcher I met seems accomodating. I wonder if he would order some caul fat for me?

And JPW, the cheese selection at SS is HUGE compared to Rockville. You're right about the huge chunks wrapped in plastic, though.

[deangold]

I am happy to report that the Silver Spring WF does carry the slab bacon so I don't have to drive to Gaithersburg for it. And the butcher I met seems accomodating. I wonder if he would order some caul fat for me?

And JPW, the cheese selection at SS is HUGE compared to Rockville. You're right about the huge chunks wrapped in plastic, though.

I think that SS has a fabulous meat department. The dry aged is fantastic.

Fish is one of the better of all the WFMs but that is like saying my favorite tax to pay is the DC personal property tax.

Produce is good when they have it, but they rarly have it if its exotic or if it is late in the afternoon on the weekends.

Their bakery is also fairly dependable. Great service.

Prepared foods is quite good but the service (with the exception of DeeDee) is not very plesant.

Grocery is always weel stocked, clean and with pretty good service.

Cheese, to me is pedestrain in the extreme, with lots of poor quality selections- bigger is not always better. I would wait for the remodel at Tenley before going back there but Tenley has one of the best cheese departments in the area. Small selection but more in good shape. They are running without a walk in and cutting area till the remodel is further along.

Whole Body (supplements and beauty) is pretty admn spectacular with friendly and knowlegable staff.

Jamba Juice is pretty scary on a regular basis with a dirty production area. Coffee service is pretty bad. Service is pretty mediocre there.

Checkout is rapid but they are the store that misbags all the time.

Having said that, it is probably my third favorite store to shop at in the local WFM pantheon, behind Kentlands and, before and hopefully after the remodel, Tenley. Note that I have not been to the Alexandria store yet. I have heard good things.

[Heather]

Cheese, to me is pedestrain in the extreme, with lots of poor quality selections- bigger is not always better.

That's disappointing. I didn't look closely, just took note of the display area. I usually buy my cheese at Balducci's in Bethesda but that will be a bit of a hike from Takoma Park. Bleah.

[deangold]

That's disappointing. I didn't look closely, just took note of the display area. I usually buy my cheese at Balducci's in Bethesda but that will be a bit of a hike from Takoma Park. Bleah.

Like I say, once the remodel at Tenley is over for the cheese department, it will be an easy shop from TP. also going down Blair, the P street store which has good cheese is not a bad trip. Not for everyday, but for fufilling your cheese needs. Blair to North Capitol than over west to 14th.

[CrescentFresh]

Has anyone else been to the Tenleytown Whole Foods lately? At least, I think it is still Whole Foods. I stopped
in for a snack after visiting the ironically named "Best Buy" across the street. The WF is under renovation,
open, but everything on wheels. Sheets of plastic separate the store from the work areas. Anything could
be anywhere (or nowhere). The checkers (and the shoppers) were taking the "WF that looks like a parking garage"
look as perfectly normal. I got a bottle of water and enjoyed it among the birds in the picnic area
labelled "Hard Hat Area".

Shut that damned store down, fix it faster, re-open. I was in there on Saturday. What a godawful mess! Fruits and vegetables can be found in 3 different locations throughout the store, including the freaking parking lot! You can get your damned papaya validated if you want! And the stock is so depleted because they just don't have room to shelve it. If you buy a certain product at any other WF in the area, there's probably a 25% chance you won't find it at Tenleytown.

This place is a nightmare.

So are Val and Phuong in Old Town.

This so reminds me of the House of Representatives.

"Sure Congress is dysfunctional and needs to change. But it's not my Congressman that's part of the problem!"

[Heather]

No reubens for us tonight because I forgot and shopped at WF which has crummy corned beef and no rye bread. That shouldn't be allowed.

[plunk]

No reubens for us tonight because I forgot and shopped at WF which has crummy corned beef and no rye bread. That shouldn't be allowed.

Agreed. I am definitely NOT a fan of WF's cold cuts (or "deli meats" or whatever you want to call them). Give me Boarshead instead.

[Pat]

No reubens for us tonight because I forgot and shopped at WF which has crummy corned beef and no rye bread. That shouldn't be allowed.

I've really become disappointed in Whole Foods bread over the last year. Their own brand of sliced breads is terrible. I used to like it, especially the oatmeal bread, but it falls apart more often than not. The slices don't hold together. If you go to make a sandwich, you end up with a bunch of smushed up pieces of bread.

I've been buying Arnold and Pepperidge farm breads at Safeway and Giant and have found those better choices than anything I've tried from WF recently.

[squidsdc]

I think that SS has a fabulous meat department. The dry aged is fantastic.

I'll second that! Having never purchased dry-aged beef before, we decided to "go for it" as the steak in the case was calling to us Grilled in the "egg" with S&P, it was mighty tasty. Too rich for my blood to purchase on a regular basis, however.

Pray tell, how does one misbag?

They do ring up items incorrectly, as has been mentioned before of the P St store.

[alan7147]

I was there last Friday(Tenleytown), it was by far the worst experience I have ever had in a Whole Foods. The construction has thrown everything totally out of wack making for horrible crowds and depleted inventory. Ended up saying screw it and picked up dinner from Moby Dick.