While Trader Joe's is a great store and we love to shop there, getting much neat stuff like the nuts, sweets, cookies, amazing bonelessleg of lamb and lamb ribs(frozen, but amazing, its all seasoned and ready to just defrost and throw in the oven), we also love Stew Leonard's
For those of you who don't live in Lower Connecticut or Westchester a few words on Stew Leonard's. It started as a dairy store in Norwalk, CT with a single store that sold more $$ volume per square foot of selling space than any other food store in the world. It was set up in a single pathway from entrance to check out, so if you wanted only one or two items you had to wend your way past all the good stuff to get out(sort of like going to the Caesar's Palace Shopping Mall in Vegas... you can't get out without going through the casino).
They started with dairy products and eggs and then grew from there.. now they offer a full line of groceries(though rarely more than one brand choice for each product) and an incredible assortment of baked goods, prepared foods and meats and deli and takeout type food. The newer stores are much, much bigger than the original store, and have garden stores and sitdown eateries. And of course they generally have samples of lots of stuff as you wend your way through their stores(they now have 3, the original in Norwalk, another in Danbury, CT and the third in Yonkers, NY off the Thruway on Stew Leonard's Drive).
I love walking through the baked good aisles, picking up samples and throwing the boxes of their fresh baked cookies... chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, dad's favorite(double amounts of all the fillings), the breads, and the cakes and pies, into the supersized wagon.
They have a wonderful produce area, a nice cheese section and a very adequate deli area. But their meat department is enormous and you can literally get just about anything. They always have specials where you buy an entire fillet mignon or new york strip which the butcher will trim and cut to your specs. I love to do this when I'm having a barbecue(not the fillet... not my fave, not enough flavor for me) and use as many steaks as I need, freezing individually the left over steaks. You can even get dry aged steaks and prime ribs, cut to the thickness you want.
They have an amazing fish department as well. But I particularly love the prepared foods section where they have three types of ribs, multiple fried chicken varieties, several types of chicken tenders, roasted chickens, jalapeno, broccoli and corn poppers, and a variety of other fried and barbecued delights. Of course, they have a sushi area and finally the buffet style salad bar takeout area with chinese, american and italian specialties along with the various salads for sale by the pound.
And, if you spend more than $100 you get a "free" soft ice cream cone or cup of coffee on the way out. During the warmer months they also set up for a Lobster shore dinner with clam chowder and
Generally, even a modest trip to pick up just a few items always ends up over $100, because we must have the mini bagel dogs(okay.. 2 bags of them), a pineapple that's been peeled and cored, some freshly squeezed OJ, a few of their good cheeses, some of the amazing chipotle dip, a selection of meats for the freezer and a bag of peeled cooked shrimp to nibble on at home.
Anyone else a fan of Stew's?:smitten:
For those of you who don't live in Lower Connecticut or Westchester a few words on Stew Leonard's. It started as a dairy store in Norwalk, CT with a single store that sold more $$ volume per square foot of selling space than any other food store in the world. It was set up in a single pathway from entrance to check out, so if you wanted only one or two items you had to wend your way past all the good stuff to get out(sort of like going to the Caesar's Palace Shopping Mall in Vegas... you can't get out without going through the casino).
They started with dairy products and eggs and then grew from there.. now they offer a full line of groceries(though rarely more than one brand choice for each product) and an incredible assortment of baked goods, prepared foods and meats and deli and takeout type food. The newer stores are much, much bigger than the original store, and have garden stores and sitdown eateries. And of course they generally have samples of lots of stuff as you wend your way through their stores(they now have 3, the original in Norwalk, another in Danbury, CT and the third in Yonkers, NY off the Thruway on Stew Leonard's Drive).
I love walking through the baked good aisles, picking up samples and throwing the boxes of their fresh baked cookies... chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin, dad's favorite(double amounts of all the fillings), the breads, and the cakes and pies, into the supersized wagon.
They have a wonderful produce area, a nice cheese section and a very adequate deli area. But their meat department is enormous and you can literally get just about anything. They always have specials where you buy an entire fillet mignon or new york strip which the butcher will trim and cut to your specs. I love to do this when I'm having a barbecue(not the fillet... not my fave, not enough flavor for me) and use as many steaks as I need, freezing individually the left over steaks. You can even get dry aged steaks and prime ribs, cut to the thickness you want.
They have an amazing fish department as well. But I particularly love the prepared foods section where they have three types of ribs, multiple fried chicken varieties, several types of chicken tenders, roasted chickens, jalapeno, broccoli and corn poppers, and a variety of other fried and barbecued delights. Of course, they have a sushi area and finally the buffet style salad bar takeout area with chinese, american and italian specialties along with the various salads for sale by the pound.
And, if you spend more than $100 you get a "free" soft ice cream cone or cup of coffee on the way out. During the warmer months they also set up for a Lobster shore dinner with clam chowder and
Generally, even a modest trip to pick up just a few items always ends up over $100, because we must have the mini bagel dogs(okay.. 2 bags of them), a pineapple that's been peeled and cored, some freshly squeezed OJ, a few of their good cheeses, some of the amazing chipotle dip, a selection of meats for the freezer and a bag of peeled cooked shrimp to nibble on at home.
Anyone else a fan of Stew's?:smitten:
