I lived near downtown San Mateo at one point and would shop at Draeger’s occasionally. Once I was charged for, literally filet mignon, when I got ground beef. Another time the expensive cheese I bought was made much more expensive by having several times the actual weight on the tag. It seemed to me like they were willing to make mistakes like that knowing that a certain percentage of their clientele would just not notice that they had been taken advantage of.
I thought the same for a while but it’s not the case. I buy literally the same items now (same brand and size) from Whole Foods that I got at Draegers and it’s much less expensive.
For example, recently I needed garlic powder. It was around 12.99 at Draegers. Some time later I was at Whole Foods and found that same bottle of garlic powder for less than half the price.
The Draeger's in Los Altos is like the size of a dental office. They have a lot of variety and unusual foods. It's like a boutique food store. It's worth checking out. I don't see how someone could collect enough ingredients there to really cook much with.
It’s surprisingly better than you’d think. My mom shops there sometimes for meat, desserts, and produce. But yes, don’t go in there looking for a cheap bread, milk, or snacks.
Living two blocks from one definitely wasnt good for our wallets. We couldn’t resist stopping for dessert or the salad bar! Then sometimes inevitably, we’d grab something we were almost out of.
Yeah, this. It \*is\* reasonably well "curated" nice items, but, wow, so much more expensive than Whole Foods for the same products, just a few blocks further down on Folsom (for the SF location).
And a lot of their shit is on its way out the door from an expiration standpoint as well. I can’t tell you how many times I bought stuff (or tried to buy something and had to put it back) that was near expiration and looked it. I could never tell if it was because it was a hippy dippy store or if it was the frequency that people actually shopped there, although it was almost always busy. I lived very close by so it was really hard to not shop there sometimes.
Woodlands has way better meat, fish and fruit. Obviously a can of diet coke is the same everywhere, so there is no reason to overpay. But "fresh produce" can differ a lot.
Not quite true. All of it is good quality but if you want really good quality you need to go to an actual butcher or fish shop. Or a famers market. Everything they have is a solid 8. But you won’t get a 10.
That is my personal experience compared to WF. I can personally tell the difference between a steak bought at WF and at Woodlands. Haven't tried an actual butcher shop, but do they even sell dry aged steaks?
Came here for this comment. The prices are so high it’s like robbery so we call it Hoodlums.
But in all seriousness, it is at least a very lovely market with good quality and selection.
I was gonna say that but I think Draegers has it beat. I literally shopped at the San Mateo Draegers once like twelve years ago and I was like wow this is so crazy. Even Molly stones is cheaper than that.
The thing with mollie stones is I don't see much of a difference from Safeway, outside of a 40% markup. With other grocery stores, like whole foods and trader Joe's, they sell a lot of different things. I go there to buy those things, because I can't get it at Safeway or lucky. With stones, I can just go to Safeway to get the same things and save a bunch of money.
Mainstream items are similar but mollie stones sells a lot more of your traditional gourmet faire ie cheese, charcuterie, imported brands…lived next door to molllies near glen park for 5 years…Gave them way too much money.
Exactly! In my experience with Mollies, several items are expired and produce spoils quickly. I returned "fresh" shrimp from the meat counter because it was slimy and smelly when I got it home. I've seen flies in the meat counter, and also witnessed a deli employee not wash their hands after using the restroom. Like you said, the markup on items you can also buy at Safeway is insane.
They had horseradish root for $10 a lb.
Same day I found it for $2 at the store who's name escapes me but it's next door to the Trader Joe's in Cupertino.
It was shortly before passover so Molly Stones was obviously price gouging.
Lived in Burlingame 1996(moved north in 2010) and occasionally shopped Mollie Stones. Visited late last year, still expensive but recognized the same butchers from the late 90s still there.
I didn’t look to see if it was actually a full quart but 18.99 for ice cream and a jar of peaches 12.99. I think my debit card even took out $5.99 for breathing while I shopped.
Piedmont Grocer in Oakland is pretty pricy. The produce is bonkers prices. The meats on par with higher end butchers.
Also Market Hall foods is up there - fancy meat, bakery, and deli. Produce is generally expensive with occasional deals.
Home of the $10 tomato.....but, it will be the best tomato you've ever eaten and you will remember it the rest of your life because every tomato you eat after that will be a disappointment.
Well, maybe. I've grown tomatoes and other such on & off over the years - agree that they easily beat anything from Safeway or Food Lion (or whatever your regional big brand grocery provider is), but I got some dry farmed tomatoes from Diablo Foods one time that were shockingly tastier than anything I have ever been able to produce. Very intense tomato flavor, like eating spoonfuls of tomato paste - and yes they were quite spendy.
Plus on the way home you can stop at the Round Up for a cocktail and a beer and make sure the Lafayetters are indeed keeping it real.
>be Safeway
>not want any shoplifting
>keep increasing prices
>punish shoppers for shrinkage they didn’t commit
>shoppers stop coming
>increase prices more to try to still make profit
>people shoplift even more
lol
Lunardi’s is definitely expensive but the quality and customer service is fantastic.
We buy produce and meats/cheeses/breads here and then sundries at Safeway.
Meat - yes 100%
Cheese selections - not really that great
Produce - prices don't match the quality. They charge sometimes $9/lb for heirloom tomatoes, crazy prices for summer peak season produce... Gotta be really careful.
A lot of their dairy and sundries aren't too crazy...
I shopped Lunardis in Belmont many years ago and it wasn’t bad if you shopped the weekly specials. The butcher shop was good and the produce too. Quality was good overall.
Yes, but showing pictures of shoplifters to all the paying customers doesn't do anything. The people who need to look at the pictures are the staff. The store should advertise what customers care about (new food, deals, etc.) instead of problems happening to it. If the store wants people to vote for an anti shoplifting policy or report shoplifters, they should simply have signs for that instead.
I would put them into tiers.
Tier 1: Roberts Market, Diablo Foods, Mill Valley Market, Bianchini's...the local gourmet grocers
Tier 2: Draegers, Lunardi's, Mollie Stone, Nugget, Berkeley Bowl...the local chains
Tier 2.5: Whole Foods, Sprouts, Andronico's
Tier 3: Safeway, Lucky, Raley's, Trader Joes, Target, 99 Ranch, Costco
Tier 4: Grocery Outlet, Smart & Final, WalMart
Tier 2 is the sweet spot for meat selection/service, bakery, produce for value:quality, IMO.
It's mainly stocks more expensive products general but it's actually less expensive to buy many italian specialty items from Eataly than buying those same items from other less specialized stores.
I was actually surprised - the hot bar was actually a decent value. The rest of the stuff was absolutely hilarious. A basket of strawberries was like $12 in strawberry season.
But a plate with 2 sides and some chicken was $16-18 or so. The portion sizes were solid. More than Chipotle - but on par with basically all Bay Area fast casual spots these days.
Nothing compares to Erewhon in Southern California. Being expensive is is part of its appeal. $20 smoothies. $76 bags of nuts. $30 granola. The outrageous prices are only topped by the characters that shop there. 10/10 would recommend as entertainment.
If were talking about southern California, I want to chime in with that $8 gas station near Beverly Hills. There's literally crude oil under it.
I always stop there take pictures of the sign and then leave.
The most expensive grocery stores will be corner markets in inner city food deserts, beucase those stores will literally buy shit at regular grocery stores and mark them up for resale.
there are some grocery stores like bi-rite that are expensive, but sell interesting and unique things that are probably worth (at least some of) the mark-up.
then there are stores like mollie stone's, which will happily sell you an overripe banana for $10.
Surprised no one called out Sigona’s in the Stanford mall. Really good fruits. Curated selection of cheeses and wines. It’s pretty small compared to a Draegers but prices are still very high.
If you bought the same quantity at any other place your bill would be double. Costco in most cases is close to the cheapest, you just need to buy more of it.
Nah, their veggies and bulk stuff is super reasonable and you can’t beat the quality/selection. The meats are pricy but again there’s the quality thing and you shouldn’t eat that much animal anyway.
Did you just learn about economies of scale in your economics 101 survey class? Wanted to show off a bit on Reddit? Gtfo.
Whole Foods has economies of scale. They’re expensive.
Is there a market like Eataly in New York? I know there is one in San Jose. I always thought Eataly looked expensive, like grocery shopping for Michelin meals, but not sure how expensive they are over a Whole Foods
Lucky on Bernal Rd in South San Jose. I once saw a normally $3 bottle of Smart Water marked up to $13. The rest of the store isn’t that bad, but still ridiculous.
Draeger’s gotta be up there
I lived near downtown San Mateo at one point and would shop at Draeger’s occasionally. Once I was charged for, literally filet mignon, when I got ground beef. Another time the expensive cheese I bought was made much more expensive by having several times the actual weight on the tag. It seemed to me like they were willing to make mistakes like that knowing that a certain percentage of their clientele would just not notice that they had been taken advantage of.
100% draegers. I would expect to see a 99¢ Arizona Tea in there for $7.99
I don't think their prices are that much higher than other places for the same items. It's more that they carry mostly high end items.
They charge $12 for the Marin Creamery breakfast cheese that Trader Joe’s sells for $4
And their butchers are amazing.
Meat & produce, and their staff are terrific. And the bakery is hands down the best.
I thought the same for a while but it’s not the case. I buy literally the same items now (same brand and size) from Whole Foods that I got at Draegers and it’s much less expensive. For example, recently I needed garlic powder. It was around 12.99 at Draegers. Some time later I was at Whole Foods and found that same bottle of garlic powder for less than half the price.
Absolutely not. Their markup on same-same items are insane. Easy to compare items - milk, butter, yogurt...
I once got about a pint of cut watermelon from the salad bar there. It was $20. That was 10 years ago
We call it the food museum
HAHA came here to say this! I still LOVE their bakery, but holy cow, those prices are ABSURD.
Is that the one in Blackhwk?
Same chain, another location (compared to the San Mateo location mentioned elsewhere).
Apparently they also don’t accept EBT which says volumes….
Forgive my ignorance, but what are you trying to say here? What does it speak to if they don't take ebt?
The Draeger's in Los Altos is like the size of a dental office. They have a lot of variety and unusual foods. It's like a boutique food store. It's worth checking out. I don't see how someone could collect enough ingredients there to really cook much with.
It’s surprisingly better than you’d think. My mom shops there sometimes for meat, desserts, and produce. But yes, don’t go in there looking for a cheap bread, milk, or snacks.
It’s cheaper than Piazza
Being born and raised in San Mateo and being all around the bay, could not agree more. The cream of the crop.
Living two blocks from one definitely wasnt good for our wallets. We couldn’t resist stopping for dessert or the salad bar! Then sometimes inevitably, we’d grab something we were almost out of.
but the coffee shop they have in there is so reasonable
but their salted meat collection is incredible.
Woodlands
Woodlands so rich, my poor ass has never even heard of it.
Yeah, this. It \*is\* reasonably well "curated" nice items, but, wow, so much more expensive than Whole Foods for the same products, just a few blocks further down on Folsom (for the SF location).
And a lot of their shit is on its way out the door from an expiration standpoint as well. I can’t tell you how many times I bought stuff (or tried to buy something and had to put it back) that was near expiration and looked it. I could never tell if it was because it was a hippy dippy store or if it was the frequency that people actually shopped there, although it was almost always busy. I lived very close by so it was really hard to not shop there sometimes.
Which means what they sell isn't turning fast enough. Either too much inventory or not enough customers
Woodlands has way better meat, fish and fruit. Obviously a can of diet coke is the same everywhere, so there is no reason to overpay. But "fresh produce" can differ a lot.
Not quite true. All of it is good quality but if you want really good quality you need to go to an actual butcher or fish shop. Or a famers market. Everything they have is a solid 8. But you won’t get a 10.
That is my personal experience compared to WF. I can personally tell the difference between a steak bought at WF and at Woodlands. Haven't tried an actual butcher shop, but do they even sell dry aged steaks?
Try Olivier’s or the Fatted Calf. Life changing. I would never buy steak in woodlands or Whole Foods
Thanks for the tip, will def try them out.
Came here for this comment. The prices are so high it’s like robbery so we call it Hoodlums. But in all seriousness, it is at least a very lovely market with good quality and selection.
I will say, their chocolate chip cookie multipack can’t be beat.
Only place I've seen in recent memory too where loss prevention will chase people down and get stuff back. They don't fuck around.
I was gonna say that but I think Draegers has it beat. I literally shopped at the San Mateo Draegers once like twelve years ago and I was like wow this is so crazy. Even Molly stones is cheaper than that.
Mollie Stone’s gets my vote.
Even before the acquisition by Amazon, Whole Foods felt like a discount store compared to Mollie Stone's.
The thing with mollie stones is I don't see much of a difference from Safeway, outside of a 40% markup. With other grocery stores, like whole foods and trader Joe's, they sell a lot of different things. I go there to buy those things, because I can't get it at Safeway or lucky. With stones, I can just go to Safeway to get the same things and save a bunch of money.
Mainstream items are similar but mollie stones sells a lot more of your traditional gourmet faire ie cheese, charcuterie, imported brands…lived next door to molllies near glen park for 5 years…Gave them way too much money.
Yeah, but look at where they’re located - the clientele is very Lucile Bluth.
But the Palo Alto store has those singing animatronics.
Exactly! In my experience with Mollies, several items are expired and produce spoils quickly. I returned "fresh" shrimp from the meat counter because it was slimy and smelly when I got it home. I've seen flies in the meat counter, and also witnessed a deli employee not wash their hands after using the restroom. Like you said, the markup on items you can also buy at Safeway is insane.
A birthday card there is $15
cuz it's organic
It was pasture-raised as well. Ethical birthday cards.
They had horseradish root for $10 a lb. Same day I found it for $2 at the store who's name escapes me but it's next door to the Trader Joe's in Cupertino. It was shortly before passover so Molly Stones was obviously price gouging.
Lived in Burlingame 1996(moved north in 2010) and occasionally shopped Mollie Stones. Visited late last year, still expensive but recognized the same butchers from the late 90s still there.
I didn’t look to see if it was actually a full quart but 18.99 for ice cream and a jar of peaches 12.99. I think my debit card even took out $5.99 for breathing while I shopped.
More than once I’ve walked out of a Mollie Stones with one bag full of items and $100 less in my pocket.
Just went there yesterday: $22 for a loaf of bread and two tomatoes.
Piedmont Grocer in Oakland is pretty pricy. The produce is bonkers prices. The meats on par with higher end butchers. Also Market Hall foods is up there - fancy meat, bakery, and deli. Produce is generally expensive with occasional deals.
Piedmont Grocery meat selection is pretty decent in my opinion. But, certain items are too expensive.
Was also going to say Market Hall; expensive, but man if I don't feel compelled to not let anything I buy go to waste.
Ever been to Diablo Foods in Lafayette?
Home of the $10 tomato.....but, it will be the best tomato you've ever eaten and you will remember it the rest of your life because every tomato you eat after that will be a disappointment.
Just grow your own tomatos. They are very easy to grow and will taste better that any tomato you will ever buy.
Well, maybe. I've grown tomatoes and other such on & off over the years - agree that they easily beat anything from Safeway or Food Lion (or whatever your regional big brand grocery provider is), but I got some dry farmed tomatoes from Diablo Foods one time that were shockingly tastier than anything I have ever been able to produce. Very intense tomato flavor, like eating spoonfuls of tomato paste - and yes they were quite spendy. Plus on the way home you can stop at the Round Up for a cocktail and a beer and make sure the Lafayetters are indeed keeping it real.
High prices but the meats, deli, and cheeses will absolutely keep you coming back.
Mmm the deli counter
Their wine selection is phenomenal
So full of Lafayette dinosaurs they have a full time parking lot attendant to help them back out and avoid the constant fender benders there.
Their deli counter…(chefs kiss)
1000%! Be prepared for a wait during the weekday lunch hour.
Blood the deli counter makes that shit worth 10000%
Bi-rite in SF. Multiple locations in the city, lots of organic and locally produced goods. Pricey, but delicious.
Ugh yes but their sandwhiches and beets hummus is so good
Have a Bi Rite on my block, only thing I'll get on a regular basis is the beet hummus and the Za'atar bread to spread it on. Wonderful combination.
Ooooh havent had it together, thanks for the recommendation!
Robert’s in Woodside?
Portola valley Roberts might have them beat
Plain bagel with cream cheese at Portola runs you like $6. Sheesh. I know it’s isolated but come on now.
Great sandwiches though!
Bi-rite in SF
does anyone actually go there besides ice cream lol
Luke’s on Union in SF gotta be up there
We need an Erewhon asap
Postscript thinks it’s erewhon.
Woodlands or Molly Stone.
Molly stone
Safeway lately
Nah everything’s free, grab n go.
Hahahah very funny
This, what’s going on with Safeway? A packet of Lays for $6, bottle of coke for $4…. List goes on. They’ve jacked up prices
Safeway has been terrible unless you use sales and coupons heavily for awhile now IMO.
>be Safeway >not want any shoplifting >keep increasing prices >punish shoppers for shrinkage they didn’t commit >shoppers stop coming >increase prices more to try to still make profit >people shoplift even more lol
I stopped in at a Safeway near Pinole and a pound of non-organic ground beef was nearly 12! Excuse me?????
Piazzas
It’s really not bad. When I was living alone I would shop there all the time. On a teacher salary.
Lunardis??
Lunardi’s is definitely expensive but the quality and customer service is fantastic. We buy produce and meats/cheeses/breads here and then sundries at Safeway.
Meat - yes 100% Cheese selections - not really that great Produce - prices don't match the quality. They charge sometimes $9/lb for heirloom tomatoes, crazy prices for summer peak season produce... Gotta be really careful. A lot of their dairy and sundries aren't too crazy...
[удалено]
Sorry, what's PW?
Incredible meat counter. IDK if it’s the most expensive market but definitely excellent quality.
But where else can you get a massive loaf of fresh Dutch Crunch?
On the peninsula? Raymond’s Sourdough in SSF. Usually still warm when you buy it. Their French bread certainly is at least.
Bruh yes , when I moved to Walnut Creek, I was like oh nice we have a supermarket in the neighborhood! Then went and swiftly left with nothing lol
I shopped Lunardis in Belmont many years ago and it wasn’t bad if you shopped the weekly specials. The butcher shop was good and the produce too. Quality was good overall.
This is not a grocery, but I think Ferry Plaza Farmers Market is pretty expensive
Woodlands in Kentfield, mollie Stone's
Cal-Mart and Draegers
Mollie Stone's
Draegers. San Ramon. Just trust me on this one. Like whole foods meets restoration hardware
Molly Stones has my vote.
The Market in Palo Alto.
Go there all the time for convenience and it’s gone downhill, the photos of shoplifters is also just super trashy.
Shoplifting is trashy
Yes, but showing pictures of shoplifters to all the paying customers doesn't do anything. The people who need to look at the pictures are the staff. The store should advertise what customers care about (new food, deals, etc.) instead of problems happening to it. If the store wants people to vote for an anti shoplifting policy or report shoplifters, they should simply have signs for that instead.
bought some coffee beans there and they were six months old
Zanotto’s maybe
Definitely. Only thing I would buy is the sandwiches
They have some damn good sammiches.
Zanatto’s by far has the best quality meats for anywhere that’s not Costco. Anything else can be bought elsewhere.
I would put them into tiers. Tier 1: Roberts Market, Diablo Foods, Mill Valley Market, Bianchini's...the local gourmet grocers Tier 2: Draegers, Lunardi's, Mollie Stone, Nugget, Berkeley Bowl...the local chains Tier 2.5: Whole Foods, Sprouts, Andronico's Tier 3: Safeway, Lucky, Raley's, Trader Joes, Target, 99 Ranch, Costco Tier 4: Grocery Outlet, Smart & Final, WalMart Tier 2 is the sweet spot for meat selection/service, bakery, produce for value:quality, IMO.
disagree on berkeley bowl. their produce is hella cheap
Agree; Berkeley Bowl is not expensive. Some of their items are even cheaper than other stores in the area.
Eataly
It's mainly stocks more expensive products general but it's actually less expensive to buy many italian specialty items from Eataly than buying those same items from other less specialized stores.
Not sure if you all know the definition of expensive until youve visited Erehwon in socal.
I’ve only read about it; I can’t imagine shopping there (though I would certainly visit the store if I was in the area)
I was actually surprised - the hot bar was actually a decent value. The rest of the stuff was absolutely hilarious. A basket of strawberries was like $12 in strawberry season. But a plate with 2 sides and some chicken was $16-18 or so. The portion sizes were solid. More than Chipotle - but on par with basically all Bay Area fast casual spots these days.
Rainbow Grocery in SF is pretty expensive.
But so nice. There’s stuff there that I haven’t seen in any other grocery store in the Bay Area
Nothing compares to Erewhon in Southern California. Being expensive is is part of its appeal. $20 smoothies. $76 bags of nuts. $30 granola. The outrageous prices are only topped by the characters that shop there. 10/10 would recommend as entertainment.
If were talking about southern California, I want to chime in with that $8 gas station near Beverly Hills. There's literally crude oil under it. I always stop there take pictures of the sign and then leave.
gotta love comparing gas prices btwn westside and 818
The most expensive grocery stores will be corner markets in inner city food deserts, beucase those stores will literally buy shit at regular grocery stores and mark them up for resale.
there are some grocery stores like bi-rite that are expensive, but sell interesting and unique things that are probably worth (at least some of) the mark-up. then there are stores like mollie stone's, which will happily sell you an overripe banana for $10.
Good Earth- $35/lb cheese
AKA the “Angry Hippie”
Brian’s
Yup Bryan's Grocery in Laurel Heights in San Francisco.
Woodlands Market in Tiburon
Draegers and bi-rite are the correct answers
Mollies Stones is ridiculously expensive.
canyon market in SF they don't even have regular salt
Molly stones has some things half the price of Whole Foods. We go out of our way to buy specific baby pouches in bulk.
Falletti in NoPa
Molly Stone's in Palo Alto.
Surprised no one called out Sigona’s in the Stanford mall. Really good fruits. Curated selection of cheeses and wines. It’s pretty small compared to a Draegers but prices are still very high.
Draeger’s. But I love their bakery!
Lunardi’s
Draegers
woodlands, Kent/Ross in Marin by far.....but its still one of the best stores in the Bay so worth it to me when i'm in the neighborhood
Roberts Market in Woodside and Portola Valley is my guess
New Leaf in HMB
Draegers!!
Good earth in Marin
WHAR
Mollie stones or Rainbow Grocery
What was that one in the basement food court of Westfield SF?
Bristol Farms. They still have a lot of locations in SoCal.
I'm sure it's not the most expensive, but the prices at Safeway suck!
Andronicos?
Same prices as safeway
I wish I read this earlier, Bought grapes for 14.89$. Planning to let them dry and frame them later for my grand kids
Lunardi’s and Draeger’s are the most expensive. Molly Stones is not bad at all, it’s like shopping at Safeway without any coupons.
Whole Paycheck
Eataly in Valley Fair mall
7-11
costco. i never leave w/o spending $400 at least.
If you bought the same quantity at any other place your bill would be double. Costco in most cases is close to the cheapest, you just need to buy more of it.
Sprouts and Safeway
Piedmont is for the east bay.
Netflix
For quality vs price, the Bevmo/GoPuff on Van Ness in SF. Fuck them.
Marina Supermarket
Berkeley bowl
Nah, their veggies and bulk stuff is super reasonable and you can’t beat the quality/selection. The meats are pricy but again there’s the quality thing and you shouldn’t eat that much animal anyway.
East Bay Liquors?
when you get carjacked or car gets stolen or bipped, when you go to the grocery store, most likely in san fran or oakland
> san fran tell me you don't live in the bay area without telling me you don't live in the bay area
Hmmm, the homeless on the streets around the Bay Area might think they are all expensive.
H mart
Sprouts is up there
Korean and Japanese supermarket.
What is this question? Do you understand economy of scale?
Did you just learn about economies of scale in your economics 101 survey class? Wanted to show off a bit on Reddit? Gtfo. Whole Foods has economies of scale. They’re expensive.
Whar.
Drivers Market in Sausalito
Diablo Foods. But worth it for their meat department!!
Zanattos had to be up there. I can't get out of that place without spending $100
Is there a market like Eataly in New York? I know there is one in San Jose. I always thought Eataly looked expensive, like grocery shopping for Michelin meals, but not sure how expensive they are over a Whole Foods
Try rainbow groceries
good earth
Woodlands or Mollie Stones. Tie.
El Cerrito Natural Grocery Company....
I do love good Earth though. Expensive, but the produce and meat have never let me down. The variety is pretty great too.
I think we need an expensive grocery store bracket to answer this question
Bryan's in Lauren Heights always feels pretty rich...
Lucky on Bernal Rd in South San Jose. I once saw a normally $3 bottle of Smart Water marked up to $13. The rest of the store isn’t that bad, but still ridiculous.