Best Supermarket in Orange County? (Union, Monroe: appointed, real estate, houses)

[Jason_Els]

Warwick's sole supermarket, Shop Wrong, sucks.

I go outside the state to other places and there are beautiful supermarkets with giant deli sections, whole blocks of aisles given over to organic foods, and ethnic sections a mile long. They have good meat, butchers who will cut to order, and a variety of fresh produce.

The Hannaford's my sister has in Williston, VT puts every supermarket I've found here in Orange county to shame. It's enormous, but the prices are reasonable and food is great. The Hannaford's in Middletown is nothing like it, only half the size without the sandwich and lunch bar, the cheese shop, the organic produce, or the selection of specialty foods.

My mom raved about the Stop 'n Shop in Monroe so I went there and again, I was greatly disappointed by their non-selection of organic items and the one yard of aisle given over to Chinese condiments and ingredients. I love to cook Asian food and while I'm willing to travel to Asian groceries once a month or so, I like to have what I really need available at a reasonable distance and there are no Asian groceries in Orange county.

Why does a county with such an enormous population have such junky supermarkets?? I don't get it. Right now I usually go to the A&P in Vernon but even that doesn't have as much selection or the high quality I'm looking for.

Please let me know what supermarkets you think are the best here in Orange, I'm dying to find a really good one with a wide selection of organic produce, prepared, and packaged foods, specialty and ethnic foods, plus a good deli counter.

[winnie]

Try Adams Fairacre farm in Newburgh. They are on Rte 300 in Newburgh, I must say they are overall very average compared to the selection I had in MA (their Stop n Shops are better and Bread and Circus = heaven) but probably the best I can find round here. It is very busy nonstop. But DH went there last and said they are willing to order stuff for you so long as you buy it. And they make OK cannolis and scamorza too.
If all else fails, go to Amazon.com's grocery and gourmet online or ask your local Japanese resturant where you might be able to find spices and stuff. Sometimes if you shop around on Amazon you can get the stuff delivered right to you without the drive and the hassle. It has worked for me in the past when I have been unable to find sushi supplies.
I also heard there is an Oriental grocery in New Paltz but my DH went there a few years ago and he is not here to give directions. I googled one and found Kon-Tiki Trading Co. on 70 Main St, New Paltz. I am pretty sure this is the one.

[Nbrakern]

Hello. I was in Warwick in October and was told by my real estate agent that they are building a new supermarket right across the street from Shop Rite. Is this true???

[Jason_Els]

Yeah, Adams isn't bad but given its distance, I may as well go to Trader Joe's in Wayne and buy cheap gas before crossing back. Not that Trader Joe's is perfect either; sometimes you want junk food or Heinz ketchup or Dran-O or something else not exactly organic.

I'm amazed grocery shopping is so pathetic here given the population density. The Hannaford's in Middletown is less than two years old and it doesn't have the things in better Hannaford's elsewhere. That's an embarrassment.

For Asian food I go to New Jersey. There's a huge Chinese market in River's Edge and a small one fairly close in Spring Valley. There's a Thai and Indonesian place in downtown Hackensack (which felt so scary I didn't stop). I can deal with that, but why do I have to drive to some absolutely tiny and ancient Grand Union in West Milford just to find fish sauce? Our Shop Wrong is twice the size and doesn't even have it. Unreal.

[Jason_Els]

Originally Posted by Nbrakern

Hello. I was in Warwick in October and was told by my real estate agent that they are building a new supermarket right across the street from Shop Rite. Is this true???

It was true until Shop Wrong hired an environmental assessment company which found endangered bog turtles on the property. Whether or not the turtles exist I do not know and if they truly do, then I understand the need to protect them. I'm kind of suspicious though that Shop Wrong's people found them when neither the EPA nor Hannaford's people did. Shop Wrong is using everything they can to prevent another store going up. I don't like seeing beautiful and rich bottomland like that being paved over for a damn supermarket in any event. I'd prefer them to use an existing developed site. I hate seeing the farms turned into McMansion developments and open land paved over into bright shiny chain crap. That end of town is in imminent danger of turning into Warwick's own Miracle Mile. We're turning into Rockland more every day.

The town really screwed-up with this. The building which now houses CVS in the village was abandoned when Grand Union went out of business and it didn't occur to the town to buy the property until CVS already had hold of it. Efforts by the town to condemn the property out from under CVS failed so instead of a supermarket in the village, which is what everyone wanted, we got a drug store nobody wanted and I've seen roads in the poorest parts of the Andes maintained better than CVS's parking lot.

[winnie]

Have you tried requesting the stuff at Shop Rite? If you speak to a manager and not a stocker you might get some results. Personally I find their prices to be highway robbery compared to MA. Especially for meats and dairy.
I forgot you are all the way down in Warwick at least you have Jersey to go to.
Are there any Big Y's up this way yet? They are all over the place in MA and are a step above Stop n Shop which also originated from eastern New England.

[Jason_Els]

No Big Y's here yet.

I've asked them to carry Haribo Gummi Bears but alas, they only carry Black Forest.

I'm not big on asking for things as half the fun of shopping is discovering new things and most of what I want is simply better quality items, better service, and a wider selection of foreign foods. The more choices I have, the easier it is to plan meals. In any event they won't lower their prices just because I ask.

[LSLE]

It’s funny that you mentioned Wayne’s Trader’s Joe. I work nearby, and do my grocery shopping there on a way home. There is also a pretty decent Stop n Shop near by Trader’s Joe. As for grocery shopping in Orange county we like Hannaford in Vails Gate, and Adams in Newburg. I know it’s a bit far for you, but at least Hannaford in Vails Gate has great selection of fruits and vegetables, fresh meat, and Adams bakery is not bad either.

[Jason_Els]

I do like Adam's. I worked in Newburgh and shopped there on occasion. I prefer to buy my baked goods from a true bakery and Warwick is fortunate to have two very good ones including one of the best pastry shops in the country (Jean Claude's Patisserie). With the gas prices and time situation, I was hoping there would be something in Middletown, Monroe, or Central Valley.

Thanks for the tips though.

[NewToYorkSC]

I used to go to Price Chopper, They had a really good meat department.
And Adams is very good! Always fresh!