Where to food shop - Reston and wider area (Arlington: homes, buying)

[Poopy00]

Never having lived in the US before I don't know the grocery shops and their relative prices.

Can anyone give me an idea of the one in my local (ish) area?

I know we have a Giant, a Trader Joes, Target and a Safeway. Anything else?
What's good? Cheap/expensive?

Thanks

[mlv311]

You have a Wegmans in Sterling. This is my favorite place for groceries--great inventory, and lower prices on general, everyday items.

Costco in Sterling is another good place, but you need to be a member to shop there.

You might also want to check out Shoppers Food Warehouse for groceries.

[JfromReston]

Originally Posted by mlv311

You have a Wegmans in Sterling. This is my favorite place for groceries--great inventory, and lower prices on general, everyday items.

I absolutely LOVE Wegmans. Checkbook Washington did a grocery store comparison a few years ago and to my surprise Wegmans turned out to be one of the least expensive stores.

Locator Detail | Wegmans - Wegmans Dulles

[Hester Prynne]

Wegmans is great. Hope I don't offend anyone, but if you want to go to the bottom of the grocery barrel, you can also check out Shoppers Food Warehouse in Herndon. Prices there are pretty low.

As an FYI...I would not buy meat at the Whole Foods in Reston. My friend's husband works for Whole Foods and -- no joke -- he won't allow her to buy any of their fresh meat products. If it's packed by someone else and shipped to the store already enclosed in plastic, etc, he's fine with it. Otherwise, they buy all their meat from the Whole Foods in Arlington or Fair Lakes.

[LuisaREA]

My favorite places are Trader Joes and Wegman's. I love Wegman's because it does have a large variety of organic products, but at a lot cheaper than other places. If you use the Wegman brand, you will pay even less. I love trader joes because their prices are great and they have some unique products that you cannot find anywhere else.

[Poopy00]

Thanks all.

Wegmans is top of the pile then

I'm really looking forward to food shopping. How sad is that! New brands and totally different things to what I can buy in the UK.

[slduvall]

I actually find that sort of funny. I lived in the UK and still miss all the different things. Tesco was my favorite. If you get homesick and want a taste of the UK, Mcvites, malt teaser or some other special treats you can go World Market. I think they might have salad cream and HP sauce as well.

Cheers and welcome

[Poopy00]

Originally Posted by slduvall

I actually find that sort of funny. I lived in the UK and still miss all the different things. Tesco was my favorite. If you get homesick and want a taste of the UK, Mcvites, malt teaser or some other special treats you can go World Market. I think they might have salad cream and HP sauce as well.

Cheers and welcome

Never mind HP sauce. I want branston pickle and Heinz cream of tomato soup. I was considering smuggling some in my suitcase

[arabellava]

Originally Posted by Hester Prynne

Wegmans is great. Hope I don't offend anyone, but if you want to go to the bottom of the grocery barrel, you can also check out Shoppers Food Warehouse in Herndon. Prices there are pretty low.

As an FYI...I would not buy meat at the Whole Foods in Reston. My friend's husband works for Whole Foods and -- no joke -- he won't allow her to buy any of their fresh meat products. If it's packed by someone else and shipped to the store already enclosed in plastic, etc, he's fine with it. Otherwise, they buy all their meat from the Whole Foods in Arlington or Fair Lakes.

How about the Vienna Whole foods? and can you please exlplai why buying from another store is that bad? older items? or quality from those stores? just making sure.. thanks!

[Metro2828]

Try the Giant in Falls Church for British foods....they've got HP sauce, salad cream, Branston pickle, McVitie's digestives, milky bars, mushy peas, marmite and proper British Heinz beans (less sweet than the American version). Might even have tomato soup. Aisle 8 or 9, I think, and also other stuff around the store - I got Coleman's mustard powder and golden syrup the other day. Prices aren't too bad, considering how far it's all traveled. They do PG Tips as well, but if you drink a lot of tea, like I do, Amazon's the best place for that.

I'm personally not a big fan of Wegman's (for some reason I've just never really 'got' it), but I'll add a vote for Trader Joe's.