Good and Affordable Supermarkets? (Roseville, Albany: sale, buying, live)

[inpd]

So where do you shop that gives your nice food and its affordable.
I've tried all the chains, Safeway, NobHill/Bel Air, Lucky Whole foods
but haven't been too impressed as I mentioned earlier my grocery bill
shot up 40% a week though I'm buying the same products I did
in NY.

In particular meats and fishes are super-expensive in CA
literally 50% higher than in upstate NY. Fruit and vegetables are
mainly (but not always) taken care of by the great farmers market
on the cnr of 6th and W under the overpass.

[quasi888]

In my experience in my area (Roseville), in order of ascending price, it's:

Walmart < Savemart (formerly Albertsons) < Safeway < Raley's/Bel-Air/Nob Hill

Of course a lot depends on what you buy and what happens to be on sale in a given place. But generally, a typical weekly grocery trip tends to be the least expensive at Wal mart, for us. In some cases the price differences are startling. For example, we usually go through 4-5 half-gallons of Lactaid milk in a week. Wal-Mart $3.12. Safeway $4.39. Raley's $4.69!

[inpd]

Oh. But my wife has banned me from Walmart and I've read too many
books on them to frequent it.

I tried all the other places you mentioned. Are there any smaller
grocery stores or others that specialize in meat and fish?

[quasi888]

Raley's is actually locally known for their meats. Having said that, I picked up a few ribeye from there last week and didn't notice that they were necessarily any better than the stuff I had been buying at other markets.

[jguillot]

Originally Posted by inpd

So where do you shop that gives your nice food and its affordable.
I've tried all the chains, Safeway, NobHill/Bel Air, Lucky Whole foods
but haven't been too impressed as I mentioned earlier my grocery bill
shot up 40% a week though I'm buying the same products I did
in NY.

In particular meats and fishes are super-expensive in CA
literally 50% higher than in upstate NY. Fruit and vegetables are
mainly (but not always) taken care of by the great farmers market
on the cnr of 6th and W under the overpass.

Winco Foods usually has great prices.

[Rob98LS1]

Originally Posted by jguillot

Winco Foods usually has great prices.

Winco Foods best prices hands down. One is in Antelope off of Elverta near Walerga. The other is in Roseville on Fairway drive, nearest cross street being Pleasant Grove blvd. Hope this helps.

[volleyballer]

Yup. Winco is the way to go. Cheaper than all the rest. Just don't buy meat there. Save that for Raleys or better yet Trader Joes.

[Rob98LS1]

Originally Posted by volleyballer

Yup. Winco is the way to go. Cheaper than all the rest. Just don't buy meat there. Save that for Raleys or better yet Trader Joes.

funny, our family does the same thing, probably alot of families do.

[Fearless Kid]

Originally Posted by volleyballer

Yup. Winco is the way to go. Cheaper than all the rest. Just don't buy meat there. Save that for Raleys or better yet Trader Joes.

This is so true, and I'm not a meat expert. It's just something about the appearance of the meat. But Winco is good for all of your bulk foods.

I like Nugget myself, as they are on the expensive list, but have great quality foods, especially specialty items. I've never been to Raley's. Safeway is my default choice since I live 2 blocks away from one.

Trader Joe's has some great stuff.


-Angel

[inpd]

Every place seems to have a non-chain store that
is outstanding in some respect. What are the ones
in Sac for food?

I fondly remember the "Deli Warehouse" in
Albany, NY. 2 inch NY strip steaks for $2.99
a pound, pastrami for $1.99 a pound. Place
looked like a barn, but terrific produce and
value.