Good Meat/Seafood/Bread/Veggies/etc. in Winter Garden/Windermere? (Orlando: appointed, 2014)

[EditorJul]

When my husband, kiddo, and I lived in Maryland, we shopped at Wegman's for pretty much everything that we didn't get from our local CSA. Sadly, moving to Florida meant saying goodbye to Wegman's. We're trying to build up our list of places to get quality foodstuffs in the Winter Garden/Windermere area. So far, here's what we've found:


Good Seafood: Bar Harbor Seafood in Orlando

Good Bread: Douce France Bakery in Winter Garden

Good Meat Market: ??? (Still searching)

Good Veggies/Fruit: Winter Garden and Windermere's farmer's markets, plus Beck Brother's Blueberries for blueberry season

Good Cheese Market: ??? (Still searching)

Good Tea/Coffee Store (for preparing at home): ??? (Still searching)

Does anyone have any ideas for resources to add to our list? We've tried Whole Foods in Dr. Phillips and were very disappointed, and while Publix is good for the convenience factor and some of the prices, we'd like to see if there's other smaller shops with better quality or selection.

[annerk]

Have you tried Fresh Market yet? They have a good cheese department and fantastic meats. (As good as Wegman's.)

[EditorJul]

Originally Posted by annerk

Have you tried Fresh Market yet? They have a good cheese department and fantastic meats. (As good as Wegman's.)

Haven't tried it yet, no. We'll check it out this weekend ('cause you had me with cheese as good as Wegman's!).

Thanks!

[bendtoorlando]

I agree with Fresh Market or try one of the ethnic grocery stores on West Colonial!

[Crane's Rooster]

Good Meat: I like Freshfield Farms on Michigan and Osceola.

[GAtoFL]

Just curious as I usually like Whole foods if Im not looking for something special. I'm not super picky as publix generally is okay for me. Is the one in Dr Phillips a bad whole foods or does whole foods in general just not appeal to you? Probably the latter due to the kind of places you like.

[annerk]

Originally Posted by GAtoFL

Just curious as I usually like Whole foods if Im not looking for something special. I'm not super picky as publix generally is okay for me. Is the one in Dr Phillips a bad whole foods or does whole foods in general just not appeal to you? Probably the latter due to the kind of places you like.

The Dr. Phillips WF is a great Whole Foods. Nothing wrong with it at all, and usually the best selection of organics in the area. The one in Winter Park is smaller and somewhat disappointing. They are putting a new one in up in Altamonte Springs near the mall.

[EditorJul]

Compared to the Whole Foods that we had up in the DC area (which I would go to more often before Wegmans was built and we joined a CSA), the Dr. Phillips one was a bit low-end for my tastes and had limited selections of basic items. (I mean, who doesn't have fresh parsley at a grocery store??) Going there with a fairly basic list, I had to then go to Publix to finish up the shopping (specifically parsley, panko, and a couple types of cheeses for a dinner I was making). The fresh food bar looked disgusting (although it was mid-afternoon on a Sunday, so perhaps they only refresh the food around meal times?). The layout of the produce section was a little odd -- I had to look for quite some time to find where they hid the bananas, and a guy who was wandering around at the same time I was couldn't find the carrots. (Thankfully an employee was able to show that they were over with the citrus fruits, although that isn't where I would think to look for carrots. I guess they were arranged by color?) The sushi we got was mediocre, and the prices on seafood were about double what we had paid at Bar Harbor the week before. I was also surprised that they didn't seem to have quite as many allergen-friendly (for someone with a soy allergy) products as I was used to from other Whole Foods.

The price was on par with Whole Foods up north, but between the quality and the selection (not to mention the behavior of some of the patrons, although that's not the fault of the store), it just wasn't worth it for me to give it a second chance. I'm astonished that they have an even smaller one in Winter Park -- is it just a converted 7-11 or something??

[annerk]

Originally Posted by EditorJul

Compared to the Whole Foods that we had up in the DC area (which I would go to more often before Wegmans was built and we joined a CSA), the Dr. Phillips one was a bit low-end for my tastes and had limited selections of basic items. (I mean, who doesn't have fresh parsley at a grocery store??) Going there with a fairly basic list, I had to then go to Publix to finish up the shopping (specifically parsley, panko, and a couple types of cheeses for a dinner I was making). The fresh food bar looked disgusting (although it was mid-afternoon on a Sunday, so perhaps they only refresh the food around meal times?). The layout of the produce section was a little odd -- I had to look for quite some time to find where they hid the bananas, and a guy who was wandering around at the same time I was couldn't find the carrots. (Thankfully an employee was able to show that they were over with the citrus fruits, although that isn't where I would think to look for carrots. I guess they were arranged by color?) The sushi we got was mediocre, and the prices on seafood were about double what we had paid at Bar Harbor the week before. I was also surprised that they didn't seem to have quite as many allergen-friendly (for someone with a soy allergy) products as I was used to from other Whole Foods.

The price was on par with Whole Foods up north, but between the quality and the selection (not to mention the behavior of some of the patrons, although that's not the fault of the store), it just wasn't worth it for me to give it a second chance. I'm astonished that they have an even smaller one in Winter Park -- is it just a converted 7-11 or something??

I'm not sure you were shopping at the same Whole Foods I shop at, because I've seen nothing like that. They always have parsley--not always organic, but they have it. Carrots have always been with the rest of the veggies, and it's good that bananas are kept separate as they release gases as they ripen which cause other produce to ripen way too quickly.

I have multiple life threatening food allergies and have no problem finding things I can eat there.

[EditorJul]

Originally Posted by annerk

I'm not sure you were shopping at the same Whole Foods I shop at, because I've seen nothing like that. They always have parsley--not always organic, but they have it. Carrots have always been with the rest of the veggies, and it's good that bananas are kept separate as they release gases as they ripen which cause other produce to ripen way too quickly.

I have multiple life threatening food allergies and have no problem finding things I can eat there.

This was the Whole Foods on Turkey Lake Road. The date of our visit was June 29, 2014. I'll gladly stop at Whole Foods on my next trip to the DC area. Someday when I'm desperate for something that I can't find at Publix and don't have a trip up to DC planned again to hit Wegmans or WF up there, I might consider trying that Whole Foods in Dr. Phillips again… or, you know, if the world is coming to an end and there's no other options.

Or if I need "healthy" cosmetics. They did have an amazing selection of cosmetics that went far beyond their selection of food.