Welcome Trader Joe's! Who's been?

[Robin Garr]

I hope I don't regret letting my little "secret" out!!

We also sometimes go to the 40204 post office on Highland at Baxter. It occasionally has two or three people there, but you can combine a visit there with a stop at Baby D's, Funmi's Nigerian, Bunz, Papalino's, Holy Grale ...

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I landed there around 10ish, it was wall to wall and then some. I managed to nab a cart and although two aisles were totally impassable, I got enough goodies to keep me busy for a while. 50 bucks worth of goodies. The store was smaller than I thought, although that might have been the blackholeofcalcutta vibe. Interesting demographic. I didn't even try to enter the liquor side. I had to drive down Shelbyville Rd later around 2pm and it was total gridlock. I feel sorry for the staff there, talk about a busy day at work...

Enjoy that pizza...unless they have changed suppliers, they are Amy's.

I went around 2-ish. I got a some of the things in the picture! The margharita pizza, the garlic naan, and a bunch of other stuff...I spent around $70. on food and around $15. on a couple bottles of wine. (sorry, no two buck chuck) A bottle of prosecco, and a bottle of Republic (I think) sauvignon blanc.

I bought some lemon ginger ice cream that tastes very similar to the Carr's lemon ginger cookies.
Some "a blueberry walks into a bar" cereal type bars. (VERY berryish and yum!) and some wheat pretzel sticks which are good. I also got some HORRIBLE smyra turkish figs. John took one bite and spit them out. He said they tasted like mothballs. When I opened the bag, they smelled pretty nasty. Oh, and I got some old fashioned root beer. Has a bit too much anise for me, but you should definitely try it. I think it will grow on me! That's all we've tried so far.

Parking was fine. Getting a cart was an exercise in frustration. I think they need more. I walked around filling a little hand basket up but soon enough, I had to go on a cart mission. I recommend getting one from someone unloading their car. A lady walked me out to my car and helped me load it up so she could have mine.

The crowds were busy and while most were very well-behaved and patient, some were quite pushy and rude. The workers were just doing there best to get through it (by the looks of things) It looked like working in the wine area was the way to go today. They'll probably need to take some of the beverages home to unwind after a long day at Trader Joes...

Just a quick update. Tonight I served TJ's macaroni and cheese (it's frozen) with our dinner. (not frozen though )

I had already read the reviews and knew what to expect but I was shocked. This is as good (or almost as good) as homemade macaroni and cheese. (the old fashioned yummy kind) It really knocked our socks off. The only thing I did was to add some bread crumbs on top toward the end of the baking time. (the last ten minutes or so.)

It has four cheeses; cheddar, havarti, gouda and swiss. It's supposed to serve two, but it served four...two rather picky little girls, me, and (half of it) to John. I didn't tell him in advance what I was expecting, so knew when he started raving about it that this was a keeper.

This is not your Stouffer's mac and cheese. (I've had it once or twice) This is something good. In a pinch or in a hurry, you won't go wrong with this.

I plan on waiting til Tuesday to go. Son is already itching to go back to Nam Nam for lunch when we go , so we will probably hit up Lotsa Pasta as well.

We stopped in around 6:00 to see what all the fuss was about. The place was packed with zero carts available, but they had all the checkouts open and seemed to have everything under control. Most of the aisles were impassable, so we decided on a quick scan.

They have tons of frozen "entrees" and prepared dinners and a OK selection of produce and meats. The meats and produce looked to all be of the organic/free range variety, with the meat prices being in line, maybe a tad cheaper, with Whole Foods and the fruit being dirt cheap(see other TJ thread). Limes were $.29 ea. and organic apples were $.40 a pound. I've never seen apples that cheap, especially organic apples, and I'm still wondering if it was a opening day sale or pricing error.

If you are not buying free range type meat, then you won't be saving money by getting your meat at TJ, but I can see massive savings in the produce department.

My main purpose for the visit was to buy some beer and I picked up two six packs. I bought a sixer of KBC I.P.A.($7) and Mission St. I.P.A.($8.50). The Mission St IPA is fantastic and rates high on my list of IPAs. It has a nice hop aroma with hints of caramelized pineapple and grapefruit. The KBC IPA was a disappointment. I'd struggle to even call it an IPA, maybe and APA. It was overly sweet, lacking in the hop department, with a astringent finish.

We went. Spent about $35 on "junk", letting each person in the family pick out something for themselves. Got some lobster raviolis (around $4) that I am dying to try (fresh pasta). The kiddos found some garlic cheese bread (fresh bread) that they fell in love with. We bought some pasta sauce. I bought about another $30 in the wine shop......some 2 buck chuck, some ice wine, some persecco ($7!!!), a merlot and a couple of others.
Nothing screamed "we're fabulous" about the store, but it was nice. We expectted it to be much larger than it was. If we're in the area, we will certainly stop in for different things.

I have a friend who is a recent California transplant, and she says that, since TJ doesn't have their own bakery, they buy local stuff. So at least the bakery will be keeping Louisville weird!

I plan on waiting til Tuesday to go. Son is already itching to go back to Nam Nam for lunch when we go , so we will probably hit up Lotsa Pasta as well.

Yep. Our Lotsa Pasta run was my excuse to go...*insert innocent smiley here*

I haven't been to the one here yet, but in CA they had good prices on coffee, snack stuff and bags of broken Ghirardlli's chocolate bars ( that I guess were dropped by delivery guys and returned to the factory?).
The only reason I ever went when I lived out there is because they had a bunch of locations. I don't think it is really worth, to me, traveling to St' Matthews for.

I managed to nab a cart and although two aisles were totally impassable...store was smaller than I thought...:

Word to the wise - don't USE a cart. Take reusable grocery bags. We have two large TJ reusable bags. When it dies down it won't be as bad as now but since I've never seen a TJ's that approaches the size of a conventional chain grocery, pushing a cart is sometimes like pushing a baby carriage at St. James Art Fair.

Also, I'd be surprised if $2.99 for Charles Shaw wine continues unless taxes or something are a LOT different in KY. It's routinely been $3.99 in Columbus, OH since I can't remember when.

I went last night & did a quick walk through. Maybe I am missing something, or maybe I did not take the time to really look at things closely, but I don't get it. It reminds me of about 25% of a Whold Foods store. ??????

You must try the edamame hummus

You must try the edamame hummus

That does sound good...