Welcome Trader Joe's! Who's been?

KY's alcohol tax structure is different from Ohio's...that is why the wine is $2.99 instead of $3.99.

I went today around noon to get 3 weeks worth of groceries. All I'll need to do is fill in with milk and a few fruits and veggies each week -- less than $10 I'm sure.

There's no way I could have carried all of that in reusable bags...I needed a cart. There were a lot of people in there who really didn't need one though, and had one anyway.

I did get my hands on one of their huge, zip-up insulated bags. It's great...all of my cold stuff fit in it and it kept it cold while I ran into Whole Foods to pick up a couple of stray items I couldn't find at TJ's, and all the way back home to Sellersburg.

BTW I also noticed today that they had a couple of BBC beers on the bottom shelf...I believe both were $7ish for a 6-pack.

I went Tuesday and bought a variety of things:

just got back from my first trip to Trader Joe's! Cinnamon pear cider, blackberry juice, peach juice, an acorn squash, butternut squash risotto, sweet potato gnocchi, beef tamales, chicken enchiladas, steak burritos, chicken taquitos, lemon chicken salad, grilled chicken salad with mangoes, breakfast scramble, garlic naan, honey oat bread, cinnamon scones, cranberry scones, blueberry raspberry bran muffins, cinnamon apple oatmeal, cranberry oatmeal, and triple gingersnaps

So far, I haven't been too impressed. The two salads I bought were ok, good but not great. The scones had more calories than I think is worth the taste. They taste more sweet than cinnamony. I haven't tried the cranberry ones yet, though, just the cinnamon. The honey oat bread is a little on the dry side, but it tasted great when I spread Nutella on it! I didn't care for the muffins. They were dry and very dense, not how the usual muffin tastes.

But the cinnamon pear cider is quite tasty! I have some friends who told me that the juices are their favorite thing about Trader Joes, so I can see why!

Cardboard tastes good with Nutella on it!

Cardboard tastes good with Nutella on it!

True, that!

Marie, I found the butternut squash risotto very good. I prefer making risotto from scratch, but when there is no time, that package is great to have on hand.

I have also found there frozen desserts very nice too, Mochi, and wow, Colorful French macaroons, and their tortes, or tiramisu, (shhh, don't tell chef Josh at Volare)

Edit: P.S. Chef John Varanese had Pan seared Coral Cod over butternut squash risotto as a special for his menu last night.! Good purchase Marie, Great Minds think alike

I was really disappointed with the wine shop. I don't really like testing my luck with 2(3,4, whatever) buck chuck, and they didn't carry the wines I've bought at other Trader Joes that were real bargains. Other stores carry a nice Vinho Verde for around 4/bottle (cheaper than water in Portugal, for some reason 10 or more a bottle in Louisville) and a good pinot noir rose-style wine. They said that because of distributor difficulties, neither is available in KY.

I think the store's strengths are in its snacks and juices. My kids love the Pear Cider and the toasted nori. Also Barbara's cereals are bargains.

So far we've tried & loved the following:

- Butternut squash ravioli: incredible
- Whole wheat pizza dough: they make it fresh and sell it for $1.00. The pizza we made served 4.
- TJ's yellow corn tortilla chips: cheap & delicious
- Several varieties of hummus, including kalamata olive, edamame, and garlic - all delicious
- Cheese: I got a sharp wisconsin cheddar for $2.50 and an herb-encrusted asiago for about $3. Both are incredible. There are some good bargains to be had in the cheese section!
- Stone-ground wheat crackers: amazing, especially with the cheese.
- Frozen falafel: bag of 12 for around $4
- Soup: we tried roasted red pepper & carrot-ginger. Both cartons served 2 (plus leftovers for 2) and were $2 each.
Pasta: many were $1. Comparable to the cheapest stuff at Kroger and the variety of shapes was better.

Skip the 3-Buck Chuck, muffins (most of the bread products, really), meat, and most of the produce (there are some bargains, but overall, it's nothing to write home about).

We went at around 8:15am Tuesday - there were only 5 or so people in the store. No problem getting a cart through. I know most people are probably working then (or headed to work), but if you can go early, it's worth it!

Stopped in with my daughter on (what was it ?) last Wed I think...<meh>...Didn't see anything that would cause me to make a special trip all the way from Garage Logic (what can I say, I'm a Kroger kinda guy) BUT that being said the prices did seem to be quite reasonable and the product line will certainly appeal to a lot of people. They do need to get it together with the shopping carts...The store was NOT crowded at all when we were there but yet there were (maybe) 2 or 3 carts available when we walked in. Overall I'd say this is going to be as good of a shopping option as anywhere else in the immediate area.

The cart situation was our main gripe. I have a 9 month old, and he is entirely too heavy to lug around and shop, so if there are no carts, we have to leave. It seems like they have a disproportionate amount of carts to customers.

I'm wondering if a lot of the carts "walked off" during opening weekend...because they were so crowded that who knows where people were having to park. When I went last Friday they weren't that crowded but there was 1 cart in the foyer and I didn't see any in the lot either.

I have not been to the new TJ's, but every other one that I've been to had an over abundance of cart available, a ridiculous over abundance in fact.

If you want to know what to buy at TJ's you might want to check out this site:
http://www.whatsgoodattraderjoes.com/

These three people have made it their mission to try everything there and write reviews on them. It's a fun site. Also, if you want to slog through the site, you can read their two best of lists at The Daily Meal:

http://www.thedailymeal.com/whats-good-trader-joes-0

http://www.thedailymeal.com/best-and-wo ... rader-joes