The Trader Joe's Product Discussion Thread (S/D)

friendly AND sincere
it's like apple store employees and tj's employees are trained via same methodology but apple store employees get an extra module on how to deal with dry humour

did a big shop with two friends at tj's in sf and we were musing about whether we could split the bill between 3 cards and the cashier guy was like 'no problem at all' and was so chill about it (it wasn't a crazy busy time of day). i was impressed.

we had a bbq and i tried the veggie sausage and they were okay, but the pork sausages were way better. weirdly, that tj's had only one kind of pork sausage (bratwurst) and like 50 kinds of chicken sausages.

The Chicago TJ employees seem to fall into the "wacky" friendly type, which is perhaps the worst kind of friendly. This isn't Seinfeld, no one wants wacky friends when they are buying groceries.

For some reason when it opened in Portland it was like they were offering free samples of heroin or something - flocks of people. No parking.

Seagull people

no - cat people!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APrBdP0bBJM

and then...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0L0D80Xg-A&feature=related

<3<3<3

That song is so OTM.

I just got back from a trip to tj's and my checkout person gave me a high five after he checked my Id and realized that i am a fellow Virgo. Then we had a nice conversation and I think he gave me a free apple.

Sometimes these convos are painful, but today it was nice. Not busy, didn't seem pained at all. They always ask me what I plan to do with the fennel, and this guy just chatted with me like a human being.

I remember once at Hannafords the checkout guy saw our leeks and wa s like "Oh I love these" and proceeded to rub his huge nose u pand down them, snorting in their oniony goodness. Didn't he ever go to nose school? You don't slide your nose on other's tubers.

haha trader joe's in video is the trader joe's we went to (more than once) in SF!

or at least the insane parking lot is

Second dud ever for a Trader Joe's product- the chicken sausage with garlic, spinach and fontina. It wasn't due to expire for another month, but it smelled soooooooo bad when i took it out of the package. I still cooked them and it made my house smell like dead hooker vag. Or what I would assume...

weirdly, that tj's had only one kind of pork sausage (bratwurst) and like 50 kinds of chicken sausages.

that was the case at the tj's i was at yesterday -- no idea about the pork sausage, but there were many chicken sausages to choose from. i went with the spinach/fontina/roasted garlic ones and they were delish.

xp hahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahaha

i didn't think they smelled like dead hooker vag, but i am a bit congested.

yeah hopefully not from your memory there Yerac. Today I wrote Jennis Macaroons to tell them they taste like vomit

The garlic and herb chicken sausages are really, really good on a crusty roll with sauteed mushrooms and caramelized onions. And mustard. And I throw a little red wine in with the shrooms and onions. I'm classy.

my daughter excitedly bought "yogurt beans" - yogurt covered raisins - boy was she sad when she tasted them. Also a boxed soup languished in our cuppboard for a year and then was executed to the trash

dead hooker vag

rejected DJP screen name

I don't buy much produce at TJ's but the jumbo-size packages of blueberries are consistently plump & juicy. product-wise my son now reps for the jarred marinara sauce. it's OK.

I like wild Maine blueberries
http://www.wymans.com/

you can get em frozen and thaw the delight

I bought the Donut O's and they are not that great.

I love the horseradish hummus.

Is that a donut flavored cereal?!?!

No. Trader Joe's Old Fashioned Donut O's are donut holes.

THE CURRY TUNA IS BACK. BACK AGAIN. TUNA'S BACK. TELL A FRIEND.

really liking the pistacho/white chocolate cookies and i'm by no means a white chocolate head

actually, most of their cookies are pretty boss

i will have some now, in fact, having just eaten TJ's pork gyoza

Do they have gyoza sauce?

Their sweet chili sauce is kind of underwhelming. Plus I'm used to paying $1.75 for a big ass jug of the good stuff in "Little Saigon" and it bothers me to pay any more.

idk, i have sriracha

My lips are pursed in disapproval.

they do sell gyoza sauce. i've never bought it. damn i have some of their sweet chili in the cupboard (unopened). sad to hear it will be not awesome.

It's OK, but I like the real deal.

Why can't I buy salt or white sugar there? I guess I know why, sort of, but I still want it.

them

They have salt at TJs. A bit plastic tube of sea salt, with a kind of inconvenient spout.

it's blue

they usually have sugar, too, but i find that stuff is always getting moved round and isn't always in the most obvious place.

uh, "big" plastic tube of salt. hey guess what else, trader joes has. booz

when I'm walking by a trader joes I stop in for a little coffee

I worked a job earlier this year where my main duty was to buy the best things from trader joes that I could

THE CURRY TUNA IS BACK. BACK AGAIN. TUNA'S BACK. TELL A FRIEND.

i have four (4) boxes of the red curry tuna in my kitchen. they didn't have any of the green curry this time, or the last time i checked.

I just want plain old salt. I'll stick with my local crappy little overpriced supermarket for that.

They only pepper they carry comes in a little plastic pepper grinder, which I get goes with the whole TJ's ethos, but that is also annoying.

pepper is evil

That's weird.

The pepper grinder is not bad. The top unscrews too, so you can dump it into a nicer grinder.

Unlike a giant plastic tub of pepper that I bought at Costco which had a built in, unremovable grinder, so I had to take a hacksaw to the thing. Annoying.

That's what I did, but it felt very wasteful with all that unnecessary excess plastic and parts.

okay, so i don't know what they did, but this jar of dijon is hands-down the most vinegary, sinus-clearingly painful dijon i've ever tasted. i like things spicy, but it's too much. i don't remember my last jar tasting so crazy. anyone else have this experience with the TJ's Dijon?

oh i love that stuff!
but their brown/grainy mustard tastes like shit to me.