Category Archives: Grocery Outlet

The other day I made Wine Braised Short Ribs with Mixed Herb Gremolata for dinner (they were delicious, btw, and I plan to copy the recipe to this blog). They were supposed to be served with Gorgonzola polenta, and while I remembered to buy the Gorgonzola, I didn’t realize until the last possible moment that I had forgotten the polenta. AND, I didn’t have any starches at home. I wanted a starch to soak in all the delicious braising liquid (and delicious it was). I was in a bind.
So I hurried to Grocery Outlet, across the street, with the dim hope of finding some polenta, or at least another quick-cooking starch. These boxed mashed potatoes were the best that I could do. And lord, were they bad – so bad even the kids (no gourmets and not very picky) thought they sucked. In reality, they tasted just like the cardboard box. I don’t really understand why – but they really were inedible.
So hearken me, and avoid them at all costs.

My plan for dinner tonight was to make Chicken Cordon Blue, this time with ham (rather than prosciutto), as it’s significantly cheaper. Alas, Mike had forgotten to get the ham at the supermarket, so I decided to get some at Grocery Outlet. It was a mistake.
There were only two packages of ham available, and I got this Plumroase brown sugar ham rather than the other one as it actually had brown sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. Still, this one had artificial maple flavor, so it’s not as it was a much healthier alternative. But the real problem with this ham is that it has very little flavor. There is some saltiness to it, and some fake sweetness and even fake smokiness, but no ham flavor at all. It doesn’t taste “bad” just not very hammy.
At about $3 a pound, though, it’s quite cheap. But it has added water, so who knows how much actual ham you are getting.

Once again, I found myself wondering what I was going to make for dinner tonight and decided to see what quick and cheap things I could find at Grocery Outlet. Dinner ended up being an assortment of things rather than one in particular, but it worked out pretty well.
I started with Middle East Baking Co. Pita Bread ($1.40 for 6 pitas, 12 oz) and Sabra Classic Hummus ($3 for 10 oz container). The hummus tasted exactly as what it proclaims itself to be – “classic hummus” and I enjoyed it very much. It doesn’t list any worrisome ingredients (e.g. no trans-fats). The pita bread was just pita.
Mika and I had hot dogs (I got their no-brand hot dog buns, ‘$1.80 for 16!) and Camila an Evergood Chicken Apple Sausage ($4 for 4, not really a bargain). I like these sausages because they are not as sweet as others. – they also don’t seem to have any worrisome ingredients.
I also served the kids peas – a 4lb bag of a no-name brand was $3.30.
Finally, I gave in to temptation and got a bag of frozen pre-cooked onion rings. They came in a transparent plastic bag with a badly attached label and no expiration date I could find. The 3lb bag was $5. I baked them according to instructions and was quite disappointed. The onion rings were limp and chewy, not in the least crispy, and yet quite greasy. They also didn’t have much in the way of flavor. Heed my advise and avoid them.
I also bought a large package of Président Mini Brie cheese. It’s not my favorite brie by far, but at $3 for a 16 oz package, I can’t really complain.

I didn’t have anything to make for dinner, so when I chanced upon frozen/refrigerated boxes of Belafino Take and Bake Pepperoni Pizza at Grocery Outlet, I thought I’d give it a try. Probably I won’t do it again.

The 2lb, 16″ pizzas seemed good enough in the box. They are made with 100% real mozzarella cheese, and at $3 each they looked like a good bargain. They seemed to have a fair amount of cheese and pepperoni – though once I took them out of the box, the pepperoni seemed rather scant. Still, what ultimately matters is the flavor, and these pizzas taste only of sauce.

There was no cheese flavor /at all/, and while the mild pepperoni was nice in itself, it couldn’t stand up to the sauce. I found the sauce to have an unhappy combination of a predominant too-sweet taste, with hints of annoying bitterness. I just didn’t like it.

The crust was OK, though it had a slight refrigerator taste that I didn’t really appreciate, still it was masked by the sauce.

All of this said, the kids *loved* it. I can’t imagine why, but kids are funny.

I did a bit of googling about this pizza and it seems it’s a relatively recent brand from Schwan, the makers of Freschetta, Red Baron and Tony’s frozen pizzas. Belafino is supposed to be a “gourmet” offering, one to be sold on the deli section of the supermarket – giving the impression that it’s fresh (though the box does note that it’s been previously frozen). Supermarkets are supposed to defrost them, put a “sell by” date of 10 days after the pizza was defrosted, and place it in the deli. I find that kind of scary, because nothing on the box says when the pizza was made (it has a 6-month freezer life). It also seems sort of deceptive.

In any case, the pizza doesn’t taste good and that’s what really counts.

I got a bottle of Villa MIlena Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I don’t remember how much I pay, I’d guess about $7-8 for a 1 lt bottle) at Grocery Outlet a couple of weeks ago because I had ran out of it and I didn’t have time to go to Trader Joe’s, where I usually buy my EVOO (I get the Greek Kalamata one in the large bottle, it’s quite good and cheap). I wasn’t expecting much, but I still managed to be disappointed. The oil is a green-yellow color and has a fruity beginning, no middle whatsoever and a *very* bitter finish. Indeed, it leaves a bitter taste in your mouth when you are done.
I’ve used it for sauteing/pan frying and it’s fine for that, but definitely not for salads or with bread.

Today I saw Vienetta Triple Chocolate dessert at the San Leandro Grocery Outlet for $1.50 or $2. I didn’t taste it, so I don’t know how good it is, but I know that Vienetta has a lot of fans and it’s hard to find, so I figured I’d post about it here.