Monday, October 29, 2007

Whole Foods Nashville

I took a tour of the new Whole Foods Market in Green Hills today. Wow! We saw the cooking school, picked up reusible shopping bags with free samples, and tasted all kinds of food, including the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever in a million years put in my mouth. And I'm a good baker!

They wouldn't let me take photos, but you'll have to see it for yourself, right? Frugal folk, arrive at 8 am Thursday for a free Grand Opening breakfast.

17 comments:

3boysmama said...

I am so thankful for stores like Whole Foods with my son's milk allergy. Where else could I get vegan cheese and dairy free frozen pizza, right?

But if you shop there you'll soon learn my friend's moniker for the store is true: Whole Paycheck.

Meredith said...

It's a gorgeous place, but I'm not sure we'll go very often.

The cafe salads looked like a great buy for lunch out--or even a date night.

Are there any products you purchase there which you consider good buys, compared to the regular grocery store?

TheNormalMiddle said...

I totally love whole foods. Very expensive, but I make a trip about once every 3 months and get the things that I can't live without.

I have found that a few items there are actually cheaper than grocery stores. Their brand of organic chicken broth/stock is cheaper than any organic one in any grocery store I can find.

So there are deals. Not many, but a few!!!

TheNormalMiddle said...

Their brand (360 or something like that?) of crackers and snack foods tend to be cheaper too, if you want organic snacks.

Like I said above, I go once every 3 months or so and get things like hormone free meats to stock the freezer. They usually have very locally-raised meats which is nice. Expensive, but nice.

Stick with their brand no matter what you do!

Anonymous said...

I LOVE Whole Foods. I live close to Austin Texas and I think (I am not 100% sure of this) it had the first Whole Food market. I love to just walk through the store on a Saturday morning and eat the snacks and watch the cooking classes. I buy cheese there too. No it is not cheap, but we don't use a lot to make a meal really special.
Thanks for the wonderful blog. Roxie

Indie Pereira said...

How did you get an advance tour. I'm jealous.

I don't know specifically about Whole Foods, but sometimes the bulk foods are cheaper than non-bulk in other places and its often organic. But usually I only go to get special things like vitamins.

Tamara said...

Why oh Why won't they bring a Whole Foods to Murfreesboro? we can take it, I promise!!! SEND THEM TO US!!!!! :) We don't even have a Wild Oats and that is the small time as far as I am concerned. I am VERY jealous of the areas that have those good stores...sad days for me ;)

New Mom said...

Hi Meredith. I, too, love Whole Foods chocolate chunk cookies. They are so delicious! Imagine my delight when I came across a recipe for their Chunky Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies with Fleur de Sel! Here is the address:
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/dessert/cookie_pbcc.html. Can't wait to try it out!

Anonymous said...

Hey---you're in Nashville! I had thought you were in middle TN from some of your other posts. I am not that far from you---my hubby drives into "the big city" to work each day. So we are like neighbors, right? I really enjoy your blog. Have a lovely day!

Rebekah

Amy said...

I love Whole Foods for their selection of allergy friendly food. I a gluten intolerant, and also allergic to soy, so finding food can be a bit of an adventure at times. We find their bulk section to have good prices on what we buy. Our local co-op is a tad bit cheaper, however, when you factor in the cost of transportation and the sheer inconvenience factor of heading down there, Whole Foods winds up being the far better deal. We also love their salmon burgers, selection of high quality supplements, and the prices for the ingredients needed for my homemade cleaning solutions.

Our Whole Foods sells a great selection of local products. Butter & milk from a local dairy, eggs, cheese, and the like. Check to see if your store might sell Sweet Grass Dairy cheeses- they would be marked regional as they are from down in GA, rather than right in your state. These cheeses are a bit pricey, but if you ever plan to splurge, they are fabulous.

For an occasional treat, we splurge on several cheeses from their cheese section, and occasionally go for a nice steak or something. With my food intolerances, we cannot really eat out, so every once in awhile this is a great treat! :o)

3boysmama said...

Their prices for dairy replacement products are cheaper. Probably because they buy them in such larger quantities than regular grocery stores.

I also could find a Silk Soy milk that had a higher fat content for my toddler when he turned 1. Most grocery stores don't carry it.

Nicola said...

i think the "Whole Paycheck" nickname is widespread. i have a couple of coworkers who call it that as well. fabulous, but very expensive. i feel like enough to live in an area that has a big demand for these types of products, so we have some local stores that are excellent competition for them.

Maggie said...

My DH has been resistant to visiting whole foods but when I convinced him to stop a month ago he bought a loaf of their sandwich wheat bread ( 1.99). He loved it and has been stopping on the way home from church every Sunday to buy a loaf for his breakfasts. Usually we buy whatever is on sale but he is hooked on this bread. Of course, the kids love it because of all the samples.

TracyMichele said...

I'm torn. Although I am thrilled to see the area getting more choices for affordable natural/organic foods, etc., Whole Foods makes very few fresh baked goods with cane and dairy alternatives. I was so happy to be able to go into Wild Oats and have my children be able to pick out most anything in the bakery. Now I have to go back to saying, "sorry.. not that one, honey". *sigh*

Anonymous said...

I'm so happy for you that you found such a place. I live in a very small town (7,000) in NH so no such luck finding places like Whole Foods- even a Super WalMart is 30 minutes away!!! So sad but I love living in the country.

Hopewell said...

Their stores are breath-taking and so are their prices. Go Saturdays around 11 am for all the freebies you could ever want to sample! They are anti-union though, should that be important to you. We shop there at least once a month in spite of politics since there is only Whole Foods and Sams for decent produce.

Anonymous said...

The only thing i don't like is they don't have a scale available at the food/salad bar. They charge by the pound, but you have no idea how much you're getting/spending until you check out. A company like Whole Foods should be more above board!