Remember how we said we were going to blog about Trader Joe’s? Well, we’re finally getting around to it. We’d heard a lot about Trader Joe’s, but didn’t know quite exactly what to expect. The first time we went was right after all our stuff had come off the moving van and we were still not set up to prepare “real” meals… we just wanted a few things like crescent rolls, lunch meat, frosted mini wheats and French’s yellow mustard. Possibly because we were still partially delirious at that point, or possibly because we were just in a bit of shock in a new place, we were kinda boggled. We couldn’t seem to find anything and were frustrated. That sent us to Ralph’s, which was more familiar (except has a really weird layout–actually, all the grocery stores here in Burbank do). Now that we’ve started cooking real meals and have all the basics in the pantry, we love shopping at TJ’s.

Trader Joe’s Union Square by David Shankbone via Wikimedia

There are two stores nearby–one in Toluca Lake (to the west) and one on the east side of I5 (that is on our way home from church). When you walk in the door of both of them, you’re greeted by a small selection of flowers and plants and gorgeous produce. Much of it is organic, and the prices are MUCH less than the alternatives here–they’re competitive with the much missed HEB.

TJ’s english peas (love the handdrawn label)

TJ’s sells mostly it’s own branded things, though there are a FEW other brands that can be spotted throughout the store. We love the labels–many of them are so much cuter and more intricate than the bigger stores.

Organic butter, cream cheese and sour cream

We didn’t photo any examples of it, but something else that’s really fun is that the pasta and Italian things are “Trader Giotto’s”, Mexican foods are “Trader Jose’s”, etc. The cashiers are always super fun, too. Now that we’ve learned our way around, started embracing the TJ brand (and found they do have things like their own crescent rolls and readymade wheat pizza dough), we love TJ’s!

TJ’s joe