Fresh and Easy

Okay people, especially you Andrea, there is a new market out there. It is called
Fresh and Easy Neighborhood Market. It is similar to the markets they have in Europe (Tesco). There are not a lot of them yet. The closest one to us was very west Anaheim (almost Garden Grove).

Okay, here is my review of Fresh and Easy. First off, they have family parking right in front! I think there were four or five spaces for families. I love that idea. I love that Ikea had it and I loved it here. (I ALWAYS have at least one kid with me, usually three or four). It was larger than I thought but still on the smaller side, like a Trader Joes. The first isle is fresh flowers and fruit on one side and veggies on the other. Here is where is differs some. The fruit and veggies are already packaged for the most part. So, it isn't per pound (except for bananas). You get 2 pomegranates for whatever price. You get a bag of oranges and a bag of apples, but NOT like the bags at Albertsons or Ralph's. These are not plastic bags where some of the fruit is bad. Everything looked great.

They have a couple of isles that are prepared food. I will use Albertsons as my comparision for the most part because that is where I shop (I received another hand written thank you letter from the manager just yesterday). The prepared food is fresh (only good for a couple of days) and good food. We got a few for dinner that night, all for the microwave. I got the chicken fajitas (it came with salsa, sour cream, FOUR flour tortillas and chicken, grilled onions and bell peppers. Bradley and the little one's got chicken enchiladas'. Siobhan and Diego shared one, it had two chicken enchiladas (slightly spicy but yummy!) rice and beans. Bradley did finish his. Eric had spaghetti and meatballs. Krystal got California rolls. The meals were about $3.99-4.99 each. Not a bad deal. For a family of six, maybe not for everyday but NO more expensive than fast food really. One thing I really liked was they had a little package of carrots, juice, (now my mind has gone but it had only good for you stuff in a little package you could send as your child's or your lunch).

Eric got some ham that we have not been able to find in the US. Every thinly sliced different types of ham. They had so many cheeses that all I could think of was Europe. They have fresh breads (we went on Friday and they were dated to be eaten by Monday). They even had the small corn tortillas (I never see those anywhere). They have their own brands of many things and had people giving out tastes of different items. The isles are big enough and the store is bright. Everyone who worked there was very friendly ( of course it was only the second day). They weren't just "healthy" food. They had some frozen stuff you would find at Albertson's as well as vitamins and baby items.

Okay, I guess the thing I would be asking, what about the prices? The cereal was a bit more then when it is on sale at Albertson's. Just about everything else was cheaper. Considerable cheaper. I would highly recommend at least checking it out if there is one anywhere around you. It is worth the drive. I wish we had one real close, I would go very often. I would love to buy stuff every few days, I am at the store anyway.

If you do go, please let me know what you think!