New Lincoln Park Whole Foods opens today

The new Whole Foods at Kingsbury and North Avenue is set to be the third largest Whole Foods in the world, after the flagship store in Austin and the store in London.

See http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/ ... 0357.story

I like the focus on local products. The new store will stock, for example, baked goods from Atropolis, Bittersweet bakery, and Pasticceria Natalina.

Whole Foods Market
1550 N Kingsbury St at North Ave
Chicago, IL 60642

I checked out the new Whole Foods this morning and was very impressed. Prices were still steep, although I didn't really expect that to change. Going on opening day was nice as there were a lot of local suppliers there sampling their products and I got a free bag and package of coffee.

The only disappointment were the lack of bulk herb bins, one of my favorite parts of the old store. But I was assured by an employee those would be coming back in a few days.

Even though I wasn't hungry after all the snacking, I couldn't resist buying a bowl of hot soba at the noodle stand (I'm not sure what exactly they're calling the food stands in what is best described as a food court). It was fine, not great but fulfilled my craving.

Overall the store is a bit overwhelming, so much so that I was handed a map when I walked in. But to me I was a kid in a candy store; I was immediately drawn to the impressive-looking fish counter and later the extravagant pastry section complete with an international cookie counter. As the girl behind me in line at the noodle stand said, "I could live here." That would be cool!

Now, they just need to do something about the intersection outside the store - that's a little scary.

LTH,

Whole Foods, Whole Deal on Gapers Block by the ever interesting Alan Lake, aka Jazzfood. Behind the scenes, well worth a read.

Enjoy,
Gary

A friend is a manager in prepared foods, and says the things to watch out for are:

- duck, which they'll smoke weekly (particular day not yet picked)
- spit-roast al pastor in the taqueria
- American diner with sandwich meats cut off the bone
- Homers Ice Cream shakes from a vintage shake machine, at or around $3.99

If it's anything like the South Loop expansion, these things will be present and magnificent for the first few months, then quickly fall into disrepair or blase (both the tortilleria and the smokehouse are abysmal currently, when they're even running). Get them while you can, and hope for better management and community reaction to keep them running, as they are great, needed ideas.

I prefer the River Forest location, though: start small and mediocre, and at least be consistent about it. Nothing offensive, nothing brilliant, generous sampling, good condiment selection, above-average juicebar, incredibly boring seafood, no bells and whistles. Sounds like I hate it, but really, I do need it. Where else can I satisfy my pepadew craving.

Granted it was opening day and all (I'm like one of those dreading yelpers gonna report from opening day!), but the sample of al pastor I had really sucked. It was amazing actually, how many things I sampled that were not very good tasting. On the other hand, the staff was so nice and helpful that it was pretty much too much.

I'm a Whole Foods regular (Deerfield store), and I've been to a couple of the newer and bigger locations, and I prefer the older locations. The "bigger" translates into more prepared food, which I have no interest in. The bigger stores do not have more raw product, such as produce, meat or fish. Indeed, my impression is that the newer stores have a bit less selection in the "by the pound" stuff in the bin isle. For example, in the Deerfield store, in addition to organic oats, they have a thick cut organic oats, which I like for granola. The newer stores I've been to don't carry this.

I don't begrudge Whole Foods moving more towards prepared foods. I'm sure they can make better money there. There is just nothing better about these big new stores from my perspective.

Jonah

How's the selection from Pasticceria Natalina?

Pretty nice to have a source so close to my neighborhood.

I'd give my left arm for a Whole Foods with a smokehouse in my current location. It is the specialty items that make Whole Food worthwhile to me - especially since I seem to have an abundance of cheaper stores that sell plenty of good organic meat and produce near me now.

I stopped by last night. Overall, I didn't notice a significant amount of new products. Some things I did notice:

- They now sell large whole fish. I can't remember what fish, but you would've needed at least two arms to carry them.
- They sell eggs, including duck and quail, individually.
- You can buy a glass of wine almost anywhere, including the fish counter. The wine section itself is bigger, and better organized. They have a bar that offers wine and cheese flights.
- The cheese section seems bigger, and is laid out much better.

The highlight of the trip for me was the diner. The ground beef is ground fresh daily (makes sense) and the fries are cut in-house. The burger I had rivaled Paradise Pup and the fries were good as well. The best part? Only five dollars for both.

was able to stop in very quickly this weekend. overall: kind of impressed. Had a hot smoked brisket sandwich with coleslaw. It was pretty good and the slaw tasted very fresh.

issues:
the baguettes are still a disgrace. why do they bother?
the personal care/beauty products aisle (a weakness of mine) is pretty small. I doubt it's any bigger than it was previously.

I hope to undertake a more thorough analysis before too long...

sarcon wrote:the personal care/beauty products aisle (a weakness of mine) is pretty small. I doubt it's any bigger than it was previously.

That's interesting because the Sauganash WF (on Peterson off the Edens) has a pretty large selection for the size of that store. They have soaps, lotions, shampoos, cosmetics, all sorts of stuff.

sarcon wrote:
the personal care/beauty products aisle (a weakness of mine) is pretty small. I doubt it's any bigger than it was previously.

Did you see the bath salts bar? I was excited when I first spotted a display of bulk salts, until I realized they weren't the kind you could eat. Bummer for me, but it fits in the personal care category. If I remember correctly it's near the fish (I think).

I did notice the bath salts bar. I'm really not into bath salts, so this did not excite me. Thanks for mentioning it though.

I purchased some of the house-made tortilla chips at this Whole Foods over the weekend. They're expensive ($6.99/pound), but wow are they good. Best packaged tortilla chips I have ever purchased.

I really miss Dominick's more than I thought I would. At 2 in the afternoon on New Years Eve, I went to this Whole Foods only to find myself in a parking gridlock. For 15 minutes I sat, it seemed it was so crowded that no one could get out of or into their parking lot. And, if you ever shop there when it is busy, the produce department in particular is laid out really poorly for multiple shoppers. Just plain gave up.

Cinnamon Girl wrote:I really miss Dominick's more than I thought I would. At 2 in the afternoon on New Years Eve, I went to this Whole Foods only to find myself in a parking gridlock. For 15 minutes I sat, it seemed it was so crowded that no one could get out of or into their parking lot. And, if you ever shop there when it is busy, the produce department in particular is laid out really poorly for multiple shoppers. Just plain gave up.

In a different part of the city, there were nearly fights breaking out in the parking lot at the Jewel on Broadway just north of Foster. Pre-holiday shopping is always nuts, but at least in Edgewater, made worse by Dominick's closing.

It was madness here last Saturday. I counted 26 people waiting in line at the meat department, and I just don't understand why they don't have numbers there. An elderly couple hung back until finally the woman asked me where the numbers were, they were clearly confused, I felt bad for them. Another woman was irritated her husband was not being more aggressive. GET UP THERE she urged! It reminded me of trying to get a drink in a very crowded bar where you try desperately to catch the eye of the bartender. The butchers here are normally really good at knowing who the next person should be but that many people needs a system.

Given that I live ~1/2 mile away, the LP Whole Foods is my day-to-day grocery store. While it's not generally a problem off-peak, I agree that they need a number system in the meat department. Not usually a big issue, but just can't figure out the upside of their current system.

Outside of that, I've never had a better overall grocery store experience. It's indeed more expensive than other options, but the layout, meat/cheese/fish departments, hot food items, and overall selection are hard to top. It's damn near impossible for me to shop happily in a Jewel--or even Mariano's--after shopping in this store 3-4 times a week.

That said, a couple things they could definitely improve on:

1) Really wish they did a better job "basics" like toilet paper, paper towels, dish soap, plastic bags, etc. I know it's not their raison d'etre, but it's too bad they can't provide a well-priced, bulk option for such things. In the meantime I'll continue to rely on a monthly Costco run.

2) Wine & liquor both dramatically overpriced when compared to the Binny's right down the street. Very common to see a bottle of wine @ $25-$30, only to find it for $15-$18 at Binny's. Again I know this isn't their primary business, but it's such a gouging that I have a hard time even buying a single bottle of wine there.