Kroger vs HEB

Whoa! It has been over month since I last posted. Gol-ly!

This has nothing to do with transitioning to life in S Asia, but I still wanted to share, since we have been anticipating the opening of the new HEB on Buffalo Speedway, which is in our neighborhood in Houston.

We went to the Grand Opening of HEB Buffalo Market and had a devil of a time finding a parking space. A couple of the reviews I read pointed out the small parking area. I feel sorry for the folks who want to eat at Buffalo Grille, but cannot find parking since they share the same lot. (By the way, we had breakfast at Buffalo Grille last Sunday and the food was WONDERFUL - I had forgotten how much we enjoy that place! Plus, I ran into one of my old students from my very first year of teaching. He is 25 now!! I had him in World History and he commented that it was a good class and I made it fun. I love running into old students!)

Back to HEB. It was fairly crowded and reminded Jerry of a circus atmosphere. There were lots of "stations" to visit. I was very impressed with the varieties of fresh bread, cheeses and meats. There were samples galore - my fav was probably the homemade mozzarella. We had planned to eat lunch at their Cafe on the Run (which was pretty small), but we had enough samples to fill us up.

The weekend before we went to the Kroger across the street that had its grand re-opening to compete with HEB. I was REALLY impressed and wondered how HEB could possible out-do Kroger. The samples were great, including a half-pint of Graeter's ice cream. (Side review: For the price, Ben and Jerry's is better. And for cheaper ice cream, Blue Bell will do for me. It was kinda funny that Blue Bell was on sale 2 half-gallons for $5. Everyone was eating the free Graeter's, but had Blue Bell in their carts!)

Back to Kroger vs. HEB. I thought the calif roll at Kroger was better than the sushi at HEB. Also, I did not like the seafood people at HEB who were shouting for customers to come to their area. It sounded like we were on the midway at a carnival. Also, the sales at Kroger were WAY better, except for the fresh lobster at HEB. See below for price. Kroger has really expanded their prepared food area. I look forward to eating some meals in the new upstairs dining area that overlooks the supermarket when we move back to Houston.

Bottom line - we'll keep doing our regular grocery shopping at Kroger, but if we need specialty items or the HEB flier has an exceptional sale, we will go there.

Competition is always good for the consumer. Here is what we had for lunch the day before we came back to S Asia:

steamed lobster: HEB - 5.99/lb
steamed asparagus: Kroger - .99/lb
bing cherries: Kroger - .99/lb.
mac n cheese mixed with cut up hot dogs - hotdogs were .55 for a 14oz Oscar Meyer at Kroger

P.S. I also ran into an old student at Kroger!