Well, I have been to the Holy Mount, and now there is a glorious reason to camp in the valley below. (I'm actually referring to the gold dome and to the new King Soopers below on Leetsdale Drive).
This is the most amazing grocery store I have been into that wasn't a Whole Foods, Sunflower, or other specialty-foods type store. A store I'd actually WANT to shop in again. This massive store has everything you'd ever want, plus a whole lot you didn't think you wanted till you came across it then suddenly couldn't live without.
The seafood department had the nicest array of ingredients! whole stripers, red snappers, 4 types of salmon, 3 kinds of live clams, live lobsters, the freshest shucked oysters I've seen outside of an oyster bar. (I'd actually eat these raw, right there on the spot..) smoked and kippered fish, just good looking and smelling.
The produce department is huge, with great variety and good looking organic local vegetables and fruits.
I don't normally look at the salads in the deli as very appetizing, but these were all very fresh, and some unique items I'll be coming back for. The main score in the deli is the extensive salad bar, olive, pickle, and cured antipasti items, and pre-made take and eat items. Truly impressive!
I'd say the most impressive thing is the extensive specialty wine and beer department. Were I only still a drinker, I could spend over a month in the beers sampling, but the wines would take half a year at least. I saw varietals I've never seen out of restaurants. If you don't know wine like you'd like and don't feel like asking, they have a computer terminal with a database of pairings, menus, recipes, and suggestions that could take you a long time to peruse. The prices were super-cheap all the way around. If this is what a grocery-store-with-liquor model would look like for all stores, I'd reverse my long-standing bias against a repeal of the laws prohibiting the conjoining of these businesses.
My only complaint, is the parking lot. I'm sure they spent a lot of time trying to figure out how to solve a bad problem, but I don't think they figured it out. The east and west side entrances and exits will be super nasty during peak congestion, as was experienced by many during the opening week. I'd park on the east side, along the building vs in the lot, and slip in and out the back, or south entrance.
King Soopers should be applauded for taking a huge, vacant eyesore, in a hard market, and converting it into a flagship grocery store I can't wait to continue to shop in.. (Already planning a 'field trip' with the girls!)
Sorry, Safeway! read more