I drove past this grocery store and it seemed cerca 1970's si I decided to come and see what they…read morehave. From the second that I walked in, my thoughts about this store were right! It is from the 1970's. That is a good thing actually! Even better is that this store seems to cater to a mostly Hispanic community. I was actually raised in Mexico, so I felt right at home here. They don't have an actual bakery here but they do have 3 types of conchas. I purchased some watermelon (Sandia) and a couple of other fruit items. I also got me some canned noodles and some Qualer Oats cereal for my breakfast. This store is definitely no frills and their prices are right in line with some of the other low cost grocery chains. I wonder if there are any other of these Good Start locations in the DMV.

Sooooooooo, my Kitchn Cookbook Club's December book is Mexican Home Kitchen by Mely Martinez. I…read moredecided to make Agua de Jamaica and was wrecking my brain trying to figure out where to buy hibiscus flowers. Then I remembered Food Star! Not only did they have them, they had every ingredient I needed to make my Christmas dinner: Camarones en Chipotle, Arroz Verde, Frijoles Refritos, y Salsa Taquera. Fantastic prices, excellent looking produce, and all the social distancing and masks worn by shoppers and staff. I'll be back!! I'm cooking everything in this cookbook and more!

$25 for a plate of food with 3 items and a drink is out of this world. $25 por un plato de comida…read moreque solo lleva 3 cosas y una bebida es una locura jamas volvere

Food is always great and the ladies that cook the yummy food are very nice. Everyone there is…read moreawesome

When I got home, I discovered a V8 tomato juice had a sell by date of 14 months ago. This is not…read morethe first time it has happened. I did not buy this from the discount rack. When I called to complain, manager was very nice, and blamed it on their distributor, said employees didn't have enough time to check the dates. I see other people have had these complaints, too. Is distributor trying to pass old products? Regular grocery stores don't seem to have this problem and since it happens consistently, something really needs to be addressed. Other than the out of date products, I like this Commissary.

Very clean, well stocked and well run. Easy to get to from Arlington National Cemetery which makes…read moreit easy for me.

There were only 3 vendors their no problem but the one vendors stuff looked old and not cheap . The…read moreother vendor did have ok looking stuff but it just wasn't appealing and again not cheap since it wasn't good . Sorry I always do great reviews but this market was sad .

Mystery Novel Review for Baked By Yael:…read more As the confusion set in, his head started to swim. It was like a panicked violin concerto took over his senses. He looked slowly to the right then to the left. Everything that he thought he knew... All that he assumed... Wrong. Dead wrong. the whole time? The Whole Time? THE WHOLE TIME?! So he started picking apart his experience from the Farmers Market. Dissecting it with careful precision. What did he miss? Why would he come to such drastic conclusions without the slightest preponderance of evidence. It was a fantasy world that he had constructed for himself. A matrix of his own doing. ...Or was it so drastic of a conclusion to make. A young friendly woman with wirey light hair pulled back into a pony tail grabs her small cash box. "Hi how are you doing!" " Oh I'm fine.. how can I help you" She responds in an innocent soft voice. "Oh... I just wanted to know how much a dozen bagels would be" "Oh that's 24 dollars" She shuffles her cash box, "I'm sorry, I'm just about set up. I'll be with you in just a second" Two dollars per bagel. That seems like a lot. How much do bagels cost again, he thought to himself? Whatever it was, he wasn't in the position to bargain. He was throwing a brunch in 3 hours and had several other critical stops he needed to make. Including Costco on a Saturday morning. "OK... I'll take a dozen!" As she loaded the bagels into the quintessential large brown bagel bag, he realized they were a bit smaller than other bagels; total hallmark. Ah yes, these were homemade bagels. Definitely hand-shaped by the looks of them. Little did she know that he had made bagels of his own before. And little did she know, he could see the thinning dough near the bagel connection from a mile away. But having made bagels before, he knew that process, and chutzpah it took to have these hundred-something bagels, all ready by 9am in the morning when the market opened. If he tried to make his own bagels that morning, it would almost be assured that the brunch wouldn't be served anywhere close to 11am when his guests were planning on coming over. She loads them into the bag that is stamped lightly with the Baked By Yael Logo. On such a large bag, the logo captured a small USB sized portion of the top middle. Almost fading waldo-like into the brown background. This was a small farmers market. Seven to maybe eight vendors. This is where young woman who want to start bagel businesses get their start in the trade. Yael was living the Shark Tank dream. Soon, she'd open up her brick and morter and sell bagels to hungry Washingtonians in need of a real deal authentic bagel. She would turn her profits from her small farmers market stand into just enough to pay a lease for a few months at a 200 sq ft spot on H street and she would take one of the biggest risks in her entire life; becoming one of hundreds of city bakeries. Luckily for her, it would be in a city that thirsts for the type of authenticity that she has in ample supply. There's just one problem with that: That wasn't Yael! Those bagels weren't baked at home! And that brick and mortar that was a glint in the eyes of that young woman already existed and was pumping out cake pops and bagels galore at break neck speed! The bagel that he had this morning, lies The bagels that he served at the brunch, lies The bagels he will eat from the freezer soon enough, lies He got so wrapped up in his own self constructed dream of this bagel stand that he dreamt up a dream world. Luckily, as that world of fantasy collapsed around him, he would still have delicious chewy soft bagels to soothe his shock. Exhausted from the thought of it, he takes a bite in. His teeth sink with ease; relief.

The bottom line: Fresh, local, and organic veggies and meats at a reasonable price (for their high)…read morequality. My favorite part of mom's is the fruits and veggies--you can absolutely taste the difference. Red bell peppers are sweeter, scallions are thicker, greens are more plump. Although I don't often buy meat from moms--except for my annual Thanksgiving turkey--but the local meats and sausage are top quality. The Mom's brand items are also strong options--the coffee is cheap and from a local roaster and the milk (is not cheap but) is very tasty. I love that they have free coffee daily; I always grab a half cup when shopping on a weekend. Although not organic, the beer selection is super, well curated, not overwhelming options, with a range of styles. Investing in food is investing in one's health, the community, and earth and I don't mind paying a bit more for all of that, and the flavor boost. Go to your MOM's!

If you want to "save the environment" like Scott claims then why are you still printing your logo…read moreon the paper bags? I certainly don't need a logo on the bag that I have to pay for now. Stop printing the bags if you really want to lesson your impact on the environment. They charged me fifty cents for a bag. I couldn't believe it! I asked for a bag and got charged for two. Make sure you ask for a receipt! Also be very careful as the strawberries and other fruit on the shelf has visible mold and the employees don't remove it, they will just sell it to you. It also opens so late and closes early for a grocery store. It doesn't open until 9 am! Most health food stores open a 6 am. Then they close at 9pm, at least an hour earlier than Wholefoods that offers FREE paper bags and a real prepared foods section/butcher.

I had a platter delivered as a gift. By morning the fruit and showed signs of mold. I called and…read morespoke to the owner. After multiple calls and messages, I recvd a call back from a gentleman that said he was the owners assistant. I was promised that they would replace my platter, took my address, made apologies, the whole act. they never responded again. I entertain often and would NEVER use this company. The platters, while beautifully put together, are super pricey. Even more so if you're never able to eat them and they don't back their product.

We were really excited to work with them at first--they were easy to coordinate with during…read moreordering, and we booked an 8-foot grazing table with a few add-ons (salmon, sliders, etc.). Unfortunately, the day of my engagement party was a completely different experience. They were scheduled to arrive at 4:30 PM but showed up at 5:30 with no communication, leaving very little time before the party started at 6. The setup was also not handled as expected. The delivery person didn't set anything up--instead, I had to unwrap platters and arrange everything myself. The tiered display we paid for wasn't even brought, and the eucalyptus was just dropped in a pile for me to deal with. I also had to ask him to open jars and put out utensils--it felt like he was just trying to leave as quickly as possible. Since then, we have reached out multiple times regarding a refund for the add-ons (specifically the tiered setup that was never provided), and have received no response.

If you're looking to do a full groceries run, this is probably not the place. Think of it as a grab…read moreand go spot out of convenience if you're in the area. Most items are really well priced and some items you can get for an even better price - look for the red stickers with a deal! I noted this time around that there were baked goods! I've always come in right around closing on a weekday and never saw baked goods until today (not sure if it's a weekend thing?) the selection was awesome and priced relatively well! When I go back id like to try their pretzel roll - looks authentic! No cashiers here so not too much interfacing with "customer service". Pay by card at the self service kiosk.

I became a fan of Lidl when I lived in Arlington, but now that I am back in Boston I haven't been…read morein one for a couple of years. I am staying at one of the nearby hotels this week so I thought I should walk over and get some snacks to satisfy my Lidl fix. I zeroed right in on the maple walnut danish; I don't even really like walnuts, but these are delicious and I recalled them from a while back. Heat it in the microwave for 7-8 seconds and the smell is fantastic! I also decided to try their own brand of Very Cherry Chocolate ice cream, $2.35 for a pint and I like it better than Ben & Jerry's Cherry Garcia at more than 2x the price! This is a great little location and the prices are much better than the Harris Teeter 1/2 block away.