I never gave a whole lot of attention to which Publix stores are better than others except for the size of the two different stores we normally shop at, one on Griffen Rd. which is small but convenient and the Publix in Sheridan Plaza which is larger with much more variety. Quite honestly, I never have much patience for grocery shopping after 9:00 am because I always feel we should be doing other things on the weekend like being at the beach, the pool or just enjoying the great Florida weather on any given weekend. For the first time, I found a Publix store I was really impressed with that I actually enjoyed shopping in for several reasons. I am speaking in reference to the Publix in Pine Island Plaza in Davie. We just happened to be at this Plaza for breakfast with friends, and needed to get our grocery shopping done this weekend so we decided to come here and "get it over with".
I always have judged grocery stores by the size, presentation and variety of the 4 main areas we always need to shop in: Produce, Fish, Meat and Bakery departments. The Publix in Pine Island Shopping center is big and clean and more importantly stocked up complete in all these departments as well as the grocery shelves. Having full stocked shelves is always makes it more enticing to shop.
The Fish department is the department that gave me the incentive to write this review because I have never seen any Publix store with the size and variety of fish and shellfish as this one has. I love shellfish and they had a big display of Alaskan King Crab legs, shrimp, and a huge Lobster tank full with nice sized lobsters. The whole fish display was more than twice the size than the displays I have seen in the largest Publix stores I have shopped in. The variety of fish was more abundant and everything was so fresh looking. Made me WANT to buy, not because we had to. The Produce department was no different. When I see such a large presentation of Produce all faced up and watered to look fresh and shiny, it is so enjoyable to buy unpackaged fresh produce. All the fruit bins were full, above the top of the bin, the shelves of greens were so full, they were hanging over the edge,, love that. Check out the mounds of fresh tomatoes, avocados and onions. All set to make my fresh guacamole!!!
The bakery was no different. The tables of fresh cakes and breads were not on top of each other, but spread out so there was so much room to shop and chose what you want without bumping into other shoppers. This is just a large roomy store with so little congestion.
I was curious after seeing all these departments nicely displayed that I walked over to their Deli display and lo and behold, again, big, fresh and full as well as very organized. To the left of the Deli display was a huge refrigerated display of Sabra Hummus, so many varieties and flavors, fresh made tuna and potato salads and chopped liver as well as one side of salsas of different varieties.
Lastly was their Meat department. Not as impressive and not the variety or size as I normally see in other stores, but well stocked and clean. I am not sure why this department was not as impressive as the others, but they had what we wanted and the chicken breasts were very fresh looking that we had purchased.
This Publix finally gave me a reason to write a review for Publix. We all know they are not all the same, but this one really stood out. Being located in the Pine Island Plaza, there are many other reasons to come here. They have a nice Staples store, Nail Spa, and a great breakfast place we just went to for the first time, Kristof's Kafe, as well as a large amount of small retail business we need to go to from time to time.
I no longer want to put off Publix shopping if we can get up early and come to the Pine Island Plaza Publix. It was large, roomy, not congested and impressively merchandised. read more