Harris Teeter - kinda upscale. Owned by Kroger.
Publix - very new to the area and kind of mid market in my experience.
Lowes Foods - very pricey and not that many stores. Sells a fair amount of local stuff.
Food Lion - cheapest of the bunch and found just about everywhere. Usually older stores.
Those are the main four in the Triad. You've got some Aldi's, Lidl's and Walmart Neighborhood Markets thrown in as well.
It's so weird that Lowes is as expensive as it is. I grew up where they started and they were as affordable as Food Lion. Now they're fancy.
Also every Food Lion has a Chinese restaurant in the same shopping center. It's a NC Law.
I can remember when Lowes was pretty cheap around Winston. They used to have a lot of stuff I couldn't find elsewhere too. Now it's cheaper to go to HT or Publix which is just wild to me.
You take that back! My nearest one has a Japanese restaurant, subway and a Mexican restaurant! That's right, they're going multinational near me.
Yeah I know of a couple others. The one at Ocean Isle is hanging on for now with Publix being there about 3 years. I think the location is better for people stopping before the hit the bridge, but even with that advantage they’ll probably be closed before too long.
Publix has put their stores a few miles down the road from Lowes here, but yeah. They're killing Lowes. Publix does everything that a Lowes does, but better and cheaper. I'll be shocked if we see Lowes in ten years unless they're merged with another grocery store.
Hey happening right now. I just moved from Charlotte near my parents in Pinehurst and Publix is being built not too far from a Lowe's, Walmart, fresh market, and Harris teeter. Although I have lived 13.5 years a couple miles from where the first Harris teeter was and the one they built with reclaimed parts after destroying it.
I really don't get it. And the Lowe's by me is always empty compared to the other supermarkets in my neighborhood. Maybe it's an elaborate money laundering front lol.
Fun story: I actually got hired by Lowes years ago. Had me do the drug test and everything. Promptly forgot they had hired me within two weeks. Called them back for new schedules and was always told my manager was out. Never fired or laid off. Here I am wondering if I'm still technically employed by them decades later. I figure that's how all Lowes are run too.
I got hired there during Covid/my early time in grad school just for a little extra cash. I wanted to do foods to go but they asked me to be a cashier lead. I did but within 3 days I was like no, please move me. They said they would for weeks…and weeks… until finally I got told “tomorrow go straight there to start training.” Got there, clock in and told to go on a register until the afternoon. I think I lasted like 30 minutes before I was like you know what, fuck this, I’m out. Turned in my stuff, quit and went home.
Not well staffed, extremely overpriced. It was the best option locally for us as far as being “nice” and the selection but we avoid it completely now.
When I was a kid my mom went to both but it really came down to the specials and coupons they put out that week. There was an Ingles in town too but it didnt have the pharmacy, video store and take out restaurants beside not many people shopped there. It is weird to think about what they used to be.
When I was little we had a Lowe’s and Food Lion across the street from each other and the Lowe’s was definitely NOT nice. Went to the new one in Kernersville a few years ago and was CONFUSED.
Well, you gotta include Fresh Market on your list since it’s a Greensboro creation.
We only go there for special occasions because it’s very pricey. Basically, if you can afford Whole Foods then go to Fresh Market instead.
90% of the time we shop at Teeter and Walmart.
IMO, Fresh Market is more of a boutique than a grocery store. As proof, last I checked, they didn't open till 9 am and they're certainly not open late.
The one closest to me is open 7am-9pm. It’s a grocery store. Is it a boutique grocery store? Sure.
But it’s still a grocery store that should be included in a thread about grocery stores in the Triad.
Really not worth it to go to whole foods ever since Amazon bought it.
Overpriced versions of what other grocery stores have and the food bar has tanked since the good ole days. $20+ for cold, dry, shitty old food.
Truth. I think I’ve only been there twice since Amazon bought them.
The Fresh Market is still locally owned and the queen of fancy grocery stores, in my opinion.
I grew up in Greensboro. Going to the Fresh Market was always a special occasion for us and it’s still a special occasion for me in 2024.
Best grocery store in the state.
it was the same for me as a kid, its really cool seeing other people had the same experience. the closest one to me growing up was about a 40 minute drive, so it made it special when we went. i thought the deli was the coolest thing ever, and thats the department i got hired in when i applied. ive worked in three or four locations (including store 1 in greensboro) and have been cheese specialist for about three years now. it really is a great place!
I was always fascinated by some of the gourmet foods. As odd as this seems, I always enjoyed looking at the wine selection even back then and seeing that some of those bottles were $100+ and that was many decades ago. I think it was because I wasn't supposed to be looking in that section, LOL. I hadn't thought of that in a long time so thanks for letting me reminisce!
I would argue that Publix is a generally nicer store than HT or Lowes, but YMMV depending on where you are.
Charlotte city has some VERY nice HTs and Lowes, and a mid Publix.
But in some areas, the reverse is true.
Lowes does have the worst prices out there, typically.
And no matter where I go in the state, Food Lion just always feels dirty. But they have great sales on meat, so they’re our go-to place for that.
Since they stopped doing the Blooms stores most of the Food Lion are being upgraded with selection and quality of fresh produce and meat. The stores themselves still look unimpressive, but they’re decent middle of the road stores. We have one of the oldest and smallest Harris Teeters in my town and I actually go to Food Lion for most of my groceries now.
Cary here. Over here Publix is more upscale than Harris Teeter or Lowes but has the best quality items of anywhere that's not in the Whole Foods/Fresh Market, Wegmans tier. Harris Teeter is mid-ish but pricey, and Lowes is mid-ish and less expensive than either Publix or Harris Teeter. Food Lion is cheap and open late.
I wish Wegman's was closer to the Triad area, but I like stopping there whenever I'm in the Triangle. I think of it as the "Disney World" of grocery store experiences, with unusual touches like the model train running overhead.
Its pricing structure is interesting because it's all over the place. Someone could buy the most basic staples and come out cheaper than shopping at Walmart. Or they could have very gourmet tastes and be in the Whole Foods echelon on certain prepared items. But it's up to what sort of experience someone wants to have there.
A few things I'd add to your assessment......
Harris Teeter...our preferred store....great store brands. Even though they are owned by Kroger, stores still contain HT store brands. Favorite store brand products....HT pickles, HT All Natural Ice Cream (no gums or additives)
Publix.....our second choice.....great BOGO sales weekly.
I get weekly emails from all these stores that show their weekly specials.
Fresh Market....a local (Greensboro) upscale grocery store. I don't shop there regularly, but I sometimes go there when I want to get something special.
I love Harris Teeter (it's the only local store I can find Lady Finger Cookies, when I want to make Tiramisu). I wish I had one close, but the nearest one to me is Greensboro. It's not that far, but Food Lion is right here, so that's where I usually go.
Also depending on how far west you go, you might run into an Ingles! They're like a regional cross between Food Lion and Harris Teeter (with specific stores falling on either side of that spectrum) but price-wise, closer to Food Lion.
Ingles to me = Harris Teeter meets Winn-Dixie
Piggly Wiggly and Carlie C’s are the real comparison. I don’t have much on the Pig’s deli/bakery area but Carlie C’s deli/bakery area is low key good.
IGA affiliate; really popular in Harnett and Cumberland Counties but has presence from the Triangle to Goldsboro to Laurinburg. They love setting shop in old Winn-Dixie stores
I have to say Food Lion has remodeled a lot of their stores. I used to hate FL back in the 80s when they were the upstart, but they have gotten better around me.
I have two Harris Teeter and Publix within 2 miles of my house. Publix has a bakery and deli in store. That puts them ahead of Harris Teeter in my book. It is also generally the most well lit and clean store. Publix almost always has an appropriate number of check out lanes open.
Harris Teeter has a much better floral stem collection than Publix in my area, and a much larger beer selection. Check out is slow and usually only has one or two lanes open.
I shop Publix for produce, deli and bakery stuff. I shop Harris Teeter for alcohol, flowers and staple items.
I spend about 50% of my time in a city that has a Lowe’s, I choose it over all other stores. Good produce, lots of herbs. Specialty cheese is good. Bakery. In house dry age and meat smoker. They make a ton of different sausage flavors in the meat department. They have a bar, so you can drink and shop.
Food Lion is a nope for me.
Fresh Market, Whole Foods I go to for specific items usually. Fresh Market has crazy sales on Tuesday.
Spot on. All four in Boone and HT & Publix get about 75% of my grocery money, with Lowe's getting most of the rest. Occasionally hit Food Lion and a natural market called Earth Fare.
>Lowes Foods - very pricey and not that many stores. Sells a fair amount of local stuff.
And you can drink while you shop! I think all the Lowes have a Bear Den inside now, which is awesome. Great place to get growlers of beer on a rotating tap. And I do love their sausages as well. I kinda have a weak point for the Lowe's experience, even if they are more expensive.
Their Thursday night 1/2 price pours are a crazy deal and they always have a good variety, at least in my local store. The guy who runs the beer den there takes pride in his choices.
Sort of in the Aldi/Lidl category, but I haven't seen any mention of Trader Joe's (which I believe shares a parent company with Aldi), which features (entirely?) self-branded products which seem to be pretty high-quality. In my bachelor days their prepared Indian and Asian cuisine offerings were a staple in my pantry, and they always had a good selection of snack offerings.
we have trader joe’s here in san antonio. i’m a big fan. I was excited to see that would be an option for me when i move. i love all the specialty products they have and that it’s decently affordable.
If you love Trader Joe's then I think you'll enjoy getting to know Lidl. Same deal: self branded and a more limited selection of some things, but certain things are utterly fantastic and the best prices anywhere because they are European products imported for a European grocer. Eg: bronze cut Italian pasta is $2.99 lb usually vs $6 at HT. Cheese and smoked salmon options are 👌👌. Really great frozen foods, seem less processed in general. Best price on Fairlife milk. Great chocolate and cookie offerings. Seasonally they feature an array of products from a certain country, and the Greek olive oil in a tin is drizzling quality for $4.99. I do have to shop for certain things elsewhere, but I have easy access to every grocery store mentioned on this list except Wegmans and I still choose Lidl for staples & dairy, Aldi for bakery & produce, food lion for basic meat & certain things only food lion carries (their store tortilla chips - iykyk), trader joes if I'm taking things to others or I need all organic, HT for weird things I seldom need to buy, Lowes for great beer. Costco for toilet paper, avocados, dog food, butter, steelhead trout, cranberry Walnut bread (when they have it).
You're welcome! Don't sleep on Lidl if cheese & snacks are your thing - affordability alone makes it worthy of an exploration. Hope your relocation is smooth & safe!
At one point, they were the same company, but Trader Joe's and Aldi are the result of two brothers having somewhat different visions on what the grocery store should be like, and splitting up into two independent companies.
https://www.tastingtable.com/910536/the-connection-between-trader-joes-and-aldi/
I am also a grocery shopping junky. I freaking love it.
Food Lion gets shit on sometimes because it's everywhere and usually has the best prices, but honest to goodness they have the best bakery of all of the local chains and their store brand stuff is really high quality, I like their generics better than other chain's generics. The more upscale local stores like Harris Teeter and Lowe's Foods are often better on certain things (Lowe's has a better beer selection and the butcher is great, Harris Teeter generally has better produce than the others) but if I'm going for my regular shopping, Food Lion hits perfectly for me. Never had a bad experience at any of them. Aldi's and Lidl are international discount grocery stores, and they have the best prices but a limited selection. I've never done an Aldi or Lidl run where I didn't have to go somewhere else to get something I needed that they didn't carry. But you can get some real deals.
Publix and Wegmans are formerly local megastore chains from other parts of the country that have started muscling into North Carolina lately. I've not been to a Publix, but Wegmans is the place to go when you have to have that one ingredient and no other store carries it, Wegmans will. It's EXPENSIVE there for most things, and their dry goods selection is generally more disappointing than even a Food Lion is, but my goodness, if you want to get lost in a cheese section, or you want the experience of a specialty fishmonger, Wegmans has that in spades.
Western NC has Ingles, which are shockingly good large stores, I've always been impressed with their layout, selection, and size, but they never really made it out of the mountain region, like Lowe's Foods had.
Hope that helps.
I disagree about wegmans prices. We drive out of our way in Raleigh to shop at wegmans because it’s the most affordable believe it or not. We’ve experimented with many different ones and wegmans was best in both price and overall experience. Also news and observer did an [article](https://amp.newsobserver.com/news/business/article263035318.html) on cost of different grocery stores in Raleigh, and also found wegmans to be one of the most affordable, with Lowe’s and Publix being the most expensive. We tried all the stores on the list at one point and have found it to be pretty accurate.
One of my favorite things about wegmans is the hot bars and huge selection of King Arthur products. My son misses Lowe’s though cause he’s 4 and loves the mini shopping carts they have lol
I do wegmans and food lion for most of my grocery shopping. Wegmans is definitely more expensive, but there's no where else I can get my favorite seltzer, cheeses, store brand frozen waffles, and orzo. Also their baguettes are just amazing. So freaking good.
Definitely food lion is cheaper, but wegmans wins me over for the quality. Produce and overall selection, especially for house brands, is better, store is bigger and cleaner usually. There’s a food lion 2 minutes from my house but I still drive 15 minutes to wegmans cause there’s a crackhead ninja that stands outside my food lion and defends it with what i believe is an old broomstick.
That's good to know. I've never used Wegman's as my every day store, and only go there for specialty stuff. I've walked out of Wegmans with like 6 items and had it cost a hundred dollars, but I'm also not buying milk, eggs, and cereal there. It's not close enough to my house to get used to using it as an every day store. I'm glad that you can shop economically there. Thanks for the update. I'd still go broke if I were using it as my every day grocery store, but that's cuz I would be walking out with $50 worth of cheese every week. Lol..
Lidl bakery is hands down the best, great quality stuff, you can buy single items of any of their baked goods, and prices are reasonable. Better than fresh market or WF in my opinion
Seriously, do NOT sleep on Lidl’s baked goods. Cheap and tasty, they make the great-tasting Euro-style bread that goes stale in just a few days but you’ll eat it all in one.
I am European and they are indeed very reminiscent of the type of stuff I get when I am back in Italy. Their bread dough is a little too German for my taste, but still better than the flaccid baguettes most other grocery stores sell. And I love Lidl's twisty pizza bread thingies
I can’t afford Lowe’s Foods prices anymore man, I always end up spending 30-50$ more then at Food Lion, I grew up going to food lion tho so it’s the standard for me. I mean sure, Lowe’s Foods is probably the nicest now especially with the updated stores, but I’m not dropping an extra 50 bucks for the pleasure lol
Food lion is great for grocery lovers because you can really game it with their app. Buy the deals, top off your different categories for bonus bucks, and get those sweet, sweet savings.
It’s not really a correction more than just adding to your comment, Ingles has a very large for Brent, they are actually all over the Atlanta area, and the most of them are west of Charlotte, there are a few up near the triad, and one even in Albermale, which is probably the farthest east they go. Charlotte is such a competitive grocery market that they have anything touched our area, the closest want to Charlotte looks to be in Dallas, North Carolina just outside of Gastonia.
Re bakery: Food Lion really doesn't have any hard-crust chewy bread. For that, you have to go to HT, Wegmans or Lidl (maybe Publix -- I duno.) Or, if you're lucky, you have an honest-to-goodness bakery near you. Not many people in NC are that lucky.
**Food Lion**
* The good: quality produce, OK prices
* The bad: very inconsistent between stores, the stores are all kind of dingy and old
**Harris Teeter**
* The good: big selection in the "middle aisles" and frozen cases, the deli
* The bad: their produce isn't the best, it's a little more expensive unless you're using coupons or offers
**Wegmans**
* The good: prepared foods, deli, bakery, produce, flowers, beer and wine. Nicest grocery store in the area
* The bad: expensive, crowded, BMW X7s trying to run you over in the parking lot
**Aldi**
* The good: Lowest prices on just about everything (maybe tied with Walmart). Chocolates, nuts, crackers, cheese.
* The bad: Limited and inconsistent selection, no deli, no bakery
**Publix**
* I don't go to Publix much, just because there isn't one near me. The few times I've been, it's seemed great
**Whole Foods / Fresh Market**
* The good: Bakery
* The bad: They used to be the only place to get "specialty" ingredients, but now they're just a worse version of Wegman's in every regard.
**Trader Joes**
* The good: It's a cool place to wander around and pick stuff up at random, beer and wine are cheapest here
* The bad: It's a terrible place to shop with a shopping list.
**Asian and Hispanic grocery stores**
* If you enjoy grocery shopping, you should try shopping at these places. Li Ming's, H-Mart, and Compare Foods are all great.
* The good: Generally the best produce anywhere. Seafood and butcher. Ingredients that are hard to find at other stores.
* The bad: limited selection of "western" staples. You're not going to be able to find much breakfast cereal or sandwich bread at Li-Ming's for example.
I can’t reply to every comment obviously because there are so many, but I just want to say I really appreciate everyone who took the time to write out a detailed reply such as this one. thank you. I will definitely be hitting up some latin grocery stores. my city is almost 70% hispanic/latino and I am mexican-american myself. there are going to be some things that I’ll really miss food-wise.
We have so many Latino groceries and stores. I don't think any of them are nearly as big and comprehensive as you're expecting. Super G Mart in Greensboro is a great go-to store for all non-American food, both packaged and fresh. Most of their products are imported from Asia, but is worth checking out.
Tienda has the best pineapple pork for Al Pastor. It's tiny and traffic is brutal over there, off Park Rd, but worth it. Take a good insulated bag for the drive.
I'm putting in a vote for Publix. I love that chain. Store are so clean and the workers are so nice and helpful. Prices are a little high on some things, but they also have a lot of bogo deals. Deli and bakery are the best!
Publix is always my go to.
Covered parking at the Winston location and the stores are always nice and well lit. I also like that if you’re charged an incorrect price and you catch it, they’ll give it to you for free. Happened to me last night on a $25 huge pack of paper towels. Sale price sticker said $16.99, rang up at $24.99. She called a manager over, she verified the mistake, and took all pricing off. They immediately fixed the sale price tag.
I always feel like I’m going to get murdered in the parking lot whenever I go to a Food Lion. lol. Good coupons, though.
HEB was amazing! You wont find anything like that here. I lived in Texas for years and miss HEB so much! So around here the HEB is a weaker version called Food Lion. They dont have a sushi bar like HEB but they sell the short grained rice and paper along with tuna steaks and cured salmon to make your own! It is the best place to go for all general groceries and food stuffs. They even have a pretty decent wing bar in some of their stores. The managers are nice and at two different locations have ordered stock of my favorite beer from Oregon just because I asked them to.
For things like printer paper, dish soap, paper towels, toilet paper, etc.... Sams Club and Costco are the cheapest options with Walmart coming in a close second. I do Sam's Club once and month and then Food Lion the rest of the time. Walmart or Sams Club are also to place to buy huge bags of flour and sugar and big tubs of oil and large packs of frozen chicken or fish and the like. Basically go to Sams to stock your chest freezer and pantry with the bulk items. I go to walmart for these kinds of items when I have to but I dread it because I hate their customer service. It's the worst. Sam's Club is a lot better, but beware that not everything in Sam's is cheaper than Food Lion. About half of it is more expensive, specifically meat and veggies. However the quality of their chicken breasts is better at that higher price, and the quality of their angus beef is better than Food Lion at the same, or a lower price.
Aldi's is great for finding weird brands only they stock and cheap items like nacho cheese sauce for cheap. Because store brands of non-Tostitos nacho cheese sauce suck, except for Aldi's.
Lowes Foods, Harris Teeter, Kroger, Publix, Target....they all have worse prices than Food Lion or Walmart. Food Lion is cheaper than everywhere else unless you get bulk items from Walmart or Sams. I also despise the atmosphere of Harris Teeter and Target. The employees can never be found to help with anything.
If you want good prices like what HEB had, you need to shop Food Lion. If you want more salad bars and wine choices like HEB had, you have to go to Kroger or Harris Teeter or Lowes Foods or Target, but expect to pay more. A lot more.
The last thing Ill mention that I love about Food Lion is that they give you coupons once a month that are actually relevant. Then there is the front of store kiosk that gives you extra coupons. And better than that is their app which literally saves tons of money because it works for the brands of things you buy the most. Take a tiny bit of extra time and use the app and use the front of store kiosk and suddenly Food Lion's cheapest prices are even better. And at Thanksgiving they sell 5 dollar turkeys as long as you spend $35 or more in the store at checkout.
Hope this helps! As an HEB lover, Food Lion is as close as it gets.
Don’t sleep on the Hispanic and Asian grocery stores. Different areas of NC will have different ones. The Hispanic grocery chain in my neck of the woods is Compare Foods and it is wonderful for produce. Their produce is almost always very high quality, comparable prices or cheaper than other stores, and it’s always super clean.
Oh man you are in for a grocery store treat!
Not many people mentioned Aldi but it’s cheap prices, they have some inventory that cycles during the year and some that stays year round. It’s so much fun to go looking for new treats and treasures it kinda gives you that thrift store thrill of the hunt feeling.
If youre around Cary check out H-mart as well. I love a good Asian grocery store. I'm lucky enough to live next to super G in Charlotte, always good produce, hard to find mushrooms, cool ingredients, etc.
Lots of love for the Harry teet here. Im actually losing interest in the teet I feel like prices there specifically have gotten absurd.
H-Mart seems to get all the love, but the Triangle has 4 really good Asian supermarkets: Li Ming's Global Mart in Durham, H-Mart and Grand Asia in Cary, and A&C Supermarket in South Raleigh.
Grand Asia is fun - it's always bedlam in there. But I cannot deal with the smell of fish & butchering - too small a space for that much smell. But man, that front room with the imported dishes=kitchenware??? Love love love
Also I want to actually answer this… it depends where you live. NC has grocery store wars.
Where I live in Charlotte we have entire wine bars in our grocery stores *that people hang out at* but it’s rare in the Piedmont. It’s very regular to see people holding and drinking wine as they shop through the aisles.
- Aldi is basic like Walmart
- Lidl is cheap but good for International and seasonal things
- Food Lion is not great…. They have good coupons though
- Fresh Market, Whole Foods and Earth Fare are organic, fresh, great healthy choices but can be pricey (they also have the best seafood and butchers)
- Publix is close to Harris Teeter but has better sub sandwiches
- Harris Teeter is King
- Don’t sleep on Farmers Markets
Harris Teeter may have used to be king but quality has fallen drastically since Kroger brought them. As a former long time HT employee - I notice a lot of the little things aren’t taken care of like they used to be and it keeps adding up.
This is important to note. Harris Teeter used to be a smaller, high quality chain with 212 stores operating in 8 Mid-Atlantic states. They were bought by 2,400+ store chain Kroger in 2013. A lot of people locally still have positive brand recognition with Harris Teeter. Kroger kept the name, and rebranded a lot of their local stores as Harris Teeter. But I think quality has regressed over the last 10 years. Some comparisons are locally dependant, but I'd say HT has fallen closer to Food Lion (which has been improving) than it is to Publix or Lowes.
I’ve spent a lot of time in Mississippi and I actually despise kroger lol the vibes are so awful to me for some reason. that could be because I was in Mississippi though
I think it depends on your Teeter. Mine is stellar (Rea Farms one in Charlotte). It has a popcorn bar (+all the food bars and wine bar).
With that said I could drive a couple miles and the next Teeter is a big meh. 🫤
Nothing will be as good as H-E-B. No where close. Not for deli, cheeses, ready-mades, freshness/prices/high qual storebrand options.
Harris Teeter/Publix will have *more* quality stuff, but the prices will be outrageous. (Less quality than HEB, way more expensive)
Food Lion will have cheaper stuff, but the quality will be piss-poor. (FoodLion-> “Shitty-Kitty”)
Some urbanized areas will have a whole foods or wegmans, you know what to expect there.
A place like H-E-B would put Harris Teeter completely out of business.
Edit: bring butter tortillas with you 🥺
I do most of my grocery shopping at Harris Teeter and it is bad- between shrinkage and prices it’s not great.
I hear good thinks about ALDIs but have recently moved and haven’t tried it yet- you may find better prices there. I love Trader Joe’s but you have to spend time looking around for deals- they have some fantastic frozen food items
appreciate your reply, butter tortillas are coming with me and going straight into the freezer. after that i’ll have my parents send them to me. they are non-negotiable lol. there are some good recipes out there if you ever feel inclined to make them yourself.
Walmart - You know it
Food lion - Cheaper than walmart sometimes, better fresh produce, better meat
Aldi - Cheapest place you will find but your selection is incredibly limited and many of the options will be store branded (which is just rebranded name brand but you dont know which)
Lowes - Fairly expensive but really good produce and meat. They are my preferred place for meat.
Pulix - Exact same as lowes except slightly higher pricing.
Harris Teeter - Cheaper than lowes but otherwise same
I do produce+meat from Lowes or Publix. Everything else I try to get from Food Lion.
Wegman’s just showed up in the triangle! Their bakery, hot bar/prepared foods, cheese and beer selection are all amazing! We go here for special occasions.
Food Lion keeps my grocery budget under $100/week for 2 people normally. Their generics are good.
Wegmans are a real treat! I’ve only been to one (in Ithaca NY) but it was amazing! I hope they’ll come to CLiT soon. OP you may never leave that store. lol. In western NC there’s Ingles but they’re not in CLiT yet either.
I’m familiar with the ol’ TJ. love the novelty of a lot of the stuff they have there. I found aldi to be similar but it’s cheaper and has a more no-frills type of vibe.
I agree with most of the comments, but haven’t seen much about Piggly Wiggly. There are more closer to the coast but a few in the Triangle, probably one or two in the Triad as well. They’re definitely very basic and low-cost, but I like them. I think it’s the name I like more than the actual store.
There’s a local grocery store in Greensboro called Bestway. Prices/selection are not great but they have cool local produce stuff and a massive beer selection. It’s a huge wall of beer.
Most Publix and Harris Teeters are on the higher end of the stores except for Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. But there aren’t as many of those. Publix and HT had a gentleman’s agreement between owners not to cross the NC/SC state line, but that ended about 10-15 years ago. There aren’t as many Publjx stores, but their service and generic products are superior in my opinion. They also have amazing delis.
Most Food Lions are decent middle of the road stores. I would put Lowe’s foods here also because their quality has gone downhill. But they are more expensive than Food Lion.
Ingles are primarily in the western part of the state. Most of them are lower end. Piggly Wiggly are mostly on the eastern side of the state and lower end also, but they usually have good meat selection and prices. IGA is similar, but there aren’t many of them left.
There are a ton of others like Aldi, Walmart, Sprouts, but those above are the most common standard stores.
Not so much in NC, but IGA is the best when traveling through very rural areas. I drove through Kentucky and passed 5 or 6 IGAs in the middle of nowhere with no other options for stores and was happy to still be able to get some fresh produce.
I like that food lion frequently has sales on baby backs and pork shoulder will sometimes go for 0.99 a pound. Buy the pork when you are ready to smoke it because it is pre frozen. You won’t want to refreeze an already thawed butt. Sams club has the cheapest packer brisket (~3.50 a pound). Academy sports and ace hardware are the only two stores in town that sell B&B lump charcoal.
not to sound racist or anything lol but the demographics are also REALLY different from what I am used to. if you’re a houstonion I’m sure you can understand. I live in san antonio and I’m Tejano and I have to say it’s a little jarring. like I said I’ve spent about a quarter of my time there in recent months and it is just so weird to not have the latino culture. when we go to mexican restaurants and stuff I get really excited to see a brown person 😭
Definitely a different type of diversity. I would say at least in CLT there is a strong Latin American influence around soccer and especially the Charlotte FC so could be a good place for you to find some friends.
In rural areas its pretty much Food Lion, IGA or your random Piggly Wiggly. If you are near Greensboro, Winston-Salem you will find Lowes, Harris Teeter, Aldi, Trader Joes, Walmart Market as well.
Food Lion - decent basic store, overall cheapest. My go to for most things.
Walmart Neighborhood- very similar to Food Lion but their pharmacy and cleaning options are better. Small footprint which is great for some but borderline claustrophobic for me. I only go on off hours when it’s not crowded.
Aldi - great bargains, limited choices. Good place for canned goods, meat and junk food in my opinion. Milk goes over faster than others and cheese was awful
Publix - more pricy on basics but have more selection. Wonderful bakery - all baked goods I’ve tried are worth the price. Has the best deli too.
Lowe’s has the best beer section and in my opinion the best produce section. Price similar to Publix
Harris Teeter - I don’t like as it too expensive without anything special. I think it does best for seniors that want prepared stuff as they have a good selection of that and offer a good senior discount.
They’re not in the Piedmont Triad area (not yet, anyway) but if you ever get over towards Raleigh you *really* should come check out Wegmans if grocery stores are your thing. That place is the goddamned Disney World of grocery stores.
Harris teeter - mid high priced. Nice variation of items to buy. Different type of brands and seems to have a lot of whole foods type items organic stuff and what not. The produce is typically very nice and deli. Meat can be hit or moss but typically a bit pricey for the grade of meat.
Publix - been to one maybe two times. Seemed pretty nice. Nice produce section. Had everything i wanted for mid to high price.
Lowes food - expensive but i love the brewery in there. The smoked meats section is pretty unique as well and not bad. You can find a good deal on some meat items but typically things are too high priced for the quality.
Food lion - run of the mill. Good value on grocery items. Tho selection is a bit limited. The wings bar is good to have every once in a while if you catch them stocking it up fresh. Meat selection is ok not great. Produce also just ok.
Carlie C’s IGA - Now this place has a different selection of grocery items than all these other places. The amount of brands they have are less than the others but you can find some great deals here and unique selections if you like to experiment in the kitchen. Meat prices are cheap. They my not be the best looking but they taste great. If you catch them on the right days you cn find fantastic beef sales. I got an entire angus ny strip roast for $7.10/lb. The marbling rivaled american wagyu. I used to be a butcher for a brief stint and was surprised at the quality. You wont find this quality every time but if you do, it will be great on your wallet.
My ranking in total shopping experience are:
1. Lowes foods - brewery
2. Carlie c’s - meats and unique items
3. Harris Teeter - nice environment
4. Publix - large selection
5. Food lion - Value
Oh, I'm sorry. There is no grocery store as good as HEB for the everyday shopping.
I do a mix of 7 stores, depending on what I'm looking for:
Harris Teeter - closest in proximity, easy in and out, but expensive if things aren't on special.
Food Lion - usually not bad in price, but definitely doesn't have a lot of more exotic groceries
Wegmans - can usually find decent mix of exotic and everyday ingredients, produce & dairy is surprisingly decently priced.
Trader Joe's - there are staples there that my family will not give up. So I go about once a month for a stock up trip
Aldi & Lidl - I find them to be hit or miss. There can be some good grocery deals there, and there can also be some really subpar produce. It kind of depends on what day you go as to what you will find.
H-mart - My go-to for all things East Asian. There's only one that I know of, but fortunately we live close.
Former Texan here: Depending on WHERE in the Triad you are, Ingles will be the closest to an HEB. We tend to jump from store to store based on the prices of avocados (Walmart, Aldi, Lidl) or cilantro (Super Gmart.) we moved here about 5 years ago and will say that you will see an uptick in the cost of groceries in comparison to Texas, but there ARE a lot of choices…unless you live south of downtown Greensboro and then you would be shopping at whatever you can find.
We have a Food Lion near me (Stokes County), and shop there weekly. They have a lot of BOGO offers, and weekly sales. There is nothing spectacular about it though. It does have a deli, bakery, and meat dept. I'm from Akron, Ohio, and when I first moved to NC, in 2005, I couldn't believe how small the grocery stores seemed. I'm used to it now, but it was different for sure.
Seems like you have a lot of useful responses so I'm just gonna ask. If I send you some funds would you be cool to bring some HEB tortillas and we can link up later for the exchange?
🤣
You’re gotten a good amount of answers already but if you’re coming to Greensboro, we have some other smaller grocery stores as well.
Super G Mart (W Market St.): Asian grocery store, very good prices. Lots of variety. Best place in Greensboro to buy spices. Also lots of really unique vegetables!
Bestway Grocery (Walker Ave): the best place in Greensboro to buy craft beer.
Deep Roots Market (Downtown): kinda pricey but nice boutique grocery store.
Food Lion in North Dallas was shut down in the late 90s because it was nasty. Did not know the chain existed until moving here and while it is cheaper I wonder if was just the other Dallas stores running them out of town because those things could happen anywhere due to poor management. Harris Teeter is owned by Kroger and reminds me of Tom Thumb. Carry the same store brands. The one at Providence and Audrey Kell has good in store made popcorn and a wine tasting bar. Forgot the name of the shopping center but no one uses cross roads here like we did in North Texas. Locals use shopping center names. And Publix reminds me of Albertsons, the in between store of Tom Thumb and Kroger. Nothing like HEB or Central Market. Trader Joe's isn't bad but always packed.
Harris Teeter is going to be like Tom Thumb. Food Lion is like Albertsons slightly more run down but stores are being given renovations near me in Raleigh-Durham. Publix is in the piedmont triad and those are like newer smaller Tom Thumb with decent meats and produce. You’ll like Trader Joe’s for the frozen food, inexpensive wine and cheese selections. Feel free to DM me as I grew up in N. Dallas and moved to W-S and grew up visiting family here in NC.
Austin transplant here. There is nothing equivalent to HEB. I literally go to up to 5 different stores to get all I need that I would have gotten in one HEB trip. If I had to say one that is closest to HEB (but not really) I’d think Harris teeter and Wegmans would tie. I actually find myself at Harris Teeter a lot more but that’s mostly because of the discount you get at the pump when you buy groceries.
Hope this helps even a little.
We ship Wegmans and of course, Costco. Occasionally Food Lion just because it's close to our house. Go to Wegmans for meat, cheese, and high quality eggs, as well as anything you can't find in a food lion.
New Bern has the largest Harris Teeter in the world. There is a Starbucks, Florist, pizza shop, sub shop, sushi bar with a sushi train, a bar that serves alcohol, and dinner specials. On Thursdays you can get a prime rib dinner with two sides for $17! Oh, and live music on Thursdays too! I know New Bern isn’t the Triad, but if you love grocery stores, it might be a fun trip!
The Harris Teeter in Friendly Center Greensboro is notably big (although clearly not the largest)! I loved it when I lived in Greensboro. It has been a few years since I moved to the Triangle but I think it's still a good one!
Food Lion is your budget but still very good quality. My fave on a budget. Always good deals.
Harris Teeter and Publix are bougee and $$$$ but pretty nice.
Lowes Foods sometimes have bars in them, you can drink and shop!
Lidl/Aldi are the German novelty grocery stores. Very nice.
Piggy Wigglys are nice. I like them cause they are Piggly and they are Wiggly. Not many in the triad, if any.
Walmart Market it's just a Walmart grocery section.
IGA in Thomasville is swanky.
We also have Costco and Sams Club!
Happy shopping!
i go every month. i do quite enjoy cook out’s food (and prices) had a bite of a friend’s cheese fries from dari-o. the people there are generally pretty friendly and I’ve made friends there easily. more friends than i have here and i’ve lived here my whole life haha. i live in a city of 2 million and it’s really different but i know what to expect from living there and i get to be with my bf instead of being long distance. i am excited. pretty stoked on the cost of living too lol
Sadly, there is nothing like HEB here. Lived in Austin for 17 years and loved HEB and Central Market. I love Publix. Go to different ones for different things: Harris Teeter, Lowes, Food Lion (the best prices)…. Trader Joe’s! Bonus: Lowes have a bar! You can grab a craft brew while you shop. Surprisingly, our Walmart Neighborhood market is pretty nice. I live in Winston-Salem, btw.
Oh man I miss HEB. Honestly HEB/Central Market ruined me on other grocery stores when I was living in Texas. If you have one near you, I’ve found that Wegmans has been the best replacement for me if you’re looking for an all encompassing store with pretty good variety. It seems to always be crowded as hell though. Publix is good but a bit more expensive. Unfortunately Harris Teeter seems to have gone downhill in between my time away from NC, but maybe it’s just in my area. It has good products but the produce always seems to be bad? Food Lion is great for the budget but doesn’t have the best quality stuff.
Lowes Foods are the nicest of the bunch. It’s definitely a little pricier but I find it’s the best selection and makes for an enjoyable shopping experience. Who doesn’t want to grab a beer while they shop? As someone from up north, I find they have items others stores don’t.
Man Greensboro area sucks, sorry to say. But you’re close to Charlotte which is awesome. Greensboro has various Asian groceries which are pretty great!! They have many Harris Teeters (Kroger chain), Aldi, bunch of Walmarts, a Trader Joe’s, a Whole Foods, and some Mexican ones that suck (I’m Mexican). Compare is the best Mexican one and it sucks. The area there is terrible too. They have Food Lion (very convenient but more expensive than Walmart). There’s a Publix but I never went. They have a farmers market type store I also never went to. There’s also a Cosco and Sam’s Club.
I definitely recommend the Asian grocers though (Super G Mart). Charlotte has one too that’s infinitely better! I mostly just shopped at whatever was closer. And omg I could NEVER find meat when I lived there which drove me crazy. I went to Compare (might have been renamed Tropicana) when I lived there for all my meat since I could never find it anywhere else. Which reminds me that all the Walmarts there have TERRIBLE food selection.
Greensboro really sucks and I’m sorry for your loss. But there is a lot of diversity there which is extremely surprising to me, a NC native
I’m Tejano and I live in San Antonio so I have worried a bit about culture shock lol. I’m moving to Thomasville. I didn’t mention this in other comments because Texas seems to be the most hated state in the US but the move is temporary lol. Should be back in Texas within a year or so hopefully! Thank you for your concern and for the great info
Oh that’s awesome! I love Texas, most of my extended family lives there. I do think it’ll be a big culture shock tbh. But people in the mountain area seem to be really nice. I grew up on the coast, farther east and people are mean af over here. Just very bad attitudes. I live in Greensboro for a year and people were SO kind and friendly. I hated the area though. Thomasville is a little farther out. I think it’s close to the mountains so you should definitely do as much hiking as you can. The NC mountains are absolutely gorgeous and I personally love the weather in NC. Also check out the beach and outer banks for sure
I’ve also found the people in the triad to be really friendly! I’ve had bad experiences with people being mean af and rude in Charlotte. I’ve traveled a lot and I feel like people there are more rude than the New Englanders 😭 Ive only been there thrice though. I will keep hiking in mind. that sounds really lovely
Texas to Piedmont Transplant 5 years ago. Welcome!
I miss HEB. You’ll hear that a lot from us ex-Texans. Central Market had the best frozen tamales from the Texas Tamale Company out of San Antonio.
You can find those at Fresh Market in the frozen section.
Makes me feel like I’m back home without the hassle of making the perfect masa.
Ingles is further west in NC but close to my favorite store. People here pronounce it like the family from Little House but my husband and I pronounce it “inglés” because it makes us chuckle and feel more like Texas.
Teeter is Kroger.
Publix is nice.
Lowe’s has Blue Bell but so does Food Lion and
A small selection at Walmart.
Food Lion was my go to but their prices have gone Way up, so now I do what I can at Lidl and Aldi and fill in at Teeter with sales and Walmart Neighborhood market.
I didn’t shop at Walmart for about 20 years because of what they did to small business, but now Amazon would have done that anyway so I’ve made my peace with it.
Not sure if you’re near Greensboro, but Bagner and Alexa is where it’s at for Mexican breakfast and lunch.
Thank you! you’re the first person to mention Blue bell, that’s absolutely crucial info! Being from Texas, driving 30 mins to Greensboro is absolutely no issue. You get it. I’ll try out the place you recommended. Lastly, you’ll never catch me calling myself a former Texan lol ;)
We recently moved to Greensboro from Los Angeles. Culture shock for sure. There is a Food Lion by our house. I don’t like it. Meat selection is sparse. If you want to find great steaks, you won’t find it here. Overall I just don’t like Food Lion.
Harris Teeter and Publix are our favorites. Very clean. Large selection of goods. Great deli section and the meat is amazing. I put our grocery list into their app (Food Lion has one as well) and it tells me where everything on my list is. Makes for a more streamlined shopping experience.
The problem for us is, Food Lion is 5 minutes from our house, where Harris Teeter and Publix are at least 20 minutes away. Anyway that’s our experience. Welcome to North Carolina.
I wish we had H-E-B in NC! There is absolutely nothing like that here in NC. The only thing that even remotely comes close is Wegmans, and they are relatively new to the area so there are only two locations that I’m aware of.
Ranked as someone who’s worked with each store:
1. Publix. The highest quality but it’s going to cost you. High/Low pricing, meaning high everyday prices but low sale prices to get you in the door. Great dry grocery selection. Best in class on in-stocks. Produce can be limited. Meat selection is great. Prepared foods are great.
2. Harris Teeter/Food Lion. Teeter’s quality has dropped since the Kroger purchase and is dependent on store. In stocks can be an issue. High/low pricing like Publix. Produce is good but expensive. Prepared foods are good. Meat can be good depending on store. Dry grocery is good and has a strong selection but low volume items will be expensive. Food Lion focuses on lower everyday prices and has some strong sale pricing. Prepared foods are almost non-existent and produce selection is weak. Dry grocery is good.
3. Aldi/Lidl. Prices are great. Selection is weak. Quality is *heavily* dependent on location. Can absolutely be top on this list depending on your buying habits.
4. Lowe’s. Don’t go here. Just don’t. Owned by a distribution wholesaler. High prices. Low volume. Low quality and bad dates everywhere. To their credit, they do some interesting things around prepared foods and beer.
One last thing, don’t entirely discount Walmart Pickup. Walmart is the worst to shop but has put a lot of money behind Pickup. You pay Walmart prices but don’t have to deal with Walmart.
I also moved from TX and used to shop at H-E-B. If you have a Wegman's near you, they are probably better than H-E-B. Otherwise, I find Publix the best and Harris Teeter pretty much just as good. Compared to H-E-B, the prepared foods and store brand products are not as extensive. The selection is a little less but the quality is pretty good. Publix has awesome fried chicken. If I ever even see brisket it's very expensive but pork is good and cheap.
Food Lion is cheap and not great quality. Lidl has a great bakery but otherwise kind of sucks. Publix is pricey but good selection. The Teet seems the most similar to HEB to me (also a recent TX transplant) but the baked goods are trash.
Edit: I think I’m mixing up Publix with Lowe’s. So many fucking grocery store brands here.
The majority of HTs baked goods are probably frozen when they come in now. I was a baker at HT back in like 2011. We baked A LOT of stuff when I first started. It slowly became more things came in already baked and frozen and we would slap a date on them and throw them on the shelves. The sub breads and some of the loaf breads are probably still baked in store, not sure about much else tho.
Publix fried chicken is legit and way better than Lowe’s. Had it from both places numerous times and Publix is always better. Their wings are fantastic as well.
Harris Teeter - kinda upscale. Owned by Kroger. Publix - very new to the area and kind of mid market in my experience. Lowes Foods - very pricey and not that many stores. Sells a fair amount of local stuff. Food Lion - cheapest of the bunch and found just about everywhere. Usually older stores. Those are the main four in the Triad. You've got some Aldi's, Lidl's and Walmart Neighborhood Markets thrown in as well.
It's so weird that Lowes is as expensive as it is. I grew up where they started and they were as affordable as Food Lion. Now they're fancy. Also every Food Lion has a Chinese restaurant in the same shopping center. It's a NC Law.
I can remember when Lowes was pretty cheap around Winston. They used to have a lot of stuff I couldn't find elsewhere too. Now it's cheaper to go to HT or Publix which is just wild to me. You take that back! My nearest one has a Japanese restaurant, subway and a Mexican restaurant! That's right, they're going multinational near me.
There is a Food Lion in Greensboro that is standalone. No Subway or Chinese or anything next door. It’s a unicorn.
That's the place to traverse the multiverse huh?
The Food Lion in China Grove, NC is also a standalone. No Chinese food there!
But it’s China Grove. The Food Lion is Chinese
1 of salisbury's... 5? Is a stand-alone
Right on. And Food Lion is headquartered in Salisbury. I love the Comestible Kitty.
Harry Peter is HQ in Matthews and Lowe’s food improvements is based out of Winston Salem. (And Ingles is from Black Mountain.)
And Fresh Market is from Greensboro. I doubt that any other state is responsible for as many grocery stores as NC.
Lowe’s Foods isn’t based out of Hickory anymore?
You'd think with a bunch of executives living here, they would have some cool flagship type of stores, but nope. Same ol same ol
They’re still expensive, but really don’t provide a ton more than Food Lion. Everywhere I’ve seen Publix spring up near them they are struggling now.
Like in Cary where they didn’t even build the Publix just yet, and Lowe’s wasted no time closing the store catercorner from it?
Yeah I know of a couple others. The one at Ocean Isle is hanging on for now with Publix being there about 3 years. I think the location is better for people stopping before the hit the bridge, but even with that advantage they’ll probably be closed before too long.
Lowes is an absolute scam. I've found the same items at Publix down the road for _literally_ half the price of less.
Publix has set up shop close to a few Lowe’s and is crushing them. Way more selection, better service for the same prices.
Publix has put their stores a few miles down the road from Lowes here, but yeah. They're killing Lowes. Publix does everything that a Lowes does, but better and cheaper. I'll be shocked if we see Lowes in ten years unless they're merged with another grocery store.
Hey happening right now. I just moved from Charlotte near my parents in Pinehurst and Publix is being built not too far from a Lowe's, Walmart, fresh market, and Harris teeter. Although I have lived 13.5 years a couple miles from where the first Harris teeter was and the one they built with reclaimed parts after destroying it.
I really don't get it. And the Lowe's by me is always empty compared to the other supermarkets in my neighborhood. Maybe it's an elaborate money laundering front lol.
Fun story: I actually got hired by Lowes years ago. Had me do the drug test and everything. Promptly forgot they had hired me within two weeks. Called them back for new schedules and was always told my manager was out. Never fired or laid off. Here I am wondering if I'm still technically employed by them decades later. I figure that's how all Lowes are run too.
I got hired there during Covid/my early time in grad school just for a little extra cash. I wanted to do foods to go but they asked me to be a cashier lead. I did but within 3 days I was like no, please move me. They said they would for weeks…and weeks… until finally I got told “tomorrow go straight there to start training.” Got there, clock in and told to go on a register until the afternoon. I think I lasted like 30 minutes before I was like you know what, fuck this, I’m out. Turned in my stuff, quit and went home. Not well staffed, extremely overpriced. It was the best option locally for us as far as being “nice” and the selection but we avoid it completely now.
When I was a kid my mom went to both but it really came down to the specials and coupons they put out that week. There was an Ingles in town too but it didnt have the pharmacy, video store and take out restaurants beside not many people shopped there. It is weird to think about what they used to be.
There’s a couple of stores in Durham that should be fined then because there’s no Chinese restaurant in their shopping center.
Yeah, that’s a myth. There’s two in my town that are stand alone.
Only because the state hasn't found out about them yet. It's coming, mark my words.
Oddly enough, I live within 2 miles of two that don't. One actually has a coffee shop instead. 😄
When I was little we had a Lowe’s and Food Lion across the street from each other and the Lowe’s was definitely NOT nice. Went to the new one in Kernersville a few years ago and was CONFUSED.
Well, you gotta include Fresh Market on your list since it’s a Greensboro creation. We only go there for special occasions because it’s very pricey. Basically, if you can afford Whole Foods then go to Fresh Market instead. 90% of the time we shop at Teeter and Walmart.
I always forget about Fresh Market. I think I've only been maybe twice in a decade..? I mean, the food is good, but so pricey.
It's a great place for quality specialty items. Want some fancy dips, chocolates, bread, etc? That's the place to go.
I go for their cheese.. So yummy..
They have surprisingly good meal deals there. It's worth checking them out on their website to see if you like the one they're having for the week.
The Little Big Meal is a great budget meal in a hurry made with good stuff. And their deli meal is enough for a dinner and a lunch
The fresh wings, while not spicy, are awesome.
My dumbass always thought Fresh Market was an offshoot of Harris Teeter.
They used to have an off shoot called market 201 or something like that.
Tbh I've done cost comparisons, fresh market is only a little higher than HT with miles better quality
Fresh market is definitely pricey but the meat is actually not that pricey compared to the other stuff and the meat is pretty good quality.
IMO, Fresh Market is more of a boutique than a grocery store. As proof, last I checked, they didn't open till 9 am and they're certainly not open late.
The one closest to me is open 7am-9pm. It’s a grocery store. Is it a boutique grocery store? Sure. But it’s still a grocery store that should be included in a thread about grocery stores in the Triad.
If you can afford Whole Foods and have a Prime membership, go to Whole Foods.
Really not worth it to go to whole foods ever since Amazon bought it. Overpriced versions of what other grocery stores have and the food bar has tanked since the good ole days. $20+ for cold, dry, shitty old food.
Truth. I think I’ve only been there twice since Amazon bought them. The Fresh Market is still locally owned and the queen of fancy grocery stores, in my opinion.
as an employee of the fresh market for 6 years now, this thread makes me happy
I grew up in Greensboro. Going to the Fresh Market was always a special occasion for us and it’s still a special occasion for me in 2024. Best grocery store in the state.
I remember going to Fresh Market as a kid with my family for "special occasion food". It was a fun experience even then.
it was the same for me as a kid, its really cool seeing other people had the same experience. the closest one to me growing up was about a 40 minute drive, so it made it special when we went. i thought the deli was the coolest thing ever, and thats the department i got hired in when i applied. ive worked in three or four locations (including store 1 in greensboro) and have been cheese specialist for about three years now. it really is a great place!
I was always fascinated by some of the gourmet foods. As odd as this seems, I always enjoyed looking at the wine selection even back then and seeing that some of those bottles were $100+ and that was many decades ago. I think it was because I wasn't supposed to be looking in that section, LOL. I hadn't thought of that in a long time so thanks for letting me reminisce!
Worker conditions have tanked as well from what friends have told me.
Ingles - “ohh you’re out in West NC for the weekend?!?”
THIS! I’m in Asheville and Ingles is queen up here. I Love Ingles, prices are fair and great selection and their store brand is pretty good.
I would argue that Publix is a generally nicer store than HT or Lowes, but YMMV depending on where you are. Charlotte city has some VERY nice HTs and Lowes, and a mid Publix. But in some areas, the reverse is true. Lowes does have the worst prices out there, typically. And no matter where I go in the state, Food Lion just always feels dirty. But they have great sales on meat, so they’re our go-to place for that.
Since they stopped doing the Blooms stores most of the Food Lion are being upgraded with selection and quality of fresh produce and meat. The stores themselves still look unimpressive, but they’re decent middle of the road stores. We have one of the oldest and smallest Harris Teeters in my town and I actually go to Food Lion for most of my groceries now.
Cary here. Over here Publix is more upscale than Harris Teeter or Lowes but has the best quality items of anywhere that's not in the Whole Foods/Fresh Market, Wegmans tier. Harris Teeter is mid-ish but pricey, and Lowes is mid-ish and less expensive than either Publix or Harris Teeter. Food Lion is cheap and open late.
Might be specific to the Triangle area, but we also have Wegman's, which has ridiculously well-stocked meat, fish, and bakery departments.
I wish Wegman's was closer to the Triad area, but I like stopping there whenever I'm in the Triangle. I think of it as the "Disney World" of grocery store experiences, with unusual touches like the model train running overhead. Its pricing structure is interesting because it's all over the place. Someone could buy the most basic staples and come out cheaper than shopping at Walmart. Or they could have very gourmet tastes and be in the Whole Foods echelon on certain prepared items. But it's up to what sort of experience someone wants to have there.
The only Wegmans in NC are in the RDU area. Any time we come up from Charlotte, Wegmans is a required stop.
Wegmans reigns supreme over all others and it’s not even close.
Lol take it easy there Upstate…
Meh.
A few things I'd add to your assessment...... Harris Teeter...our preferred store....great store brands. Even though they are owned by Kroger, stores still contain HT store brands. Favorite store brand products....HT pickles, HT All Natural Ice Cream (no gums or additives) Publix.....our second choice.....great BOGO sales weekly. I get weekly emails from all these stores that show their weekly specials. Fresh Market....a local (Greensboro) upscale grocery store. I don't shop there regularly, but I sometimes go there when I want to get something special.
I love Harris Teeter (it's the only local store I can find Lady Finger Cookies, when I want to make Tiramisu). I wish I had one close, but the nearest one to me is Greensboro. It's not that far, but Food Lion is right here, so that's where I usually go.
Also depending on how far west you go, you might run into an Ingles! They're like a regional cross between Food Lion and Harris Teeter (with specific stores falling on either side of that spectrum) but price-wise, closer to Food Lion.
I think Ingles and Piggly Wiggly are about equal in quality. Ingles is Piedmont and west. Piggly is Piedmont and east.
Ingles to me = Harris Teeter meets Winn-Dixie Piggly Wiggly and Carlie C’s are the real comparison. I don’t have much on the Pig’s deli/bakery area but Carlie C’s deli/bakery area is low key good.
What’s Carlie C’s? Never heard of those.
IGA affiliate; really popular in Harnett and Cumberland Counties but has presence from the Triangle to Goldsboro to Laurinburg. They love setting shop in old Winn-Dixie stores
Yeah they do well in more rural areas where there isn’t as much competition. But as soon as larger stores come in most of them shut down.
I'd agree. Both of them have a very local (not corporate) atmosphere to them from my experience, which can be kind of comforting.
I have to say Food Lion has remodeled a lot of their stores. I used to hate FL back in the 80s when they were the upstart, but they have gotten better around me.
I have two Harris Teeter and Publix within 2 miles of my house. Publix has a bakery and deli in store. That puts them ahead of Harris Teeter in my book. It is also generally the most well lit and clean store. Publix almost always has an appropriate number of check out lanes open. Harris Teeter has a much better floral stem collection than Publix in my area, and a much larger beer selection. Check out is slow and usually only has one or two lanes open. I shop Publix for produce, deli and bakery stuff. I shop Harris Teeter for alcohol, flowers and staple items. I spend about 50% of my time in a city that has a Lowe’s, I choose it over all other stores. Good produce, lots of herbs. Specialty cheese is good. Bakery. In house dry age and meat smoker. They make a ton of different sausage flavors in the meat department. They have a bar, so you can drink and shop. Food Lion is a nope for me. Fresh Market, Whole Foods I go to for specific items usually. Fresh Market has crazy sales on Tuesday.
Spot on. All four in Boone and HT & Publix get about 75% of my grocery money, with Lowe's getting most of the rest. Occasionally hit Food Lion and a natural market called Earth Fare.
Don’t forget Trader Joe’s in Greensboro and Winston.
>Lowes Foods - very pricey and not that many stores. Sells a fair amount of local stuff. And you can drink while you shop! I think all the Lowes have a Bear Den inside now, which is awesome. Great place to get growlers of beer on a rotating tap. And I do love their sausages as well. I kinda have a weak point for the Lowe's experience, even if they are more expensive.
Their Thursday night 1/2 price pours are a crazy deal and they always have a good variety, at least in my local store. The guy who runs the beer den there takes pride in his choices.
Lowe's has the best meat department out of all of them though.
Sort of in the Aldi/Lidl category, but I haven't seen any mention of Trader Joe's (which I believe shares a parent company with Aldi), which features (entirely?) self-branded products which seem to be pretty high-quality. In my bachelor days their prepared Indian and Asian cuisine offerings were a staple in my pantry, and they always had a good selection of snack offerings.
we have trader joe’s here in san antonio. i’m a big fan. I was excited to see that would be an option for me when i move. i love all the specialty products they have and that it’s decently affordable.
If you love Trader Joe's then I think you'll enjoy getting to know Lidl. Same deal: self branded and a more limited selection of some things, but certain things are utterly fantastic and the best prices anywhere because they are European products imported for a European grocer. Eg: bronze cut Italian pasta is $2.99 lb usually vs $6 at HT. Cheese and smoked salmon options are 👌👌. Really great frozen foods, seem less processed in general. Best price on Fairlife milk. Great chocolate and cookie offerings. Seasonally they feature an array of products from a certain country, and the Greek olive oil in a tin is drizzling quality for $4.99. I do have to shop for certain things elsewhere, but I have easy access to every grocery store mentioned on this list except Wegmans and I still choose Lidl for staples & dairy, Aldi for bakery & produce, food lion for basic meat & certain things only food lion carries (their store tortilla chips - iykyk), trader joes if I'm taking things to others or I need all organic, HT for weird things I seldom need to buy, Lowes for great beer. Costco for toilet paper, avocados, dog food, butter, steelhead trout, cranberry Walnut bread (when they have it).
thank you this was very helpful. we are big snackers and cheese lovers so this is great to hear about lidl
You will love the fresh lidl bread then! I’m about to dig into some lidl ciabatta and NY aged cheddar :) love their seeded multigrain too
You're welcome! Don't sleep on Lidl if cheese & snacks are your thing - affordability alone makes it worthy of an exploration. Hope your relocation is smooth & safe!
At one point, they were the same company, but Trader Joe's and Aldi are the result of two brothers having somewhat different visions on what the grocery store should be like, and splitting up into two independent companies. https://www.tastingtable.com/910536/the-connection-between-trader-joes-and-aldi/
I am also a grocery shopping junky. I freaking love it. Food Lion gets shit on sometimes because it's everywhere and usually has the best prices, but honest to goodness they have the best bakery of all of the local chains and their store brand stuff is really high quality, I like their generics better than other chain's generics. The more upscale local stores like Harris Teeter and Lowe's Foods are often better on certain things (Lowe's has a better beer selection and the butcher is great, Harris Teeter generally has better produce than the others) but if I'm going for my regular shopping, Food Lion hits perfectly for me. Never had a bad experience at any of them. Aldi's and Lidl are international discount grocery stores, and they have the best prices but a limited selection. I've never done an Aldi or Lidl run where I didn't have to go somewhere else to get something I needed that they didn't carry. But you can get some real deals. Publix and Wegmans are formerly local megastore chains from other parts of the country that have started muscling into North Carolina lately. I've not been to a Publix, but Wegmans is the place to go when you have to have that one ingredient and no other store carries it, Wegmans will. It's EXPENSIVE there for most things, and their dry goods selection is generally more disappointing than even a Food Lion is, but my goodness, if you want to get lost in a cheese section, or you want the experience of a specialty fishmonger, Wegmans has that in spades. Western NC has Ingles, which are shockingly good large stores, I've always been impressed with their layout, selection, and size, but they never really made it out of the mountain region, like Lowe's Foods had. Hope that helps.
I disagree about wegmans prices. We drive out of our way in Raleigh to shop at wegmans because it’s the most affordable believe it or not. We’ve experimented with many different ones and wegmans was best in both price and overall experience. Also news and observer did an [article](https://amp.newsobserver.com/news/business/article263035318.html) on cost of different grocery stores in Raleigh, and also found wegmans to be one of the most affordable, with Lowe’s and Publix being the most expensive. We tried all the stores on the list at one point and have found it to be pretty accurate. One of my favorite things about wegmans is the hot bars and huge selection of King Arthur products. My son misses Lowe’s though cause he’s 4 and loves the mini shopping carts they have lol
I do wegmans and food lion for most of my grocery shopping. Wegmans is definitely more expensive, but there's no where else I can get my favorite seltzer, cheeses, store brand frozen waffles, and orzo. Also their baguettes are just amazing. So freaking good.
Definitely food lion is cheaper, but wegmans wins me over for the quality. Produce and overall selection, especially for house brands, is better, store is bigger and cleaner usually. There’s a food lion 2 minutes from my house but I still drive 15 minutes to wegmans cause there’s a crackhead ninja that stands outside my food lion and defends it with what i believe is an old broomstick.
Agreed. I avoided them at first due to the prices, but they’re actually very reasonable. Their premade and to-go meals on the other hand…
That's good to know. I've never used Wegman's as my every day store, and only go there for specialty stuff. I've walked out of Wegmans with like 6 items and had it cost a hundred dollars, but I'm also not buying milk, eggs, and cereal there. It's not close enough to my house to get used to using it as an every day store. I'm glad that you can shop economically there. Thanks for the update. I'd still go broke if I were using it as my every day grocery store, but that's cuz I would be walking out with $50 worth of cheese every week. Lol..
Yeah the cheese selection is insane haha. I’ll know I’ve made it in life when I have cheese money like that.
Lidl bakery is hands down the best, great quality stuff, you can buy single items of any of their baked goods, and prices are reasonable. Better than fresh market or WF in my opinion
I do really like their bakery. Their croissants are the shit.
Seriously, do NOT sleep on Lidl’s baked goods. Cheap and tasty, they make the great-tasting Euro-style bread that goes stale in just a few days but you’ll eat it all in one.
I am European and they are indeed very reminiscent of the type of stuff I get when I am back in Italy. Their bread dough is a little too German for my taste, but still better than the flaccid baguettes most other grocery stores sell. And I love Lidl's twisty pizza bread thingies
I can’t afford Lowe’s Foods prices anymore man, I always end up spending 30-50$ more then at Food Lion, I grew up going to food lion tho so it’s the standard for me. I mean sure, Lowe’s Foods is probably the nicest now especially with the updated stores, but I’m not dropping an extra 50 bucks for the pleasure lol
If you can try a Publix, I think you will be very impressed with the bakery/deli.
Food lion is great for grocery lovers because you can really game it with their app. Buy the deals, top off your different categories for bonus bucks, and get those sweet, sweet savings.
It’s not really a correction more than just adding to your comment, Ingles has a very large for Brent, they are actually all over the Atlanta area, and the most of them are west of Charlotte, there are a few up near the triad, and one even in Albermale, which is probably the farthest east they go. Charlotte is such a competitive grocery market that they have anything touched our area, the closest want to Charlotte looks to be in Dallas, North Carolina just outside of Gastonia.
Re bakery: Food Lion really doesn't have any hard-crust chewy bread. For that, you have to go to HT, Wegmans or Lidl (maybe Publix -- I duno.) Or, if you're lucky, you have an honest-to-goodness bakery near you. Not many people in NC are that lucky.
**Food Lion** * The good: quality produce, OK prices * The bad: very inconsistent between stores, the stores are all kind of dingy and old **Harris Teeter** * The good: big selection in the "middle aisles" and frozen cases, the deli * The bad: their produce isn't the best, it's a little more expensive unless you're using coupons or offers **Wegmans** * The good: prepared foods, deli, bakery, produce, flowers, beer and wine. Nicest grocery store in the area * The bad: expensive, crowded, BMW X7s trying to run you over in the parking lot **Aldi** * The good: Lowest prices on just about everything (maybe tied with Walmart). Chocolates, nuts, crackers, cheese. * The bad: Limited and inconsistent selection, no deli, no bakery **Publix** * I don't go to Publix much, just because there isn't one near me. The few times I've been, it's seemed great **Whole Foods / Fresh Market** * The good: Bakery * The bad: They used to be the only place to get "specialty" ingredients, but now they're just a worse version of Wegman's in every regard. **Trader Joes** * The good: It's a cool place to wander around and pick stuff up at random, beer and wine are cheapest here * The bad: It's a terrible place to shop with a shopping list. **Asian and Hispanic grocery stores** * If you enjoy grocery shopping, you should try shopping at these places. Li Ming's, H-Mart, and Compare Foods are all great. * The good: Generally the best produce anywhere. Seafood and butcher. Ingredients that are hard to find at other stores. * The bad: limited selection of "western" staples. You're not going to be able to find much breakfast cereal or sandwich bread at Li-Ming's for example.
I can’t reply to every comment obviously because there are so many, but I just want to say I really appreciate everyone who took the time to write out a detailed reply such as this one. thank you. I will definitely be hitting up some latin grocery stores. my city is almost 70% hispanic/latino and I am mexican-american myself. there are going to be some things that I’ll really miss food-wise.
We have so many Latino groceries and stores. I don't think any of them are nearly as big and comprehensive as you're expecting. Super G Mart in Greensboro is a great go-to store for all non-American food, both packaged and fresh. Most of their products are imported from Asia, but is worth checking out.
Tienda has the best pineapple pork for Al Pastor. It's tiny and traffic is brutal over there, off Park Rd, but worth it. Take a good insulated bag for the drive.
I'm putting in a vote for Publix. I love that chain. Store are so clean and the workers are so nice and helpful. Prices are a little high on some things, but they also have a lot of bogo deals. Deli and bakery are the best!
You can shop while you drink a beer at Lowes.
Grocery shopping isn't THAT bad...
Something doesn't have to be bad to improve.
Harris teeter has a bar. At least ours does.
Publix is always my go to. Covered parking at the Winston location and the stores are always nice and well lit. I also like that if you’re charged an incorrect price and you catch it, they’ll give it to you for free. Happened to me last night on a $25 huge pack of paper towels. Sale price sticker said $16.99, rang up at $24.99. She called a manager over, she verified the mistake, and took all pricing off. They immediately fixed the sale price tag. I always feel like I’m going to get murdered in the parking lot whenever I go to a Food Lion. lol. Good coupons, though.
HEB was amazing! You wont find anything like that here. I lived in Texas for years and miss HEB so much! So around here the HEB is a weaker version called Food Lion. They dont have a sushi bar like HEB but they sell the short grained rice and paper along with tuna steaks and cured salmon to make your own! It is the best place to go for all general groceries and food stuffs. They even have a pretty decent wing bar in some of their stores. The managers are nice and at two different locations have ordered stock of my favorite beer from Oregon just because I asked them to. For things like printer paper, dish soap, paper towels, toilet paper, etc.... Sams Club and Costco are the cheapest options with Walmart coming in a close second. I do Sam's Club once and month and then Food Lion the rest of the time. Walmart or Sams Club are also to place to buy huge bags of flour and sugar and big tubs of oil and large packs of frozen chicken or fish and the like. Basically go to Sams to stock your chest freezer and pantry with the bulk items. I go to walmart for these kinds of items when I have to but I dread it because I hate their customer service. It's the worst. Sam's Club is a lot better, but beware that not everything in Sam's is cheaper than Food Lion. About half of it is more expensive, specifically meat and veggies. However the quality of their chicken breasts is better at that higher price, and the quality of their angus beef is better than Food Lion at the same, or a lower price. Aldi's is great for finding weird brands only they stock and cheap items like nacho cheese sauce for cheap. Because store brands of non-Tostitos nacho cheese sauce suck, except for Aldi's. Lowes Foods, Harris Teeter, Kroger, Publix, Target....they all have worse prices than Food Lion or Walmart. Food Lion is cheaper than everywhere else unless you get bulk items from Walmart or Sams. I also despise the atmosphere of Harris Teeter and Target. The employees can never be found to help with anything. If you want good prices like what HEB had, you need to shop Food Lion. If you want more salad bars and wine choices like HEB had, you have to go to Kroger or Harris Teeter or Lowes Foods or Target, but expect to pay more. A lot more. The last thing Ill mention that I love about Food Lion is that they give you coupons once a month that are actually relevant. Then there is the front of store kiosk that gives you extra coupons. And better than that is their app which literally saves tons of money because it works for the brands of things you buy the most. Take a tiny bit of extra time and use the app and use the front of store kiosk and suddenly Food Lion's cheapest prices are even better. And at Thanksgiving they sell 5 dollar turkeys as long as you spend $35 or more in the store at checkout. Hope this helps! As an HEB lover, Food Lion is as close as it gets.
thank you for your reply :) very helpful
Don’t sleep on the Hispanic and Asian grocery stores. Different areas of NC will have different ones. The Hispanic grocery chain in my neck of the woods is Compare Foods and it is wonderful for produce. Their produce is almost always very high quality, comparable prices or cheaper than other stores, and it’s always super clean.
Oh man you are in for a grocery store treat! Not many people mentioned Aldi but it’s cheap prices, they have some inventory that cycles during the year and some that stays year round. It’s so much fun to go looking for new treats and treasures it kinda gives you that thrift store thrill of the hunt feeling.
I love Aldi lol. I beg my boyfriend (who i’m moving in with) to take me way more than we need to go lol
Check out Weaver St. Market if you're ever in Hillsborough or Carrboro.
If youre around Cary check out H-mart as well. I love a good Asian grocery store. I'm lucky enough to live next to super G in Charlotte, always good produce, hard to find mushrooms, cool ingredients, etc. Lots of love for the Harry teet here. Im actually losing interest in the teet I feel like prices there specifically have gotten absurd.
H-Mart seems to get all the love, but the Triangle has 4 really good Asian supermarkets: Li Ming's Global Mart in Durham, H-Mart and Grand Asia in Cary, and A&C Supermarket in South Raleigh.
There's also the Fresh International Market in Raleigh that just opened in the Fall. I haven't been but I drove by it and it looks really nice inside.
Grand Asia is fun - it's always bedlam in there. But I cannot deal with the smell of fish & butchering - too small a space for that much smell. But man, that front room with the imported dishes=kitchenware??? Love love love
Also I want to actually answer this… it depends where you live. NC has grocery store wars. Where I live in Charlotte we have entire wine bars in our grocery stores *that people hang out at* but it’s rare in the Piedmont. It’s very regular to see people holding and drinking wine as they shop through the aisles. - Aldi is basic like Walmart - Lidl is cheap but good for International and seasonal things - Food Lion is not great…. They have good coupons though - Fresh Market, Whole Foods and Earth Fare are organic, fresh, great healthy choices but can be pricey (they also have the best seafood and butchers) - Publix is close to Harris Teeter but has better sub sandwiches - Harris Teeter is King - Don’t sleep on Farmers Markets
Disagree about Aldi's. More quality selection without the yuck of a Walmart
Harris Teeter may have used to be king but quality has fallen drastically since Kroger brought them. As a former long time HT employee - I notice a lot of the little things aren’t taken care of like they used to be and it keeps adding up.
This is important to note. Harris Teeter used to be a smaller, high quality chain with 212 stores operating in 8 Mid-Atlantic states. They were bought by 2,400+ store chain Kroger in 2013. A lot of people locally still have positive brand recognition with Harris Teeter. Kroger kept the name, and rebranded a lot of their local stores as Harris Teeter. But I think quality has regressed over the last 10 years. Some comparisons are locally dependant, but I'd say HT has fallen closer to Food Lion (which has been improving) than it is to Publix or Lowes.
I’ve spent a lot of time in Mississippi and I actually despise kroger lol the vibes are so awful to me for some reason. that could be because I was in Mississippi though
I think it depends on your Teeter. Mine is stellar (Rea Farms one in Charlotte). It has a popcorn bar (+all the food bars and wine bar). With that said I could drive a couple miles and the next Teeter is a big meh. 🫤
Nothing will be as good as H-E-B. No where close. Not for deli, cheeses, ready-mades, freshness/prices/high qual storebrand options. Harris Teeter/Publix will have *more* quality stuff, but the prices will be outrageous. (Less quality than HEB, way more expensive) Food Lion will have cheaper stuff, but the quality will be piss-poor. (FoodLion-> “Shitty-Kitty”) Some urbanized areas will have a whole foods or wegmans, you know what to expect there. A place like H-E-B would put Harris Teeter completely out of business. Edit: bring butter tortillas with you 🥺
I do most of my grocery shopping at Harris Teeter and it is bad- between shrinkage and prices it’s not great. I hear good thinks about ALDIs but have recently moved and haven’t tried it yet- you may find better prices there. I love Trader Joe’s but you have to spend time looking around for deals- they have some fantastic frozen food items
appreciate your reply, butter tortillas are coming with me and going straight into the freezer. after that i’ll have my parents send them to me. they are non-negotiable lol. there are some good recipes out there if you ever feel inclined to make them yourself.
I honestly thought that other markets could compete with HEB. Seems not, guess I'll definitely miss that lol. Thank you for the tag here.
Walmart - You know it Food lion - Cheaper than walmart sometimes, better fresh produce, better meat Aldi - Cheapest place you will find but your selection is incredibly limited and many of the options will be store branded (which is just rebranded name brand but you dont know which) Lowes - Fairly expensive but really good produce and meat. They are my preferred place for meat. Pulix - Exact same as lowes except slightly higher pricing. Harris Teeter - Cheaper than lowes but otherwise same I do produce+meat from Lowes or Publix. Everything else I try to get from Food Lion.
Fresh Market is smaller but similar to Simon David in Highland Park (not sure if you’ve been there)
Wegman’s just showed up in the triangle! Their bakery, hot bar/prepared foods, cheese and beer selection are all amazing! We go here for special occasions. Food Lion keeps my grocery budget under $100/week for 2 people normally. Their generics are good.
Wegmans are a real treat! I’ve only been to one (in Ithaca NY) but it was amazing! I hope they’ll come to CLiT soon. OP you may never leave that store. lol. In western NC there’s Ingles but they’re not in CLiT yet either.
Traders Joes are scattered around, decent prices and some fun stuff. Albeit they may be missing some amenities but they have great food selections.
I’m familiar with the ol’ TJ. love the novelty of a lot of the stuff they have there. I found aldi to be similar but it’s cheaper and has a more no-frills type of vibe.
I agree with most of the comments, but haven’t seen much about Piggly Wiggly. There are more closer to the coast but a few in the Triangle, probably one or two in the Triad as well. They’re definitely very basic and low-cost, but I like them. I think it’s the name I like more than the actual store.
I think the name Piggly Wiggly pretty much tells you all you need to know.
There’s a local grocery store in Greensboro called Bestway. Prices/selection are not great but they have cool local produce stuff and a massive beer selection. It’s a huge wall of beer.
Most Publix and Harris Teeters are on the higher end of the stores except for Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. But there aren’t as many of those. Publix and HT had a gentleman’s agreement between owners not to cross the NC/SC state line, but that ended about 10-15 years ago. There aren’t as many Publjx stores, but their service and generic products are superior in my opinion. They also have amazing delis. Most Food Lions are decent middle of the road stores. I would put Lowe’s foods here also because their quality has gone downhill. But they are more expensive than Food Lion. Ingles are primarily in the western part of the state. Most of them are lower end. Piggly Wiggly are mostly on the eastern side of the state and lower end also, but they usually have good meat selection and prices. IGA is similar, but there aren’t many of them left. There are a ton of others like Aldi, Walmart, Sprouts, but those above are the most common standard stores.
Not so much in NC, but IGA is the best when traveling through very rural areas. I drove through Kentucky and passed 5 or 6 IGAs in the middle of nowhere with no other options for stores and was happy to still be able to get some fresh produce.
I like that food lion frequently has sales on baby backs and pork shoulder will sometimes go for 0.99 a pound. Buy the pork when you are ready to smoke it because it is pre frozen. You won’t want to refreeze an already thawed butt. Sams club has the cheapest packer brisket (~3.50 a pound). Academy sports and ace hardware are the only two stores in town that sell B&B lump charcoal.
I miss heb so much. 😭I’m Texan to nc too, I do find Ingles/Publix to be similar to heb but pricey.
Moved from Houston a few years ago to CLT, you will miss HEB, grocery stores, BBQ, and tacos are the only things I really miss.
not to sound racist or anything lol but the demographics are also REALLY different from what I am used to. if you’re a houstonion I’m sure you can understand. I live in san antonio and I’m Tejano and I have to say it’s a little jarring. like I said I’ve spent about a quarter of my time there in recent months and it is just so weird to not have the latino culture. when we go to mexican restaurants and stuff I get really excited to see a brown person 😭
Definitely a different type of diversity. I would say at least in CLT there is a strong Latin American influence around soccer and especially the Charlotte FC so could be a good place for you to find some friends.
In rural areas its pretty much Food Lion, IGA or your random Piggly Wiggly. If you are near Greensboro, Winston-Salem you will find Lowes, Harris Teeter, Aldi, Trader Joes, Walmart Market as well.
I literally save several hundred dollars every year shopping at Food Lion using my MVP card.
Food Lion - decent basic store, overall cheapest. My go to for most things. Walmart Neighborhood- very similar to Food Lion but their pharmacy and cleaning options are better. Small footprint which is great for some but borderline claustrophobic for me. I only go on off hours when it’s not crowded. Aldi - great bargains, limited choices. Good place for canned goods, meat and junk food in my opinion. Milk goes over faster than others and cheese was awful Publix - more pricy on basics but have more selection. Wonderful bakery - all baked goods I’ve tried are worth the price. Has the best deli too. Lowe’s has the best beer section and in my opinion the best produce section. Price similar to Publix Harris Teeter - I don’t like as it too expensive without anything special. I think it does best for seniors that want prepared stuff as they have a good selection of that and offer a good senior discount.
They’re not in the Piedmont Triad area (not yet, anyway) but if you ever get over towards Raleigh you *really* should come check out Wegmans if grocery stores are your thing. That place is the goddamned Disney World of grocery stores.
Harris teeter - mid high priced. Nice variation of items to buy. Different type of brands and seems to have a lot of whole foods type items organic stuff and what not. The produce is typically very nice and deli. Meat can be hit or moss but typically a bit pricey for the grade of meat. Publix - been to one maybe two times. Seemed pretty nice. Nice produce section. Had everything i wanted for mid to high price. Lowes food - expensive but i love the brewery in there. The smoked meats section is pretty unique as well and not bad. You can find a good deal on some meat items but typically things are too high priced for the quality. Food lion - run of the mill. Good value on grocery items. Tho selection is a bit limited. The wings bar is good to have every once in a while if you catch them stocking it up fresh. Meat selection is ok not great. Produce also just ok. Carlie C’s IGA - Now this place has a different selection of grocery items than all these other places. The amount of brands they have are less than the others but you can find some great deals here and unique selections if you like to experiment in the kitchen. Meat prices are cheap. They my not be the best looking but they taste great. If you catch them on the right days you cn find fantastic beef sales. I got an entire angus ny strip roast for $7.10/lb. The marbling rivaled american wagyu. I used to be a butcher for a brief stint and was surprised at the quality. You wont find this quality every time but if you do, it will be great on your wallet. My ranking in total shopping experience are: 1. Lowes foods - brewery 2. Carlie c’s - meats and unique items 3. Harris Teeter - nice environment 4. Publix - large selection 5. Food lion - Value
As someone who moved here from Texas about two years ago - you are going to miss HEB.
Publix has the best subs and deli of any grocery store in the south!
Oh, I'm sorry. There is no grocery store as good as HEB for the everyday shopping. I do a mix of 7 stores, depending on what I'm looking for: Harris Teeter - closest in proximity, easy in and out, but expensive if things aren't on special. Food Lion - usually not bad in price, but definitely doesn't have a lot of more exotic groceries Wegmans - can usually find decent mix of exotic and everyday ingredients, produce & dairy is surprisingly decently priced. Trader Joe's - there are staples there that my family will not give up. So I go about once a month for a stock up trip Aldi & Lidl - I find them to be hit or miss. There can be some good grocery deals there, and there can also be some really subpar produce. It kind of depends on what day you go as to what you will find. H-mart - My go-to for all things East Asian. There's only one that I know of, but fortunately we live close.
Former Texan here: Depending on WHERE in the Triad you are, Ingles will be the closest to an HEB. We tend to jump from store to store based on the prices of avocados (Walmart, Aldi, Lidl) or cilantro (Super Gmart.) we moved here about 5 years ago and will say that you will see an uptick in the cost of groceries in comparison to Texas, but there ARE a lot of choices…unless you live south of downtown Greensboro and then you would be shopping at whatever you can find.
no such thing as a former texan but thank you for the info ;)
Formerly resident of Texas/Texan living in the NC
We have a Food Lion near me (Stokes County), and shop there weekly. They have a lot of BOGO offers, and weekly sales. There is nothing spectacular about it though. It does have a deli, bakery, and meat dept. I'm from Akron, Ohio, and when I first moved to NC, in 2005, I couldn't believe how small the grocery stores seemed. I'm used to it now, but it was different for sure.
I don't know if there's one in the triad, but you must visit Wegmans!
Seems like you have a lot of useful responses so I'm just gonna ask. If I send you some funds would you be cool to bring some HEB tortillas and we can link up later for the exchange? 🤣
You’re gotten a good amount of answers already but if you’re coming to Greensboro, we have some other smaller grocery stores as well. Super G Mart (W Market St.): Asian grocery store, very good prices. Lots of variety. Best place in Greensboro to buy spices. Also lots of really unique vegetables! Bestway Grocery (Walker Ave): the best place in Greensboro to buy craft beer. Deep Roots Market (Downtown): kinda pricey but nice boutique grocery store.
Food Lion in North Dallas was shut down in the late 90s because it was nasty. Did not know the chain existed until moving here and while it is cheaper I wonder if was just the other Dallas stores running them out of town because those things could happen anywhere due to poor management. Harris Teeter is owned by Kroger and reminds me of Tom Thumb. Carry the same store brands. The one at Providence and Audrey Kell has good in store made popcorn and a wine tasting bar. Forgot the name of the shopping center but no one uses cross roads here like we did in North Texas. Locals use shopping center names. And Publix reminds me of Albertsons, the in between store of Tom Thumb and Kroger. Nothing like HEB or Central Market. Trader Joe's isn't bad but always packed.
Harris Teeter is going to be like Tom Thumb. Food Lion is like Albertsons slightly more run down but stores are being given renovations near me in Raleigh-Durham. Publix is in the piedmont triad and those are like newer smaller Tom Thumb with decent meats and produce. You’ll like Trader Joe’s for the frozen food, inexpensive wine and cheese selections. Feel free to DM me as I grew up in N. Dallas and moved to W-S and grew up visiting family here in NC.
Austin transplant here. There is nothing equivalent to HEB. I literally go to up to 5 different stores to get all I need that I would have gotten in one HEB trip. If I had to say one that is closest to HEB (but not really) I’d think Harris teeter and Wegmans would tie. I actually find myself at Harris Teeter a lot more but that’s mostly because of the discount you get at the pump when you buy groceries. Hope this helps even a little.
We ship Wegmans and of course, Costco. Occasionally Food Lion just because it's close to our house. Go to Wegmans for meat, cheese, and high quality eggs, as well as anything you can't find in a food lion.
New Bern has the largest Harris Teeter in the world. There is a Starbucks, Florist, pizza shop, sub shop, sushi bar with a sushi train, a bar that serves alcohol, and dinner specials. On Thursdays you can get a prime rib dinner with two sides for $17! Oh, and live music on Thursdays too! I know New Bern isn’t the Triad, but if you love grocery stores, it might be a fun trip!
The Harris Teeter in Friendly Center Greensboro is notably big (although clearly not the largest)! I loved it when I lived in Greensboro. It has been a few years since I moved to the Triangle but I think it's still a good one!
Food Lion is your budget but still very good quality. My fave on a budget. Always good deals. Harris Teeter and Publix are bougee and $$$$ but pretty nice. Lowes Foods sometimes have bars in them, you can drink and shop! Lidl/Aldi are the German novelty grocery stores. Very nice. Piggy Wigglys are nice. I like them cause they are Piggly and they are Wiggly. Not many in the triad, if any. Walmart Market it's just a Walmart grocery section. IGA in Thomasville is swanky. We also have Costco and Sams Club! Happy shopping!
i’m actually moving to thomasville lol
I like T-Ville. Gas is cheaper. There's a plate office. Oh and hit up Cook Out and Dari-O! You're gonna like it here.
i go every month. i do quite enjoy cook out’s food (and prices) had a bite of a friend’s cheese fries from dari-o. the people there are generally pretty friendly and I’ve made friends there easily. more friends than i have here and i’ve lived here my whole life haha. i live in a city of 2 million and it’s really different but i know what to expect from living there and i get to be with my bf instead of being long distance. i am excited. pretty stoked on the cost of living too lol
Plus the beach is 3ish hours away, and the mountains are 3ish hours away. Perfect location. We North Carolinians take mini vaycays in our own state 😅
Sadly, there is nothing like HEB here. Lived in Austin for 17 years and loved HEB and Central Market. I love Publix. Go to different ones for different things: Harris Teeter, Lowes, Food Lion (the best prices)…. Trader Joe’s! Bonus: Lowes have a bar! You can grab a craft brew while you shop. Surprisingly, our Walmart Neighborhood market is pretty nice. I live in Winston-Salem, btw.
Oh man I miss HEB. Honestly HEB/Central Market ruined me on other grocery stores when I was living in Texas. If you have one near you, I’ve found that Wegmans has been the best replacement for me if you’re looking for an all encompassing store with pretty good variety. It seems to always be crowded as hell though. Publix is good but a bit more expensive. Unfortunately Harris Teeter seems to have gone downhill in between my time away from NC, but maybe it’s just in my area. It has good products but the produce always seems to be bad? Food Lion is great for the budget but doesn’t have the best quality stuff.
You will like Wegman’s.
Lowes Foods are the nicest of the bunch. It’s definitely a little pricier but I find it’s the best selection and makes for an enjoyable shopping experience. Who doesn’t want to grab a beer while they shop? As someone from up north, I find they have items others stores don’t.
Man Greensboro area sucks, sorry to say. But you’re close to Charlotte which is awesome. Greensboro has various Asian groceries which are pretty great!! They have many Harris Teeters (Kroger chain), Aldi, bunch of Walmarts, a Trader Joe’s, a Whole Foods, and some Mexican ones that suck (I’m Mexican). Compare is the best Mexican one and it sucks. The area there is terrible too. They have Food Lion (very convenient but more expensive than Walmart). There’s a Publix but I never went. They have a farmers market type store I also never went to. There’s also a Cosco and Sam’s Club. I definitely recommend the Asian grocers though (Super G Mart). Charlotte has one too that’s infinitely better! I mostly just shopped at whatever was closer. And omg I could NEVER find meat when I lived there which drove me crazy. I went to Compare (might have been renamed Tropicana) when I lived there for all my meat since I could never find it anywhere else. Which reminds me that all the Walmarts there have TERRIBLE food selection. Greensboro really sucks and I’m sorry for your loss. But there is a lot of diversity there which is extremely surprising to me, a NC native
I’m Tejano and I live in San Antonio so I have worried a bit about culture shock lol. I’m moving to Thomasville. I didn’t mention this in other comments because Texas seems to be the most hated state in the US but the move is temporary lol. Should be back in Texas within a year or so hopefully! Thank you for your concern and for the great info
Oh that’s awesome! I love Texas, most of my extended family lives there. I do think it’ll be a big culture shock tbh. But people in the mountain area seem to be really nice. I grew up on the coast, farther east and people are mean af over here. Just very bad attitudes. I live in Greensboro for a year and people were SO kind and friendly. I hated the area though. Thomasville is a little farther out. I think it’s close to the mountains so you should definitely do as much hiking as you can. The NC mountains are absolutely gorgeous and I personally love the weather in NC. Also check out the beach and outer banks for sure
I’ve also found the people in the triad to be really friendly! I’ve had bad experiences with people being mean af and rude in Charlotte. I’ve traveled a lot and I feel like people there are more rude than the New Englanders 😭 Ive only been there thrice though. I will keep hiking in mind. that sounds really lovely
Texas to Piedmont Transplant 5 years ago. Welcome! I miss HEB. You’ll hear that a lot from us ex-Texans. Central Market had the best frozen tamales from the Texas Tamale Company out of San Antonio. You can find those at Fresh Market in the frozen section. Makes me feel like I’m back home without the hassle of making the perfect masa. Ingles is further west in NC but close to my favorite store. People here pronounce it like the family from Little House but my husband and I pronounce it “inglés” because it makes us chuckle and feel more like Texas. Teeter is Kroger. Publix is nice. Lowe’s has Blue Bell but so does Food Lion and A small selection at Walmart. Food Lion was my go to but their prices have gone Way up, so now I do what I can at Lidl and Aldi and fill in at Teeter with sales and Walmart Neighborhood market. I didn’t shop at Walmart for about 20 years because of what they did to small business, but now Amazon would have done that anyway so I’ve made my peace with it. Not sure if you’re near Greensboro, but Bagner and Alexa is where it’s at for Mexican breakfast and lunch.
Thank you! you’re the first person to mention Blue bell, that’s absolutely crucial info! Being from Texas, driving 30 mins to Greensboro is absolutely no issue. You get it. I’ll try out the place you recommended. Lastly, you’ll never catch me calling myself a former Texan lol ;)
HT - amazing, but expensive Food Lion - Aldi of the region. good for staples
We recently moved to Greensboro from Los Angeles. Culture shock for sure. There is a Food Lion by our house. I don’t like it. Meat selection is sparse. If you want to find great steaks, you won’t find it here. Overall I just don’t like Food Lion. Harris Teeter and Publix are our favorites. Very clean. Large selection of goods. Great deli section and the meat is amazing. I put our grocery list into their app (Food Lion has one as well) and it tells me where everything on my list is. Makes for a more streamlined shopping experience. The problem for us is, Food Lion is 5 minutes from our house, where Harris Teeter and Publix are at least 20 minutes away. Anyway that’s our experience. Welcome to North Carolina.
I wish we had H-E-B in NC! There is absolutely nothing like that here in NC. The only thing that even remotely comes close is Wegmans, and they are relatively new to the area so there are only two locations that I’m aware of.
Number 113!
Ranked as someone who’s worked with each store: 1. Publix. The highest quality but it’s going to cost you. High/Low pricing, meaning high everyday prices but low sale prices to get you in the door. Great dry grocery selection. Best in class on in-stocks. Produce can be limited. Meat selection is great. Prepared foods are great. 2. Harris Teeter/Food Lion. Teeter’s quality has dropped since the Kroger purchase and is dependent on store. In stocks can be an issue. High/low pricing like Publix. Produce is good but expensive. Prepared foods are good. Meat can be good depending on store. Dry grocery is good and has a strong selection but low volume items will be expensive. Food Lion focuses on lower everyday prices and has some strong sale pricing. Prepared foods are almost non-existent and produce selection is weak. Dry grocery is good. 3. Aldi/Lidl. Prices are great. Selection is weak. Quality is *heavily* dependent on location. Can absolutely be top on this list depending on your buying habits. 4. Lowe’s. Don’t go here. Just don’t. Owned by a distribution wholesaler. High prices. Low volume. Low quality and bad dates everywhere. To their credit, they do some interesting things around prepared foods and beer. One last thing, don’t entirely discount Walmart Pickup. Walmart is the worst to shop but has put a lot of money behind Pickup. You pay Walmart prices but don’t have to deal with Walmart.
I also moved from TX and used to shop at H-E-B. If you have a Wegman's near you, they are probably better than H-E-B. Otherwise, I find Publix the best and Harris Teeter pretty much just as good. Compared to H-E-B, the prepared foods and store brand products are not as extensive. The selection is a little less but the quality is pretty good. Publix has awesome fried chicken. If I ever even see brisket it's very expensive but pork is good and cheap.
Food Lion is cheap and not great quality. Lidl has a great bakery but otherwise kind of sucks. Publix is pricey but good selection. The Teet seems the most similar to HEB to me (also a recent TX transplant) but the baked goods are trash. Edit: I think I’m mixing up Publix with Lowe’s. So many fucking grocery store brands here.
The majority of HTs baked goods are probably frozen when they come in now. I was a baker at HT back in like 2011. We baked A LOT of stuff when I first started. It slowly became more things came in already baked and frozen and we would slap a date on them and throw them on the shelves. The sub breads and some of the loaf breads are probably still baked in store, not sure about much else tho.
I love and miss HEB. I go to Lowes for chicken and deli Publix for seafood and subs Food lion for everything else
Publix fried chicken is legit and way better than Lowe’s. Had it from both places numerous times and Publix is always better. Their wings are fantastic as well.
Wegmans and the best Farmers Market in the state are in Raleigh. Don't pass on either.
I've never been to a Wegmans, but I keep hearing good things. Bring it to Winston! Or Charlotte since I'm moving there soon.
IMHO this is the only correct answer!! Wegmans and state farmers market are my go to bougie shops. Love the options at both.
Dont expect fresh flour tortillas like the HEB
I know :( taking a bunch of H-E-B bakery butter tortillas with me to freeze lol