RE: [SouthBayVeggies] Where to find vegan groceries?

[Guest guest]

My wife and I get our vegan faux-stuff (faux meat, faux cheese, vegan

mayonnaise, etc.) at Whole Foods (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/).

 

To see where they are, you can go to Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/) and

enter:

 

whole foods in san jose

 

and it will show you all of the Whole Foods markets within 30 miles.

 

The biggest Whole Foods market is the one in Cupertino. Since it's the biggest,

it has the most variety.

 

As for produce, we either get it at an Indian grocery store or at a 99 Ranch

supermarket (east Asian). We live in the city of Santa Clara and the store we

go to for produce most often is New India Bazar, 2213 El Camino Real, Santa

Clara.

 

Again, you can use Google Maps and search for

 

indian grocery in san jose

 

or

 

99 ranch in san jose

 

The above is the best that we have found, for the price and quality of the

produce. Of course, you can get very good produce at many regular supermarkets

such as Safeway and Lucky. The regular supermarkets also carry various kinds of

tofu, soy milk, and vegan ice cream, as does Whole Foods.

 

Also, Whole Foods is not the only market where you can get faux meats. Some

faux meats may be found in Safeway, Nob Hill Foods, Trader Joe's, and

Andronico's.

 

-- Mike

 

______

shannon_york22 [shannonlyork]

Tuesday, November 03, 2009 7:46 PM

 

[southBayVeggies] Where to find vegan groceries?

 

 

Hello!

 

I'm moving to San Jose soon and I'm just wondering where most of you veg-heads

get your vegan groceries. I noticed there wasn't a co-op or anything and I just

wanted to find out what advice experienced South Bay veggies have!

 

Thank you so much!

 

Shannon

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

______

shannon_york22 [<shannonlyork%40gmail.com>shannonlyork]

I'm moving to San Jose soon and I'm just wondering where most of you

veg-heads get your vegan groceries. I noticed there wasn't a co-op or

anything and I just wanted to find out what advice experienced South

Bay veggies have!

>>

 

Aside from Whole Foods and farmers' markets, which are all over the

place, I occasionally shop at Grocery Outlet, which has one store in

SJ. They have one small section of the store with organic foods, and

you can never predict what they'll have, but it's a great place to

get organic whole wheat bread for half the price of Whole Foods (if

you plan ahead so you're there on the day the bread is delivered --

it seems to go fast). Other organic foods are also often half the

price of other stores -- it's there because the packaging has

changed, the expiration date is near (always check!), the mfr. has an

overstock, etc.

 

 

[Guest guest]

As an alternative to Ranch 99, there's also Marina Foods, which I frequent

because it has a lot bigger selection of Taiwanese vegetarian items and mock

meats than Ranch 99, which is much more catered to Hong Kong style food,

i.e., not as veg-friendly and a lot more China-originated products. It's

just down the street from Whole Foods, which I also go to supplement what I

can't get at Marina or foods I insist on getting organic.

 

 

 

See the Yelp page for location in Cupertino:

 

http://www.yelp.com/biz/marina-food-cupertino

 

 

 

It's probably not as tidy as Ranch 99, but it's an authentic Chinese market

and the prices are better than most other places. The negative reviews on

Yelp are mostly about their meat and seafood, which, of course, I don't care

about and quickly walk past. In you go on a weekday and spend $40 or more,

you'd get double deli coupons (e.g., spend $50 and get $10 coupons), but

there is only a limited selection of items I'm willing to get from the deli,

like veggie buns or tofu custards (like most Chinese delis at a supermarket,

the hot deli food floats in a lot of oil).

 

 

 

There's a good selection of different types and firmness of tofu, and frozen

mock meats, but be aware that many are not 100% vegan (some use egg whites

and casein), so read the labels. I try to avoid all food products from China

in favor of foods from Taiwan if possible, so from my experience I'm more

often successful at Marina than at, say, Ranch.

 

 

 

Their produce selection is good (if you know typical Chinese vegetables) and

often have lots of items on great sales. Not all items on their shelves are

pristine fresh like you'd find at Whole Foods, but for the nice price, you

need to do a flipping around. The staff probably isn't as helpful for

non-Chinese speaking shoppers or one who isn't familiar with Asian

ingredients, so go there for your everyday shopping.

 

 

 

Erhhung

 

 

 

 

On Behalf Of Sage, Mike

Wednesday, November 04, 2009 11:39 AM

' '

RE: [southBayVeggies] Where to find vegan groceries?

 

 

 

My wife and I get our vegan faux-stuff (faux meat, faux cheese, vegan

mayonnaise, etc.) at Whole Foods (http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/).

 

To see where they are, you can go to Google Maps (http://maps.google.com/)

and enter:

 

whole foods in san jose

 

and it will show you all of the Whole Foods markets within 30 miles.

 

The biggest Whole Foods market is the one in Cupertino. Since it's the

biggest, it has the most variety.

 

As for produce, we either get it at an Indian grocery store or at a 99 Ranch

supermarket (east Asian). We live in the city of Santa Clara and the store

we go to for produce most often is New India Bazar, 2213 El Camino Real,

Santa Clara.

 

Again, you can use Google Maps and search for

 

indian grocery in san jose

 

or

 

99 ranch in san jose

 

The above is the best that we have found, for the price and quality of the

produce. Of course, you can get very good produce at many regular

supermarkets such as Safeway and Lucky. The regular supermarkets also carry

various kinds of tofu, soy milk, and vegan ice cream, as does Whole Foods.

 

Also, Whole Foods is not the only market where you can get faux meats. Some

faux meats may be found in Safeway, Nob Hill Foods, Trader Joe's, and

Andronico's.

 

-- Mike