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| - I'm a fan of Fresh and Easy in general and have been coming here since soon after they opened. I miss the old F&E business model (more coupons, more samples, more marking down of products in both price and lead-time), but I'm glad to at least still have a store nearby.
I also miss Christine, an employee who offered a lot of distinctive, friendly personality to the store (and maybe she's still there and I'm just coming in at the wrong time), but the current staff is all very nice, if definitely on the less gregarious side.
The recent addition of sliding glass doors to this location is a nice touch. Speaking of nice touches, my kitchen is prettier at the moment for the pink daisies I found in the little floral section as you enter, and yes, check this spot for markdowns, too.
The floor is dingy and cracked, but the rest of the store's ambiance offsets this. Restroom became less accessible awhile back (25c or ask for a token), but they were always clean when I'd go in.
If you're afraid of the self-checkout-only lanes, I've heard the staff offer to scan items for you, although they seem so busy these days you may be taking your chances.
Not all F&E stores are alike, and sometimes they experiment with placement of common items. At this location, look for the clearance section in the next-to-last refrigerated aisle, on the far end, on the side closest to the front of the store.
Fave F&E-branded items: bottled water (great price and fine taste), pink lemonade, creamy cilantro dressing, lemon hummus, cilantro jalapeno tortillas, Cuban black bean dip, cream puffs, tomato and mozz sandwich, pre-peeled garlic cloves, black olives, ready-to-use pizza dough, dark chocolate pudding, feta crumbles, and the seldom-seen-these-days ginger limeade.
Honorable mentions: Gardein vegetarian meals, Heritage milk (lasts for weeks!).
Needs work: the bread. When they started promoting their local bakeries (not available at this store), the bread briefly improved, but it's usually pretty hard, like it's been there for days. Taste is not noteworthy. At best, inoffensive. And no hot dog or hamburger buns with seeds? That's depressing.
The parking and access are both good here at this corner of Trop and Jones. The clientele doesn't seem as wandering kid-bestrewn as a few other locations, and most people seem to be popping by with purposeful intent, not there to stroll the small store and ponder. (That would be me standing forever in front of the cereal. Sorry.) The store seems to have lost some of its imported Tesco vibe, but there are enough interesting items to make it worth looking a little more closely, now and again.
Without a bakery, it's never going to me my #1 grocery stop, and I'm not the biggest fan of its too-often-bland ready-to-go meals, but despite the twee size, Fresh and Easy is probably one of my top three grocery stores. Surprisingly good selection and, if you can get a coupon, some woo-hoo prices to boot.
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