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| - Oh Heinen's. I love you. They have a fantastic salad bar and a nice selection of prepared or mostly prepared meals. I love that if I'm in a time crunch, I can pick up a good meal with sides and pop it in the oven. I tend to do this once a week. It's tasty, they have healthier options, and it's easy. The fish selection isn't as good as the West Side Market, but on a Tuesday afternoon the WSM isn't really an option. Again, good cheese selection - when WSM isn't an option. I love that they often have a small basket in the cheese area of slivers for under $3 (most that I get are around $1.50). It's not a huge selection - typically 4-7 varieties - but nice to try out something new.
I appreciate that they are getting better about carrying local produce and local brands. The coffee aisle is fantastic - nice selection from Erie Island and a few others. They could have a better tea selection, but I'm a huge snob there and most of what touches my lips is from loose tea.
Most of the employees are very helpful - some overly so. And some are so cheerful that I want to ask for a sip of what they're drinking. Speaking of drinking, cheers to Heinen's alcohol selection. you can buy single beers as well as a good selection of other beers. The wine selection is also really wonderful - the guy that is usually there has perfect suggestions and pays attention to price point. The Eastern Block-er in me appreciates the ever-present (and stocked!) Baltika selection.
They also have a growing (slowly) selection of Heinen's brand cleaning products, eco-friendly of course. I buy the dish soap when it's on sale, and it works well. There are little touches that make it clear Heinen's is a bit more high end - if you have more than a handful of groceries, just park your cart up front, they'll hand you a tag, and then bring your cart out to you. no need to get out of your car when they put it in your trunk.
I did deduct points for the parking lot - every Heinen's parking lot seems to be full of drivers who would prefer to hit a human than anything else. Also, some things seem to slightly more expensive than other groceries, but nothing drastic - organic is going to be more expensive no matter where you go.
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