Is Taylor Pork roll available in Florida?
 

Recently we were talking here in NJ about foods and how a cousin now living in N.C. always stocks up on Taylor Pork Roll to bring back to N.C. Since we are moving to the Sarasota area in June my husband wanted to know whether this product can be purchased there. I never thought of this food as being regional to the NJ area until now.

I lived in Florida for over 30 years until recently and I've never heard of a Taylor Pork Roll. Do you buy it in a grocery store?

Yes, we can buy it in any supermarket. i know that Sam's Club also carries it and that's where my cousin from NC buys her supply!!! It's also called Taylor ham and there are store brands of "pork roll." It's a meat that we slice and fry for sandwiches or as a side with eggs and no it's NOT like Spam.

Having Googled Taylor Pork rolls, I found that they are made in NJ.
You can order them to be sent to you if you write to
www.jerseyporkroll.com

:@)

Thanks I also just did some googling and saw that Publix was mentioned as carrying them in central Florida. Now if the west coast Publix carries it my husband will be in heaven! It's amazing that after living in NJ for 57 years that we just found out TODAY that this meat product originated in Trenton, NJ!

Publix stores are all over Florida and are very good about special orders - in case they don't have it. I wish you well on your move, Sarasota is wonderful!

I have never seen it here (Tampa Bay) - my Jerseyite hubby loves it, but we must wait til we get to NJ each year. However, I CAN get my beloved Scrapple! (stjohnbound, don't even ask what that is...:) )

I won't ask - I'll just pretend it's a typo and you really meant to type "snapple"!

Our Sam's club does not carry it. I had to special order it through our local store. They were nice enough to get it in for me. I buy it and freeze it.

my friend in orlando says she can't find it my friend in Phoenix can't either. we all grew up in NJ

whenever they come home to visit we have to go to a diner that has pork roll (or taylor ham) and cheese on the menu.

I have to admit it is one of the few mystery meats (come on folks that's the only way to catagorize it) that i have no problem eating. it must be something in the water!

Well I just emailed Publix in FL. to see if they carry it. Otherwise I'll try special ordering it when we move there.
Speaking of foods, I've heard that you can't get "good" bagels in FL. However I've seen the Manhattan Bagel franchise there and we like those. Then someone said that it's the water that they use that changes the taste. Any comments from former Northerners now living in Florida?

Hey...you are going to be Floridians now, you are going to have to quit your Yankee ways and start liking things like fried 'gator, biscuits 'n gravy (white). ;) (Couldn't resist--but just kidding!)

I have heard that comment about bagels and water, but as I didn't start eating them until I lived in Dallas, I can't comment on the FL version as maybe I've never tasted the "real deal" either.

I can say though, that you are going to love your Publix. I just moved away from FL and miss Publix sooooo sooooo soooooo much and HATE, seriously, teeth clenchingly hate, HEB, where I must shop now. I envy you and your Publix! :D Enjoy your new life in Sarasota/Bradenton!

We gave up eating Bagels in Fl.

I work with a woman from NY that whenever we have meetings and she brings the goods, she gets Bagels from a bagel shop near where she lives in Spring Hill, Fl. I would guess that it is probably someone from NY or NJ.

She brings them in big brown grocery bads and it requires a dolly to transport them into the meeting area. LOL

The bags are full of many different flavors, some that look hideous, and you have a sore jaw after eating them.
They do taste good.

Are those the kind of bagels you're looking for? I don't know, I've never had NY or NJ bagels.

Yes, that sounds right about the bagels. I'm asking about the availability in FL. since the woman next to me on our recent flight to Sarasota was laughing about some passenger that was bringing a gigantic bag of bagels onboard as carry-on. It was the type of bag I remember being delivered to a small bagel shop that did not make all of its own.

The best bagels in Florida seem to be the ones that people bring from NY or NJ :)
We always toast ours before topping with jams jellies whatever..it cuts down on the broken jaw :D

There's always Einstein's bagels for a fix. They aren't too bad. Lots of bagels in Miami and S. Florida. Tampa has Sunshine bagels, very good.

Bagels. Hm. We have:

Bagelicious
1943 Baywood Ter
Sarasota, FL 34231
(941) 497-5958

Bagelwich Deli & Catering
3232 17th St
Sarasota, FL 34235
(941) 957-3354

Better Bagels
(Landings)
4854 S Tamiami Trl
Sarasota, FL 34231 Map
(941) 924-0393

Einstein's Bagels
3800 S Tamiami Trl
(41 and Bee Ridge)
Sarasota, FL 34239
(941) 952-0300

Manhattan Bagel Co
935 N Beneva Rd
(Beneva Commons, I think)
Sarasota, FL 34232
(941) 954-1335

MANHATTAN BAGEL COMPANY
4065 S Tamiami TRL
(41, just S of Bee Ridge)
Sarasota, FL 34231
(941) 927-9440

Morty's Bagel Cafe
24 S Boulevard Of Presidents
(St. Armand's)
Sarasota, FL 34236
(941) 388-3811

Nellies Deli and Catering
3688 Webber St
(Webber and Beneva)
Sarasota, FL 34232
(941) 926-7679

R & J Bagel Factory & Deli
1600 Ken Thompson Pkwy
(near or maybe at Mote Marine)
Sarasota, FL 34236
(941) 388-4084

Sarasota Bagel Cafe
4050 Cattlemen Rd
Sarasota, FL 34233
(941) 377-6904

Publix

Whole Foods - not positive they have bagels, but it wouldn't surprise me

TooJay's - I think, but am not sure

If none of this is satisfactory to a ex-NJ person, then you can order them overnight:
http://www.bagelboss.com/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

To OO, I feel your pain. I LOVE Publix and think they're the best grocery chain I've ever experienced. I've been shopping there for many years and have many Publix-is-great stories.

Taylor Pork Roll is available in The Fresh Markets !! If your store does not have it , ask the deli manager to order it or send an email to www.thefreshmarket.net. and ask that it be carried in the store near you. There should be a store in your area.

Concur with fpinion. All you have to do is ask the local grocery store manager to order it for you. Many expat New Jersyites live in Florida so I'm sure you will not be the only ones buying this product.

Thanks for all of the info. After reading that our fellow Fodorite Scarlett was moving out of FL. I was getting nervous as to how we would adjust without our favorite foods!

Oh teacher, the food had nothing to do with our leaving Florida. Besides, I grew up in North Carolina, hushpuppies and cole slaw are my friends :D
Jacksonville happens to have some very good restaurants also...good wine bars and bistros..the food is not a problem here.
((F))

Did the hurricanes cause you to leave so soon after moving there? Charlie hit just 3 weeks after we signed the papers to build our house. We had researched the west coast quite a bit so that was a surprise.

Wow! So many different opinions on food! How interesting. Never heard of the pork roll thing, ever. Live part time in Naples, FL and unlike a previous poster, I absolutely hate Publix. It doesn't come close to my small supermarket chain, in MA, Roche Bros. or even the larger chains like Shaw's and Stop and Shop. Too much produce wrapped in plastic instead of being loose, yuck, and not much variety of fat free stuff, like ff buttermilk that I like to cook with. No salad bar, tough store brand chicken, etc. Really nasty IMO and, unfortunately, there's no competition. Winn Dixie is going down hill fast and will probably go out of business. That leaves WalMart SuperCentres. I don't think so! Would love for a Whole Foods store and Trader Joe's to move into the area. Hope you find your pork roll, whatever it is!

jacqueline1212...If what you had was HEB you'd think you'd died and gone to heaven in Publix. Trust me. Fat Free?? Ha...HEB you're lucky if you find something other than the store brand, let alone fat free. I even had to hit Super Wal-mart just for some fresh ginger, which HEB didn't have! Yes...deliver me from HEB. What we need is a healthy shot of competition and there is none.

There is a Whole Foods. It's 1/2 hour away. I'd need an ice chest in my little two seater, to make shopping there feasible.

Yes...come ooooon Publix, come on over to TX--Mommy misses you! :D

PS...My Mom lived in the Berkshires where there was a Stop and Shop. I wasn't impressed. Then Guidos came in a mile from her house and neither she nor I ever set foot in Stop and Shop again. THAT was a grocery store!

...sorry teacherD for the little hijack!

Hurricanes had a lot to do with wanting to move but there were personal reasons too.

Fresh Market- the Best grocery store here !! :D

Hi OO ((F))

Thought this thread had disappeared since I couldn't get it to appear on the search. Anyhow I'm still waiting for an email response from Publix...guess they're not too prompt. I may have to drive all around with a cooler as someone suggested.

teacher, why don't you just ask the store manager to start carrying it after you move their? It is pretty common practice for grocery store managers to comply with requests.

crap.

"move there".

Just love a message string that starts with my favorite high fat "meat product" Taylor Pork roll. I grew up with it in Staten Island and everytime I went home for a visit, had to bring it back with me (that and Devil Dogs). Now, praise the Lord, I can get it in my little town of Smyrna Tennessee at the Publix!!! So don't anyone dare cast aspersions on Publix.

..add me to the Publix lovers list...I lived in FL, then ATL and was delighted when they built so many in town...plus my parents order cases of a specific type of granola because they usually only have a few bags in stock and they travel. The store is happy to oblige. *BUT* I did begin to nice the pre-packaged items and I hate that also...they can redo for you, but it is an extra pain...especially when canning and I needed so much or a weird amount of one thing, I couldn't just grab some, I had to buy several packages or "a little" too much....

Found it at my Publix in Sarasota! I read this thread over the weekend and remembered to look for it when I did my weekly shopping today. The Publix on Palmer Ranch ( corner of 41 and Central Sarasota Parkway, next to Target) carries it. I found in the cold cut, breakfast sausage area. I don't know what area of town you are moving to, but I would guess other Publix carry it also. Good luck with your move!

Glad you found it ! That is a big store too, we used to drive to that one from Venice where I went to high school in the mid 80's...

Since leaving my native NJ in 1970, I've lived in NY, Mass., Calif., Texas, Wisconsin, and North and South Florida. Publix is the BEST supermarket chain I've found since leaving the NJ-NY area. It's also the only places since NJ that carries Taylor Pork Roll! People in Mass. (only 200 miles from NJ) never even heard of it. Mass. also had no good Italian or French bread (it was as squishy as Wonder Bread) and all of the baked goods there were anemic- looking and underbaked. Most stores in Mass. didn't even carry meat ravioli, only cheese. Publix has lots of "Northeastern" foods. In addition to TPR, they have Matlaw's baked stuffed clams (from CT), New England Yankee McIntosh apples and Marshmallow Fluff (from Mass.), B&M New England Brown Bread (from Maine), and Ray's New York Bagels in the frozen case, and even Colonna grated chese from NJ.. The Publix's I've been to in Crestview, Fort Myers and Naples all carry a wide range of fat free products, and the Smart Balance products we buy. They have stuff I've never seen in other parts of the country since leaving the Northeast. I'll admit the produce is not the best, but NO PLACE in the U.S. compares with California for produce.