teacherD

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!

Scarlett

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
Jacksonville happens to have some very good restaurants also...good wine bars and bistros..the food is not a problem here.

teacherD

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.

Jacqueline1212

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!

OO

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!

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!

Scarlett

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

Fresh Market- the Best grocery store here !!

Hi OO

teacherD

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.

GoTravel

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.

GoTravel

crap.

"move there".

SharonG

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.

Wednesday

..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....

wallacefl

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!

Wednesday

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...

JerseyWarren

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.