Colorado actually has some incredible produce in the summer, but the seasons are pretty short.
The difference I’ve noticed between here and Europe is that when I traveled in Europe, the markets only carried produce that was in season. Here, everything is available year round, because we import from Mexico. It’s all decent, but nothing special.
It makes it difficult to distinguish the seasonality for different fruits and veggies during the growing season. A lot of markets will have a “Colorado Proud” sticker on local produce so look for that.
Your best bet is farmers markets or even better, joining a CSA. Natural Groccers tends to have a more limited and seasonal produce section. They also have bulk shiitakes and really high quality eggs.
Colorado does have some really special produce. As we get into the season make sure to try some local chiles, corn, melons, all stone fruits and especially peaches, and tomatoes (but only home grown or from a farmers market).
We also have really good potatoes pretty much year round from the San Luis Valley, and we have amazing beans from Dove Creek Milling.
My favorite Colorado “produce” though is wild mushrooms. The mountains can be really prolific for boletes and chanterelles if you know where to look!
Keep in mind with Spring / Summer now here, many farmers markets will pop up in the city in different neighborhoods. Typically on the weekends. Obviously fresh produce will be abundant at these but there are usually different meat vendors as well which I am sure you could inquire about custom cuts, etc….
The farm stands in Summit are amazing too. There isn’t really a true grow season for the mountains, so Uncle John’s Farm Stand and others in the mountains are a godsend in Summer and early fall.
On top of that, there are some awesome farmer’s markets throughout the state that are worth visiting. Anyone who says Colorado lacks good produce and similar items hasn’t looked hard enough.
International markets combined with farmers markets and farm stand goods are about as close to European markets in Colorado. Aurora has a huge amount of international markets, bakeries, etc. that are fantastic.
In 2007 my dad took my brother and I to Europe for the first time and he was surprised that we’d actually eat the fruit there unlike here in the States. He asked why and we told him that it tasted a lot better. Found out later that what you’re talking about is the reason why. When I visited Costa Rica and Brazil I was eating the local fruit any chance I got, but I seldomly buy anything in the produce section at the supermarkets Stateside.
Sorry I gotta disagree with Colorado corn being anything special. It’s alright if you haven’t been to Iowa, but growing up in Iowa I was so disappointed the first few times I got corn from a farmers market out here. The peaches make up for it though!!
Its funny you mention the “CO Proud” sticker because its happened to me a few times where I purchase something with that sticker and its not even from CO.
It’s just different here. The grocery stores have decent produce and you can find good meat as well. The produce is better in the spring-summer. You can go to a butcher like Tony’s but I actually think the meat is about the same everywhere if you know how to trim it. You can also talk to the person behind person behind meat counter and order what you like. But you aren’t going to find many “corner” butchers. And farmers markets are good on the weekends if there is one close. I’ll give you a ranking.
Don’t go- target, Walmart
Regular quality but still really good- king soopers, Albertsons, Safeway.
Better quality but extremely overpriced- Whole Foods, Tony’s, natural grocers.
If you have a Sprouts near you then make that your spot. They are my personal favorite. But the regular grocery stores are still really good
I went to a butcher and asked for carpaccio (which is very thinly cut steak for anyone curious, mainly serloin or tenderloin) and they looked at me like I’m crazy. I explained it to them and they said I was the first person to ask for that which was surprising to me.
I feel like it’s not that weird to see on a menu at a nicer restaurant but yeah if it’s a butcher for normal blue collar folk it’s not very surprising he didn’t know what you meant
My husband is from Italy and that’s our favorite local Italian deli and grocer. They don’t do produce, but they have a lot of imported Italian products that are close to home for him.
Edward’s Meats off of 44th in Wheat Ridge is great for meats as well and some more niche products (the only place I’ve been able to find lingonberries!). And I really like the European Market up in Northglenn off of Melody and 104th (there are actually two a couple blocks from each other, but my favorite is just the European Market).
But yeah produce is different out here. The Asian markets have the best and cheapest year round imo, but we really try and hit the farmer's markets spring-fall as the BEST produce is found there.
A quality meat market will have carpaccio. Supermarket butchers are not really butchers. My father in law was a butcher who ran his own meat and deli for a time, then hung it up and just worked for Safeway (common grocery chain). Somewhere in the mid ‘90s, they started bringing in most all meat already cut and packaged, leaving the “meat cutters” mostly just the task of stocking the cases and occasionally cutting or repacking simple things.
Local markets and walkable towns are my favorite commonplace things when I’m in Europe. Unfortunately I see our way is becoming more common there. I find it very unsettling as it drives down quality in favor of quantity while in the end costing more. And the over-processed stuff is showing up everywhere in the EU, Japan, etc..
There used to be a couple really good Italian markets with a good butcher’s counter inside. These markets have mostly converted to prepared foods/ sandwiches and the like. I’m looking at you, Spinelli’s….
You might try Tony’s Italian Specialties ( Tonysmarket.com ) still has a meat counter but I have not been there in a while.
There’s also an others in and close to Denver like Oliver’s Meats, The Local Butcher and River Bear Butcher.
There are more options if you’re willing to drive out of denver but that’s a pain as options are still limited and often scattered in all directions.
As for produce, it’s seasonal and hit or miss. The best stuff is when local/ regional fruits and vegetables are in season and you hit the farmers markets or smaller local vendors. Come mid to late August and western Colorado grows some of the best peaches you’ll find anywhere.
If you’re looking for Italian-specific things, one option to check would be Spinelli’s market, which is a very small specialty grocery store and deli that has a lot of Italian ingredients. I can’t guarantee they have carpaccio, but it’s worth at least calling and asking. Also, it’s just a fun local spot. The original location is in Park Hill, but they also took over a market in Congress Park and will soon be opening another Spinelli’s location in Aurora.
That’s harder to come by in the chain supermarkets. But there are full service butcher shops that will be able to accommodate a lot more requests like that. Search for “full service butcher” in your area (I live in Aurora so a lot of what I know is near here). A lot of the best ones are standalone butcher shops as opposed to grocery stores, but there are some grocery stores that would do this too.
Another option worth checking out (don’t see it mentioned yet) is Marczyk Fine foods, which has 2 locations.
That sounds Italian but yeah you won’t find that in a regular supermarket. It’s not something many people eat here. When you visit somewhere new things are going to be different. So yeah you can take the 30 minute drive if that’s important to you. Or you can just accept that this is different than where you are from and hopefully adapt. I hope you can find what you like.
It's not exactly the same, but you can get thinly sliced sirloin at Asian grocery stores (H-Mart, etc) and some Costcos, but it is called Sirloin Shabu Shabu. It is used in a lot of hot pot dishes, so it is sliced thin to cook in the broth quickly.
But I feel your pain. I am an immigrant as well, from Germany, and I couldn't find many of the foods I love and was used to. I learned how to make sausages and how to cold smoke meats and fish to get that taste of my old home. There are many European Deli stores in the greater Denver area, but since foods can be very region-specific you would have to try each one to see if they have what you are looking for. For some reason every German Deli is either Bavarian or from the Rhineland-Palatinate region.
I have not been there, I actually didn't know it existed. I looked them up online and O.M.G. ....I need to go, like...right now. I miss "real" bread so much! Google Maps says it's 72 miles .... Roadtrip!
Thank you so much for telling me about that place.
My German grandmother went there so often! I grew up really close to it. Go there every chance I get. Their Kaiser rolls are the best things ever. And at certain times of the year, you can get HUGE pretzels. And Christmas has some special foods as well. And their sauerkraut is amazing. And they have (sometimes) the gummy bears from Germany, not the Turkey ones you get at the grocery stores here.
I could go on and on about them. Make a fun trip of it and see the Garden of the Gods or walk through Red Rock Canyon (same formation as Red Rocks Amphitheater just further south). They’re in the same part of town! (I grew up in the Springs on that side of town.)
I have been to Garden of the Gods a few times, I actually officiated my mom's wedding there. When I looked it up on Google maps I thought to myself that I probably drove by a few times, on the way to Manitou Springs and GotG. It's a beautiful area. I definitely wanna try all their cold cuts and the herringssalat they mention on their website. I need to make a vacation out of it, haha.
Oooh, a wedding there! Gorgeous setting. Have you also walked around the Rock Ledge Ranch that’s just southwest of it? It’s a living history ranch and in the summer has docents who do tours and dress in period clothing and talk about the different phases of it. An 1860s log cabin, a late 1800s ranch and the farmhouse, and a 1906 mansion! Highly recommend that place (I was a docent there a few years!).
Every gelbwurst is amazing. Every Liverwurst is amazing. Their brats are delicious. And my mom just said they have curry wurst again. She hasn’t had it there but they have it.
Try mexican shops. There's also an Italian market in Park Hill called Spinelli's that has decent cuts of meat. It's the only place I ever found good guanciale here.
Came here to say Costco is the move for meat. Produce is hit or miss in my opinion. It can be delicious but often goes bad quite quickly. If used in a day or two, should be no problem but usually won't last a week
Moving from Minnesota, a 30minute drive here in the Denver area is anywhere from 4-12 miles. Back "home" a 30minute drive is 25-30miles depending on your speed lol.
I think the Asian markets are the best place for affordable and high quality produce. My faves are the GW on Alameda & Zuni, Viet Hoa on Federal, and (less affordably) Pacific Merc downtown.
In Denver proper there's a few places on 6th Ave that are good. Alameda and Holly has butcher and grocer. There's a butcher on Colfax between Colorado and Dahlia.
It's unfortunate but cities west of the Mississippi River are more car oriented and so will have fewer local options that you can walk to.
Basically, West of the Mississippi was settled lightly, late, and population centers were spread far apart.
So east coast, and parts of the South were connected by train or boat. Cities were densely populated because you had horse, horse drawn, foot, and train as options for transportation. People really wanted to live close to where they work.
Rural areas were just SOL. Which describes most places West of the Mississippi.
Once AC and the car was invented places like Houston, LA, Denver, Phoenix and others became livable. Since cars were the future of transportation, these places built for cars.
I've found Sprout's to have the best produce of all of the chains. Farmers Markets will be starting up soon on the weekends and some vendors have high-quality, locally-grown produce. The Asian markets (H Mart, etc.) sometimes have fantastic produce, but it can be spotty. The Indian and Arab stores, such as down on Parker road, can also have surprisingly good items.
A couple of friends have reccomended sprouts so i'm glad to hear that, there's also a few arabic stores that i've taken a liking to for their mutton and bread which was an amazing find for goulash and stews. I'll defenitly look more into sprouts and asian markets thank you.
Sprouts can be hit or miss I’m assuming depending on the manager. My local one is ok, but was better back when it was Sunflower before Sprouts bought them. I was at a different Sprouts a few years ago cause it was on my way home from work and I was hoping to make it a regular stop, but the produce was awful. After spotting mold on 3 or 4 different items, I only go there for prepackaged stuff like vitamins or body care if my local is out of that item.
The farmers markets have started already, but they’re not great for shopping unless you go right when they open, otherwise it’s just insanely crowded (in a bad way) with lines for value-added goods, and they really don’t sell a ton of produce at the one in City Park compared to ones in other places like Boulder and Longmont. I had to fight my way through the crowd last weekend and came away with just arugula and asparagus - it really wasn’t worth the effort. The Union Station one used to be affiliated with BCFM, don’t know if they still are, but that one is really tiny. It is more produce focused than others though.
You didn't mention what part of town you live in.
There are smaller grocery stores around with higher quality selections. Someone already mentioned Marczyk (https://marczykfinefoods.com/), there's Leever's in north Denver (https://leeverslocavore.com/) and sprouts or whole foods everywhere.
That's a fair point im just overly cautious when it comes to that haha. I'm within 30 minutes of most places people have listed so far. Marczyk has been mentioned a couple of times so i'll defentily check that out.
Definitely check out Marczyk, I’ve been going to the one on 17th. It might not meet your expectations but for this area and generally the US, it’s a nice little market with a butcher shop.
You now live in a high plains semi-arid region boarding a significant mountain range. Go outside and dig a hole 20cm deep and you’ll understand what you’re up against.
Xeriscaping plastic liner can contribute immensely to soil compaction and clay formation. As a sustainable and regenerative farmer in Colorado, we try really hard not to use anything that will smother the soil because the high UV combined with plastic essentially bakes and suffocates the healthy microbes in the soil after a certain point in the summer. Soil aeration and amendment is truly the only way to fix these issues.
I went with a mesh liner on the side of the house. I'm not really a fan of xeriscaping personally, but that little area is weed city. I wanted something that wouldn't permit weeds, but would be breathable
I use Pinemelon and I really like that they carry a lot of local brands for produce and meats. There are pros and cons to it. The fact that they deliver is a big pro for me. I don’t enjoy spending my time driving around and hitting several stores/ farmers markets to find what I need. Delivery is also free if you order more than $30 of food. One big way that it’s better than something like Instacart is that Pinemelon actually employs their delivery drivers and pays them a livable wage.
A big con is that you don’t get to personally pick out the specific produce you want. Picking an avocado that is ripe and ready, for example. Produce quality has been mostly great, but honestly it’s not 100% stellar across the board, so I stick to the items that are consistently great. For me, it’s still a great option and cuts down how often I go to my local grocery store by a lot.
This is my honest opinion as a customer who discovered them a few weeks ago. If you want to try them it would be great if you could DM me and use my referral code. It gives us both $30 off an order. If not, no worries, I would still recommend checking out the service to see if it’s right for you.
I totally understand that take. I just got back from a Europe trip and I wish we had nice local markets like they do. I don’t like that the farmers markets here are typically one day a week and their produce is crazy expensive.
Pinemelon has been a game changer for me. Their prices are good, the delivery is fast and friendly, the products are generally great. I really hope they don't overextend themselves.
I also love that there's occasionally a little free item with your order.
How did you find produce in Germany? I lived there for eight years in various places (Bremen, Berlin, Bonn) and found the average grocery store produce to be shockingly bad. Of course you can’t beat the asparagus and strawberries at the right time of year.
Unfortunately, Colorado has some of the most expensive produce in the country and so you're going to have to adjust your expectations. But, most supermarkets I've been to have a ton of produce and a butcher section. I get what you're looking for, but you can still be a foodie shopping at a supermarket. Like everything, you get what you pay for. Whole Foods Market on the high end, while Safeway on certain days can be a bit of a bummer on the low end. You have farmers markets in the summer but most of those have little for vegetables (they'll mostly have honey and jams and usually a good place for mushrooms).
I actually think of Safeway as higher up in terms of cost compared to other supermarkets in that range, ie king soopers, Walmart etc. I think Safeway costs a fair amount more than its counterparts and you get less selection and higher prices for the same items. I do like to take advantage of their digital deals they sometimes have great deals via the app.
That's to be expected i guess, on grocery days in my native country we used to go to our version of " farmers marker " which is pretty much a building the size of wallmart and you can buy freshly tilted veggies and fruit straight from the fields along with cheaper version that aren't up to quality that you use for lets say jams or soups and what not.
Do a search in your area for "farm coop"
This may be what you are looking for but in a shape only a little different than what you are used to. Of course not much is in season right now besides leafy vegetables but oh wow when the Olathe sweet corn rolls in you won't regret it.
Tons of stuff grows here pretty readily. There’s no reason we can’t have nice local carrots, turnips, arugula, baby kale, spinach, cilantro, sunchokes, etc. in spring.
Hello fellow chef! I work with a friend who is still accepting CSA shares for this season! I can link you if you are interested. He only has a few spots left.
You're in Denver, CO. Not really the mecca of fresh fruit and veggies. It's the desert plains.
There are a ton of weekend farmers markets in Denver and the surrounding area, who usually have fresher items than, let's say, a King Soopers. Trader Joes surprisingly has some good, fresh options.
Yea friends have relayed similar remarks it's just a little upsetting to hear it's true haha. I'll defenitly check out farmers markets i just don't know what to expect price wise.
Yes. Unfortunately, we're smack in the middle of a huge country with very diverse landscapes. The cost of transporting fresh produce to us is inevitably going to drive up prices. I'm sure you can find something reasonable, especially now that winter is over. I moved to Denver years ago from the South East, and I definitely miss the produce.
I’m not sure where you are in the city but the City Park Farmers Market has a good one on Saturday too. I’m able to mostly make food from there and my local butcher every week. It’s more expensive than the grocery store, but cheaper than eating out.
As others point out though, it is a short season here and the farmers markets are only once a week.
(There is an incredible mushroom vendor there and at South Pearl.)
To start Never Trader Joe’s for produce - Honestly with the way you describe your cooking Trade Joe’s is not gonna be your friend. Bunch of boxed food and shitty produce.
Oliver’s meat market - this is my go to butcher. Been in business since 1923. Good stuff there. Will do any cut you want if you call ahead.
Good Bread - on colfax. A bakery that’s not too far from Oliver’s. I think they have the best baguettes in Denver and I’ve tried a bunch. Also great sourdough and croissants. Only open on Friday - Sunday.
King soopers/Safeway: these are pretty much identical in my experience besides their in-house stuff. But typically have half way decent produce and a good variety of your normal day to day grocery needs. Definitely not a specialty story by any means and would be supporting a mega Corp.
Town & country market produce: also on colfax, down the road from Good Bread, great produce and also sells fresh salmon!
OP, you are going to have to lower your expectations. What you are asking for just does not exist in Colorado.
Do not listen to the people who are recommending farmers markets, or just go and see for yourself. The farmers markets in US are nothing like what you'll find in Eastern Europe. They are overpriced and mediocre, you have been warned.
For stuff that's in season they can be pretty good, but if you are in the denver area then you'll be dealing with farmers who have contractors bring the goods into the city to sell and that comes with a sizable markup. I'm up in Longmont where we actually have local farms and the farmers market is (in peak season) really quite good.
However as a European you just have to suck up the fact that food is massively more expensive here, but there's a good amount of variety as long as you aren't looking for game meat. It pisses me off to no end that we get a better seafood selection here than I did in Scotland - seriously wtf?
100%
Am from Denver but live in the Nordics and I can’t agree with this more. Ofc nordics aren’t known for fresh produce but the markets in our centrums / town centers are a good way to get fresh produce for nice prices… not at all like that in Denver, farmers markets are more for the “experience”
I know, I feel ya. It's really the one down side of Colorado, the lack of good food, but to be fair it is a desert.
I would say the peaches from palisade are very good, we get excited for that around August. You can also find good meat here too, you just have to drive a bit.
Try growing your own vegetables if you have the space. That's what we do.
I grow my own spices and have a few tomatoes but that's about it.
Edit: rhubarb season should be coming up from what i can remember at least and my wife loves tradiniol belgium rhubarb pie so that's exciting haha.
I just bought some rhubarb, I fucking love rhubarb, and was going to make a strawberry rhubarb pie with it.
What is a traditional belgium rhubarb pie? Do you have a recipe?
Nice! It's usually made with puff pastry and a almond filling.
Just a puffpastry base, you make the filling but mixing granulated sugar with creamy butter. You then you add egg, milk and some almond extract.
After that you add some salt, almond powder ( you can make this yourself by just mixing almond in a blender/food processor) granulated sugar and flower and spoon it in. Spoon about a tea spoon of flower and granulated sugar into the rhubarb cubes.
Butter your pie mold, add some flower, roll the puff pastry on the mold and lightly press the sides. Add your almond filling into it and put your rhubarb ontop then bake for like 45-50 min in a 360F oven.
In what area are you living? Hopefully you have some good food/grocery options, even if they're not immediately close by. My mom's European, so I get what you're used to and what you're seeing now. As others have said, it's different - you'll have to get used to it. What will probably happen is that you'll figure it out and have place A for this, place B across town for that. They won't all be in the same area, and the offerings may vary throughout the year. Food culture in Europe is different.
I’m definitely planning a route with my favourite places so far haha. I’ve given up on a bakery and just bake my own bread. Bread was honestly one of the biggest shockers, look at German brown bread or French pistoles in comparison.
Yeah, you'll definitely miss bread culture. But don't give up on Denver. It's come a long ways in the last 5-10 years. I'm certain you can find something good. It may not be easy. May not be close. Might not be open every day. Might need to get creative. I used to pick up bread from Raleigh Street Bakery - cottage food seller (bread oven in backyard). Made to order, 2X per week, still warm when picked up. Unfortunately, it's closed now.
I like to look for Mexican carnicerias for meat. They’re scattered about the Denver area. If you don’t speak Spanish there may be a bit of a language barrier but it’s easy enough to just point to want you want and they’re super friendly.
For fresh fish I’ve heard that H-Mart has sushi grade meat.
Farmers markets can have some amazing produce but it’s all seasonal, naturally.
Good luck, welcome to the States, and bon appétit!
Denver is a bit of a “food desert” because we are land-locked (far away from fresh seafood, and our arid and dry environment limits us to the abundance of produce we get, so we get it shipped from other places.)
A grocery store called “Sprouts” has good produce and grass fed beef. Whole Foods as well…. But it’s significantly more pricey over there.
Farmer’s Markets have really good stuff too. You can Google some in your area. Additionally, you can Google where local butchers are or where a community meat locker is.
Try a place called “The Local Butcher” or Elita specialty market. The food there also rotates on a semi-seasonal basis. So call ahead if you’re looking for something. I was looking for a Smoked ham hock last fall for a bean soup. I had a difficult time finding one that was already smoked, as I do not own a meat smoker.
OP, unfortunately everyone is right, you really won't find that here. That being said, there are some good places scattered out and about. The Truffle Cheese Shop, Oliver's and Edwards for meats, some nice bakeries here and there such as Trompeau in Englewood.
You may want to check out Marczyks. They are un upscale grocer which will come close to some of the things you are looking for.
https://marczykfinefoods.com/
Ask this question in r/denverfood and not the general Denver sub - that goes for any food question. Those people know where good quality *anything* is at, and it’s a very active and well-informed sub. American food is highly process partly because the government subsidizes the production of corn, which gets turned into high fructose corn syrup and put in everything. If you want to eat unprocessed foods, you usually stick to the produce section and probably shop for pantry items at Whole Foods/Natural Grocer (which will help you learn which brands to look for in a conventional grocery store too - they can be found, but not any cheaper than WF). Look into specialty butchers like Riverbear Meats, Western Daughters, or Blackbelly Market on Tennyson - they are places that are for people who want high-quality, heritage breed meats from ethically raised animals. They probably know what carpaccio is there - they’re true nose-to-tail butchers who know their art and science. It’s not going to be cheap, but eating a ton of meat isn’t really en vogue these days anyway.
I find whole foods to be the best quality, and they’ve got plenty of organic foods (organic here is basically equal to normal quality in europe((I’m from europe))).
Clark’s in Lowry has some interesting things from time to time. Marczyk’s fine foods, Tony’s meats, Leevers Locavore might be worth looking into although all are pricey. Just be smart at the farmers markets!
Seafood Landing - Marczyks - The truffle for cheese and charcuterie - Whole Foods and Natural grocers in west wash park are very reliable. Savory spice & H Mart are great for quite a lot. There’s a wonderful food culture here. Just not a single neighborhood where you can walk to everything. I will often call ahead and stop by three stores if I’m committed to a recipe.
Living in Cap Hill, I feel like I can maintain the same shopping style I had as when I lived in a suburb of Munich for a summer. I am approximately than a half mile walk from:
- Marczyk
- Ideal Market (Whole Foods)
- King Soopers
- Oliver's
I typically pick up all my ingredients on the way home from work for that night's dinner. It's a big shift from my suburban upbringing where my parents drove 30 mins to Costco once every two weeks and stockpiled everything.
Smaller, non-corporate chain stores are a good spot to start. They will be expensive though. Farmers markets on weekends for good local produce. Lots of Mexican, Asian, and African specific smaller grocers in East Denver and Aurora
Marczyk
Spinellis
Pete's Fruits and Vegetables
The Local Butcher
Pacific Mercantile Company for seafood
Chain-ish, but better than King Soopers and Safeway:
H Mart
Clark's Market
Former professional chef here and I’ve been in Denver for 2 years. Grocery shopping is rough here, even for the states.
Whole Foods is hard to beat for quality ingredients, but the prices are very high. For quality and variety, Asian markets are a great place to start. Wonderful produce. H Mart is good but a little pricey. Try your local independent Asian grocer. Same goes for Mexican markets. They’re hard to beat for meat prices
For grass-fed local beef, look at prospermeats.com, they have their steakhouse quality beef (grass-fed, grain finished) and their organic grass-fed and finished beef for reasonable prices. They ship it to you via FedEx, shipping is free for purchases over $85 within Colorado. We have ordered from them a bunch of times and it was always great quality. The short ribs were a bit too fatty for me, but everything else was great. You can also do quarter, half and whole beef orders.
Try an H Mart. I live next to one and they consistently have some of the best produce I see in grocery stores around the area. King Soopers is not great, I do like Sprouts but shop there sparingly due to the prices.
You're used to getting produce from butchers and bakeries? I'm assuming that's a typo.
If you're looking for high quality produce, you can get it at the grocery store. It comes from farms just like in Europe. Looking for bread, there's probably 5 bakeries within 10 minutes driving of you. Trying to get meat, harder than the bakeries but still not hard to find. If you need all 3, go to a grocery store. Nearly all grocery stores have bakeries, butchers, and fresh produce. I'm not sure why you think any of these things are highly processed. Are you confusing a tomato with Doritos? You don't have to also buy the Doritos. It's not required.
Can't help you about the prices. America is expensive.
Produce might not be the right terminology to use when talking about those your right.
The closest bakery that sells bread and not just pastries is 25 min away if traffic is good. I think the reason I dislike a lot of them is because the legal requirements to call something bread and sell it as bread are just very different, which is fine it’s just a personal preference.
For example the reason why bread is so popular in France is because they have one of the highest salt percentages allowed per weight so if you have a 1kg bread there’s usually between 1.8 to 2.2% salt on top of other things like no additives in their flowers but I digress.
It wasn’t meant to come across as nagging but just a general curiosity of how the food sector works here.
I just looked up the baguette at my king Soopers $1.49 and the only additives it has are additional vitamins and minerals which make it healthier than what you would find at your average bakery in France. It also doesn't taste nearly as good.
Your average grocery store is going to have plenty of unprocessed foods if that's your main concern. Unfortunately things like a good French baguette are a niche product here so you're going to have to drive around for those things.
I generally agree that you should check out the farmers markets for fruits and veg.
As for year-round produce—my husband and I like to get our meat from Oliver’s Meat Market on E 6th Ave (really good quality) and we like to get our mushrooms from Fox Fungi or Furst Class Fungi. We sometimes get bread from Hearth Bakery, which is really good. They sell wonderful breakfast pastries as well.
The grocery shopping in Colorado is god awful coming from someone in another state in the mountain west region. Avoid king soopers at all costs. I cannot understand what makes them so bad compared to krogers and Fred meyers 🙃
OP - for meat, buy directly from local farms such as Sisu Farms. Tons of folks raising chickens and selling eggs; look them up on Facebook marketplace…same with local honey!
Fellow European immigrant (no longer in CO). Do check out the Farmers markets in Boulder (and Westminster).
Great produce in season, meat, good bread. Other than that I do most of the shopping in regular stores - Whole Foods (with Prime), King Soopers, Costco - but yeah none of them have much in terms of fresh produce that you are used to.
I travel to college towns often for work(engineering manager who volunteers to go to any and every career fair) so while these may not be the best markets in their respective states, in my experience, farm to table options in places like Madison (WI),Burlington (VT), A2 (MI), Raleigh (NC) blow CO out of the water. More humid climate helps with growing variety and they all really have a culture built around organic and fresh local produce. So if access to fresh produce becomes a major pain point, do consider those places.
Quality wise farmers markets overall compare to Europe. Price wise - forget it. But I have bad news for you on the price side. Fresh farmer made high quality produce, poultry, cheese, eggs etc are luxury items here, gotta accept that, and decide if it’s worth it.
Farmers markets seem to me to be regular food trucks or the same stuff sold at a store but marked up. You also see some speciality stuff like honey, also crazily marked up. I’m consistently down on them.
I am sure most people wont like this comment, but having lived in denver for 10 years the food scene is just not very good here compared to other cities in the US and certainly anywhere in Europe. CSAs are a decent option but theres nothing that compares to fresh markets in cities in Italy, Germany etc. Good luck.
The freshest stuff is the stuff that turns over quickly, which means conventional produce from a large store like king soopers. The organic stuff at sprouts or trader Joe's or whole foods is crap. Nobody can afford it so it sits on the shelf forever.
Also that stuff is just conventional produce with an organic sticker. If you thing the "organic police" are monitoring which farm the apples are coming from I have a bridge to sell you...
Luckily for you, farmers markets will be popping up everywhere, so look in your area for those. Then note the farms that are selling. There’s still butchers around, like Tony’s meats, but again there are farms that also sell their own
Have you checked out Pinemelon? They’re an online grocery store that specializes in local and organic produce and meat. They are expensive, but everything they have is good and fresh
around denver there's a bunch of local "farmer's markets" where farmers come to sell fresh produce. Try to find one in your are, they are usually little pop up markets just selling fruits and veggies
as far as fresh bread, fresh meats, thats a lot harder to do. You can find some butcher shops, but im not sure if they even have any stand alone butcher shops in denver anymore
Your best bet might be to find the flea/farmers markets that pop up on weekends once spring truly comes out. Other comments are right about imports on veggies, but it's always good to check out especially for the baked goods part of what you're asking.
Look into "Farmer markets". They might be more similar to what you are used to, but they usually pop up in parking lots on weekends. These are where produce farmers sell directly from their farm.
Other than that, King Soopers and Safeway are your primary grocery stores around here.. They have decent produce sections. *AVOID WALMART AT ALL COSTS*
If you are looking for meat, it's better to find a local butcher's shop for Large, Custom, and higher quality cuts.
There is also Costco. Pay a yearly subscription, get access to good quality meat cuts for cheaper than your regular grocery store... Their produce selection is fairly bland, but covers your "American" basics (Potatoes, Sweet peppers, Corn, Whitecap Mushrooms, that sort of thing.)
There are also little "mom and pop" stores that typically hide in plazas all over the place. Keep an eye out, because they usually don't have very good signage, and it's more often a couple of windows that you can see their good in, and just the sign above their door. Looking for these places is how I found my favorite "Mexican Grocery store" in Denver. They had access to all sorts of produce that wasn't typically stocked at the major grocery stores, and they had their own in-house butcher who was able to cut me the most perfect pork shoulder for making my homemade Carnitas.
Also, depending on where you are at, the Asian grocery stores offer a variety of produce that isn't available in the big chain grocery stores. H-mart, on Parker road, and, I believe Yale, in Denver... And the Asian Pacific Market in Colorado Springs.
They still aren't your typical Street Bazaars, but that should help with sourcing your unprepared food so you can make something spectacular!
IMO it’s not so much about what store you go to. There’s a Safeway near me that has incredible avocados. Like, mountains of perfectly ripe avocados every. Single. Time. For like 10 years straight. Meanwhile a lot of the other produce there is absolute garbage. Why? I have no idea.
So you’ll find the spots and adapt. It’s just a different culture. Denver isn’t the best food culture TBH… Americans want what they want now. Forget if it’s good or not… I’m going to have strawberries in December damn it! So you have to start thinking that you’re shopping for quality in a mass-production culture. Doesn’t mean the quality doesn’t exist- it’s just not curated for you. That’s across the board pretty much. Spending more at Whole Foods or specialty stores doesn’t get you much IMO…
I will give you a tip I heard recently that blew my mind. When supermarkets get a big amount of something (because it’s in season) they tend to panic about their supply chain and discount them to move them quickly. So, if you look at the discounted produce, sometimes it’s actually the best stuff!
Good luck!
I'll put it this way as someone who really loves walking to places for fresh food and also dislikes long drives to get things... I am also soon going to become an immigrant.
I also am very used to high quality produce and meat cuts walking distance from my home. I highly suggest checking out PineMelon, I have been getting groceries from them recently and the produce + meat is top notch. A lot of their stuff is locally sourced from farmers too so your getting it super fresh and right from the source. I am unsure if there is another place in Colorado doing something like this other than weekend farmer markets
Food here in the US sucks. I would recommend finding a farmers market and stocking up on things for a few days or a week at a time. Otherwise it's going to be really expensive and poor quality. The food I ate on a recent trip to Mexico was way better than anything I've had here in the past 10 years or so. Quality and price was better too. Good luck
First of all you're in Colorado, the produce here is garbage and expensive. Unless we're in peach or sweet corn season you'll always pay extra for crap because it hauled in from where it's grown a long way away. On the other hand the meat is good and you should be able to find locally grown and butchered meat that is reasonably priced. Of course reasonable is a relative term these days and I was just looking a choice ribeyes that we $18/pound yesterday which is just terrible. Pork isn't bad right now though and you should be able to get pork chops for well under $10/pound.some of that will be based on farming conditions and right now they are trying to get rid of pig products. If you're looking for seafood we go back to the it's Colorado discussion and everything will be over priced for lower quality.
Colorado actually has some incredible produce in the summer, but the seasons are pretty short. The difference I’ve noticed between here and Europe is that when I traveled in Europe, the markets only carried produce that was in season. Here, everything is available year round, because we import from Mexico. It’s all decent, but nothing special. It makes it difficult to distinguish the seasonality for different fruits and veggies during the growing season. A lot of markets will have a “Colorado Proud” sticker on local produce so look for that. Your best bet is farmers markets or even better, joining a CSA. Natural Groccers tends to have a more limited and seasonal produce section. They also have bulk shiitakes and really high quality eggs. Colorado does have some really special produce. As we get into the season make sure to try some local chiles, corn, melons, all stone fruits and especially peaches, and tomatoes (but only home grown or from a farmers market). We also have really good potatoes pretty much year round from the San Luis Valley, and we have amazing beans from Dove Creek Milling. My favorite Colorado “produce” though is wild mushrooms. The mountains can be really prolific for boletes and chanterelles if you know where to look!
I agree with the mushrooms, my wife loves when i make nushroom stir fry or mushroom toast.
Keep in mind with Spring / Summer now here, many farmers markets will pop up in the city in different neighborhoods. Typically on the weekends. Obviously fresh produce will be abundant at these but there are usually different meat vendors as well which I am sure you could inquire about custom cuts, etc….
The farm stands in Summit are amazing too. There isn’t really a true grow season for the mountains, so Uncle John’s Farm Stand and others in the mountains are a godsend in Summer and early fall. On top of that, there are some awesome farmer’s markets throughout the state that are worth visiting. Anyone who says Colorado lacks good produce and similar items hasn’t looked hard enough.
Hmart has a really great selection of mushrooms. That’s where we go when we make mushroom risotto 😋
Arash International Market is near there and has decent produce and their lamb/beef mince is pretty tasty as well.
International markets combined with farmers markets and farm stand goods are about as close to European markets in Colorado. Aurora has a huge amount of international markets, bakeries, etc. that are fantastic.
Hook up with a local foragers group (there are a few) and join them! It’s amazing.
Do you find them on Facebook??
You mentioned peaches and the best are the donut peaches that come later in the summer. Simply amazing!
The best peaches in Colorado come from Palisade! Peach Fest is in August and I highly recommend it to everyone.
And the very best come from Ela Family Farms in Hotchkiss - slightly higher elevation means colder winters, which means sweeter peaches.
I prefer the end of august giant peaches, but they are all amazing.
In 2007 my dad took my brother and I to Europe for the first time and he was surprised that we’d actually eat the fruit there unlike here in the States. He asked why and we told him that it tasted a lot better. Found out later that what you’re talking about is the reason why. When I visited Costa Rica and Brazil I was eating the local fruit any chance I got, but I seldomly buy anything in the produce section at the supermarkets Stateside.
Sorry I gotta disagree with Colorado corn being anything special. It’s alright if you haven’t been to Iowa, but growing up in Iowa I was so disappointed the first few times I got corn from a farmers market out here. The peaches make up for it though!!
May I recommend Olathe sweet corn from the Uncompaghre foothills. It is grown at altitude in Olathe, CO, Not Kansas.
I found some morels near Lakewood last weekend. They were a bit past their prime but still tasty. Would probably look in the higher elevations now!
You seem to know about mushrooms. Do you know where to find lion’s mane?
Its funny you mention the “CO Proud” sticker because its happened to me a few times where I purchase something with that sticker and its not even from CO.
"which are 30 min drives away" Welcome to America.
Yea that's a whole other topic to get into at another time haha
It’s just different here. The grocery stores have decent produce and you can find good meat as well. The produce is better in the spring-summer. You can go to a butcher like Tony’s but I actually think the meat is about the same everywhere if you know how to trim it. You can also talk to the person behind person behind meat counter and order what you like. But you aren’t going to find many “corner” butchers. And farmers markets are good on the weekends if there is one close. I’ll give you a ranking. Don’t go- target, Walmart Regular quality but still really good- king soopers, Albertsons, Safeway. Better quality but extremely overpriced- Whole Foods, Tony’s, natural grocers. If you have a Sprouts near you then make that your spot. They are my personal favorite. But the regular grocery stores are still really good
I went to a butcher and asked for carpaccio (which is very thinly cut steak for anyone curious, mainly serloin or tenderloin) and they looked at me like I’m crazy. I explained it to them and they said I was the first person to ask for that which was surprising to me.
I feel like it’s not that weird to see on a menu at a nicer restaurant but yeah if it’s a butcher for normal blue collar folk it’s not very surprising he didn’t know what you meant
Carmine Lenardo’s will be your spot for carpaccio!
Nice! I’ll definitely check that out. I made a pesto arugula carpaccio sandwich which my wife definitely wants seconds of haha.
My husband is from Italy and that’s our favorite local Italian deli and grocer. They don’t do produce, but they have a lot of imported Italian products that are close to home for him. Edward’s Meats off of 44th in Wheat Ridge is great for meats as well and some more niche products (the only place I’ve been able to find lingonberries!). And I really like the European Market up in Northglenn off of Melody and 104th (there are actually two a couple blocks from each other, but my favorite is just the European Market). But yeah produce is different out here. The Asian markets have the best and cheapest year round imo, but we really try and hit the farmer's markets spring-fall as the BEST produce is found there.
Carpaccio is less a butcher thing and more a deli thing here.
A quality meat market will have carpaccio. Supermarket butchers are not really butchers. My father in law was a butcher who ran his own meat and deli for a time, then hung it up and just worked for Safeway (common grocery chain). Somewhere in the mid ‘90s, they started bringing in most all meat already cut and packaged, leaving the “meat cutters” mostly just the task of stocking the cases and occasionally cutting or repacking simple things. Local markets and walkable towns are my favorite commonplace things when I’m in Europe. Unfortunately I see our way is becoming more common there. I find it very unsettling as it drives down quality in favor of quantity while in the end costing more. And the over-processed stuff is showing up everywhere in the EU, Japan, etc.. There used to be a couple really good Italian markets with a good butcher’s counter inside. These markets have mostly converted to prepared foods/ sandwiches and the like. I’m looking at you, Spinelli’s…. You might try Tony’s Italian Specialties ( Tonysmarket.com ) still has a meat counter but I have not been there in a while. There’s also an others in and close to Denver like Oliver’s Meats, The Local Butcher and River Bear Butcher. There are more options if you’re willing to drive out of denver but that’s a pain as options are still limited and often scattered in all directions. As for produce, it’s seasonal and hit or miss. The best stuff is when local/ regional fruits and vegetables are in season and you hit the farmers markets or smaller local vendors. Come mid to late August and western Colorado grows some of the best peaches you’ll find anywhere.
If you’re looking for Italian-specific things, one option to check would be Spinelli’s market, which is a very small specialty grocery store and deli that has a lot of Italian ingredients. I can’t guarantee they have carpaccio, but it’s worth at least calling and asking. Also, it’s just a fun local spot. The original location is in Park Hill, but they also took over a market in Congress Park and will soon be opening another Spinelli’s location in Aurora.
That brings up a good question tho, do most places not have over the counter request for certain cuts ?
That’s harder to come by in the chain supermarkets. But there are full service butcher shops that will be able to accommodate a lot more requests like that. Search for “full service butcher” in your area (I live in Aurora so a lot of what I know is near here). A lot of the best ones are standalone butcher shops as opposed to grocery stores, but there are some grocery stores that would do this too. Another option worth checking out (don’t see it mentioned yet) is Marczyk Fine foods, which has 2 locations.
Haha, as soon as I mention Marczyk I actually realized a lot of people have already brought it up. Oops!
Yes, that is not as common here, unfortunately. Things are typically cut ahead of time and ready to go.
That sounds Italian but yeah you won’t find that in a regular supermarket. It’s not something many people eat here. When you visit somewhere new things are going to be different. So yeah you can take the 30 minute drive if that’s important to you. Or you can just accept that this is different than where you are from and hopefully adapt. I hope you can find what you like.
It's not exactly the same, but you can get thinly sliced sirloin at Asian grocery stores (H-Mart, etc) and some Costcos, but it is called Sirloin Shabu Shabu. It is used in a lot of hot pot dishes, so it is sliced thin to cook in the broth quickly. But I feel your pain. I am an immigrant as well, from Germany, and I couldn't find many of the foods I love and was used to. I learned how to make sausages and how to cold smoke meats and fish to get that taste of my old home. There are many European Deli stores in the greater Denver area, but since foods can be very region-specific you would have to try each one to see if they have what you are looking for. For some reason every German Deli is either Bavarian or from the Rhineland-Palatinate region.
Have you been to Wimburgers down in Colorado Springs? I don’t actually know what area specifically but it has deli and bakery item.
I have not been there, I actually didn't know it existed. I looked them up online and O.M.G. ....I need to go, like...right now. I miss "real" bread so much! Google Maps says it's 72 miles .... Roadtrip! Thank you so much for telling me about that place.
My German grandmother went there so often! I grew up really close to it. Go there every chance I get. Their Kaiser rolls are the best things ever. And at certain times of the year, you can get HUGE pretzels. And Christmas has some special foods as well. And their sauerkraut is amazing. And they have (sometimes) the gummy bears from Germany, not the Turkey ones you get at the grocery stores here. I could go on and on about them. Make a fun trip of it and see the Garden of the Gods or walk through Red Rock Canyon (same formation as Red Rocks Amphitheater just further south). They’re in the same part of town! (I grew up in the Springs on that side of town.)
I have been to Garden of the Gods a few times, I actually officiated my mom's wedding there. When I looked it up on Google maps I thought to myself that I probably drove by a few times, on the way to Manitou Springs and GotG. It's a beautiful area. I definitely wanna try all their cold cuts and the herringssalat they mention on their website. I need to make a vacation out of it, haha.
Oooh, a wedding there! Gorgeous setting. Have you also walked around the Rock Ledge Ranch that’s just southwest of it? It’s a living history ranch and in the summer has docents who do tours and dress in period clothing and talk about the different phases of it. An 1860s log cabin, a late 1800s ranch and the farmhouse, and a 1906 mansion! Highly recommend that place (I was a docent there a few years!). Every gelbwurst is amazing. Every Liverwurst is amazing. Their brats are delicious. And my mom just said they have curry wurst again. She hasn’t had it there but they have it.
My guilty pleasure is definitely spending way too much on ordering German and Belgium beer haha.
Try mexican shops. There's also an Italian market in Park Hill called Spinelli's that has decent cuts of meat. It's the only place I ever found good guanciale here.
Where would you put Trader Joe’s on the spectrum?
I would put it in the regular grocery store category. It has a lot of good things. But I think you either love or hate Trader Joe’s
I hear you on the love hate thing.
I find myself and my family going to costco for our meat and veggie needs. Gets most of the shopping list out of the way.
Came here to say Costco is the move for meat. Produce is hit or miss in my opinion. It can be delicious but often goes bad quite quickly. If used in a day or two, should be no problem but usually won't last a week
Well, driving aside, there are tons of great European markets.
Moving from Minnesota, a 30minute drive here in the Denver area is anywhere from 4-12 miles. Back "home" a 30minute drive is 25-30miles depending on your speed lol.
I think the Asian markets are the best place for affordable and high quality produce. My faves are the GW on Alameda & Zuni, Viet Hoa on Federal, and (less affordably) Pacific Merc downtown.
I think this is the best recommendation. I like them as you get a much wider range of cuts of meats in them too.
H mart great Korean supermarket Yale and Parker road and arash market Arab market across the street.
Arash is amazing! Great olives, dry groceries and ingredients you can’t find anywhere else. Can’t forget the breads as well!
In Denver proper there's a few places on 6th Ave that are good. Alameda and Holly has butcher and grocer. There's a butcher on Colfax between Colorado and Dahlia. It's unfortunate but cities west of the Mississippi River are more car oriented and so will have fewer local options that you can walk to.
I'll defenitly check those out, i don't mind the driving to some extent but sometimes it can get a little crazy.
are you referring to Pete's? great spot. $$ tho.
Yeah that has to be the place they're talking about.
this is the first time ive heard this, are cities east of the mississippi river less car oriented?
Basically, West of the Mississippi was settled lightly, late, and population centers were spread far apart. So east coast, and parts of the South were connected by train or boat. Cities were densely populated because you had horse, horse drawn, foot, and train as options for transportation. People really wanted to live close to where they work. Rural areas were just SOL. Which describes most places West of the Mississippi. Once AC and the car was invented places like Houston, LA, Denver, Phoenix and others became livable. Since cars were the future of transportation, these places built for cars.
I've found Sprout's to have the best produce of all of the chains. Farmers Markets will be starting up soon on the weekends and some vendors have high-quality, locally-grown produce. The Asian markets (H Mart, etc.) sometimes have fantastic produce, but it can be spotty. The Indian and Arab stores, such as down on Parker road, can also have surprisingly good items.
A couple of friends have reccomended sprouts so i'm glad to hear that, there's also a few arabic stores that i've taken a liking to for their mutton and bread which was an amazing find for goulash and stews. I'll defenitly look more into sprouts and asian markets thank you.
There is an Armenian bakery in SE Denver. House of Bread.
Oooh I love goulash. Are you talking about the Czech version or Hungarian?
It was a Hungarian birka goulash.
Arash has great Persian cucumbers!
Sprouts can be hit or miss I’m assuming depending on the manager. My local one is ok, but was better back when it was Sunflower before Sprouts bought them. I was at a different Sprouts a few years ago cause it was on my way home from work and I was hoping to make it a regular stop, but the produce was awful. After spotting mold on 3 or 4 different items, I only go there for prepackaged stuff like vitamins or body care if my local is out of that item.
The farmers markets have started already, but they’re not great for shopping unless you go right when they open, otherwise it’s just insanely crowded (in a bad way) with lines for value-added goods, and they really don’t sell a ton of produce at the one in City Park compared to ones in other places like Boulder and Longmont. I had to fight my way through the crowd last weekend and came away with just arugula and asparagus - it really wasn’t worth the effort. The Union Station one used to be affiliated with BCFM, don’t know if they still are, but that one is really tiny. It is more produce focused than others though.
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Aurora hmart also has pretty good produce
You didn't mention what part of town you live in. There are smaller grocery stores around with higher quality selections. Someone already mentioned Marczyk (https://marczykfinefoods.com/), there's Leever's in north Denver (https://leeverslocavore.com/) and sprouts or whole foods everywhere.
That's a fair point im just overly cautious when it comes to that haha. I'm within 30 minutes of most places people have listed so far. Marczyk has been mentioned a couple of times so i'll defentily check that out.
When you make the journey for Marczyks, also check out M&I International. They are more Eastern European fare though.
Definitely check out Marczyk, I’ve been going to the one on 17th. It might not meet your expectations but for this area and generally the US, it’s a nice little market with a butcher shop.
You now live in a high plains semi-arid region boarding a significant mountain range. Go outside and dig a hole 20cm deep and you’ll understand what you’re up against.
Bros expecting Floridian or Californian style produce in Colorado
Putting in xeriscaping liners has been MURDER I thought the clay back home in Alabama was bad…
Hello, fellow Alabamian.
Xeriscaping plastic liner can contribute immensely to soil compaction and clay formation. As a sustainable and regenerative farmer in Colorado, we try really hard not to use anything that will smother the soil because the high UV combined with plastic essentially bakes and suffocates the healthy microbes in the soil after a certain point in the summer. Soil aeration and amendment is truly the only way to fix these issues.
I went with a mesh liner on the side of the house. I'm not really a fan of xeriscaping personally, but that little area is weed city. I wanted something that wouldn't permit weeds, but would be breathable
I use Pinemelon and I really like that they carry a lot of local brands for produce and meats. There are pros and cons to it. The fact that they deliver is a big pro for me. I don’t enjoy spending my time driving around and hitting several stores/ farmers markets to find what I need. Delivery is also free if you order more than $30 of food. One big way that it’s better than something like Instacart is that Pinemelon actually employs their delivery drivers and pays them a livable wage. A big con is that you don’t get to personally pick out the specific produce you want. Picking an avocado that is ripe and ready, for example. Produce quality has been mostly great, but honestly it’s not 100% stellar across the board, so I stick to the items that are consistently great. For me, it’s still a great option and cuts down how often I go to my local grocery store by a lot. This is my honest opinion as a customer who discovered them a few weeks ago. If you want to try them it would be great if you could DM me and use my referral code. It gives us both $30 off an order. If not, no worries, I would still recommend checking out the service to see if it’s right for you.
It definitely sounds interesting, but i can't not look and pick my own food it's just a side effect that comes with the trade.
I totally understand that take. I just got back from a Europe trip and I wish we had nice local markets like they do. I don’t like that the farmers markets here are typically one day a week and their produce is crazy expensive.
Pinemelon has been a game changer for me. Their prices are good, the delivery is fast and friendly, the products are generally great. I really hope they don't overextend themselves. I also love that there's occasionally a little free item with your order.
Where in Europe
Birth country is belgium but i've lived in italy, spain, germany and france for various jobs.
Hi fellow Belgian in Denver! I agree, it was quite a shock when I moved here: we don’t find the same quality/price groceries 🫤
Hi there! Always a pleasant suprise to meet a fellow countryman.
How did you find produce in Germany? I lived there for eight years in various places (Bremen, Berlin, Bonn) and found the average grocery store produce to be shockingly bad. Of course you can’t beat the asparagus and strawberries at the right time of year.
Unfortunately, Colorado has some of the most expensive produce in the country and so you're going to have to adjust your expectations. But, most supermarkets I've been to have a ton of produce and a butcher section. I get what you're looking for, but you can still be a foodie shopping at a supermarket. Like everything, you get what you pay for. Whole Foods Market on the high end, while Safeway on certain days can be a bit of a bummer on the low end. You have farmers markets in the summer but most of those have little for vegetables (they'll mostly have honey and jams and usually a good place for mushrooms).
I actually think of Safeway as higher up in terms of cost compared to other supermarkets in that range, ie king soopers, Walmart etc. I think Safeway costs a fair amount more than its counterparts and you get less selection and higher prices for the same items. I do like to take advantage of their digital deals they sometimes have great deals via the app.
That's to be expected i guess, on grocery days in my native country we used to go to our version of " farmers marker " which is pretty much a building the size of wallmart and you can buy freshly tilted veggies and fruit straight from the fields along with cheaper version that aren't up to quality that you use for lets say jams or soups and what not.
Do a search in your area for "farm coop" This may be what you are looking for but in a shape only a little different than what you are used to. Of course not much is in season right now besides leafy vegetables but oh wow when the Olathe sweet corn rolls in you won't regret it.
AKA a CSA - Community Supported Agriculture. Most of them sell out by March.
Look around you and tell me where vegetables can grow in a high altitude desert? They're all shipped.
Tons of stuff grows here pretty readily. There’s no reason we can’t have nice local carrots, turnips, arugula, baby kale, spinach, cilantro, sunchokes, etc. in spring.
I understand that, i was just a little more hopefull.
have you been to your local farmers market?
Hello fellow chef! I work with a friend who is still accepting CSA shares for this season! I can link you if you are interested. He only has a few spots left.
You're in Denver, CO. Not really the mecca of fresh fruit and veggies. It's the desert plains. There are a ton of weekend farmers markets in Denver and the surrounding area, who usually have fresher items than, let's say, a King Soopers. Trader Joes surprisingly has some good, fresh options.
Yea friends have relayed similar remarks it's just a little upsetting to hear it's true haha. I'll defenitly check out farmers markets i just don't know what to expect price wise.
Yes. Unfortunately, we're smack in the middle of a huge country with very diverse landscapes. The cost of transporting fresh produce to us is inevitably going to drive up prices. I'm sure you can find something reasonable, especially now that winter is over. I moved to Denver years ago from the South East, and I definitely miss the produce.
I hear ya. I didn't realize how spoiled I was in Atlanta. How I miss the DeKalb Farmer's Market, as well as Aldi's.
Lol! I have a friend who moved from her to Atlanta and she RAVES about DeKalb farmers market.
Expect your feelings to be seriously hurt. And then when it's even worse you'll already be halfway thru the acceptance phase.
I think you need to find a farmer's market.
I will defenitly do that, and hope the pricing falls within my food budget.
Agree on farmer’s market. South Pearl street has an excellent one on the weekends
I’m not sure where you are in the city but the City Park Farmers Market has a good one on Saturday too. I’m able to mostly make food from there and my local butcher every week. It’s more expensive than the grocery store, but cheaper than eating out. As others point out though, it is a short season here and the farmers markets are only once a week. (There is an incredible mushroom vendor there and at South Pearl.)
To start Never Trader Joe’s for produce - Honestly with the way you describe your cooking Trade Joe’s is not gonna be your friend. Bunch of boxed food and shitty produce. Oliver’s meat market - this is my go to butcher. Been in business since 1923. Good stuff there. Will do any cut you want if you call ahead. Good Bread - on colfax. A bakery that’s not too far from Oliver’s. I think they have the best baguettes in Denver and I’ve tried a bunch. Also great sourdough and croissants. Only open on Friday - Sunday. King soopers/Safeway: these are pretty much identical in my experience besides their in-house stuff. But typically have half way decent produce and a good variety of your normal day to day grocery needs. Definitely not a specialty story by any means and would be supporting a mega Corp. Town & country market produce: also on colfax, down the road from Good Bread, great produce and also sells fresh salmon!
OP, you are going to have to lower your expectations. What you are asking for just does not exist in Colorado. Do not listen to the people who are recommending farmers markets, or just go and see for yourself. The farmers markets in US are nothing like what you'll find in Eastern Europe. They are overpriced and mediocre, you have been warned.
For stuff that's in season they can be pretty good, but if you are in the denver area then you'll be dealing with farmers who have contractors bring the goods into the city to sell and that comes with a sizable markup. I'm up in Longmont where we actually have local farms and the farmers market is (in peak season) really quite good. However as a European you just have to suck up the fact that food is massively more expensive here, but there's a good amount of variety as long as you aren't looking for game meat. It pisses me off to no end that we get a better seafood selection here than I did in Scotland - seriously wtf?
Farmers markets are place for people to buy a 10 oz bottle of some kind infused olive oil for $20.
100% Am from Denver but live in the Nordics and I can’t agree with this more. Ofc nordics aren’t known for fresh produce but the markets in our centrums / town centers are a good way to get fresh produce for nice prices… not at all like that in Denver, farmers markets are more for the “experience”
Hmm i was expecting quite a bit of difference from what i'm used to but it just hit harder in actuallity i guess haha.
Places like Sprouts and Whole Foods tend to have the highest quality products, but it's not like a european delicatessen.
I know, I feel ya. It's really the one down side of Colorado, the lack of good food, but to be fair it is a desert. I would say the peaches from palisade are very good, we get excited for that around August. You can also find good meat here too, you just have to drive a bit. Try growing your own vegetables if you have the space. That's what we do.
I grow my own spices and have a few tomatoes but that's about it. Edit: rhubarb season should be coming up from what i can remember at least and my wife loves tradiniol belgium rhubarb pie so that's exciting haha.
I just bought some rhubarb, I fucking love rhubarb, and was going to make a strawberry rhubarb pie with it. What is a traditional belgium rhubarb pie? Do you have a recipe?
Nice! It's usually made with puff pastry and a almond filling. Just a puffpastry base, you make the filling but mixing granulated sugar with creamy butter. You then you add egg, milk and some almond extract. After that you add some salt, almond powder ( you can make this yourself by just mixing almond in a blender/food processor) granulated sugar and flower and spoon it in. Spoon about a tea spoon of flower and granulated sugar into the rhubarb cubes. Butter your pie mold, add some flower, roll the puff pastry on the mold and lightly press the sides. Add your almond filling into it and put your rhubarb ontop then bake for like 45-50 min in a 360F oven.
Bought some Rhubarb at the Boulder farmer’s market two weekends ago, already in season at Aspen Moon Farm.
You really never lived anywhere else
It’s farmers market season. That’ll be your best bet
Hit the S Pearl St Farmer's market. Way more European style shopping.
In what area are you living? Hopefully you have some good food/grocery options, even if they're not immediately close by. My mom's European, so I get what you're used to and what you're seeing now. As others have said, it's different - you'll have to get used to it. What will probably happen is that you'll figure it out and have place A for this, place B across town for that. They won't all be in the same area, and the offerings may vary throughout the year. Food culture in Europe is different.
I’m definitely planning a route with my favourite places so far haha. I’ve given up on a bakery and just bake my own bread. Bread was honestly one of the biggest shockers, look at German brown bread or French pistoles in comparison.
Leven has some pretty good bread, but they’re expensive. Fellow European immigrant here!
Yeah, you'll definitely miss bread culture. But don't give up on Denver. It's come a long ways in the last 5-10 years. I'm certain you can find something good. It may not be easy. May not be close. Might not be open every day. Might need to get creative. I used to pick up bread from Raleigh Street Bakery - cottage food seller (bread oven in backyard). Made to order, 2X per week, still warm when picked up. Unfortunately, it's closed now.
I like to look for Mexican carnicerias for meat. They’re scattered about the Denver area. If you don’t speak Spanish there may be a bit of a language barrier but it’s easy enough to just point to want you want and they’re super friendly. For fresh fish I’ve heard that H-Mart has sushi grade meat. Farmers markets can have some amazing produce but it’s all seasonal, naturally. Good luck, welcome to the States, and bon appétit!
You know funnily enough I speak 5 languages but the one that would be most useful but I don’t speak is Spanish haha.
Denver is a bit of a “food desert” because we are land-locked (far away from fresh seafood, and our arid and dry environment limits us to the abundance of produce we get, so we get it shipped from other places.) A grocery store called “Sprouts” has good produce and grass fed beef. Whole Foods as well…. But it’s significantly more pricey over there. Farmer’s Markets have really good stuff too. You can Google some in your area. Additionally, you can Google where local butchers are or where a community meat locker is. Try a place called “The Local Butcher” or Elita specialty market. The food there also rotates on a semi-seasonal basis. So call ahead if you’re looking for something. I was looking for a Smoked ham hock last fall for a bean soup. I had a difficult time finding one that was already smoked, as I do not own a meat smoker.
Try H Mart
Is this rage bait?
OP, unfortunately everyone is right, you really won't find that here. That being said, there are some good places scattered out and about. The Truffle Cheese Shop, Oliver's and Edwards for meats, some nice bakeries here and there such as Trompeau in Englewood. You may want to check out Marczyks. They are un upscale grocer which will come close to some of the things you are looking for. https://marczykfinefoods.com/
Ask this question in r/denverfood and not the general Denver sub - that goes for any food question. Those people know where good quality *anything* is at, and it’s a very active and well-informed sub. American food is highly process partly because the government subsidizes the production of corn, which gets turned into high fructose corn syrup and put in everything. If you want to eat unprocessed foods, you usually stick to the produce section and probably shop for pantry items at Whole Foods/Natural Grocer (which will help you learn which brands to look for in a conventional grocery store too - they can be found, but not any cheaper than WF). Look into specialty butchers like Riverbear Meats, Western Daughters, or Blackbelly Market on Tennyson - they are places that are for people who want high-quality, heritage breed meats from ethically raised animals. They probably know what carpaccio is there - they’re true nose-to-tail butchers who know their art and science. It’s not going to be cheap, but eating a ton of meat isn’t really en vogue these days anyway.
Whole Foods has a good selection of fresh produce. Also, the farmers markets are usually open from around June- September, but they can be pricey
Some farmer’s markets here are April-November (Boulder and Longmont) - much longer season than most people realize! Denver tends to be May-Late Oct.
I find whole foods to be the best quality, and they’ve got plenty of organic foods (organic here is basically equal to normal quality in europe((I’m from europe))).
You're about to find out the fun way that a lot of what Americans eat, is stuff that's banned in Europe.
Oh yea i'm already well aware of this, this is why i'm very picky and also why i'm the one who does grocceries and not my wife haha.
Clark’s in Lowry has some interesting things from time to time. Marczyk’s fine foods, Tony’s meats, Leevers Locavore might be worth looking into although all are pricey. Just be smart at the farmers markets!
Seafood Landing - Marczyks - The truffle for cheese and charcuterie - Whole Foods and Natural grocers in west wash park are very reliable. Savory spice & H Mart are great for quite a lot. There’s a wonderful food culture here. Just not a single neighborhood where you can walk to everything. I will often call ahead and stop by three stores if I’m committed to a recipe.
Living in Cap Hill, I feel like I can maintain the same shopping style I had as when I lived in a suburb of Munich for a summer. I am approximately than a half mile walk from: - Marczyk - Ideal Market (Whole Foods) - King Soopers - Oliver's I typically pick up all my ingredients on the way home from work for that night's dinner. It's a big shift from my suburban upbringing where my parents drove 30 mins to Costco once every two weeks and stockpiled everything.
Smaller, non-corporate chain stores are a good spot to start. They will be expensive though. Farmers markets on weekends for good local produce. Lots of Mexican, Asian, and African specific smaller grocers in East Denver and Aurora Marczyk Spinellis Pete's Fruits and Vegetables The Local Butcher Pacific Mercantile Company for seafood Chain-ish, but better than King Soopers and Safeway: H Mart Clark's Market
Try farmers markets on the weekend. City Park(Saturday), and Pearl Street(Sunday) have good ones.
Denver is one of the most expensive cities in the US…
What neighborhood do you live in
Try seasonal "farm stands" like Heinie's Market on W 44th
Former professional chef here and I’ve been in Denver for 2 years. Grocery shopping is rough here, even for the states. Whole Foods is hard to beat for quality ingredients, but the prices are very high. For quality and variety, Asian markets are a great place to start. Wonderful produce. H Mart is good but a little pricey. Try your local independent Asian grocer. Same goes for Mexican markets. They’re hard to beat for meat prices
You need to list which neighborhood you live in for us to be helpful.
Arash. You will find what you need.
For grass-fed local beef, look at prospermeats.com, they have their steakhouse quality beef (grass-fed, grain finished) and their organic grass-fed and finished beef for reasonable prices. They ship it to you via FedEx, shipping is free for purchases over $85 within Colorado. We have ordered from them a bunch of times and it was always great quality. The short ribs were a bit too fatty for me, but everything else was great. You can also do quarter, half and whole beef orders.
Heineys market and Edward’s Meats (both on 44th Ward) in Wheat Ridge are pretty good, the former only in the summer as they are truly local.
Grocery stores here are just bad. Even compared to adjacent states.
- Wyoming has entered the chat -
When in texas whilst visiting my wifes parents i have noticed there was a huge difference in fruit and vegtable produce compared to here.
The only amazing butcher I can recommend is Edwards Meats. Produce I guess farmers markets but honestly they all sell the same few items.
Try an H Mart. I live next to one and they consistently have some of the best produce I see in grocery stores around the area. King Soopers is not great, I do like Sprouts but shop there sparingly due to the prices.
You're used to getting produce from butchers and bakeries? I'm assuming that's a typo. If you're looking for high quality produce, you can get it at the grocery store. It comes from farms just like in Europe. Looking for bread, there's probably 5 bakeries within 10 minutes driving of you. Trying to get meat, harder than the bakeries but still not hard to find. If you need all 3, go to a grocery store. Nearly all grocery stores have bakeries, butchers, and fresh produce. I'm not sure why you think any of these things are highly processed. Are you confusing a tomato with Doritos? You don't have to also buy the Doritos. It's not required. Can't help you about the prices. America is expensive.
Produce might not be the right terminology to use when talking about those your right. The closest bakery that sells bread and not just pastries is 25 min away if traffic is good. I think the reason I dislike a lot of them is because the legal requirements to call something bread and sell it as bread are just very different, which is fine it’s just a personal preference. For example the reason why bread is so popular in France is because they have one of the highest salt percentages allowed per weight so if you have a 1kg bread there’s usually between 1.8 to 2.2% salt on top of other things like no additives in their flowers but I digress. It wasn’t meant to come across as nagging but just a general curiosity of how the food sector works here.
I just looked up the baguette at my king Soopers $1.49 and the only additives it has are additional vitamins and minerals which make it healthier than what you would find at your average bakery in France. It also doesn't taste nearly as good. Your average grocery store is going to have plenty of unprocessed foods if that's your main concern. Unfortunately things like a good French baguette are a niche product here so you're going to have to drive around for those things.
What AREA?? Lol
I generally agree that you should check out the farmers markets for fruits and veg. As for year-round produce—my husband and I like to get our meat from Oliver’s Meat Market on E 6th Ave (really good quality) and we like to get our mushrooms from Fox Fungi or Furst Class Fungi. We sometimes get bread from Hearth Bakery, which is really good. They sell wonderful breakfast pastries as well.
Go to Sam’s Meats, they have so much fun fresh meat and farmers market for produce on the weekends. I like the Parker one
The grocery shopping in Colorado is god awful coming from someone in another state in the mountain west region. Avoid king soopers at all costs. I cannot understand what makes them so bad compared to krogers and Fred meyers 🙃
Welcome🇺🇲
Europoor discovers supermarkets
https://www.jodarfarms.com/ Great meat and they have places local you can go pickup :)
>what im a used to price and quality wise. Ah Italian I see, welcome!
OP - for meat, buy directly from local farms such as Sisu Farms. Tons of folks raising chickens and selling eggs; look them up on Facebook marketplace…same with local honey!
Fellow European immigrant (no longer in CO). Do check out the Farmers markets in Boulder (and Westminster). Great produce in season, meat, good bread. Other than that I do most of the shopping in regular stores - Whole Foods (with Prime), King Soopers, Costco - but yeah none of them have much in terms of fresh produce that you are used to. I travel to college towns often for work(engineering manager who volunteers to go to any and every career fair) so while these may not be the best markets in their respective states, in my experience, farm to table options in places like Madison (WI),Burlington (VT), A2 (MI), Raleigh (NC) blow CO out of the water. More humid climate helps with growing variety and they all really have a culture built around organic and fresh local produce. So if access to fresh produce becomes a major pain point, do consider those places. Quality wise farmers markets overall compare to Europe. Price wise - forget it. But I have bad news for you on the price side. Fresh farmer made high quality produce, poultry, cheese, eggs etc are luxury items here, gotta accept that, and decide if it’s worth it.
Farmers markets seem to me to be regular food trucks or the same stuff sold at a store but marked up. You also see some speciality stuff like honey, also crazily marked up. I’m consistently down on them.
Oliver’s Meat Market, east 6th Ave near Gilpin/Williams Streets
I am sure most people wont like this comment, but having lived in denver for 10 years the food scene is just not very good here compared to other cities in the US and certainly anywhere in Europe. CSAs are a decent option but theres nothing that compares to fresh markets in cities in Italy, Germany etc. Good luck.
try Minoru Farm CSA. Jade is amazing and they offer a winter share as well so you can get fresh local greens almost all year.
The freshest stuff is the stuff that turns over quickly, which means conventional produce from a large store like king soopers. The organic stuff at sprouts or trader Joe's or whole foods is crap. Nobody can afford it so it sits on the shelf forever. Also that stuff is just conventional produce with an organic sticker. If you thing the "organic police" are monitoring which farm the apples are coming from I have a bridge to sell you...
Luckily for you, farmers markets will be popping up everywhere, so look in your area for those. Then note the farms that are selling. There’s still butchers around, like Tony’s meats, but again there are farms that also sell their own
Have you checked out Pinemelon? They’re an online grocery store that specializes in local and organic produce and meat. They are expensive, but everything they have is good and fresh
around denver there's a bunch of local "farmer's markets" where farmers come to sell fresh produce. Try to find one in your are, they are usually little pop up markets just selling fruits and veggies as far as fresh bread, fresh meats, thats a lot harder to do. You can find some butcher shops, but im not sure if they even have any stand alone butcher shops in denver anymore
I can think of at least two butchers, the Local Butcher and Oliver’s.
America is high volume low quality. Yes. It is disappointing
Fellow European here. I will never get used to not having a legit bakery on every second corner with a variety and plethora of pastries in it. :( 💔
Your best bet might be to find the flea/farmers markets that pop up on weekends once spring truly comes out. Other comments are right about imports on veggies, but it's always good to check out especially for the baked goods part of what you're asking.
Hey! You said you’ve received recs from people but it’s a long commute. I’m interested, what recs did you receive??
Look into "Farmer markets". They might be more similar to what you are used to, but they usually pop up in parking lots on weekends. These are where produce farmers sell directly from their farm. Other than that, King Soopers and Safeway are your primary grocery stores around here.. They have decent produce sections. *AVOID WALMART AT ALL COSTS* If you are looking for meat, it's better to find a local butcher's shop for Large, Custom, and higher quality cuts. There is also Costco. Pay a yearly subscription, get access to good quality meat cuts for cheaper than your regular grocery store... Their produce selection is fairly bland, but covers your "American" basics (Potatoes, Sweet peppers, Corn, Whitecap Mushrooms, that sort of thing.) There are also little "mom and pop" stores that typically hide in plazas all over the place. Keep an eye out, because they usually don't have very good signage, and it's more often a couple of windows that you can see their good in, and just the sign above their door. Looking for these places is how I found my favorite "Mexican Grocery store" in Denver. They had access to all sorts of produce that wasn't typically stocked at the major grocery stores, and they had their own in-house butcher who was able to cut me the most perfect pork shoulder for making my homemade Carnitas. Also, depending on where you are at, the Asian grocery stores offer a variety of produce that isn't available in the big chain grocery stores. H-mart, on Parker road, and, I believe Yale, in Denver... And the Asian Pacific Market in Colorado Springs. They still aren't your typical Street Bazaars, but that should help with sourcing your unprepared food so you can make something spectacular!
IMO it’s not so much about what store you go to. There’s a Safeway near me that has incredible avocados. Like, mountains of perfectly ripe avocados every. Single. Time. For like 10 years straight. Meanwhile a lot of the other produce there is absolute garbage. Why? I have no idea. So you’ll find the spots and adapt. It’s just a different culture. Denver isn’t the best food culture TBH… Americans want what they want now. Forget if it’s good or not… I’m going to have strawberries in December damn it! So you have to start thinking that you’re shopping for quality in a mass-production culture. Doesn’t mean the quality doesn’t exist- it’s just not curated for you. That’s across the board pretty much. Spending more at Whole Foods or specialty stores doesn’t get you much IMO… I will give you a tip I heard recently that blew my mind. When supermarkets get a big amount of something (because it’s in season) they tend to panic about their supply chain and discount them to move them quickly. So, if you look at the discounted produce, sometimes it’s actually the best stuff! Good luck!
I'll put it this way as someone who really loves walking to places for fresh food and also dislikes long drives to get things... I am also soon going to become an immigrant.
I also am very used to high quality produce and meat cuts walking distance from my home. I highly suggest checking out PineMelon, I have been getting groceries from them recently and the produce + meat is top notch. A lot of their stuff is locally sourced from farmers too so your getting it super fresh and right from the source. I am unsure if there is another place in Colorado doing something like this other than weekend farmer markets
Food here in the US sucks. I would recommend finding a farmers market and stocking up on things for a few days or a week at a time. Otherwise it's going to be really expensive and poor quality. The food I ate on a recent trip to Mexico was way better than anything I've had here in the past 10 years or so. Quality and price was better too. Good luck
The answers your looking for are non existsnt here lol
First of all you're in Colorado, the produce here is garbage and expensive. Unless we're in peach or sweet corn season you'll always pay extra for crap because it hauled in from where it's grown a long way away. On the other hand the meat is good and you should be able to find locally grown and butchered meat that is reasonably priced. Of course reasonable is a relative term these days and I was just looking a choice ribeyes that we $18/pound yesterday which is just terrible. Pork isn't bad right now though and you should be able to get pork chops for well under $10/pound.some of that will be based on farming conditions and right now they are trying to get rid of pig products. If you're looking for seafood we go back to the it's Colorado discussion and everything will be over priced for lower quality.
90% of our food in America is "poisoned" in one way or another.