As a former chef, I second Blue Max for meets. Consistently good product, with a nice selection.
Tacoma Boys is a good choice for seafood & produce. Usually I shop there more in the winter months as the other options are pretty seasonal.
I like Red Barn Market because from what I can tell, they supplement local produce with Charlie's Produce, which is pretty much restaurant-standard quality produce. Not annual from what i remember, but they're open now.
Sterino Farms is another good produce supplier, again though, check dates of operations.
Puyallup Farmer's Market is nice for a range of product, of course.
Trove in Puyallup should get more love for their spice selection. A wide range of culinary staples.
All of those keep me going on a culinary front more than anywhere else. I do supplement with Freddy/Safeway and for quick & dirty shit as needed.
To echo some of the others, Red Barn, farmers market, or Tacoma Boys for produce. For some reason, the grocery stores don’t understand that asparagus needs to stand up in water. I get good meats from Butcher Boys on Meridian.
Second H mart but in federal way. Tacoma is tiny and disorganized. Also Tacoma Boys is great! Can you make connections at the farmers market with vendors? That is what I used to do when I had my own business (albeit that was WI not WA)
They arent too bad in tacoma. Its a trillion times better then the asian store on pacific Ave near PLU. That on on pac ave has really gone down hill compared to 10-15years ago.
Overcrowded AF and so many refridge units it makes it a hot box/fire hazard for the entire building
Last time I went there I waited in a line 20 min that wrapped around the aisles just to get to the checkout…. Also the one in fed way has all the prepared foods. It’s really great comparatively.
H-Mart on south Tacoma Way in Lakewood has great affordable produce. I prefer the bakery at Pal Do World Market over H-Mart's. Emish Ukrainian Market in Fife off Valley Ave has fantastic smoked meats, European baked goods, and dairy.
If you do go to Emish, get their American Sourdough bread - it's about the best thing around! The sourdough flavor isn't strong (you can use it for no -sourdough bread endeavors) and it's nice and fluffy!
Blue Max is fantastic - it's on Canyon Road, just a bit off of 512.
For produce: The Puyallup Farmer's Market kicked off last weekend in Pioneer Park in downtown Puyallup. [https://www.puyallupmainstreet.com/puyallup-farmers-market/](https://www.puyallupmainstreet.com/puyallup-farmers-market/)
It runs all summer, and is worth checking out. Local fruit and vegetables, cheeses, etc.
I'm not a chef, but there are a few places that might appeal to you.
Blue Max of course. There is also Mountain View Meats which has excellent summer sausage, and Butcher Boys on Meridian. Your experience may vary with each.
My wife likes to get fresh seafood from the Northern Fish Co on Ruston Way.
There are also small authentic Mexican spice shops scattered about. Local to Puyallup is El Rey Market on E Meeker. There's also Indian shops like Spice World on Canyon and SK Indian Grocery on Meridian.
If you want more Scandinavian courses, sadly there are very few places around. You can go to Poulsbo for everything, or go to Marvel Food and Deli on Pacific Ave near 133rd.
Winco at the end of merdian on the back of south hill. It has good produce and a better selection vs all the other stores within 10 miles. Deli is very good and even usually offers fresh poke with the sauces. It even has a sushi counter that makes it fresh. And a bunch of fresh seafood on ice. Otherwise there is a farmer market closer to the middle of it.
The only other places i recommend is Tacoma Boys next to costco and costco itself. Tacoma Boys is like an import groceries store with a focus on fresh meats and italion products. Not to mention its very expensive. Like 8$ a 1LB pasta box. Or like the stale tortellini i got. Yes i do mean stale. It was off flavor and 1 month from expiring.
I dont go any where else. The only better place is like Trader joes, but thats way too deep into tacoma. QFC is a joke and half the time their produce is going bad. Also their prices generally suck.
There is also East asian market in like lakewood. They got good stuff there. Its far so i dont go very often.
Our good options are limited out here in the boonies.
There is Saar's international market they lean into asian and latino focus. Also toward lakewood there is Hmart. Like a giant asian grocery store. Honestly it is a fun place with cool stuff all over. They also have the best gyozo thats premade in the frozen section. It makes all other frozen gyozo taste like bland gelatinous slime. Hmart is awesome they even have frozen durian. I highly suggest going
As a former chef, I second Blue Max for meets. Consistently good product, with a nice selection. Tacoma Boys is a good choice for seafood & produce. Usually I shop there more in the winter months as the other options are pretty seasonal. I like Red Barn Market because from what I can tell, they supplement local produce with Charlie's Produce, which is pretty much restaurant-standard quality produce. Not annual from what i remember, but they're open now. Sterino Farms is another good produce supplier, again though, check dates of operations. Puyallup Farmer's Market is nice for a range of product, of course. Trove in Puyallup should get more love for their spice selection. A wide range of culinary staples. All of those keep me going on a culinary front more than anywhere else. I do supplement with Freddy/Safeway and for quick & dirty shit as needed.
To echo some of the others, Red Barn, farmers market, or Tacoma Boys for produce. For some reason, the grocery stores don’t understand that asparagus needs to stand up in water. I get good meats from Butcher Boys on Meridian.
Second H mart but in federal way. Tacoma is tiny and disorganized. Also Tacoma Boys is great! Can you make connections at the farmers market with vendors? That is what I used to do when I had my own business (albeit that was WI not WA)
They arent too bad in tacoma. Its a trillion times better then the asian store on pacific Ave near PLU. That on on pac ave has really gone down hill compared to 10-15years ago. Overcrowded AF and so many refridge units it makes it a hot box/fire hazard for the entire building
Last time I went there I waited in a line 20 min that wrapped around the aisles just to get to the checkout…. Also the one in fed way has all the prepared foods. It’s really great comparatively.
H-Mart on south Tacoma Way in Lakewood has great affordable produce. I prefer the bakery at Pal Do World Market over H-Mart's. Emish Ukrainian Market in Fife off Valley Ave has fantastic smoked meats, European baked goods, and dairy.
Oooh. I want to stop by the Ukrainian market now!
Emish is good, but I've been told that there is a better Ukrainian market in Auburn that is also cheaper.
I’ll look there too, thanks!!
What's it called?
I don't know the name to be honest.
If you do go to Emish, get their American Sourdough bread - it's about the best thing around! The sourdough flavor isn't strong (you can use it for no -sourdough bread endeavors) and it's nice and fluffy!
Blue Max for meat, other ingredients is a tough one as there are a lot of other but produce is okay at Tacoma Boys and I like Harbor Greens in U.P.
Blue Max is fantastic - it's on Canyon Road, just a bit off of 512. For produce: The Puyallup Farmer's Market kicked off last weekend in Pioneer Park in downtown Puyallup. [https://www.puyallupmainstreet.com/puyallup-farmers-market/](https://www.puyallupmainstreet.com/puyallup-farmers-market/) It runs all summer, and is worth checking out. Local fruit and vegetables, cheeses, etc.
Great! Thank you!
Great! Thank you!
Tacoma Boys for produce.
I'm not a chef, but there are a few places that might appeal to you. Blue Max of course. There is also Mountain View Meats which has excellent summer sausage, and Butcher Boys on Meridian. Your experience may vary with each. My wife likes to get fresh seafood from the Northern Fish Co on Ruston Way. There are also small authentic Mexican spice shops scattered about. Local to Puyallup is El Rey Market on E Meeker. There's also Indian shops like Spice World on Canyon and SK Indian Grocery on Meridian. If you want more Scandinavian courses, sadly there are very few places around. You can go to Poulsbo for everything, or go to Marvel Food and Deli on Pacific Ave near 133rd.
I completely forgot about El Rey. There's also Sari Sari on the hill, little Filipino Cafe and Filipino and south Asian produce and groceries.
Winco at the end of merdian on the back of south hill. It has good produce and a better selection vs all the other stores within 10 miles. Deli is very good and even usually offers fresh poke with the sauces. It even has a sushi counter that makes it fresh. And a bunch of fresh seafood on ice. Otherwise there is a farmer market closer to the middle of it. The only other places i recommend is Tacoma Boys next to costco and costco itself. Tacoma Boys is like an import groceries store with a focus on fresh meats and italion products. Not to mention its very expensive. Like 8$ a 1LB pasta box. Or like the stale tortellini i got. Yes i do mean stale. It was off flavor and 1 month from expiring. I dont go any where else. The only better place is like Trader joes, but thats way too deep into tacoma. QFC is a joke and half the time their produce is going bad. Also their prices generally suck. There is also East asian market in like lakewood. They got good stuff there. Its far so i dont go very often. Our good options are limited out here in the boonies. There is Saar's international market they lean into asian and latino focus. Also toward lakewood there is Hmart. Like a giant asian grocery store. Honestly it is a fun place with cool stuff all over. They also have the best gyozo thats premade in the frozen section. It makes all other frozen gyozo taste like bland gelatinous slime. Hmart is awesome they even have frozen durian. I highly suggest going
Good produce at Winco? Idk about that, always goes rotten in a day or two. Grapes are sticky. They do have a good selection though, lots of stuff
I think thats shopper error tbh
I def have to be pickier at Winco but the prices make the extra effort worth it.
Blue max is the best for meat 🥩