Trader Joe'S In Abq
The check-out clerk said they had record sales on Friday's opening, and on Saturday. I really went there to “kick the tires” and spent about $16.83 on some great values and fine foods.
Then I went on to Albertson’s, where I was headed in the first place. When I started talking to the woman ahead of me about TJ’s, she said a second store is planned for the area around the malls at Louisiana and I-40 and on the Westside as well. Another woman jumped in to say she had TJ’s where she had lived before and missed TJ's in Albuquerque.
Looks like we got ourselves a big winner. Try to visit them, but do it on a weekday morning.
A Tip For The Standard Diner
For me, diners conjure up blue-collar workers affordably slurping up an abundantly piled blue-plate special. The lack of a large board advertising the days of the week and what was offered should have prepared me for the steep, slightly offensive, prices. But after sitting quietly, awaiting my inevitably tardy companion, with a tasty glass of port—another rarity for diner fare—my sensibilities mellowed (even though a daily newspaper was nowhere to be found).
The waitress was friendly but slow to thoughtfulness. There was something stingy about the bread serving—we repeatedly requested (begged) for more.
The portions—meatloaf and potatoes for me and pot roast with exotic dipping sauces (the names of which were alien and unpronounceable to us being mere ordinary folk)–were artistically presented. Far from blue-plate-special abundance, our meals were delightfully delicious and we ’mmmmed' our way through them (aside from some tasteless broccoli).
The cost, $60 including tax and tip, is a distant cry from standard diner fare for two, but it cannot be denied, Downtown is being rapidly gentrified.
Perhaps it's just the misnomer that throws me, for we'll definitely return. After all, we promised to try some dessert next time.
Franco, Frankly
Best Of Bark-Y
Funk You
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