Grocery stores/markets?

[katers5636.livejournal.com]

Hi everyone,

I'm excited to be relocating to Davis Square from the midwest next month. When my roommate and I were exploring the area on a recent trip, we weren't able to find any grocery stores or markets. We were on a stressful apartment-hunting trip, so we could have completely missed them.

We'll be living right by the T, so if anyone can let me know where we can get our groceries in the area, that would be great. I checked the tags, but didn't have much luck there.

Anything else we need to know about the area?

Thanks in advance!

edit: Important info - I will not be bringing a car.

Comments

[georgy.livejournal.com]

There's a Star Market in Porter Square and a Johnny's Foodmaster at Broadway and Route 16 (a bus ride away). A bit farther afield, there's a Trader Joe's in Arlington, a Market Basket another bus ride away from Davis and a Stop and Shop a couple miles east on McGrath highway.

[srakkt.livejournal.com]

There are smaller and specialty markets, too.

There's Farmer's Bounty on Elm, McKinnon's butcher is across the street from that. There's Nimah Market on Mass Ave and Rindge (more of a convenience store) and Pemberton Farms further down Mass Ave towards 16.

[ron_newman]

Pemberton is quite close to Davis Square, on Mass. Ave. between Day and Chester streets.

Also, Dave's Fresh Pasta on Holland Street is much more than its name suggests -- it carries a variety of food.

[elusiveat.livejournal.com]

There's a big Shaw's at Porter Square, a couple of small grocery markets on the main strip of Davis Square, and there's Pemberton Farms (kinda yuppyish and expensive) on Massachusetts Avenue.

The Boston area is full of little places tucked away, hiding in plain sight.

Also, you have a kick-ass icon.

[katers5636.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :)

[badseed1980.livejournal.com]

If you're going to be right by the Davis Square T, it's not a long walk down Elm Street to the Shaw's at Porter Square. If you like to buy a lot of groceries at once, I'd recommend investing in one of those little folding wheeled carts. There are other stores in that shopping center as well. There are several convenience stores in the Davis area as well, for those need-it-now things.

Other things you need to know. Hmm. I guess I'd say that things are closer together than it seems at first. Porter, Teele, and Ball Squares are all within easy walking distance of Davis Square. Heck, even Harvard's not that bad of a walk on a nice day. So don't be afraid to venture outside Davis on foot, because there's a lot of stuff in easy reach.

[ron_newman]

Tags Hardware, right next to Shaw's, will sell you one of those 'granny carts'. At least when I bought mine years ago, it came with a lifetime guarantee.

Even though the supermarket is now called Shaw's, many people still call it by its old name of Star Market, as you can see above.

[katers5636.livejournal.com]

That's really good advice, thank you!

[thespian.livejournal.com]

Get a cart and get in the habit of catching the 87 down to Market Basket (you can catch it by the West side T-station or in front of the Dunkin' Donuts). Yes, the Shaw's is closer and 24 hours, and there's a time and a place for that, but you'll save about 25% on your grocery bill by going down there. It's a 5-7 minute ride, depending on the lights (not counting waiting for the bus, but it's a pretty frequent route).

[ron_newman]

But I've found that granny carts and buses don't mix well -- at least, the 77 drivers and riders hated it when I brought my cart onto that bus. It crowded the aisle and got in everyone's way. I stopped doing it.

[wallacestreet.livejournal.com]

Amen. Market Basket rocks. Not only is it way way cheaper (cheaper even than Costco), but the quality and variety, especially of the produce, is much better, due, I think, to high turnover. Because MB is cheap, there's a large immigrant population who shop there so there's lots of tasty stuff from all over the world; a whole aisle of Brazilian stuff and veggies you've never heard of. Also, after MB, shopping at Star (aka Shaw's) feels like shopping in a hospital, white walled and lifeless.

As for transport, while it's a bit awkward, we have been on the bus with our shopping cart many times and it's not that bad. Also, in the summer I sometimes hitch up my bike trailer and hit MB with that. With the savings over Star, you could probably pay your zipcar fees.

Once you're in Union Square for MB, you can easily hit the farmers' market (Saturdays), Reliable (http://www.yelp.com/biz/reliable-market-somerville) (a Korean run pan-Asian market) or any of the other Hispanic or Brazilian or Indian/Pakistani/Bangladeshi or etc. (http://www.unionsquaremain.org/visiting/findbusiness.html) markets in Union.

We generally split our shopping among MB, TJ's (the current Cambridge store sells beer and wine, the one opening in Alewife will not), and the farmers' markets (http://www.mass.gov/agr/massgrown/farmers_markets.htm) (there's one every day in Cambridge and Somerville during the season). We also buy groceries at

• Dave's Fresh Pasta (http://www.davesfreshpasta.com/) (bread & cheese & pasta & etc. & wine + beer)
  
• The dairy bar at Kickass Cupcakes (http://www.kickasscupcakes.com/Dairy_Bar.php) (fresh local glass-bottle milk and cheeses)
  
• Sessa's (http://www.yelp.com/biz/sessas-italian-grocery-store-somerville)
  
• and Farmer's Bounty (http://www.yelp.com/biz/farmers-bounty-somerville) for fruit and veggie emergencies

Finally Downtown Liquor (http://www.downtownwineandspirits.com/) is a fine fine liquor store if you're into that sort of thing.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

In addition to the places folks listed that are quite close to Davis, you can take the T to Central Square, and get to Harvest, a co-op - open to everyone - with a nice bulk foods selection and a variety of organic foods.

In the summer/fall (Jun-Oct, maybe early Nov), there is a farmers market every Wednesday in Davis Square, from noon-6. There are several other farmers' markets (http://www.mass.gov/agr/massgrown/farmers_markets.htm) in the area if that day/time doesn't work for you: most of those in Somerville or Cambridge (the one listed as "Charles Square" is in Harvard Square, I don't care what they call it) are a short bus/T/bike ride away.

[hrafn.livejournal.com]

Oh, and if you want delivery of organic fruit and veggies, there is Boston Organics (http://bostonorganics.com/).

And also lots of CSAs in the area (though you have to go to a central location to get the delivery), though I suspect most of them have sold out for the season.

[ron_newman]

Union Square farmer's market is Saturday morning, 9 am to 1 pm.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

People have the obvious/convenient choices covered, so I'll just add the other spots I occasion: 2 whole foods and the Harvest Co-Op in/near Central Sq (3 stops away on the redline) as well as a couple spice shops around there, haymarket near downtown is every friday & saturday and offers surplus produce for abnormally low prices (mixed quality but there's always good stuff as well), there is also a whole foods near alewife and soon-to-be a trader joe's I believe, and there are a couple specialty shops in/near Harvard.

[katers5636.livejournal.com]

Really good to know. I'm a HUGE Trader Joe's fan, so I'll need to hunt those down when I finally move there.

[m00n.livejournal.com]

Anything else we need to know about the area?

Yes. We love parking and hate airplane noise. ;-)

[sonofabish.livejournal.com]

And we love burritos, although whose burritos we love is a matter of lively debate.

[cnoocy]

You may also want to investigate Zipcar, which is a car-sharing program that makes it easy to get a car when you need to do a larger errand that's farther away or requires more cargo.

[lac.livejournal.com]

There is also quite a big Shaw's at the near the Meadowglen Mall..is that still Somerville even? But, that is definitely not walkable...believe me, I've tried it. Good if you have a car. I've taken to going to the Stop and Shop at McGrath now though...I mean, there's a Dunkin Donuts inside and the carts have holders for my iced coffee. How can I not love that?

Otherwise, I hit Shaws in Porter for quick stops and McKinnon's in Davis for meat.

[katers5636.livejournal.com]

Coffee + cart holders = instant love

I don't have a car, so it'll need to be walkable or public transportation(-able). Meat isn't an issue (I'm vegetarian). Perhaps I should have put this in my original post. :)

Thanks for your comment!

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

If you'll be coming with a car, you will definitely want to read up on the parking regulations. Find out when your street sweeping day is, and don't park on the even side during snow emergencies (or when there's 4+ inches of snow forecast, because a snow emergency will get called if it hasn't yet). You will get hammered with tickets. (They do open municipal lots during parking emergencies.)

Awesome feature of Somerville: 311. You can call this number from any phone in Somerville, land or cell, to ask questions pertaining to the city (all sorts of things, from "what's the number for X department" to "how do I get a parking permit" to "what the hell is that construction noise one street over and when will it stop"). Not necessarily staffed after hours, but awfully useful. You can also get a lot of information from the city web site, http://www.ci.somerville.ma.us . You can also submit requests ("there's a pothole at highland and medford", "the overhanging tree branches at highland and elm are obscuring the stop light" -- the latter is an example of something I called in once and they fixed it within a few days).

You can sign up for phone and email alerts about snow emergencies, street closures, and the like (I don't remember how, but you can ask the web site or 311! ;). Consider this mandatory if you have a car. The city also runs a number of mailing lists that disseminate information for specific areas or populations (e.g. the ward 7 list, for the Davis Square area, or the young somerville or somerville parents' lists, for specific constituencies). Again, I'm sure 311 and/or the web site can hook you up if you're interested. They're low-traffic, mostly for announcements of public meetings and suchlike.

The Somerville Arts Council does fun stuff. You'll have just missed ArtBeat, but keep an eye open for it in future years, plus What the Fluff, Open Studios, and other wacky events.

[katers5636.livejournal.com]

No car for me, but great information to know anyway. Thanks so much!!

[ron_newman]

By the way, this is now tagged as 'local food'. If you click on that you'll find a lot of useful information.

[katers5636.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I tagged it when I posted this. I clicked on that tag before posting and mostly found restaurant info. Helpful, but not exactly what I'm looking for right now.

[jodi.livejournal.com]

okay, so this request for info has generated a huge amount of responses and opinions (especially for a post not about burritos, parking, or airplanes!)

let me see if i can summarize and add my own opinion as someone who also lives near the T, shops vegetarian, and owns a bike and no car.

1. you will find your kitchen better stocked if you shop at multiple stores. while this seems inconvenient, i think you will find that the store you love is out of the way or that the closest has the least produce, etc, etc, etc.

2. small groceries considered "in" davis square include Dave's Fresh Pasta, McKinnon's and Harvest Bounty, as well as what's available at our local Tedeschi convenience store and the CVS and Rite Aid drugstore.

- McKinnon's is known for its meat but as a vegetarian, they will sometimes have good produce (and sometimes they have disgusting produce- it 50-50 in my experience). if you can get past the pervasive smell of meat, it can be good for some things

- Harvest Bounty is a very tiny, convenience-size store that will be rewarding if you are looking for south asian food, some produce, maybe soy milk, among other things. of course, most of this stuff is available elsewhere for a little less but not as convenient.

-Dave's Fresh Pasta carries lots of stuff but specializes in the pasta and related stuff and is well loved for it.

3. the next closest grocery outlets are a small south asian grocery on Mass Ave (about 4 blocks, if that) and a Pemberton Farms. There are also a few other tiny, possibly south asian or other specialty convenience style places on Mass ave if you are looking for specific things.

-The (relatively new) south asian grocery has only the basics and at thins point is still more convenience store that market.

- Pemberton Farms, however, is awesome. it may look like a garden center on the outside but has an excellent co-op style small grocery inside that you will surely appreciate as a vegetarian (we sure do). it is the closest place to davis square that will have a lot of options for vegetarians.

[jodi.livejournal.com]

4. the nearest full grocery store is Shaw's* on Elm. This is a fairly easy walk with groceries but, as suggested, you'll want a cart or some other backpack+ handle bags solution to carrying them home. this grocery is located right at the next T station from Davis so is an easy stop-off when coming home from work if you are downtown. it also has bike racks if you are carting your groceries home on your bike. Shaw's is more expensive than some of the other options and has a very limited selestion of produce but you will at least find most of what you need here and it is 24 hours, as well.
* sometimes people will call this the Star market. Star Markets and Shaw's are owned by the same company.

5. Foodmaster in Teele Square is about as far a walk as Shaw's and is considered the discount grocery.

6. market basket, as you may have gathered, is a crowd favorite. as in, its always crowded! the trade-off for the crowds is that it is much more affordable than all the other choices. it is a little farther though, so market basket for us takes either a bike ride, a zipcar rental, or a short trip on the 87 bus. all of this is doable but we find that during busy times, its not always an option. market Basket has excellent produce! after low prices, it is their best feature. also, i like that MB is very diverse in that you will see people of all classes and speaking a multitude of languages (this is definitely not the case at Shaw's!)

7. Trader Joe's: The two nearest are a bike ride away but aren't convenient. The Arlington location will be a more pleasant ride. The other is along the river in Cambridge and is next to a Whole foods but is a more crowded bike ride home. both would be a very quick zipcar trip, as well.
note, there may be a TJ's coming into the Alewife/Fresh Pond area soon. some other commenters may know when and where.

8. There are 3 Whole Foods withing striking distance. One is at Alewife/Fresh Pond and while a short walk from Alewife station, it is probably more convenient by bike. A bike ride to the one on Alewife Brook Parkway in Medford will be a less traffic-riddled bike ride. There is also a Whole Foods two blocks from teh Charles MGH T stop. It may seem silly to get groceries in Boston and train them home but this store is very close to the T and if you are on your way to or from somewhere, it proves very direct and convenient.

9. Peapod. This is a delivery service operated by Stop&Shop grocery stores. You fill out an order online and they deliver it to your door. We use this service during the winter mostly or for our bulky or heavy things like canned goods or 8-packs of paper towels, etc. There is a delivery fee and you should tip your driver, so it feels like it is more expensive but the ease of it can't be beat. However, never get produce from them, it will always be mushy or bruised or freezer burned or something. we use this service to free up our hands and bikes and time so that when we do go to shaw's or MB, we can concentrate on the things peapod doesn't carry and the produce.

- Zipcar is a great option, definitely look into it. there are lots of zipcars around davis square

- unlike the ubiquitous paper bags of the midwest, the east coast is crazy for tiny plastic bags. when you go to the grocery, bring your own bags or you will end up with 30,000 tiny bags with five things in each one.

And now for something completely different...

[ethanfield.livejournal.com]

If you're on the Porter Square side of Davis (or even if you're not): The Friday/Saturday Haymarket Downtown is close to North Station. If you pay attention to the schedule for the Fitchburg Line, you can get from North Station to Porter Square in 10 minutes (and then home with your granny cart!) The cost of the train will be more than made up by the unbelievably cheap Haymarket prices.

[redcolumbine.livejournal.com]

There's also a Harvest food co-op in Central Square, 3 stops in on the Red Line. More expensive for some things, but good for bulk, tofu, and reasonable deli (dunno if you do cheese; I'd die without it!)

[katers5636.livejournal.com]

Oh cheese, I wish I could quit you!! :)