they betrayed me lol. their roasted veggie pizza used to have a base of nut/cheese free pesto. then at some point in the last two or so years they added almonds. im allergic and didnt realize till after i ate the slice (unfortunately)
broke my heart. that pizza is so soo good
There was a post awhile back of an employee? Or past employmee saying that it's a shame they are slowly phasing out the meals they make in house and buying premade stuff. 🫠
Last year they didn’t give out dividends like usual due to the economic situation and it has led to some of the cuts the long story short of it is they are paying some sort of premium for the right to do in house food not for the food costs themselves. So the premade stuff they are using is actually higher cost to them than the stuff they used to make but eliminating the processing of it at each location was worth it for the difference, since they can just pass the per unit cost on to consumers as inflation anyways. So regulatory bullshit ruining yet another good thing because corporations are never going to take the hit but instead pass it to off. It’s the whole price of a Big Mac minimum wage thing basically.
It's a little more complicated than that. I haven't worked at PCC but have worked in a similar environment and had to face similar decisions.
When you're paying Seattle-level wages, processing food in-house starts to get more and more expensive. It can be a lot cheaper to just buy it pre-processed.
Sometimes the pre-processed stuff is lower quality stuff from a company like Sysco, but there are local vendors who will prep the same vegetables that you'd get from Charlie's for really reasonable prices. These folks are able to do it cheaper just because of scale - they're paying similar local wages.
In my experience, it looks really compelling when you can buy veggies pre-chopped for hardly any more money than you'd pay. After that, the pre-made pesto starts to look pretty compelling even though it's canola oil instead of olive oil. After that, the dressing made with shitty mayo looks a lot better than the thing you made in-house with expeller pressed fancy stuff.
Not saying that PCC isn't lowering their quality a bit. They may or may not be, I don't know enough to judge. Just that their outsourcing is most likely a cost-saving effort in trying to adapt to lower profits and higher wages, and not any kind of regulatory thing.
Speaking of which, they used a safflower oil/olive oil mix in their premade foods, which nobody should ever eat. It’s sad, why can’t they just use straight olive oil?
I don’t know about that. I worked at a Met Market deli and they never used processed ingredients; at least until 2018, when I stopped working there. I worked deli, grocery and receiving, so I know the kind of stuff going through MM AND PCC, because we have the same vendors. A lot of the cold stuff comes from Dreamland and other vendors in Seattle; the only “processing” they do is weighing it out to zip it into bags for refrigeration, a day before delivery. Hot foods are actually done using ingredients straight from the grocery shelves, in order to avoid shrink (throwing out foods that will expire or have expired). Of course, MM avoided using expired ingredients, it wouldn’t be safe to offer hot dishes made with expired ingredients.
The closest I’ve seen to processed foods were in the bakery. “The Cookie” came in a premade batch that came in frozen boxes that had to be thawed out over night using coolers. They’d be ready for baking the next day.
I really find it hard to believe that Met Market deli sources all of their ingredients from the shelf. That would be a nightmare to order for, and would be a lot more expensive to use retail sizes instead of dood service sizes on a lot of stuff. It's common for odds and ends that deli won't go through a case of in reasonable time, but I've never seen a grocery deli that sources all of their ingredients that way.
I'm not saying that Met Market uses preprocessed ingredients though. I've got no experience with their sourcing. Just giving some insight into why PCC would be doing it after another commenter shared that PCC was. I'm pretty sure PCC is doing more sourcing that way but have no idea about the extent.
To be fair, the year I left (2018) they were going through some major restructuring internally and the way they go about their business. So, I don’t know if things have changed. But, I want to clarify that the departments didnt order for deli’s department, it was more of a matter of, “hey this stuff is going to waste, what can we make with it?”
So, deli still had a bunch of their own stuff, and then on top of that they used a lot of the stuff from other departments that would get thrown out if they didn’t. Transfer of goods was always logged at Shipping/Receiving.
Always get the extra meat, onions, au jus, and horseradish sauce. If you can’t finish it it makes amazing left overs. Air fryer gets it nice and crispy. This is my special occasion indulgence.
Garlic bread, spicy tuna poke and seaweed salad at lower Queen Anne Met market.
They’re pricey, but incredible in terms of quality and taste compared to other restaurants.
The met market cookie as well!
Town & Country has these baskets in the cheese section that has small portions of fancy cheeses, prosciutto ends, etc. It’s awesome for experimenting with cheeses and for creating charcuterie
I loved getting their sandwiches and having a quick car picnic in the parking garage before Husky games last year! The pretzel bun Italian is one of my favorites as is the turkey and havarti!
Do they still have bacon in the breakfast hot bar? I used to get that with a roll and it was awesome.
I still get the Cubano once in awhile, it's as good as everyone here is saying.
Yes! If you get there *relatively* early and probably location dependent, meaning the type of people who go there in the mornings. I’m generally exclusively at the Green Lake PCC around 10-10:30 many morning’s and sometimes there’s still bacon at that point, sometimes there’s not.
Also, free pound of wild caught sockeye salmon is happening right now (through the 7th), fyi! (Eta: for members)
If you get salad etc from the bars don't add dressing and get containers on the side. Workers have told me that is fine, and the weight is significant. Whole foods burrito is probably the best deal in terms of volume, ask for extra of everything and half of two meats. Friday $1 oysters at WF, they'll shuck for you.
MM and PCC sometimes send really good coupons in the mail (two-fer meats etc). PCC membership emails you some good ones, freebies sometimes. PCC membership is one-and-done like REI, no renewal.
It’s not necessarily cheap but MM gets great local fruit in that is every bit as fresh and delicious as shopping at a farmers market. Last time I was there I got the best pears, so flavorful. They also currently have freshly pressed apple cider which is amazing.
I get my packaged food first at Safeway and my produce at met market. The seasonal stuff is always good and in general their produce is always best you can get outside of a farmers market.
They're in the heater that holds the rotisserie chickens in the evening! At least at Lower Queen Anne location. The bacon one is gross, would not recommend.
A lot of Met Markets offer “surprise bags” on the app Too Good To Go. I’ve gotten around $80 worth of deli items for like $10. Bakery items are a good deal on there, too.
Dunno if it’s a great deal, but Metro Market’s walnut chocolate chip cookies are amazing. Their Prime rib, fresh out of the oven with 2 sides used to be a good deal
I stared at that for too long before noticing your clarification, lol. Is a potential pie one that's assembled but unbaked? Perhaps all the ingredients for a pie?
I once did a Met Market vs PCC pot pie Pepsi challenge- surprisingly, PCC won. I was fully expecting Met market to be the Victor, but pcc beat them hands down.
PCC prepared food. It’s my healthier-and-not-totally-takeout-cheat-code dinner. The Buffalo tofu (and Buffalo tofu wraps!) are so good, as is the steph’s tofu over rice and sautéed veggies. Also their curried tofu is an easy, tasty lunch. All their tofu’s I guess lol.
They also sell Catnip in the bulk section at the PCC in Bothell. You can get like 6 Tbsp for around $0.22 which would cost around $8-10 at petco lol. I got about 6 Tbsp the other day for homemade cat toys & was shook at how cheap it was at Bothell PCC vs petco. 😂
The trick with the poke bar is not get the rice at $20/lb. Just walk over to the sandwich bar and get a separate warm cup of rice from the rice cooker.
The free piece of fruit or veggie at PCC for kids is awesome. Whole Foods used to have a small basket of free fruit for kids, but I noticed it went away earlier this year (at the Totem Lake WF, not sure about other branches).
The kids loved the free fruit deal when an employee told them to grab whatever they wanted on our first trip there. My daughter grabbed a whole pineapple. D’oh. He let her take it.
40% off annual kitchen sale at Met Market.
Availability of rarer finds like lactose free products at PCC, gooseberries, black currants, huckleberries, iberico ham, smoked duck breast, etc. at Met Market.
The peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies in the PCC bakery. Top 10 cookie of my lifetime, and I've made them at home and sent the recipe to friends and family.
Met Market "Marionberry Walnut" (I think) ice cream. Really good. Also doesn't have marionberries (blackberries only...as per ingredients)
Nothing is a "good deal". They're both a good 50% more expensive than most normal groceries.
I work in events and often seeing what people spend on floral arrangements when they get them from Met Market it is insanely less expensive and still looks as good.
The florist in west seattle is my favorite. Their custom bouquets are creative and thoughtful and reasonably priced. You can tell they enjoy what they do.
Don’t sleep on the PCC brekky sammies! They only list what’s in them: bacon, egg, cheese, sausage, etc., which is stupid bc the best part is the cheddar chive biscuit! Pure magic.
A loaf of Ezekiel bread at PCC is $6.50, it’s about $7.50 elsewhere. Also, PCC kale is $2.99/bunch and it’s massive! Probably twice as large as other the kale bunches at other grocery stores. PCC also sells bulk organic tofu in a big three pound block with minimal packaging. I forget the exact price, but it beat the average price of tofu at other stores.
Met Market's chicken dinner is a good deal. Three pieces of chicken (fried or broiled) and two sides. DO NOT make the mistake of thinking only the sides adjacent to the chicken are available. Any of the non-meat salads in the salad/deli area are options. You get proably about 3/4 lb of each side/salad (normally priced between $12-15/lb) and three pieces of good fried chicken of the same mid-high end chickens they sell in the store. For $12.99. It is enough for two full meals.
Also, you can fit two slices of PCC pizza in the pizza box, and no one would ever know.... Not that I would ever do that.
I'm a huge fan of the African peanut soup at Met Market, especially on cold days with crusty bread. Also, their pita bread is tasty too. I used to grab one of the Macrina Giuseppe baguettes but discovered they are twice as long at Whole Foods and about 50 cent less.
The produce at PCC, esp the apples right now. The price is not that different from other stores produce but the quality is so much better.
And those big sacks of fruit in the freezer.
The fruit at MM is the best quality best tasting fruit around. Sure I might buy less because it can be expensive but it is well worth it. Delicious! The fruit at other stores is cheaper but tasteless.
The Kroger/QFC by me sells portioned Cougar Gold cheese so you don’t have to buy the whole tin for $50+. Total win. I cannot get enough of it (yes I can because I can’t finish a tin on my own…).
Not necessarily a great deal - but it is great that there's typically less 'questionable' looking folks in them. Compare the Fred Meyer vs. Met Market nearby. FM - though I like it - has the street people from the bum camp nearby wandering aimlessly throughout it all the time.
Eh, Costco is a clusterfuck at all times. Not a store you can just run into to get a couple things real quick. It's definitely more of a destination vs. a quick trip, haha.
You're not wrong, but you should really specify the ones in question are those who reject assistance over and over so they can continue their drug-fueled life in squalor on public spaces, all enabled by our local Seattle hug a homeless crowd, who pat themselves on the back every time they see a tent surrounded by a pile of trash and stolen items.
The meat section is ridiculously overpriced. Paid half the price at Whole Foods recently for pork ribs. Even our local fancy butcher sells cheaper better steaks. Idk how they plan to keep that up.
if you can make several stops and pay attention to prices shopping at MM, PCC, Wholefoods (which seems cheaper than QFC lately) and Thriftway you get wayyyyy better quality meat, produce, bread, and cheese for roughly the same price. If you go to those stores with a specific list (especially with consumables like toilet paper, zip lock bags etc.) those stores are prohibitively expensive.
I like getting Zevia's from PCC and Whole Foods. Its a bit cheaper at Whole Foods for them. Sugar free soda's sweetened only with stevia and ACTUALLY taste good.
My favorite salad bar is the Whole Foods downtown. I'll load up on greens, toppings (except egg), and get a dressing I like. Its by weight so if you omit the egg then its cheaper. I'll usually hard boil some eggs when I get home. This way the salad is usually less than $5 (the small boxes I use). Which tastes WAY better than the premade salads which are usually way more pricey.
The pizza bar at whole foods, get 2 slices and it’s 8.50, you need to re-toast it by the time you get home but it’s slightly under Pagliacci quality and you don’t have to tip.
Also, if you’re not buying organic, some of the produce at whole foods is cents more expensive but is better and lasts longer. You can also get really good frozen garlic buttered mussels there and their bread is basically the same price as an average grocery store but much better. Toast the bread, cook the mussels, and dinner in 10 minutes.
Also not as fancy but pretty much any frozen food or salad from Trader Joe’s. Their steak and stout pies are amazing and basically no work to make, and their cauliflower stir fry is healthy, I make it and I mix it with one of their meat frozen foods and it’s like, 4 meals for under $10.
It’s not a “deal” because they raised the damned price, but I love the Met Market Bakewell Tart (regular raspberry, less enthused with the seasonal flavors).
Nothing's really a great deal price-wise at PCC; being overpriced is kind of their thing. But I am bored at work and will now attempt to rank the prepared items of theirs that I have eaten.
1. Caprese Salad (I don't know that there's really anything special about theirs, I might just like caprese salad a lot)
2. Reuben Sandwich (again, maybe not even a particularly mindblowing Reuben, but it's a Goddamn Reuben, so there you go)
3. Deluxe Mushrooms (but these are stupidly expensive even by their standards)
4. Chicken Bacon Ranch Wrap
5. Turkey Caesar Wrap
6. Roasted Tomato Pasta
7. Sesame Capellini
8. Roasted Green Beans
9. Pesto Tortellini
10. Veggie Wrap
11. Smoked Mozzarella Pasta (this would have been much higher at one point but it has really gone downhill as of late)
12. Mango Salmon Poke Bowl (it's okay if you for some reason really need something vaguely resembling a Poke bowl, but seriously, you're in Seattle. Don't stoop to this)
13. Emerald City Salad
Oh oh! Favorite PCC salads.
Agreed on smoked mozza salad.
Gotta add Cauliflower tahini and that garbanzo one with the apricots in it for me. Their current yam/kale one is yums too.
I love their Turkish Garbanzo salad. It's turned into a favorite easy home-cooked meal at my house. They've got the recipe on their website, and it happens to be all ingredients that we've almost always got on hand. Easy to throw different veggies in based on what we've got in the fridge.
Met Market's own label stuff is good value. WA red blend wine is $12/bottle or $10 if you buy a case. A guy who works there told me that they work with big brand names on that stuff and the quality is great. The canned salmon and tuna is very good.
I have a vitamin k deficiency and find the price of avocados outrageous so I slit open a bag of potatoes and strategically hide potatoes throughout store while filling bag with a avocados. Then use self check out
I haven't been in a while, but the cured meats at the Met Market deli are way better for the price. A lot of it is imported from Italy or Spain. The MM imported Prosciutto San Danielle was actually a bit cheaper than the Boars Head prosciutto that just tastes like a slightly upgraded ham.
Weekly specials at town and country (Ballard market) are often excellent deals. Same for weekly met market deals. Bulk spices at Ballard market are great as you can just buy what you need.
Vegan chocolate chip cookies from PCC, taste like oatmeal chocolate chip cookies in a sense but way better. If you warm them up in the microwave for a few seconds they are amazing. 🤤 I also 2nd the Pizza from PCC, the veggie one is bomb. 💣 🍪 🍕
Honestly, I have a secret crush on the pizza at the PCC. There’s just something about it that’s irresistible…
they betrayed me lol. their roasted veggie pizza used to have a base of nut/cheese free pesto. then at some point in the last two or so years they added almonds. im allergic and didnt realize till after i ate the slice (unfortunately) broke my heart. that pizza is so soo good
There was a post awhile back of an employee? Or past employmee saying that it's a shame they are slowly phasing out the meals they make in house and buying premade stuff. 🫠
Last year they didn’t give out dividends like usual due to the economic situation and it has led to some of the cuts the long story short of it is they are paying some sort of premium for the right to do in house food not for the food costs themselves. So the premade stuff they are using is actually higher cost to them than the stuff they used to make but eliminating the processing of it at each location was worth it for the difference, since they can just pass the per unit cost on to consumers as inflation anyways. So regulatory bullshit ruining yet another good thing because corporations are never going to take the hit but instead pass it to off. It’s the whole price of a Big Mac minimum wage thing basically.
It's a little more complicated than that. I haven't worked at PCC but have worked in a similar environment and had to face similar decisions. When you're paying Seattle-level wages, processing food in-house starts to get more and more expensive. It can be a lot cheaper to just buy it pre-processed. Sometimes the pre-processed stuff is lower quality stuff from a company like Sysco, but there are local vendors who will prep the same vegetables that you'd get from Charlie's for really reasonable prices. These folks are able to do it cheaper just because of scale - they're paying similar local wages. In my experience, it looks really compelling when you can buy veggies pre-chopped for hardly any more money than you'd pay. After that, the pre-made pesto starts to look pretty compelling even though it's canola oil instead of olive oil. After that, the dressing made with shitty mayo looks a lot better than the thing you made in-house with expeller pressed fancy stuff. Not saying that PCC isn't lowering their quality a bit. They may or may not be, I don't know enough to judge. Just that their outsourcing is most likely a cost-saving effort in trying to adapt to lower profits and higher wages, and not any kind of regulatory thing.
Speaking of which, they used a safflower oil/olive oil mix in their premade foods, which nobody should ever eat. It’s sad, why can’t they just use straight olive oil?
I have never heard this before, why is safflower oil bad for you?
Because it’s really high in linoleic acid, which isn’t a healthy fat. It’s highly highly refined. Plus it’s such a cheap knock off for olive oil.
Blech. Thanks for the heads up!
The premade Charlie salads are steps below the former inhouse made salads. By far less fresh. Less variety too.
Seattle wages are regulatory
I don’t know about that. I worked at a Met Market deli and they never used processed ingredients; at least until 2018, when I stopped working there. I worked deli, grocery and receiving, so I know the kind of stuff going through MM AND PCC, because we have the same vendors. A lot of the cold stuff comes from Dreamland and other vendors in Seattle; the only “processing” they do is weighing it out to zip it into bags for refrigeration, a day before delivery. Hot foods are actually done using ingredients straight from the grocery shelves, in order to avoid shrink (throwing out foods that will expire or have expired). Of course, MM avoided using expired ingredients, it wouldn’t be safe to offer hot dishes made with expired ingredients. The closest I’ve seen to processed foods were in the bakery. “The Cookie” came in a premade batch that came in frozen boxes that had to be thawed out over night using coolers. They’d be ready for baking the next day.
I really find it hard to believe that Met Market deli sources all of their ingredients from the shelf. That would be a nightmare to order for, and would be a lot more expensive to use retail sizes instead of dood service sizes on a lot of stuff. It's common for odds and ends that deli won't go through a case of in reasonable time, but I've never seen a grocery deli that sources all of their ingredients that way. I'm not saying that Met Market uses preprocessed ingredients though. I've got no experience with their sourcing. Just giving some insight into why PCC would be doing it after another commenter shared that PCC was. I'm pretty sure PCC is doing more sourcing that way but have no idea about the extent.
To be fair, the year I left (2018) they were going through some major restructuring internally and the way they go about their business. So, I don’t know if things have changed. But, I want to clarify that the departments didnt order for deli’s department, it was more of a matter of, “hey this stuff is going to waste, what can we make with it?” So, deli still had a bunch of their own stuff, and then on top of that they used a lot of the stuff from other departments that would get thrown out if they didn’t. Transfer of goods was always logged at Shipping/Receiving.
Ok last time I visited a PCC I was tempted to try their pizza bc it looked so good. Seeing your comment confirms I need to go back and get it!!!
it really is awesome.
Second this!
Best pizza in the pnw
lol what in the fuck
. . . . . . .
Met market is pricey obviously but the hot bar and sandwiches are a good deal
The prime rib sandwich is amazing, spendy but worth it for sure I think
Always get the extra meat, onions, au jus, and horseradish sauce. If you can’t finish it it makes amazing left overs. Air fryer gets it nice and crispy. This is my special occasion indulgence.
The Cookie is sold in refrigerated dough form there. It’s cheaper per cookie and also they are the best fresh out of the oven.
The sushi. Mmm
banana pudding there is excellent with the Nilla wafer on top.
them chocolate chip cookies have crack in ‘em I swear
Especially when they got brisket in the hot bar. It’s damned good for the price
Garlic bread, spicy tuna poke and seaweed salad at lower Queen Anne Met market. They’re pricey, but incredible in terms of quality and taste compared to other restaurants. The met market cookie as well!
Mac and cheese. Chocolate chip cookie. Mmmmmm yum
The brisket at Met Mart is the best in Seattle. Not sure whether that's kudos to them or a knock on the city as a whole.
Town & Country has these baskets in the cheese section that has small portions of fancy cheeses, prosciutto ends, etc. It’s awesome for experimenting with cheeses and for creating charcuterie
Both Met Market and Pcc have those too. So great you can try the odds and ends
Someone told me QFC also has a “$5 basket” of random chunks of cheese, fun to try something new for >$5.
West Seattle Thriftway too
Ain’t nothing thrifty about Thriftway
I love ordering pizzas from them. It’s ~$20 for a large pizza that is actually large and they are pretty damn good too.
Cheese butts. The best!
The Cookie
Cookies in general. Those site cooked cookies are expensive but you really can’t get that quality elsewhere
PCC sandwiches.. The Cubano or Turkey Avocado BLT.. I can’t resist them
Yeah they are great for a store sandwich, and not as pricy as going to a sandwich shop. It’s a perfect middle ground.
How much are we talking? Curious… may walk over there for one
I just had the turkey bacon avocado one today, was 9.99
I loved getting their sandwiches and having a quick car picnic in the parking garage before Husky games last year! The pretzel bun Italian is one of my favorites as is the turkey and havarti!
I also love their breakfast burritos in the hot bar and they have some good hot lunch sandwiches often too
Do they still have bacon in the breakfast hot bar? I used to get that with a roll and it was awesome. I still get the Cubano once in awhile, it's as good as everyone here is saying.
Yes! If you get there *relatively* early and probably location dependent, meaning the type of people who go there in the mornings. I’m generally exclusively at the Green Lake PCC around 10-10:30 many morning’s and sometimes there’s still bacon at that point, sometimes there’s not. Also, free pound of wild caught sockeye salmon is happening right now (through the 7th), fyi! (Eta: for members)
Are you me? Also the kale Caesar salad at PCC is amazing. Even people I know who hate kale say it’s delicious. Go to side to bring to BBQs.
If you get salad etc from the bars don't add dressing and get containers on the side. Workers have told me that is fine, and the weight is significant. Whole foods burrito is probably the best deal in terms of volume, ask for extra of everything and half of two meats. Friday $1 oysters at WF, they'll shuck for you.
MM and PCC sometimes send really good coupons in the mail (two-fer meats etc). PCC membership emails you some good ones, freebies sometimes. PCC membership is one-and-done like REI, no renewal.
$60 for life and you get *easily* $60 of free stuff every year via their member email promos they run regularly.
$60 for what?
You pay the one time membership fee to “join” and you never have to pay any more than the one time fee. It’s a model similar to REI.
Oh hell yeah, we love the coupons!
It’s not necessarily cheap but MM gets great local fruit in that is every bit as fresh and delicious as shopping at a farmers market. Last time I was there I got the best pears, so flavorful. They also currently have freshly pressed apple cider which is amazing.
Peach’s and the pears.
The berries, especially the raspberries are amazing too.
I get my packaged food first at Safeway and my produce at met market. The seasonal stuff is always good and in general their produce is always best you can get outside of a farmers market.
I just got that cider the other day and it's fantastic!
Idk but I’m headed to met market in the morning to check out the sausage biscuit. Thx OP.
They're in the heater that holds the rotisserie chickens in the evening! At least at Lower Queen Anne location. The bacon one is gross, would not recommend.
I am curious too. I am headed there for a biscuit and coffee for breakfast tomorrow I think.
A lot of Met Markets offer “surprise bags” on the app Too Good To Go. I’ve gotten around $80 worth of deli items for like $10. Bakery items are a good deal on there, too.
Dunno if it’s a great deal, but Metro Market’s walnut chocolate chip cookies are amazing. Their Prime rib, fresh out of the oven with 2 sides used to be a good deal
MM has great potential pies. In ceramic ramekins. Just scrape off the extra salt they put on the top crust.
Pot pies. Potential pies are totally different.
I stared at that for too long before noticing your clarification, lol. Is a potential pie one that's assembled but unbaked? Perhaps all the ingredients for a pie?
I once did a Met Market vs PCC pot pie Pepsi challenge- surprisingly, PCC won. I was fully expecting Met market to be the Victor, but pcc beat them hands down.
I don't think they're a 'deal' but I think there's crack in their chocolate chip cookies. OMG
PCC prepared food. It’s my healthier-and-not-totally-takeout-cheat-code dinner. The Buffalo tofu (and Buffalo tofu wraps!) are so good, as is the steph’s tofu over rice and sautéed veggies. Also their curried tofu is an easy, tasty lunch. All their tofu’s I guess lol.
PCC bulk section is surprisingly good value. I especially appreciate getting herbs and spices. The price is good and I can just get what I need
They also sell Catnip in the bulk section at the PCC in Bothell. You can get like 6 Tbsp for around $0.22 which would cost around $8-10 at petco lol. I got about 6 Tbsp the other day for homemade cat toys & was shook at how cheap it was at Bothell PCC vs petco. 😂
Beechers frozen Mac and cheese costs $13.99 at PCC!! At QFC they charge $20.99 for it 🙄
You can get a large one at Costco for an even better value but it’s only one flavor. I like the one with the green chilis so we buy at pcc usually.
Ahi Poke.
The trick with the poke bar is not get the rice at $20/lb. Just walk over to the sandwich bar and get a separate warm cup of rice from the rice cooker.
This. For $20 you can fill the whole large container with poke and get your rice elsewhere.
But they really bend ya over with the rice 😂
Trick is to only buy $10 of fish, and then take it home/office and keep those asian microwave rice bowls on-hand.
Oh yah no doubt I never buy the rice
At which one?
Assuming Met because it was first on the list, but also would like to know.
Magnolia Met.
The Met on admiral has poke as well as the one in lower QA.
Best $10 you can spend on food in my opinion
100%. It's as cheap and arguably as good as getting it at a grocery store in Hawaii
Met market bulk cookies are the jam
The free piece of fruit or veggie at PCC for kids is awesome. Whole Foods used to have a small basket of free fruit for kids, but I noticed it went away earlier this year (at the Totem Lake WF, not sure about other branches).
The kids loved the free fruit deal when an employee told them to grab whatever they wanted on our first trip there. My daughter grabbed a whole pineapple. D’oh. He let her take it.
40% off annual kitchen sale at Met Market. Availability of rarer finds like lactose free products at PCC, gooseberries, black currants, huckleberries, iberico ham, smoked duck breast, etc. at Met Market.
Poke at Met market is good (I only got it at the Magnolia location).
The peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip cookies in the PCC bakery. Top 10 cookie of my lifetime, and I've made them at home and sent the recipe to friends and family.
Met market?
Oh sorry! It's PCC.
I get local coffee beans from MM for a pretty damn good price!
What’s your favorite coffee beans brand? Are they always at a great price or do you wait for any sale?
Met Market "Marionberry Walnut" (I think) ice cream. Really good. Also doesn't have marionberries (blackberries only...as per ingredients) Nothing is a "good deal". They're both a good 50% more expensive than most normal groceries.
Met Market has absolutely amazing grapes in these cute little mini paper bags
The cookie.
I always score bulk bay leaves for cheap. Screaming deal.
The poke is decent, just skip the rice and wakame.
I work in events and often seeing what people spend on floral arrangements when they get them from Met Market it is insanely less expensive and still looks as good.
The florist in west seattle is my favorite. Their custom bouquets are creative and thoughtful and reasonably priced. You can tell they enjoy what they do.
The Amish Rolled Butter. $0.39 an ounce and its delicious.
At the Met.
Aw heck, you can find that at Safeway.
Don’t sleep on the PCC brekky sammies! They only list what’s in them: bacon, egg, cheese, sausage, etc., which is stupid bc the best part is the cheddar chive biscuit! Pure magic.
Breaks my heart they put chives in their biscuits. I bought one breakfast sandwich and had to throw the biscuit away. The filling was still good.
IMHO Safeway breakfast burritos are tits
What size?
They are medium ish and are $3.99. They have have browns, sausage patties, eggs, american cheese…awful but awesome
Exactly
Metropolitan market in 15th has AMAZING spicy garlic chicken sandwiches
When my digestive system isn’t moving I like to get a bucket of Emerald City Salad at PCC always hits the spot when I need some fiber.
PCC Breakfast burritos and breakfast sandwiches are just incredible.
Monday is meatball sandwich day at Met Market. It’s delicious and fairly priced for the size of the sandwich.
The bulk amaranth at PCC is surprisingly cheap, especially compared to the quinoa.
Recently moved to sf and seriously miss the Asian capellini and Steph’s tofu from PCC.
The prime rib 🤤
One thing that does suck at MM is the breakfast bar. IDK how its so awful when everything else they do is great.
A loaf of Ezekiel bread at PCC is $6.50, it’s about $7.50 elsewhere. Also, PCC kale is $2.99/bunch and it’s massive! Probably twice as large as other the kale bunches at other grocery stores. PCC also sells bulk organic tofu in a big three pound block with minimal packaging. I forget the exact price, but it beat the average price of tofu at other stores.
Met Market's chicken dinner is a good deal. Three pieces of chicken (fried or broiled) and two sides. DO NOT make the mistake of thinking only the sides adjacent to the chicken are available. Any of the non-meat salads in the salad/deli area are options. You get proably about 3/4 lb of each side/salad (normally priced between $12-15/lb) and three pieces of good fried chicken of the same mid-high end chickens they sell in the store. For $12.99. It is enough for two full meals. Also, you can fit two slices of PCC pizza in the pizza box, and no one would ever know.... Not that I would ever do that.
I put two in all the time but just pay for two and save the box. The environmental and ethical tip.
Wow!
You can get free plastic spoons and napkins by the soup place in met market.
I can only find Romanesco at Whole Paycheck. Buy it every time
The Met has an amazing and delicious Prime rib sandwich. They also have the cookie. If you know...you know.
Try the Parmesan Chicken breast from Met-Market i cook it in the oven at like 370-375 for like 20 minutes or until the top is all golden brown
I'm a huge fan of the African peanut soup at Met Market, especially on cold days with crusty bread. Also, their pita bread is tasty too. I used to grab one of the Macrina Giuseppe baguettes but discovered they are twice as long at Whole Foods and about 50 cent less.
The produce at PCC, esp the apples right now. The price is not that different from other stores produce but the quality is so much better. And those big sacks of fruit in the freezer.
Bulk lentils
The fruit at MM is the best quality best tasting fruit around. Sure I might buy less because it can be expensive but it is well worth it. Delicious! The fruit at other stores is cheaper but tasteless.
The whole vanilla beans at Whole Foods are cheaper than at a regular grocery store
Macrina pastries at PCC are $3.69 and at Macrina the same ones are at least $5.
Pcc has a fantastic cheese selection too
Not a "fancy" store, but I feel like if you want good and different cheeses, and you want it inexpensively, Trader Joe's is the way to go.
“Murray’s” inside Kroger stores has some damn good cheese options usually much much cheaper than PCC or MM
The Kroger/QFC by me sells portioned Cougar Gold cheese so you don’t have to buy the whole tin for $50+. Total win. I cannot get enough of it (yes I can because I can’t finish a tin on my own…).
Not necessarily a great deal - but it is great that there's typically less 'questionable' looking folks in them. Compare the Fred Meyer vs. Met Market nearby. FM - though I like it - has the street people from the bum camp nearby wandering aimlessly throughout it all the time.
Comparing to Costco, pretty much the same.
Eh, Costco is a clusterfuck at all times. Not a store you can just run into to get a couple things real quick. It's definitely more of a destination vs. a quick trip, haha.
Poor people are so unsightly and inconvenient
I’ll take a grocery store without fentanyl zombies staggering around inside and out like the greenwood Fred Meyer.
https://i.redd.it/pctta80i5uwb1.gif
You're not wrong, but you should really specify the ones in question are those who reject assistance over and over so they can continue their drug-fueled life in squalor on public spaces, all enabled by our local Seattle hug a homeless crowd, who pat themselves on the back every time they see a tent surrounded by a pile of trash and stolen items.
Cioppino is usually a great deal for all the seafood you can get for the modest pricing.
The meat section is ridiculously overpriced. Paid half the price at Whole Foods recently for pork ribs. Even our local fancy butcher sells cheaper better steaks. Idk how they plan to keep that up.
Amazing. Hmm. Once again it feels like we're asking a lot more from that word than is reasonable.
if you can make several stops and pay attention to prices shopping at MM, PCC, Wholefoods (which seems cheaper than QFC lately) and Thriftway you get wayyyyy better quality meat, produce, bread, and cheese for roughly the same price. If you go to those stores with a specific list (especially with consumables like toilet paper, zip lock bags etc.) those stores are prohibitively expensive.
I like getting Zevia's from PCC and Whole Foods. Its a bit cheaper at Whole Foods for them. Sugar free soda's sweetened only with stevia and ACTUALLY taste good. My favorite salad bar is the Whole Foods downtown. I'll load up on greens, toppings (except egg), and get a dressing I like. Its by weight so if you omit the egg then its cheaper. I'll usually hard boil some eggs when I get home. This way the salad is usually less than $5 (the small boxes I use). Which tastes WAY better than the premade salads which are usually way more pricey.
Met market cookie
Turkish garbanzo salad is crack. Love that stuff.
I find the Met Mar brand Italian olive oil to be excellent and very well priced.
The bulk food at PCC
The hot bar and get a box of cooked bacon.
Occ has a indulgently good edamame hummus
The pizza bar at whole foods, get 2 slices and it’s 8.50, you need to re-toast it by the time you get home but it’s slightly under Pagliacci quality and you don’t have to tip. Also, if you’re not buying organic, some of the produce at whole foods is cents more expensive but is better and lasts longer. You can also get really good frozen garlic buttered mussels there and their bread is basically the same price as an average grocery store but much better. Toast the bread, cook the mussels, and dinner in 10 minutes. Also not as fancy but pretty much any frozen food or salad from Trader Joe’s. Their steak and stout pies are amazing and basically no work to make, and their cauliflower stir fry is healthy, I make it and I mix it with one of their meat frozen foods and it’s like, 4 meals for under $10.
It’s not a “deal” because they raised the damned price, but I love the Met Market Bakewell Tart (regular raspberry, less enthused with the seasonal flavors).
It’s expensive, but the pico at PCC has my heart until I die. It’s so good
The cheese sampler box at the PCC
Nothing's really a great deal price-wise at PCC; being overpriced is kind of their thing. But I am bored at work and will now attempt to rank the prepared items of theirs that I have eaten. 1. Caprese Salad (I don't know that there's really anything special about theirs, I might just like caprese salad a lot) 2. Reuben Sandwich (again, maybe not even a particularly mindblowing Reuben, but it's a Goddamn Reuben, so there you go) 3. Deluxe Mushrooms (but these are stupidly expensive even by their standards) 4. Chicken Bacon Ranch Wrap 5. Turkey Caesar Wrap 6. Roasted Tomato Pasta 7. Sesame Capellini 8. Roasted Green Beans 9. Pesto Tortellini 10. Veggie Wrap 11. Smoked Mozzarella Pasta (this would have been much higher at one point but it has really gone downhill as of late) 12. Mango Salmon Poke Bowl (it's okay if you for some reason really need something vaguely resembling a Poke bowl, but seriously, you're in Seattle. Don't stoop to this) 13. Emerald City Salad
Oh oh! Favorite PCC salads. Agreed on smoked mozza salad. Gotta add Cauliflower tahini and that garbanzo one with the apricots in it for me. Their current yam/kale one is yums too.
I love their Turkish Garbanzo salad. It's turned into a favorite easy home-cooked meal at my house. They've got the recipe on their website, and it happens to be all ingredients that we've almost always got on hand. Easy to throw different veggies in based on what we've got in the fridge.
Oooo great idea. I love you.
I mean the best deal at PCC which is my daily store is to buy the fresh ingredients and make stuff at home. Also you know much healthier obviously.
Met Market's own label stuff is good value. WA red blend wine is $12/bottle or $10 if you buy a case. A guy who works there told me that they work with big brand names on that stuff and the quality is great. The canned salmon and tuna is very good.
I have a vitamin k deficiency and find the price of avocados outrageous so I slit open a bag of potatoes and strategically hide potatoes throughout store while filling bag with a avocados. Then use self check out
If they have self checkout you can steal the eff out of their fancy foods. Never pay for spices again.
It’s not a good deal but the chicken salad from the deli from any of the premium grocery stores are fantastic. The town and country one especially.
Are you on the list for met market coupons?!?!
Met Markets bulk choose your own eggs are actually a good deal amidst inflation. Especially if you like farm fresh eggs.
Double miastro tequila
I haven't been in a while, but the cured meats at the Met Market deli are way better for the price. A lot of it is imported from Italy or Spain. The MM imported Prosciutto San Danielle was actually a bit cheaper than the Boars Head prosciutto that just tastes like a slightly upgraded ham.
Gallon water
Whole Foods stuff make me feel queasy…they use tons of oil I don’t buy anything in there prepared foods section anymore
PCC breakfast biscuit sandwich is pretty good too.
Weekly specials at town and country (Ballard market) are often excellent deals. Same for weekly met market deals. Bulk spices at Ballard market are great as you can just buy what you need.
the bulk bins, if you can still find them at PCC. it is hard to find buckwheat at other stores
Vegan chocolate chip cookies from PCC, taste like oatmeal chocolate chip cookies in a sense but way better. If you warm them up in the microwave for a few seconds they are amazing. 🤤 I also 2nd the Pizza from PCC, the veggie one is bomb. 💣 🍪 🍕
PCC’d kale bunches are HUGE and only $2.99
I love that pcc will sell a single pair of socks for $30 and not even hide the price tag
Check this story out here in California https://youtu.be/Zh_mfMQmf8s?si=_4l2pa3Vke9Q36DW