By popular demand, this week’s “Life off the Hill” covers all the joys of grocery shopping in New Haven. It’s something that we all do, and it can be trickier than one might think.
As I mentioned in a previous post, the only supermarket in New Haven recently closed. Shaw’s closing is more than an inconvenience, it’s a social justice issue.
As things now stand, the closest supermarket to East Rock is the Stop & Shop located at 2335 Dixwell Ave in Hamden (which is located about 4.5 miles from YDS). One of the perks about shopping at Stop & Shop is that their free rewards cards let you accumulate points that can be used to buy gas, which helps offset the cost of driving to Hamden. Stop & Shop also runs a grocery delivery service, which makes it a shopping option for those of you without cars.
For more upscale grocery options, there’s a Whole Foods in Milford (1686 Boston Post Rd), and a Trader Joe’s in Orange (560 Boston Post Rd). Milford is also home to a Costco (1718 Boston Post Rd), for those of you who prefer to do your shopping in bulk. There’s also a BJ’s in North Haven (555 Universal Drive North), for those of you who need eighty-eight packs of tp, but don’t enjoy Costco’s romantic ambiance.
Food can be purchased in more reasonable quantities at any of several smaller markets in New Haven proper. Within East Rock, there’s Nica’s (603 Orange), Romeo and Cesare’s (771 Orange), and Orange Street Market (721 you guessed it… Orange). For those of you who plan on living closer to Yale’s main campus, there’s always Gourmet Heaven (15 Broadway and 44 Whitney). These markets can be pricier than the Stop & Shop, but they often feature much better produce.
New Haven does have several farmers’ markets, which are your best bet for produce. On the plus side, the State Street Farmers’ Market has more business days than any other farmers’ market in the nation (at least according to an NPR broadcast that I kinda-sorta remember).
Wow, great, thanks for you input! I was biking around and I also found a store called Save a Lot on Dixwell which is indeed very cheap... it seems to be more of an outlet-type grocery store, but that makes it perhaps a little less expensive. The food is fine... it's just that they cut prices by not giving you plastic bags and some of the cans and stuff are still in some of the bulk packing since they don't line stuff up on the shelves with lots of space like in a more upscale grocery store.
ReplyDeleteThere is also Edge of the Woods on Whalley -- a bit more bougie and expensive, but they have nice organic/gluten-free/vegan/etc. types of foods if you happen to be on that side of town (not sure why...) or have a car.
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