If you started trying to come up with all the grocery delivery services you’ve seen thrown around lately, I would guess you could at least finish counting on one hand. I tried one and it was fine. It did what it was intended to do; cut out the verb part out of grocery shopping. For list-making people it does make some sense.
But it is not for me.

I love food shopping. When traveling to a new city, grocery stores hit near the top of the itinerary. That’s how I ended up at Central Market on one of my first trips to Austin. Albeit, I was underwhelmed after reading glowing Yelp reviews of the miraculous Central Market. Some bulk tea and perogies made it into the shopping cart but it wasn’t exciting.
Yet here years later I am living in San Antonio. Something is different now. Maybe my heart could just sense that Austin is home to Whole Foods and Central Market was a stranger on that turf. As a part of Alamo City based HEB grocery store chain, Central Market is absolutely at home in the Alamo Heights “neighborhood” (it’s technically it’s own landlocked city – think of it as San Antonio’s Vatican City) here.
And every time we go we love it more.

Bulk spices are one of the main draws. Spices are the spice of life, after all. And bulk candy. And bulk tea. And bulk oil. And bulk corn nuts (Josh discovered his love of bulk corn nuts at Central Market). You’re probably reading this and thinking it sounds like Whole Foods under a different name but CM truly is a unique entity and you are truly wrong. Continue reading →