Trader Joe’s

I totally LOVE Trader Joe’s. I fell in love once I lived in San Diego, and Las Vegas but when we came back to TX I thought for sure they’d be on their way. Austin has one but its in Bee Caves which since I live in RR it might as well be on the other end of the world. So .we ended by this area in route bk to RR and stocked up on the 3 dollar chuck wines.

I absolutely love this location. The staff is always helpful. The store is clean, fully stocked and parking is convenient.

Have been shopping here weekly since it opened, had lots of encouragement from CA friends touting Cookie Butter, etc. Stopped by this evening to pick up some favorites, wine, TRADER JOE’S ORIGINAL SAVORY THIN MINI CRACKERS, soy ice cream treats…
Worst experience ever… major construction in the parking lot, large delivery truck blocking traffic, frustrated/​irritated employees trying to deal with getting it unloaded…
Managed to get into the store and pick up my items, while people were strolling around the store with dogs in their shopping carts… then checking out…
More frustrated/​irritated employees, no sense of order at all. Finally came to the conclusion that I was not the acceptable age, race, gender or something, so everyone else was being invited to check out ahead of me. Abandoned my cart and went home empty handed, it will be awhile before I go back, perhaps a long while.

The friendliest little TJ’s I’ve been to in awhile. Very clean, nice service at the sample counter, and I don’t know if it’s a Texas thing, but I love that they have one line for every two registers — you get out much quicker than having to bob and weave, guessing who’s going to take forever to figure out the new chip-​scanning credit card machines.
The prices are the same as always — something I’ll always love about TJ’s. Reliable and convenient!

I visited Trader Joe’s first location shortly after they opened. I had been to some in California so had an idea of what to expect. This one is just what the company would want in a store and staff. They placed it in a highly desirable area in SA for healthy eating and as easy of access as land prices will allow to being central to the city. Have stopped shopping anywhere else except for a few things that are used in bulk. I like that they cleverly place things from low to high to maximize a small space and still keep things reachable. Amazing wine selection, vegies, pre-​made salads and easy meals and a great snack, nut and frozen food (of every kind) selections. The staff is always so helpful if there is not a product stocked and do all they can to make certain to explain why and when if they don’t find it in the back.
My only cons are having the best sellers not be discontinued and adjusting things like having cold water (Fiji) all year as we can have very hot days even in winter.
If you want to eat healthy without spending a fortune and have organic available that is from the USA then this is your place. Go through each aisle a couple of times as new things pop up constantly. Or ask any of the fun staff and they’ll tell you their faves and new items!

A great little boutique grocery store. Wonderful selections of goodies from all over the world, including sweets, frozen dishes, and fine wines.

Noticed that this trader joe had some of my favorite for less than what I payed back home! Win win for me and this location is beautiful love the quarry shopping center! Everyone that worked there looked happy! I’ll be back!

Back in Arkansas, we did not have the pleasure of Trader Joe’s. Until last Fall, if you wanted to go to IKEA you drove to Dallas (now you can go to Kansas City instead, «so close»). If you wanted to go to Trader Joe’s, St. Louis was the closest option before the Dallas location opened. There is one Whole Foods in the whole state. No Sprouts, no Free People, no H&M, no UO… basically none of a lot a things.
My first TJ’s experience was walking inside one one morning in Atlanta. My friend and I were in the city for the weekend and I had heard of the rumored Trader Joe’s for a couple years and wanted to check one out. So we went in but I didn’t buy anything being a little overwhelmed. Driving back to Arkansas, we went through Nashville, TN where I asked her to let me go to TJ’s again because I was by then prepared. She gave in and I loaded up. Two Trader Joe’s in two states in one day. We got back to Arkansas that night and I kept thinking about all the things I’d wished I’d stocked up on. So what did I do? I convinced my boyfriend to drive us to St. Louis to Trader Joe’s. Yes, in two days time I traveled to three different Trader Joe’s in three different states. And it was so worth it.
There is nothing else like Trader Joe’s. Not even Central Market or Whole Foods can compete because Trader Joe’s is so cheap for specialty and high quality products. Their French butter is so tasty it almost tastes like French cheese, their shampoos and conditioners and face products are so cheap for the quality, the produce is fresh, and there are great deals to be had if you make an effort to look (bacon bits and ends instead of perfectly neatly cut bacon). This location is not crowded. Try Trader Joe’s in Brooklyn — it can be miserable to shop at TJ’s in huge cities — but anywhere in Texas or the South or Midwest I have never seen the need to assign cash-​registers by coordinating with waving flags to get people checked out (which is so real elsewhere).
Trader Joe’s makes an effort to be sustainable, environmentally aware, treats their employees well, and tries to source local when it doesn’t make things too expensive. I am happy to pay their prices if that’s what my dollar is going towards.
And the staff at this location are always fabulously friendly. I think Trader Joe’s does a good job hiring people with their company values because inevitability I end up having conversations with the cashiers about gardening, recipes and TJ’s amazing skin care products.

Basically a small taste of heaven.
There prices are insanely cheap & they offer so many unique frozen foods, and pantry essentials.
I try to make it a point to drive over here at least once a month. They have an unbelievable assortment of flowers from orchids ($ 8.99) to hydrangea’s for only $ 5.99!
The employees at trader joes are absolutely the best! Probably the best customer service in any place I’ve been. They’re are always ready to help and seem to make you laugh.
For example: Today I went in to refill my flowers and grab my frozen pies & saw they had cookie butter cheesecake! Along with other holiday treats. I was literally probably looking at them for only a minute and two of the guys came up to me and said if I needed help. I asked him if he’d try the cookie butter cheesecake before and he looked at me and suddenly began opening the box and told me to try it! And the other one started opening another holiday dessert and we began eating it on the isle. It was too funny! I ended up buying way more than I should have… But they are totally worth it!
If everyone was trained like the traders joes employees… the world would be a happier place.

What the day is bad and you are feeling blue, you can count on the snacks and booze at TJ’s to see you through! I have been a fan of TJ’s for a long time and this is no exception. Yes the lines can get long and parking frustrating, but it really is not that horrible. Their breads, small sundy items like the oatmeal soaps and unscented detergents make up for stuff. And on the well priced wine and cheese selection I suspect is partially responsible for the new pounds I have discovered.
Employees have almost always been helpful with very few exceptions and makes the maze shopping worth it. Throw in the crazy good ginger chews and the possibilities of finding fresh lychees in the summer, and all is good!

I don’t live close to this location, but occasionally we’ll make the drive to go over to Trader Joe’s. I usually always end up picking up flowers because they have lovely assortments.
Parking can be a trial. You can’t buy all of your groceries at Trader Joe’s, but I always enjoy shopping here and looking at their different items from pre-​made meals to the fresh fruits to the different lemonades to assorted desserts. You can always find something interesting and unique! And prices are reasonable!
Service goes over and beyond amazing. Sincere and friendly. Always enjoy stopping by Trader Joe’s! So happy to have a location in San Antonio.

Definitely first off better than going to whole foods. One is that the people are a lot friendlier. Second, the variety of fruits and vegetables are great.
Went to look around only to find out we found some good meals for this week to make. I must say prices are a little high for some things but depending on what you are looking for you can find some good deals. Worth going back…

Always been a loyal shopper and fan of trader joes but after today I may take some time off from shopping here. Found a worm in my $ 5.00 crate of dates and half my apples were bruised in the bag I bought. Disappointed

I was having a craptastic day yesterday. Everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong. Luckily, I held on to my sanity long enough to make it to Trader Joe’s. .. and what a sigh of relief. The moment I walked in, I was greeted by a sales person and then another Trader Joe’s person struck up conversation in the veggie department. I can tell you that he was a brave man, for I had the look of an angry Puma on my face.
He asked me how my day had been and I was surprised that I didn’t start crying. Conversation ensued for about five minutes and I went on with my shopping. 10 or so minutes passed and a manager came up with a bouquet of flowers and said that he hoped that they would brighten my day. Again, I almost started crying.
Good people do exist in this world and Trader Joe’s in the Quarry will forever have my business as long as I am in the SA area.

Big fan of Trader Joes!!! Their wine prices are amazing (and tasty)! A lot of great healthy options at affordable prices. I really enjoy the layout at the Quarry location better than the 1604 location. And very happy they only use paper bags and not plastic!

Trader Joe’s is the place to go for great tasting fruit (better then big chain store in SA) and everything from unique frozen foods to a good wine selection (for a small store). The people are always friendly and the products are of high quality. It’s easy to spend more than you plan, but always the chance you take with such a great store.

Ummm, am I missing something?! As a first-​time TJ’s customer, I found the store to be small, jam-​packed, and overwhelming. I came in with only a few items on my list, but had difficulty locating them in the randomly-​placed store.
They do have some neat products, though, and they are affordable. Plus one star for the TJ’s employee that helped me find everything since I looked like a lost puppy.

Cookie butter, and body butter, and Kerrygold butter. .oh my!
Trader Joe’s has SO many fantabulous things that can’t be found elsewhere, and superunbeatable prices on the more standard offerings.
The huge selection of organics and vegetarian/​vegan fare is an awesome balance to the magnetic pull TJ’s wide range of unique junk food. (Thanks, Joe, for displaying the peanut butter-​stuffed chocolate-​covered pretzel nuggets directly above the frozen veg! That makes it easy to grab something which will mitigate/​rationalize the fatkid guilt when I buy three bags… solid!)
There’s a ton of blogger speculation about the secret-​squirrel nature of who produces the house label items (consensus seems to be that Amy’s Organics churns out a lot of the Trader Joe’s/Giotto’s/Jose’s items, and that Shipyard, Firestone Walker, and Gordon Biersch brew the store brand beers, etc)(Speaking of beer… they do have a decent shelf of single bottles, but it’s also totally an option to grab a bottle or three from ANY of the 6ers, with no upcharge at all.. bonus!)
Checkout’s pretty much a circus.. no one actually queues up in lines for individual registers, there’s just a herd milling about in the small space at the front of them, waiting to be summoned. It’s annoying, and could definitely be handled more efficiently, but the superchipper staff somehow makes the circus feel like less of a hassle than it is.
Oh, and they totally high five you for remembering to bring in reusable bags, or the paper ones from previous visits, so that’s kinda cool.
Even given the bullshit parking lot and its parking spots that were painted, apparently, with only SmartCars in mind, it’s truly the happiest grocery shopping spot in town.
And makes the sting of missing southern California a little less painful.

As a West Coast transplant, I love Trader Joe’s. I’ve been shopping at different TJs all over California and Arizona for years. All their stores are small and don’t look like your typical grocery store with labeled aisles and such. That has never been their goal. Trader Joe’s started as a convenience store and wanted to maintain that feel, just on a slightly larger scale with more products. They pride themselves on providing customers with «innovative, hard-​to-​find, great-​tasting foods» (according to their website). Think Whole Foods… but cheaper! :)
So you can’t do ALL of your grocery shopping here. I can’t even think of a place where I actually do *all* of my grocery shopping. I have to hit up at least 3 stores just to make dinner. But anywhoo… you can pick up great snacks, well prepared foods, awesome California wines, lots of organic products, spices, pretty flowers and more here.
All in all, I am happy to see Trader Joe’s in San Antonio. This particular store never seems particularly busy to me. Maybe it’s because I had gotten so used to the crowds at the TJs on the West Coast. So I’m a fan of this little store.
A few months ago, Trader Joe’s signed a lease for a location at 403 N. Loop 1604 W., inside the Sonterra Village shopping center between Blanco Road and Stone Oak Parkway. The Stone Oak store will be about 12,500 square feet compared to this 11,000 sq. ft. Quarry Village store. So for those who wanted a larger store with more parking, you are about to get your wish by the end of 2014.

Trader Joes is located in an odd location littered with bad parking and heavy traffic, get there early. The store is very small and I found myself back where I started in less than 10 minutes. Everyone brags about the fantastic energy here but I felt like employees that were distributing samples wished they were somewhere else. Also, the customers are nice but you’re bound to run into someone every corner you turn, I would recommend walking with caution.
All the drama aside, TJ’s has a ton of cool items to offer like their herbal teas, cookie butter, and a plethora of organic options. On this occasion, we took home a nice baby spinach with blue cheese/​candied pecans salad and it was AMAZING!
It would help if their aisles were labeled because I went up and down every aisle about 2 times before locating what I needed.