Brookshires Grocery Store

February 8th, 2010

Brookshires in Tyler Texas

100 Rice Road
Tyler
903 561 7943

This family-friendly Christian owned and operated grocery store in the center of the popular shopping area in Tyler is a delight to shop at.

As you walk into the store you will be surprised at the quality and variety of fruit and vegetables on sale. Much of the produce available is organic and grown locally too. Look out for samples of their seasonal items.

Brookshires Grocery Store

Before you start to shop you might want to treat yourself to a gourmet coffee – sold just inside the door on the left at the coffee bar. You will notice that there are many who take advantage of the little cafe area there too. If you have time you could stop and drink your coffee while you look at the weekly paper containing details of the latest special offers at Brookshires. Of particular note is the meat section -they have the most amazing deals on particular cuts of meat and these offers change weekly.

Continue on through the store stopping perhaps at the excellent delicatessen or the bakery section where you can buy delicious breads of all sorts of types and containing healthy grains, baked in store. The meat section is very good too and the seafood is one of the best in a supermarket around here.

As for the rest of the store – it is clearly laid out and you will find all sorts of goodies here that you won’t see at Walmart.

Brookshires tries to cater for all palates and budgets and this is reflected in the choice available. ‘Food Club’ is their own brand of goods. If you come from ‘out of town’ like me then be sure to look for the International section where you can buy various familiar food items from Europe. There is also a significant Asian and Mexican section.

The food at Brookshires is slightly more pricey than at Walmart – though the special offers favor comparably. However, the shopping experience is so much nicer and the variety of goods they stock is amazing for East Texas. I have to add that the customer care is second to none – all the staff are so helpful and attentive to your needs. They make you feel valued and important here.

Don’t forget there is a bank instore, a photo shop and an excellent pharmacy, where you can make use of $4 generic prescriptions. There is even a drive-thru pick-up service.

One quick word about prices – there is a dual pricing system – one for the regular shopper and the other for visitors. If you plan to shop at Brookshires more than once, get yourself a ‘Thank you card’ by applying at the cash register or customer services. This means that you qualify for the lower prices and special offers. Don’t worry, they won’t bombard you with junk mail and they won’t give your personal details to any other company. You must present this card when checking out to receive the lower prices.

As you leave the store, enjoy the chance to have your bags packed for you (you can request brown bags rather than plastic or use our own and receive 5c back for each one used). Your cart will then be loaded and your shopping placed in your car for you. Don’t even think about tipping for this – it is all part of the everyday service at Brookshires.

One other thing to note – kids are welcomed at Brookshires. There are mini shopping carts for kid’s use and at the bakery they will happily offer your child a free cookie (while you drool over the amazing cakes on sale).
Altogether a nice experience – shopping at Brookshires in Rice Road is to be recommended.

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Save-A-Lot Grocery Store

February 3rd, 2010

Save-A-Lot

2305 West Erwin Street
Tyler, TX 75702-6736
(903) 592-1592

Save-A-Lot Grocery Store is located at 2305 W Erwin St., Tyler, Texas 75702. This grocery store saves you money by limiting the overhead on their groceries.

Any time I want to stock up on canned goods, I go to Save-A-Lot and buy the canned goods by the case. The brands are not Del Monte, but they are excellent quality brands that taste good to us, plus the cans are about half the price that other stores charge for similar canned goods. The products are left in the case and stacked up, but you don’t have to buy a case, you can buy the number of cans you wish.

The store is pretty clean and arranged to be convenient to shop. In addition to canned goods, they carry milk, eggs, butter, some ice cream, cream cheese and cheese. They have a variety of meat and prepackaged lunch meat. They carry fresh fruit and vegetables, that are good quality at a reasonable price.

Save-A-Lot carries the cheaper brands of soda, chips, crackers, cookies and snack items at a fraction of the cost at other stores. If you aren’t a brand name person and want good quality items at cheaper prices, you should go check the items and prices at Save-A-Lot.

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Tyler Supermercados Monterrey

January 17th, 2010

Tyler Supermercados Monterrey is a grocery store that specializes in Mexican products with all their labels written in Spanish. They are located right off Rt 31 and Loop 323 by Taco Bell, Blockbuster, Rainbow and other stores surrounding it. Even though I am not Spanish speaking I like going there because sometimes the prices are lower than other grocery stores. Their selection of meat and seafood is better and less expensive than what I have seen in some of the other grocery store. Because it is a Hispanic grocery store all things are written in Spanish…so you might have to be able to get along in there when you go in…or find someone who speaks English that can translate. My favorite thing to buy is their Mexican breads that are sweet. They have all kinds of selections and usually you can get three for a dollar. If you don’t mind the extra calories, than I would say go try a few.

Inside the grocery store they have a little restaurant, where they make all kinds of tacos. Whenever we go there, for less than $20 you can buy a little something for about three people, if you don’t splurge and get just one taco per person. They also have the best juices there. All kinds of good flavors, my favorite one is pineapple juice.

There is a place inside the store that you can purchase cell phones and phone accessories.

I particularly enjoy shopping when there are lots of stores in a location. I hope I have convinced you to try shopping at Supermercado Monterrey. You can save a lot on your grocery bill and enjoy the experience at the same time.

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Tyler’s Super Mercado Monterey

January 12th, 2010

Some of my earliest childhood memories are of traveling with my parents to Mexico and Central America. Little scraps of images and impressions, some of which I can no longer put into context, remain in the reassesses of my brain. I do remember the city of Monterey however. I remember stalking the city market, surrounded by sights and smells, all new and foreign. I even recall trying to bargain with the local merchants in my broken Spanish.

As a child visiting Monterey I subsisted on Mexican rolls and bottled Coke. Peanut butter and jelly suddenly became fine cuisine when spread over a bolillo roll. Market food was inexpensive and delicious, and it was generally pretty safe, even for foreigners, so long as you were cautious. The daily trip to the corner bakery was also a part of our ritual. I even remember gathering enough coins off the ground to afford a favorite pastry.

I’ve not been to Mexico in quite a few years. Today my Spanish isn’t really Spanish but mostly consists of what I remember from my high school Latin classes, which are oftentimes close enough to be understandable. But what brings this too ambitious attempt at nostalgia to the pages of tylertxdirectory.com? Well, a little piece of the Monterey market now resides in Tyler.

A visit to Super Mercado Monterey is definitely a cultural experience. The store has so many of the things I loved about the original including bottled drinks I’ve not seen north of the border, freshly rolled tortillas of numerous varieties, pastries, and of course those incredible rolls.

And no trip to the local market could be complete without a helping of street food cooked on the spot. Super Mercado offers a great lunch menu including favorites like a great burrito, (definitely not the microwaveable variety), tacos, tostadas, tamales, etc. The prices are great and the food is exceptional.

But the market isn’t all exotic favs. They also stock more conventional, familiar foods. In those cases I would probably stick with Brookshires or Walmart, simply because the prices are slightly lower on those common items. On most things however, the cost is real low. The charm of the place is both about the culture and foods. There is freshness, and an authenticity about the market. It’s refreshing to shop at a place that doesn’t feel like a national food conglomerate.

If the nostalgia of foreign travel and market places appeals to you, try one that’s right here at home. It’s not like being immersed in another culture but it is something a little different. Super Mercado Monterey is located on the west loop in Westwood center, ironically opposite Taco Bell.

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Brookshires Super-market

January 8th, 2010

When considering great Tyler businesses it’s difficult to pass over the Brookshire’s grocery stores. The Brookshire’s stores have very nearly achieved iconic status by establishing a near monopoly in the East Texas area. Admittedly this feat allows the store to charge essentially what it wants for its products. Brookshire’s prices are not sky high, but neither are they exactly a bargain.

The Brookshire’s thank you cards entitle the patrons to special deals but in reality the discount merely drops the prices to approximately the same level as the store’s competitors. The arrival of numerous Wal-Mart Supercenters in Tyler has served to provide some much needed competition, but the grocer continues to compete successfully even with the higher prices, owing to the fact that their customer service is so legendary. On top of that their stores are generally cleaner, more attractive and better organized than their national counterpart.

The crown jewel in the Brookshire’s chain is the Rice road location in Tyler. Its part produce market, part butcher shop, part delicatessen, and part lunch counter. I should also be careful not to forget the bakery, or coffee shop (which actually serves great coffee). Over the last couple of years the store has evolved into its own food court. It’s like an old fashioned market with modern conveniences.

The food the store carries ranges from that typically found in your average grocery store, to all sorts of specialty foods like sushi, tofu and an assortment of sea food. The Rice road store is really a great market and is essentially Brookshire’s answer to the Wal-Mart Supercenter with the added convenience of the local chain’s service.

While it seems odd to think of grabbing lunch or take out from a grocery store this one is definitely worthy of that consideration. And if it’s a choice between the national and the local chains, I suggest sticking with the latter, at least when it’s reasonable to do so. After all, it’s better for the local economy.

Tags: Added Convenience, Brookshire, Brookshires Grocery Store, Brookshires Tyler Texas, Butcher Shop, Coffee Shop, Crown Jewel, Delicatessen, East Texas, East Texas Area, Food Court, Great Coffee, Grocer, Grocery Stores in Tyler Texas, National Counterpart, Rice Road, Road Location, S Chain, Sea Food, Specialty Foods, Tyler TX Grocery, wal-mart, wal-mart supercenter, Wal-Mart Supercenters
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