Home › Forums › WSB Reader Recommendations › Tony’s Market – Worth the extra cost?
- This topic is empty.
-
AuthorPosts
-
July 22, 2008 at 12:04 am #587561
villagegreenMemberI’m wondering what people think about Tony’s Market, i.e., the quality and pricing? I’ve read about the roasted corn, but what about the rest of his produce?
How does it compare to McPherson’s over on Beacon Hill? I haven’t been to Tony’s personally, but have heard it ain’t cheap. A short drive over the bridge and I can get tons of stuff dirt cheap at McPherson’s.
Anyone want to sing Tony’s praises. If someone can convince me that it’s worth the extra cost I might give him a try!
July 22, 2008 at 12:11 am #631975
HPMemberI have never had anything bad from Tonys. The presentation is wonderful, he is allways sampling the latest & greatest and its close. It is not cheap but dependable and good quality and he does have some good price deals. I also love the old music. I personally havent tried Mcphersons, but I have a friend who swears by it.
July 22, 2008 at 12:37 am #631976
RSMemberHere’s a more specific question that I suppose I could just ask at Tony’s but maybe people here know- where does all his produce come from? To me, that matters almost as much as the cost and quality. I’ve seen some tropical looking fruits that I imagine are not sourced locally, but I’m not sure about the rest of it. Anyone know?
July 22, 2008 at 1:16 am #631977
MargLMemberIt depends on the produce and what’s in season in the area. Sometimes his strawberries are local – as in somewhere -near- Seattle but sometimes they’re the same “Naturipe” brand from California that you can buy in Safeway. I think corn is usually Eastern Washington grown. The red seedless grapes I bought were grown in the USA but the package doesn’t say where.
I’ve had a few ears of corn that were a bit brown in spots and a few beat up apples but I’ve had much worse from Safeway and Thriftway on occasion.
Prices I’ve seen are mostly on-par with grocery store prices.
The nicest thing is Tony is almost always around and if you have questions about the produce he’s always happy to tell you the details. Try and find that at a supermarket produce department! Plus there’s usually something in the dollar bargain bin if you don’t mind your produce being a little beat up. :-)
July 22, 2008 at 1:22 am #631978
WSBKeymasterI find almost everything cheaper there than at the grocery store (and we patronize almost every store in the area at some point or another in the course of a week), and usually much nicer-looking. Lettuce, for example, invariably a better price, at least in my experience, at Tony’s — TR
p.s. however, if we have occasion to pass thru the ID, Uwajimaya’s produce prices and selections are usually unbeatable.
July 22, 2008 at 4:21 am #631979
jMemberI agree with TR. I have noticed that Tony’s produce is a couple cents cheaper than your average grocery store. Example – The other day I went to Safeway to buy some lemons ($0.99). I went to Tony’s the next day to buy more lemons and his were better than Safeway’s and they were $0.79. What a deal!
July 22, 2008 at 4:27 am #631980
RainyDay1235Member…don’t forget, you can’t beat the $1 bin at Tony’s. I have found SO MANY great deals there!
July 22, 2008 at 4:29 am #631981
beachdrivegirlParticipantMaybe a dumb question but where is Tonys?
July 22, 2008 at 4:34 am #631982
jMember35th and Barton
July 22, 2008 at 4:50 am #631983
guidosmomMemberI used to buy from Tony’s, and thought it was a great deal, until I realized it wasn’t all organic. I think for non-organic (I think they have some organic) it’s still a great deal and it looks like very good quality.
July 22, 2008 at 5:20 am #631984
flowerpetalMemberWe do our weekly shopping on Sundays and always stop at Tony’s first. Banana’s are regularly .20 to the pound less expensive than at SWay. We typically buy our potatoes there too, and cherries from the Yakima valley are consistently less than at the gorcer’s.
I mentioned in another thread getting even better deals on some produce at the asian markets in White Center. Basil is one of those, also daikon radish; water melons and exotic fruits like tamarind and lychee.
July 22, 2008 at 5:27 am #631985
ellenaterMemberI love Tony’s! We went today for local cherries and also raspberries. Both were incredibly good. Not all organic but who wants to pay $6 for a pint of raspberries?
July 22, 2008 at 5:41 am #631986
kcMemberI think it is a better buy for certain items but be careful of items that you can’t tell the quality of until you open them up. Lettuce, carrots, berries and such may be fine but I stopped shopping at Tony’s after getting repeat episodes of tasteless peaches, brown throwaway avocados, etc.
July 22, 2008 at 5:52 am #631987
JPParticipantThe fruit stand off of the Burien freeway is fantastic. Take the Glendale exit and take a left. Great prices and beautiful produce!!!
July 22, 2008 at 6:33 am #631988
BonnieParticipantI don’t think Tony’s is more expensive than the grocery store.
July 22, 2008 at 4:51 pm #631989
villagegreenMemberThanks for all the feedback. I’ll give Tony’s a try.
When I asked is it ‘worth the cost cost?’ in the subject, I guess I wasn’t refering to grocery stores, I was refering specifically to McPherson’s on Beacon Hill. It doesn’t sound like too many people on the blog shop over there. If you haven’t, you should check it out at least once. You won’t believe how cheap their produce is. Just driving by Tony’s I’ve seen things advertised for 99 cents and then seen the same thing at McPherson’s listed at 5 for $1.
I just wonder how McPherson’s does it? The quality is decent. The stuff isn’t organic, but still…
July 22, 2008 at 7:04 pm #631990
JoBParticipantvillagegreen.. is the stuff local?
July 22, 2008 at 8:54 pm #631991
WSBKeymasterI forgot to mention one more thing that rocks about Tony’s in my personal opinion … the personal service. Junior Member O’ Team and I were there day before yesterday armed with only a $10 bill, no more, no less. We thought we pre-calculated, but it came to $10.51. As we tried to figure out what to put back, the young lady cashiering said … don’t worry about it, pay it back next time. Wow. Which reminds me, I need to get back over there today and make good on my promise to pay back the 51 cents. — TR
July 22, 2008 at 11:26 pm #631992
BayouMemberI {heart} Tony’s! I have personally never gotten any bad produce there. Their corn is wonderfully sweet and prices are usually cheaper than the grocery. I agree with the others here that rave on the service. I’ve never been by without Tony being there himself and the staff is always very helpful.
July 22, 2008 at 11:51 pm #631993
elgregoMemberDo they have good strawberries? I can’t find good strawberries anywhere in WS. They all get mushy and moldy within a day or two and have little/no flavor to begin with.
July 23, 2008 at 6:22 pm #631994
KenParticipantTony’s sign sez local strawberries yesterday I think, but I have not tried them. It’s all I can do to eat what my patch is producing. Last years yield was poor but this year they were late but producing lots.
July 23, 2008 at 7:20 pm #631995
jMemberI bought some of Tony’s local berries this year because I didn’t have enough Strawberrys of my own to complete my freezer jam recipe. They were very good. Nice flavor and juicy. Much better than the other kind that Tony has which is the same as most grocery stores (Driscoll’s brand I think).
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.