Balducci's

Elite '08

34

128

Courtney R.

Alexandria, VA

I find the produce reasonably priced here. I used to live right next door so this was my go-to grocer; however it always baffled me that I spent $40 no matter if I was just buying milk or went for a whole rack of stuff. The sandwiches are great, they carry harder-to-find items like truffle oil, celery root and clotted cream and the flowers are decently priced for how gorgeous they are. Decent wine selection as well, but I'm sure if you know your wine you can find it for a better price elsewhere (I don't). Plus if you join the mailing list they send you coupons--a concept Whole Paycheck hasn't heard of.

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Elite '08

75

103

Justin S.

Washington, DC

After a long walk around old town I found myself about to swing by Safeway as I headed home.  Chance brought me to Balducci's first, so I figured I'd stop there instead.  I was greeted by a display of oranges prominently marked well over $1 each.  There was no special label to distinguish them from regular fruit, but they did look slightly better than average.  That trend continued as I made my way around the store.  The produce and meats looked on average slightly better than usual, and all seemed to be priced 1.5 to 4 times what I'd expect to pay.  For the only moderate improvement, I don't feel the cost would be justified.  as I looked over the ground beef ($7.99 per pound) I realized shopping at Balducci's would probably cost about as much as going out to dinner, except I'd still have to cook everything myself.

-1 star for shockingly overpriced items.
-1 star for making the nearby Wholefoods look like a great bargin center
-2 stars for reminding me that the cost of eating in Old Town is quadruple what I'd pay at home in Buffalo for identical foodstuffs. (these last two stars are personal, so I've left them off the official rating)

Overall,  Balducci's might be good in a pinch or if you need a hard-to-find high end item, but unless you're the sort of person that doesn't see a need to justify any purchase under $100, than the prices here will probably make you blanch.

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5

70

Melanie W.

Alexandria, VA

I love this grocery store.  I don't know if I'm supposed to call it a grocery store though - probably gourmet market is more appropriate.  Ok be prepared for prices to be really high, but if you can deal with that then the selection of food here is excellent.  The fish, the meat, the produce, the wines, the yogurt (I really like good yogurt and they have a lot of options), the cheese, the candy.  The only thing you don't want to go here for is staples like detergent or cleaning supplies or something.  They have only a very slim selection or none at all of items like that, because they are really focused on the food.

Ok so it's a nice grocery store you're thinking- who cares? There are a zillion good grocery stores in DC.  It's just another shmancy chain store.  What makes this place special is the service.  If you need something and they don't have it, they will scour the country and tap all of their suppliers to get it for you.  They did that for me once to find fresh wild blueberries for a recipe.  If you are looking for just the right cheese they are eager to help you find it even if it means trying every cheese they have.  

As an example, I was looking confused in front of all of these chocolate bars one day and a woman came over and asked if I needed help.  I explained that I love very dark chocolate but I wanted one that melts really well in your mouth, which is tricky because many very dark chocolates are sort of dry in that way.  She listens and then considers the selection and picks up a bar and opens it right up and says, "try this one" - I said, "oh you didn't have to do that! " I felt so bad because a whole bar would go to waste by opening it like that if I didn't like it.  She reassured me that it was no problem and the priority was to find exactly what I wanted so I didn't pay for something I wouldn't love.  I tried 3 before finding exactly what I was looking for.  Now I know exactly which one to get when I go and I didn't have to mess around with buying a bunch that I wouldn't have liked - that is so helpful and rare.  

One more example -they had a pinot noir on special a year ago that I fell in love with and then they ran out and it was no longer available.  I was so sad.  I've tried to find one I like as much but I really wanted that one again and like a moron never wrote down the name.  The man in charge of wine displays spent several minutes with me to try and remember the winery that produces this specific wine they carried a year ago and haven't carried since.  It was a long shot but I thought that if any store could pull a rabbit like that out of their hat, these guys could - and after awhile talking about where specifically in the display it was sold he did!  They are so great.  It's so luxurious these days to get really good customer service and this Balducci's nails it.

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