Mid-Michigan Dining

• 3135 Washtenaw Ave.
• Ann Arbor, MI 48104
• (734) 975-4500
• Website

Whole Foods Market on Washtenaw in Ann Arbor

Can you believe that I have never been in a Whole Foods before?  Where I’ve lived the last six years, the closest Whole Foods was in Chicago and until J and I started dating, I didn’t spend a lot of time that far north.  Same thing when we moved to Lansing.  The closest Whole Foods in Ann Arbor.  We were driving around checking out the city when for some reason I said, “I think there’s a Trader Joe’s in town somewhere.”  I was wrong, it wasn’t Trader Joe’s It was Whole Foods.  J put it into her GPS and even though we were driving aimlessly, we were just a few blocks away, so why not check it out?

I’m gonna say right now, it’s a good thing there is not a Whole Foods in Lansing.  On the other hand, you’d always know where to find me.  The thing I’ve always heard about Whole Foods is that it’s expensive.  As we walked through produce, I could see that.  We can get produce at Horrocks (review HERE) much cheaper.  It’s probably not “organic” at Horrocks, but it tastes the same. 

After making our way through produce pretty quickly, we hit the meat area.  Oh my god!  They had actual butchers working behind the counter cutting meat to order.  My mouth started watering just looking at the huge case.  Prices were a little bit higher than the mega marts, but not outrageous.  Maybe a buck or two a pound.   After I got done drooling over the fresh meat, I turned around and saw their smoked meats.  I can smoke my own meat, so this didn’t impress me too much, but what they were displaying did look really good.

We kind of flew through the package goods department.  I stopped to look at olive oil and vinegars which again, weren’t that out of line from grocery store prices.  A little bit higher, but not outrageous.  We headed back to the bakery to see if they had the muffins that J likes.  I kept getting sidetracked by the fresh breads including Zingerman’s (review HERE).  We tried to get a good look at Zingerman’s bread earlier in the day at their shop, but there were too many people.  Whole Foods had not only Zingerman’s, but a lot of their own.  They ended up not having the muffins, but as we were looking for them, I noticed the prepared foods in the cafe. 

What a great lunch option.  There were so many different sandwiches, pastas, salads, and sides.  It really looked like the cafe portion of the store could go out on it’s own and be successful.  I kept getting in people’s way because I was walking so slow trying to take it all in. 

The thing I really liked about Whole Foods was that you can eat your way through the store.  They have samples all over the place.  I don’t get into the whole organic life style, so that didn’t mean a whole lot to me, but I appreciated the butchers and bakers on site working to give you the freshest possible meats, cheeses, breads, and pastries.  Those are the things I want in a grocery store and that’s what Whole Foods does.  I wouldn’t do my general merchandise shopping there, but I would be hitting the meat and bread counters three nights a week.  The prices are a little bit higher, but the good thing is, you know you’re paying for more jobs.  You see those people in the store.  Whole Foods is kind of a cross between the chain grocery store and the corner market.  It’s an upscale store, but they try to keep those familiar qualities.