Opening Day at Whole foods Market
The much anticipated opening of The Whole Foods in Plymouth Meeting has been the buzz of the community for well over 3 years. As the doors of the Austin, Texas based grocer opened yesterday morning, crowds of people poured through to get a first glimpse at what proves to be the area’s most exciting new food store. With an enormous priced per pound ($7.99 per pound) prepared food section, burger station, sandwich counter, pizza oven, dessert and gelato counter and its own pub, Whole Food’s is not just a grocery store, but a new dining destination in this already eatery overloaded shopping center.
Pizza Counter in Whole Foods
Downstairs Cafe
This area of Eastern Montgomery County has been starved for more than just a central grocery merchant that offers mass produced products. The immediate area’s retail grocers include those such as Giant, Genuardi’s, and Acme Markets, and giant box stores such as Costco and BJ’s Wholesale. With the addition of Whole foods comes the world’s largest retailer of natural and organic foods. Their focus is on locally grown products. They utilize point of purchase signage to indicate the distance products have traveled to reach this store.
Cereals and grains by weight
Sign indicating local product
The meat department offerings are extremely broad and a welcome additional to the area. Now that the Lancaster farms have packed it in and returned home for the winter, grass-fed beef has become scarce! Whole Foods offers a broad selection of steaks and roasts from a small organic certified farm in Georgia ranging in price from $9.99 to $27.99 per pound. This is definitely higher than the Lancaster farms that come to Chestnut Hill in the summer, but this beef is not frozen and the Lancaster farmers are not here in the winter.
Something you won’t see everyday are dry-aged steaks! Usually only found in the very best steak houses, you can now make them at home. I can’t wait to try my hand at cooking these on my grill. These start at $20.99 a pound. Boy, do they look gooooooood!
If you love sausage, a huge selection of house made sausages, including chicken and turkey sausage as well as pork, starting at $4.99 a pound, are offered. The selection of pork, veal and lamb is also extensive. The lamb prices look reasonable at $8.99 a pound for a whole leg up to $18.99 to a Frenched rack of lamb.
The seafood department was what left me somewhat befuddled. There was a nice selection of fish but not necessarily all sustainable, but I will leave this for a separate post. You cannot dispute the freshness however…..
A vendor filleting fish in Whole Foods
Now, let’s get back to the good stuff; the pub! Cold Point Pub, the first pub to be located in a grocery store in this area, as well as a first for the Whole Foods chain, was the immediate point, no pun intended, of interest at yesterday’s opening. It greets you as you walk into the store, as it is located immediately to your left. Also a surprise to most Pennsylvanians is the greeting by the towering display of Hop Devil 6 packs at the entrance as local liquor laws once prevented grocers from selling beer and wine in this area, but alas, the times they are a changing….
In step with the rest of of the store, Cold Point Pub focuses on local products and the 6 draft beers are from local breweries such as Yards, Troegs, Dogfish, Victory, Flying Fish, and Yuengling. Drafts starts at just $1.99. They have a walk-in refrigerator with a nice assortment of craft beers to go as well.
The best news of all for beer lovers everywhere is the ability to purchase growlers to take draft beer home! 32oz glass growlers with a swing-top cap are $3.99 and the 64oz with standard cap are $2.99. The swing-top cap on the 32oz size keeps the beer fresher for longer. Just a heads up, this does not include the cost of the beer.
64oz growlers
The pub also offers 3 small purveyors of wine. An Austrian white selection is from Terry Theise who won the 2008 James Beard Foundation Award for Outstanding Wine and Spirits Professional.
It’s not a large spot, but certainly has a cozy appeal and seems like a great place to sit and watch the world go by. There a few bar tables and chairs as well as living room style seating and pub fair such as burgers and fries and small plates are served. The only thing missing is the TV…….
If you are planning to check out Whole Foods be prepared for crowds. Tonight there will be rooftop hot chocolate reception from 5PM -7PM on the store’s outdoor rooftop cafe. Light refreshments will also be served.
500 W. Germantown Pike
Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462
In the words of the Governator ” I’ll be Back!”
you could spend the day here. does the pub have TVs?
you could spend the day here. does the pub have TVs?
That’s the only thing missing! In fact it was my first observation. That would be perfect!
That’s the only thing missing! In fact it was my first observation. That would be perfect!