Costco in Bayonne, Shoprite in Hoboken, Super H mart in Ridgefield, Food Bazaar in North Bergen.

I'd add the Lidl in Bayonne, as well. Some solid deals there on quality food. They are hit and miss on the produce, and have their own brand for a lot of things with mixed results. I like to augment the trip to costco, as they are right next to each other.

Personally, Food Bazaar on 14th and Kennedy

99 Ranch

The Shoprite in Hoboken.

Whole Foods in Weehawken is the highest quality. Stop & Shop in Bayonne and ShopRite in Hoboken are second runners up and cheaper.

The bodega down the street.

Seconding this also Trader Joe's in Hoboken

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Yes! 99 Ranch is my go to.

I, too, miss market basket

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All of Newark Ave for produce. I honestly think Morton Williams in JC, Whole Foods in Weehawken, Trader Joes in Hoboken, and Lidi in Bayonne are the closest you’ll get to highest quality with a “one stop shop”. Target typically has the cheapest eggs.

But to answer the question I think you’re having, Hoboken ShopRite gives you the best ratio of price, variety, and availability.

Trader Joe’s in Hoboken

I like lidl in Bayonne

Fresh Direct or Whole Foods in Weehawken

99 Ranch rocks

Here’s an insider tip no one talks about here that’s great if you can drive: the Acme near Newport. Rarely packed, super clean, no riff raff, and reasonably priced.

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I wouldn’t say reasonably priced. It’s on the pricy side.

Also thanks to minimal foot traffic some of its goods are on the shelves a bit too long.

The upside of having a car is going to Mitsuwa whenever I want. 99 Ranch is a godsend.

Couldn't that also be a downside? Those Mochi doughnuts, dangerous

Actually it's the onigiri that I can't resist. And the takoyaki kiosk.

While I still mourn the loss of Italian Tomato, that onigiri place that took it's stall is fire

This, 1000%.

Also the ShopRite in Hoboken is from another dimension compared to Marin's, though that is getting better. 99 Ranch is excellent for Chinese/Korean/Japanese/some Euro fare plus some branded things are very cheap there. Morton Williams is expensive, and I only ever get bread and some fancy things at Key Foods om Jersey but never ever their fruit, veg and milk.

Get most of my branded groceries from Acme in Newport though. Staff are nice too, and if you're missing anything, Target is the other side.

You can only shop at Whole Foods if you're from the year 2375.

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I second this. I frequent there most often.

Puchos on Pacific Ave

I miss the previous bakery. The new one is OK.

I just went here today based on this suggestion. Thank you.

Is this a joke 👀 I said affordable.

If you are used to affordable AND high quality grocery stores, you’re gonna have to get used to picking NEITHER in Jersey City. All our groceries are absolute garbage and overpriced. :(

Yup.

There is “affordable” and there is “high quality” in the vicinity of JC but you have to choose one, both don’t exist.

The acme on 18th street is great.

ShopRite in Bayonne is also pretty good

Is there still a line at Mitsuwa these days? Went there a year ago, and the line to enter was 2hr long

Go on a weekday, it's never that bad. But yeah, it's pretty crazy on the weekends and the week before New Years is chaos.

Their produce quality is A+ and reasonably priced. I also love just walking down the snack, ramen, and frozen food aisles to find something new to try.

I occasionally treat myself to Wegmans shopping spree if I'm planning to be in a neighborhood with one, or driving through one on my way home.

it's so reasonably priced!

Acme on 440 near Society Hill is our go-to

I always preferred the Columbia Park (North Bergen) Shop Rite to the Hoboken one. Trader Joe’s is great - as is Lidl

I lived in the Cambridge/Somerville area, and was never a fan of Market Basket or Star Market

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Here's my ranking:

Garden of Eden (Hoboken)
King's (Hoboken)
Trader Joe's (Hoboken)
99 Ranch (Grand St.)
Shop Rite (Hoboken)
Acme (Marin Blvd.)
Morton Williams (River Dr., pricey but good)
Stop & Shop (Central Ave.)
Supremo (Palisade Ave.)
Hudson Greene Market (Hudson St., pricey, small selection)
Target
Pioneer (MLK)
Asian Food (440)
Central Square (Bergen Ave.)
Key Food (Jersey Ave.)
Acme (440)
Bravo (West Side Ave.)
D-Mart (JFK, perfectly fine, just small selection)
La Conga (bodega, Grove St.)
Shop Rite From Hell (Marin Blvd.)
Any other bodega
Week-old leftovers from the back of your fridge
The dumpster behind Trader Joe's
C-Town (West Side Ave.)

Shop rite

Sadly, I have to agree on this one

Jfc

The stop & shop on central is absolutely awful. It’s never fully stocked and they have limited options and it’s super over priced. If you already in the heights you might as well go to the shop rite in north Bergen. It’s larger than the Hoboken shop rite and easier to navigate.

Bet bet is to buy everything but produce at one of the suggested supermarkets and get your produce at a fruit stand if you want to be cost effective. Think 6 limes for $2 vs. $5+ at the supermarket.

Hate to say it but all of the produce I’ve ever bought in JC at those little outdoor stands (not farmer’s markets, the small partially outdoor markets that are common in the McGinley Sq area) is either already bad on the shelf or goes bad within 2 days of buying it or the taste is awful. It’s not saving money if you have to re-purchase the same stuff twice in the same week because the quality is so bad. Same goes for Central Square in JSQ. After 2+ years of crappy wilted lettuce and soft onions, I gave up entirely on buying produce in this area outside of the farmer’s market.

I guess I have some affection for Stop and Shop because when I lived in the neighborhood, it was that or the C-Town on Central, which was far and away worse than any of these other options. Probably should have gone to North Bergen! I often used to take the elevator down to the Hoboken Shop Rite.

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That C-town though 😒 unfortunately it’s walking distance from me so I’ll go pick something up if I’m really in a pinch but I try to avoid it as much as possible!

What - they're out of Riff Raff? Maybe it's a supply chain thing. Perhaps some Hoi Polloi will work instead.

Same. I'd never get meat there, but I'm only a few blocks away, so it's unavoidable sometimes.

Acme has significantly higher prices than Target or ShopRite, to be fair.

Desperately hoping that the new Marin ShopRite will be better than existing. I tell myself that they aren't improving it or expanding brands because it's lifespan is short. And what's with the no more hand baskets?

Jersey fucking city

The farmers market is not what you think. Just be aware.

I personally just shop at the market on route 17 or the one behind the old sears .

What’s wrong with the farmers market?

nothing is good, you'll miss market basket every day.

Overall that’s probably right but Depends one what you’re looking for. I’ve never food shopped at Target but we bounce between BJs, ShopRite, 99 Ranch and Acme. Each has things they’re best at, some more than others. But paying a little more at Acme to avoid the circus is worth it to many.

No one is threatening to assault you in the parking lot because they couldn’t help you with your bags and press you for money.

Occasionally there is something at Acme that ShopRite or Target don't have, that is certainly true. I find a good way to find that odd item (and/or comparison shop) is on Instacart. You can search for your item and see who carries it at what price. Of course everyone is going to carry some things (Rice Krispies, Colgate, etc.) and you can just compare prices), but for hard-to-find things it's a real time saver. Interestingly, I was recently shopping for a very specific jelly and the only store in the area carrying it was Key Food!

That's the parking lot though, not inside the store which is what I thought you meant. I don't like that either.

Most farmers markets don’t get produce that actually comes from a farm. It comes from a wholesale grocer.

Don’t believe everything you see is actually organic and produced locally.

Yea…there’s riff raff there too. Seen a couple checkout line scuffles.

I used to work in food systems so I’m familiar with that; I mostly go to get the added value/processed stuff like bread.

Fair the mcginley sq markets are just gross. I found one in the heights that is pretty good. I wouldn’t buy strawberries there, but it’s cost effective for most produce that had a longer shelf life (green onions, garlic, bananas, oranges, potatoes, apples, etc.)

Nice list, though I'd drop Supremo and Stop and Shop waaaaay down. Both are gross nightmares

Trader Joe and Aldi (German family owned), Whole Foods (Amazon owned), Shop and Stop(Dutch owned). Many ShopRites and Acmes in the area owned by US companies.

Hoboken has better stores. Korean stores around Fort Lee are interesting.

Yeah I actually took a look at Stony Hill Farms pie ingredients, I am not sure where I can get a monoglyceride plant, but I am interested to know how well they grow in NJ.

Its all kind of a scam really- I treat it like a slightly more expensive foodstore that happens to set up shop down the block from me, but there is nothing better about their stuff at all IMHO. This past fall I was really disappointed in their apples- Shoprite's Honey Crisps were better, and Shoprite's produce is typically one of their weak spots.

If you have easy access to the path, the trader joes in Chelsea is super convenient. It's about a 2 minute walk away from the 23rd street stop. It's always crowded but they always have so many people working the registers so the line goes quick.