My Dinner with Joe

Exotic fare - Pic courtesy of Wikipedia

by Trebor Snillor
Today the warm weather is returning after a freakish week of cool July temperatures. We actually had a record “low high” of 79 degrees a couple of days ago. I’m not complaining, just making note of the pleasant change. I’ve recently installed a fancy sprinkler system and an upgraded A/C – I should expect all that to bring cool, rainy weather to North Texas.

OUT OF THE ARSE

David Letterman once accused Dr. Phil of pulling advice “out of his ass”. Dr. Phil thought it was funny and even became a regular guest on Letterman after that. Today, I’m going to also pull a topic from that same place – the heat and a busy schedule prevent me from doing any kind of graduate level research on a topic. (Yes that’s right – I do graduate-level research on most of these articles :-) ).

LOWER GREENVILLE, DALLAS

The Lower Greenville area in Dallas (the blocks roughly from Richmond down to Ross) has just undergone a makeover. The street has actually been narrowed to make it more bike and pedestrian friendly. Benches, trees and landscaping have been added to make it a destination block – one where you might just hang out on a pleasant day. The strategy is working; the area has recently acquired the Truck Stop, (entertainment-cheap food venue) Trader Joe’s and the Tango Frogs back atop Taco Cabana. The long-vacated Whole Foods building has been made into a Neighborhood Walmart giving the area a practical anchor grocery store on top of all the trendy shops and bars.

NEIGHBORHOOD WALMART

When Neighborhood Walmart was suggested @ 3 years ago, some neighbors were up in arms. They envisioned a giant, gray “big box” with 200 acres of asphalt. In fact, Neighborhood Walmarts are much smaller than full-fledged Walmarts. Walmart repurposed the existing building with no expansion at all to its footprint or parking area. They gave it a modern exterior with pleasing brown/green earth colors and drought tolerant landscaping. I probably wouldn’t do my major shopping here – some food selections are limited compared to a Kroger or Tom Thumb. But it’s great as a supplementary store to round out my basic needs and the prices are very reasonable. I drop by when I’m already in the ‘hood shopping at Trader Joe’s.

TRADER JOE’S

Speaking of Trader Joe’s, I shop here almost every week. The California chain opened its first store in 1967 – it has recently become a Texas phenomenon with stores popping up all over. TJ’s is rumored to be founded by German ex-Nazi’s which seems ironic. The irony comes from the fact that TJ’s has a laid back, hippy dippy liberal feel to it. I went today and they were playing Led Zeppelin on their sound system. The employees all look like youthful members of a commune or maybe employees at a legal marijuana farm.

What Trader Joe’s is not: a place where you would buy all your weekly staples. Much like Whole Foods, TJ’s is a “specialty” grocery store. I like to tell people it’s for fun food – chips, dips, cookies, wine, cheese, mixed nuts and virtually any food used in entertaining or porking out in front of a TV. Their food includes lots of organic and exotic fare, competing again with Whole Foods. The Neighborhood Walmart across the streets yields a perfect complementary relationship. Buy your Charmin, suds and practical stuff at Walmart; then run across the street to TJ’s for your exotic fare.

Trader Joe’s differs from Whole Foods in one notable way (based on my own unscientific observing) – the prices appear way (like 33%) less than Whole Foods. Maybe that’s my imagination running away with me. TJ’s gets a really fun, interesting yuppie crowd which lends it an entertainment factor as much as anything. My only complaint would be that it’s so crowded – get there early or be ready to fight for your Trader Joe Hazlenut Cookies.

FIN

In conclusion, it’s obvious I had not much to say today. If you make it to Lower Greenville anytime soon, just come check out my new favorite places.


© 2014 Snillor Productions