19 Cent Bananas

Trader Joe's at Foggy Bottom (via Flickr/brownpau)

I have discovered the Trader Joe’s phenomenon. The location at Foggy Bottom is a hop, skip and a jump. In other words, I (plan to) do all my grocery shopping there.

Who can beat 19 cent bananas? Not only are they my favorite fruit, but I can stock up on enough potassium for a week for less than two bucks.

Of course, Trader Joe’s still has your Organic-This and All-Natural-That, and that’s gonna cost. But there are some truly unique things that I can’t wait to try.

I’ve made trips three times in the last four days. If I need to rationalize it for you, the reason is that you can only carry so much in your arms before milk starts to feel really really heavy.

Here’s what I’ve already tried:

• fresh 8-piece sushi (<4 dollars)
• spicy kung pao chicken
• creamy soy mango sorbet
• eggplant cutlets

My Twitter friends unanimously pointed me to TJ’s cheap wine (6 bucks). Thanks to a few Facebook suggestions, I’ve got plenty of suggestions to keep me busy – and HEALTHY –  all summer long.

Intense Facebook discussion about TJ's

And one more thing: The customer service and check-out process is so streamlined, it looks like its been rehearsed.

Each visit, I’ve had at least 3 people ask me if I needed help finding anything. And even though the line wraps (literally) around the store, it moves quickly. Here’s what one customer warned:

“Do not come here Monday after 5:30pm. The crowd is insane and the check out line snakes to the back of the store.”

But it’s popular for a reason (or many). Another one said:

Huzzah, TJoe’s! Please open more DC locations!

A ringleader of sorts directs customers to the next open cashier. Thanks to the Yelp comment section for those tips.