Compare Foods Reston

An interesting place if you like new markets. I thought it was going to be an international market but it kind of is, kind of is not. HUGE produce section but the prices weren't all that hot. I got mangoes 2/.99 which is great but I think it's an opening week sale.
What got me in the door was that I saw their flier at the place where I got my son's hair cut today. They had Faygo soda advertised which made my little heart skip a beat. You can get Faygo out here but usually not the diet flavors. It's a mostly Michigan/Ohio thing. When we go up there to visit family I purchase about 10 12 packs of diet red pop and ration it out for a year until we go back
Anyhow we get to the store and walk down the soda aisle and there it is! Faygo! Lots of Faygo!! They had the diet red pop but were out of it, so I got a rain check. I really couldn't believe it.
They have specials running for a few days for the first 300 customers. Today was a free 12 pack of eggs. Tomorrow is a roll of paper towels, here's a link to the flier:
http://www.comparesupermarkets.com/showSales.php?SID=65
They have mostly Mexican specialty fruits/spices from what I can tell and a nice bread/baked goods section. The usual fish section, shrimp is the same price as it is at Global, etc. If it wasn't for the Faygo I might not go back, but it's worth a visit once in a while to see what the specials are.
Along with the mangoes I purchased a huge thing of vegetable oil for 3.99 which was a good deal.
I think they just opened today.

 

Pop

 

Hey, I'd go there if they carried Cactus Coolers!

 

I am on my last bottle of Faygo Pop!! Almost made it to summer and our trip back to Michigan! Love that I can get Vernors at HT but it's so expensive there.

 

Long, long ago, Shoppers used to carry 2 liter bottles of diet & reg. Vernor's, reasonably priced. I never thought to check HT - will have to swing by there. Thanks!

 

We used to bring Vernor's back from Michigan for my dad's friend but I see it all over the place now. I'm pretty sure Wegman's has it. The first place I started seeing it at was the Adventist store in Silver Spring, one of my other favorite places that I don't get to go to very often. Incidentally, that is where one of the Chinese places gets the imitation meat they use in their dishes. I recognized it right away!!! I forget the name of the place, but it's in the same shopping center as the Giant and McDonalds on Farmwell.
I went back to get some more Faygo the other day and they had increased the price to $3.49 for a 12 pack. Originally, the tag on the shelf said $1.99 but it might be that they change the tags during sales rather than put, say, a big orange sticker in front with the sale price.
Still reasonable compared to having to pay a deposit in Michigan that we wouldn't get back! And speaking of that, I'm saving all of my cans so when we go back this summer I can cash in and get some "free" Faygo!!!
jblnd, you drink faygo too!? What's your favorite flavor!!! They have 2 liters there as well and although they don't have all the flavors they have an alright variety. No Frosh or Rock N Rye, but they do have the most familiar flavors like grape, orange, etc. I bet if we ask the manager they can order some different flavors. They had a new one when we went to Michigan last summer called 60/40 which is like Fresca and I really liked it.
We got some more cheap mangoes while there too, they were 2/.99 again. When we were there, they were going through all of the produce getting rid of the overripe items which I've not seen done too often!

 

I do like Frosh, but Red Pop was always a favorite along with Grape. Haven't had any of the new flavors but will have to try this store. We are not due back in Michigan until late summer and it would be nice to have some on hand!

 

I went to Compare Foods this week. The name of the store seemingly invites me to stack up their offerings with those of another store, so I have chosen Global Food as the basis of the comparison.

Produce. Not even close. While Compare Foods has an interesting selection, it was not better than what our local friends at Global Food have to offer. Other than a few low-priced weekly specials, a quick spot check of prices proved to me that Global Food is the overall cost leader as well.

Asian Products. This one isn't close either. I'd say that Global Food has at least 5x the selection as Compare Foods. There were a few items at Compare Foods that Global Food didn't carry, but on the whole the clear winner here is Global Food.

Latin American Products. This is an area where Compare Foods has Global Food beat. The selection of Latin American products was broad and deep, and they had perhaps 2x or 3x more to offer than Global Food. If you're a fan of foods from south of the border, then this is definitely a place to visit.

U.S. Products. There are some products and brands on the shelves that one doesn't see in other stores in this area. Overall the pricing was higher than I expected; other than a handful of decently-priced advertised specials, there were very few products with el cheapo prices. But if you are someone who is searching for that one product that no one seems to carry (e.g., the Vernor's and Faygo mentioned above), then it's worth a trip to carefully browse their selection. For example, I was surprised that Compare Foods had all three General Mills "monster cereals" on the shelf. If you're like me and can only get your Frankenberry fix during Halloween (which is when Target stocks this product), then you now have an everyday source.

Meat & Fish. I'd say that there is little difference between Compare Foods and Global Food in this category. The fresh fish offerings were close in variety and price. Their pork line-up was more diverse (and with very good prices). The beef selection was about the same between the two stores. Oh, and one other thing... if you're looking for chicken feet, Compare Foods has 'em in tremendous quantity!

Foot Traffic. I was at Compare Foods over the lunch hour, and the place was as dead as a doornail. I've been to Global Food during lunch and the place has been hopping. I don't know what Compare Foods is like in the evenings and on weekends, but light traffic leads to poor turnover of perishables. This has never been a problem at Global Food because their brisk business compels them to put out fresh stuff on a recurring basis.

The bottom line is that even though we've got something really great in our own backyard in the form of Global Food, it's worth a visit to Compare Foods if you're in the vicinity of Wiehle Ave. and North Shore Drive in Reston.