Food for Thought: 5 Reasons to Try a Tacoma Gourmet Grocery Store

Over the past several years, there has been a significant rise in foodie culture. Popular chefs are treated like bona fide celebrities, and there is an endless amount of food blogs on the internet where you can turn for dinner inspiration.

If you live in the Tacoma area and really want to embody the foodie lifestyle, you should be familiar with the best local gourmet grocery stores. You should probably also have a go-to gourmet grocery, where you know you’re going to be able to find all your favorite ingredients.

Gourmet grocery stores really make a difference when you are trying to find the most unique and fresh ingredients to create the most delicious meal possible. Below, we’re sharing five reasons why should try a gourmet grocery store the next time you need to stock your pantry and fridge. Read on to learn more, so you can take your foodie lifestyle to the next level.

1. You’ll Find the Best Ingredients
If you want to make the most delicious meal possible, you need to start with the highest-quality ingredients. Not all food products are created equal, especially when it comes to fresh produce, meat, and seafood.

Shopping at a gourmet specialty market is the best way to set yourself up for cooking success. The better the raw ingredients you start with, the better the fully cooked meal you end up with.  There is no replacement for high quality ingredients and the uniqueness of some of those ingredients. You’ll only find them at a specialty market like Tacoma Boys and H&L Market.

2. Inspiration Is Everywhere
Even with the vast amounts of food blogs, culinary magazines, cookbooks, and cooking shows, it’s easy to get in a recipe rut or go back to the same spices and ingredients every time. If you’re looking for something to inspire you, take a walk through our store.  Having go-to recipes is important, but you want to be inspired by the selections and ideas. Amazing food should not be boring!

A gourmet grocery store like Tacoma Boys and H&L Market, are an endless source of inspiration.  You’ll discover something new every time you go. Especially as we seasonally change what we offer!  You might find an ingredient you’ve never heard of before that you’ll want to build a meal around, or could end up chatting about a new recipe with a fellow customer or one of our knowledgeable staff.  BTW, they love to chat about all of the unique things offered in each of our 3 stores.

There will always be something new or unexpected to excite you and shake you out of your regular cooking routine.

3. There’s a Community

Unlike regular grocery stores, specialty grocery stores aren’t trying to churn through as many customers in the shortest amount of time possible. Instead, employees take the time to get to know customers and talk to them about their cooking plans or concerns.  Take a look at all of the great interactions we have each week on Facebook or find some inspiration from one of our weekly specials. So many good seasonal items!

At a specialty grocery store like Tacoma Boys and H&L Market, you’ll find a community of other home cooks and food experts that you can talk to and learn from.  From meats to produce and everything in between, there is an entire community of people ready to help you find that next special meal.

4. You Can Support Your Local Economy

When it comes to your food source, there are a lot of benefits to buying local. For example, buying local supports your community’s economy and has a better environmental impact. As a single consumer, though, it can be tough to commit to buying local and sourcing area suppliers.  But that is why we exist!

The best gourmet grocery stores take the guesswork out of buying local by doing it for you. They source local produce, local meat, and even local specialty items like honey or jam. We have all of these items and more, sourced locally, and we can even answer questions about our growers or producers.  You can pull an item right off the shelf and feel good knowing that you’re supporting a neighboring business.

5. Better Customer Service

At the big box grocery stores, you tend to feel like just one customer amongst the hundreds who will come through in a day. Not to mention all of the same stuff at the same stores. Blah!  At our specialty stores, you’ll find customer service experts who really care about the quality of your experience, and will go out of their way to ensure that you are happy with your purchases, or we’ll gladly replace it.

Ready to Try a Gourmet Grocery Store?

Grocery shopping shouldn’t be a chore. It should be an activity that gets you excited to cook new recipes and try new ingredients. At any of our Tacoma Boys or H&L Specialty markets, that’s the kind of experience you will have.  We’ve helped our customers for more than 30+ years and we love helping our foodies find the best ingredients that just can’t source anywhere else. We toy with the motto, “If we don’t have it, you likely don’t need it.” And it’s probably true.

If you’ve not been into one of our stores, you should. For more information on the best specialty market shopping experience you can have, stop by one of our 3 stores or feel free to contact us at any time for locations or questions.