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As a former long time Wegmans shopper and employee who is now out in Portland (WF, TJ's, Safeway, Fred Meyers, local stores) I still weep whenever I shop in WF & TJ's. WF has lukewarm, hipper than thou service (the plague of Portland) but solid produce and meats. Anything in a cardboard box is bound to cost more and I'm often disappointed by their in house brands. TJ's is very overrated in many areas - does anyone actually read the ingredients on their products? Agreed they have great prices on chocolate and pasta and such, but their produce is usually way over-packaged. Why do I need a clamshell for 4 pears? I also commend Wegmans for having had a very strong 'buy local produce' for many years. It used to be a common practice to have department managers pick produce on a local farm at least once a year.

I agree with control. I certainly shop on a budget, and I do a little over half of my shopping at Whole Foods. The layout of Whole Foods is also a plus. When I go to Fairway I feel so rushed and crowded, and at Whole Foods I can just chill and take my time.

Canada's tax rate IS bad. I know because I lived it. If you are a healthy young person with a good professional job, you will probably do better in the US. If you have a family, or have health issue, or working class, probably better off in Canada.
Unless of course you are in dire need of cancer treatment, then you are screwed and have to pay for treatments outside of Canada because of the wait list at your local hospitals...or that many family doctors won't take new patients because their annual income is capped.
Don't believe everything Michael Moore says about the greatness of the Canadian health care system.
Don't forget to fill up your tanks stateside first..you think the gas is expensive here HAHA! And I would not even _attempt_ smuggling cheese out if you are flying out of Canada.

whole foods is as expensive as you want to make it. that's what they're saying with the value tour/image thing. there IS a way to eat good, real, minimally-processed food without spending over your budget. comparing items is great, but you've got to compare the same items. comparing fairway meat to wf's is like comparing apples to oranges; it's just NOT the same.

@redzerostar: Thanks for the heads up! The entry has been corrected. In the future, the best way to let Serious Eats' editors know about copy errors is to email contact@seriouseats.com.Thanks!

The health plan isn't free, ever heard of taxes?

What gnomatic said about crossing the border. You don't want to get caught with a cooler full of undeclared, illegal cheese unless you have an extra $10,000 laying around to pay the fine. You could probably get away with playing dumb over a small amount, though. That's my plan, anyways, regarding all those Vietnamese sandwiches I don't ever bring home.

Eat at you want while you're there though. Healthcare is cheap even if you're not a citizen. I broke my ankle in Montreal a few years ago. At the time, the emergency room cost around $350 per day. Not per minute like here in the US...per day!

VIVE LE QUEBEC LIBRE!!!

You have to be a resident, at least 3 months to get universal health care.

From experience, US border guards do random searches often, and it wouldn't surprise me if they step up the searches after this new development. If you do plan to smuggle cheese back, I would wait until the novelty has worn off before attempting it.

For the "speciality" meats, fruits and vegetable, have we forgotten CSAs and farmers markets? You won't find fresher, the quality is often better and the price is competitive. I sell grass fed angus beef direct from my small family ranch at about $8 a pound. I could charge more to join in the "organic" hype, but I feel it is more important to charge a fair price for a quality product. Your local farmers markets also believe in this concept.
Visit me at ShepherdsRanchAngusBeef if you would like to learn more, or go to your state department of agriculture site to find a local farmers market near you.

My local grocery store is Wegmans (I know that several of you from above will be jealous), but I have to tell you that having only one option can get boring. We have only one other supermarket chain in the region-Tops-and for price and atmosphere, they don't come close to Wegmans. That said, Wegmans does have its faults. They are very customer service oriented but only when it is to their advantage. Their chicken is not very good and I don't buy meats or chicken there as the local butcher down the street is much better and I like to give him the business. They also have many sections where it is at least 3/4 of their own brands and I don't always like the quality of their brands.

As for WF, I love it when I visit it because it is different. Given some of their prices, I am not sure I would want to shop there all the time. I probably would still go to the local butcher and farm markets. Even before it became trendy, I used to go to farm markets. Much fresher and I like giving local people the business. When I do go to WF, I do a bit of comparison shopping as I always feel that Wegmans is very expensive in some areas like fish, produce and cheese, but I am usually proven wrong as Wegmans and WF wind up with basically the same prices on these items.

Do wish we could have a Trader Joe's here but Wegmans will never let them in the area which is just silly because I would still have to go to Wegmans for quite a bit of my shopping list. I find TJs good for Belgian chocolate, pasta, toppings like bruschetta, but that said, you can't get everything you need there. So, I am forced to visit WF and TJs when I am out of town and can only buy things that don't need a freezer. I do buy some refridgerator items occasionally and put them in a cooler bag.

For those of you who have either WF or TJs near you, consider yourselves lucky to have a choice. I guess the ultimate combo would be to have Wegmans, WF, and TJs near by!!!

I just have to chime in here. I live in Texas in a city with both Central Market and Whole Foods. Whole foods does offer both conventional and organic items. I always buy my meat and seafood from Whole Foods because the quality, even when not organic, is so far superior to that at Central Market it's not even funny. And honestly? It's cheaper. But then, I'm not buying dry-aged ribeyes (which I'm pretty sure they don't even have at CM) all the time, I'm buying things like flat-iron stead and chicken thighs. The price of boneless skinless chicken thighs (natural, not organic) at my WF is $3.99/pound. I'm not sure what they are at CM though.

I shop both at CM and WF because CM is closer to my house. Sure, they carry HEB products, but at WF, I know that they quality of the 365 stuff is better than that of HEB/CM and is completely comparable in price.

Bottom line is, I'm going to look for ways to get the best quality for my money and I can do that at WF if I pay attention and shop smart.

The first (and last) time I've been to a Whole Foods was during a visit to my sister's a few years ago near Chicago. We had heard the hype surrounding WF and were also curious, but sticker shock got the better of us and we walked out with just a few prepared food items. When we got home to sample our findings, our food was quite a letdown (maybe we're picky?). I don't think my sister has been back there since. Thankfully, we had Trader Joe's out there to save us the next day.

For now, we have a Wegman's and a Giant Foods (of MD) five minutes away from our home but we've surprisingly found that Wegman's is within our conservative budget for a grad student and a recent grad. What I miss most is Giant of PA and their 2 for $4 deals on Turkey Hill iced tea!