Central Market - HEB

HEB Central Market on Lamar Ave.

Another new venue adventure for Max and Mom.

We stopped at the Central Market grocery on our way back home from a shopping trip downtown. I kept hearing it was as good as Whole Foods for fresh natural/organic only food, but less expensive. I finally made a point to stop by since its located on 40th and Lamar, which is just a mile or so from our soon-to-be new apartment in Hyde Park.

They even have special parking for us!

We only bought a few things, so I can't say much for price comparison yet, but the selection was really really good. They manage to cram a lot more items into a smaller space. A lot of your 'experience' at Whole Foods is the large open airy space and fancy displays - more like a showroom of food whereas Central Market seems to just get down to the business of stocking shelves. The aisles are a little narrow and the layout of the store was a bit confusing at first. While its 'warehouse' style made sense - seems to me they could make it a little easier to get from one section to the other, especially to the checkout area - only a few small entry aisles to the more than adequate number of cashier lanes.

Max enjoying some 'Pro Bugs' brand Kefir' for kids

The bakery was phenomenal, more selection than Whole Foods I think.

Overall it was a good experience and I definitely recommend this place if you're a 'central' Austin resident like us. We've been going to this tired run down HEB out here on Lamar north of 183 for so long I forgot what a nice fresh grocery should be like. Whole Foods always felt like a special trip because its a longer trip downtown for us and the prices are pretty steep.

We'll be back here next week for the annual Central Market Hatch Festival that runs from the 17th through the 30th. I love green chiles, and have never experienced the way they are roasted here, so this will be yummy!