Where To Do My Groceries Around Square One?


I've been living in the downtown core by Square One for the past 4 years, and for almost all those years I've been single. So I had to do all my grocery shopping on my own, which if I hadn't, I probably would have lived off of packets of ketchup and Redbull. To my surprise, the city centre has changed drastically over the last few years with respect to the selection and abundance of grocery stores, probably because people are moving in droves to the downtown core of Sauga.  A buddy of mine recently moved close by and the first thing he asked me was "where is the grocery store around here?"  Well, here's a quick guide.

T & T Supermarket
Located at Central Pkwy/Mavis you will find a fish and seafood counter that you will make you feel like you're at Sea World.  It's a great place to take the kids and show them all different kinds of live clams, oysters, lobsters, king crabs, and pink salmon.  It's a shame that you'll probably end up boiling your kid's "Pinchy" the lobster, then soaking it in garlic butter before you chow it down. They also have a comprehensive meat counter, with every possible kind of meat, from pekking duck to good ol' fashion beef.  For those that are the "I don't want to cook food - I just want to eat it" type, there's a ready to eat food section.  Here you can buy the typical meat, veggies, and noodles combo packaged in a styrofoam container, which you usually get from the take-out counter of your local Chinese restaurant.   Overall, T&T offers brands and types of food that, unless you are Asian, might surprise or scare the crap out of you.  Ever seen a squid hanging by the front entrance of Loblaws - yeah, I didn't think so.  Skip Saturdays though or you will be parking at A&W.

No Frills
The closest location is at Mavis/Eglinton. If you can stand the filthy shopping carts and dodge the long line-ups at the shopping cart drop off to get your quarter back, you'll have the pleasure of shopping at one of the most consistently cheap grocery stores in the core of Sauga. They also have a fairly decent produce section and a fish counter that has a variety of ...errrr...fish. 

Square One
has it all now because of Wal-Mart.  The only thing it was missing was fresh produce. Thanks to Wal-Mart they have it. I find the prices just tiny bit higher than No Frills, but in time I'm sure they will be cheaper with their mass marketing, ever-expanding product lines, and global domination. Be for-warned though, go at off hours (close to midnight) or expect to be standing in line for a long while behind that one elderly lady buying pajamas and twenty different brands of granny-wear without price tags! There is no meat or fish counter.

Whole Foods Market
Whole Foods is located just a few footsteps north of Square One. They have a huge selection of organics, foods from different parts of the world, and fresh produce, specialty meat, and exotic seafood. Most of their stuff can't be found at the local supermarket, but expect to pay a crazy premium price.  For me I would only go to this place if I wanted to impress that super fit, health freak, gymnast-type girl that is a vegan in my intro to humanities class at Sheridan. Just a little advice, buy all your staple foods (rice, bread, etc) at other places - it's probably cheaper. Hey, at least the shopping carts are free.

Metro at Mississauga Valley Boulevard/Central Pkwy is open 24 hours, which is very convenient when you have to do your grocery shopping after playing in your Sunday night hockey league or a late night UFC event. You do pay a bit more for the 24 hour convenience - it's not the cheapest grocery store in Sauga with prices marked up slightly. There is a fish/seafood counter there, but unfortunately no meat counter. Metro is basically for convenience.


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