Three Cheers For The Beers At Wholesome Choice

Excuse me while I take a stand, but I just don't get the huge fuss over Wholesome Choice. I visited the Irvine store recently, not the newly revamped Anaheim Hills one, and found it overcrowded and underwhelming. Sure, they have some good ethnic foods and a popular food court, but if you need to buy regular groceries such as cereal and butter, the range is far more limited. To me, the fruit and vegetable selection was poor and the meat and fish counters deeply uninspiring.

But one thing that did please me was the alcohol selection. In among the Greek Metaxa and other (relatively) obscure spirits were a couple of excellent award-winning organic English ales--both incredibly hard to find around these parts--made by Duchy Originals (the company founded by Prince Charles, no less) and Suffolk's St Peter's Brewery. Now that's impressive.

I guess the moral of the story, for the customer, is: visit for the detail, not the bigger picture.