This blog is about food. I’m leaving Texas and will be in Deming tomorrow.
HEB is the grocery store chain in Texas, and while it’s my favorite of all in the country, my other traveling friends say the same thing. Best I can tell they have a near-monopoly, Walmart being seen but not Safeway, Krogers, Albertson’s, or others of their ilk.
First, they have a great selection, and if they are in a bi-cultural area the selection expands accordingly. It’s not unusual to see two butchers in a HEB, one for Mexican cuts and the other for merican cuts. Actually, it can be three, because each store has a seafood section. Or two bakeries. Produce is divided 50/50 between organic and non-organic, the same space alloted for each.
Prices are never offensive, usually the best I’ve seen. The weekly sales (focus in on these when in their area) can be scary, especially with meat cuts which now fill my freezer. Coupons are a surprise when you go there, and are taped to the product itself. Freebies are offered, buy a bag of chips and get a jar of dip for free.
Quality is top-notch, the best they can find. A couple of years ago I found a jar of Green Chile Salsa in a grocery store in Hatch, NM, with the Hatch brand name. This salsa did not include tomatilla, which is common in green salsa elsewhere in the country. It was great, I regretted not buying more then. This year I crawled every store in Hatch and couldn’t find it. When I got to Texas I found it in HEB, this time rebranded to “Country Store Hatch Green Chile Salsa”. They apparently grabbed the entire production as their own. I bought a couple years supply.
I never visit without picking up fresh warm tortillas and bolillos (bread rolls very similar to Franch bread).
There are delis, and discounts for wine purchases. Leaving Texas means leaving HEB. I’ll miss it.