Fresh, Easy and Finally Open

I wanted to hit the brand spankin' new Fresh & Easy in Glassell Park early on Thursday (the store is open 8 a.m. to 10 p.m.), but work duties interfered. So Blogger Toddler and I made it there around 7 p.m. last night to finally get our first taste of U.S. Tesco.

The parking lot was still packed, and by the looks of the inside, it was a successful first day. The ready-to-cook meals were fairly picked over, and the aisles were still bumper-to-bumper with carts, making it tough to navigate. But we did, and got a good idea of what F&E is all about.

First off, there are things that are Trader Joe's-esque (a reliance on store brands, a food sample booth, pizza dough) and things that aren't (there's still a wide selection of national brands, and more traditional grocery items -- like bug spray, or even diapers -- than TJ's).

Wasn't too impressed with the food sample booth -- pieces of lettuce with blue cheese dressing (really? On day one, that's your only sample in the entire store? Shouldn't F&E be offering samples of just about everything?) Like TJ's, the produce selection is relatively small (actually, if possible, it's smaller than Trader Joe's). But in other ways -- the sheer variety of both F&E brand and national brand ice creams, for example -- F&E offers much more than TJs.

I was impressed, for the most part, by the prices. And let's face it, another grocery option so close by is a good thing -- and a welcome addition to the working-class Glassell Park neighborhood.

The store is big, but not too big, and simply designed. (The wall that separates F&E from whatever will move in next door is empty and stark.) Majority of the check outs are do-it-youself, although on opening day plenty of F&E employees were on hand to help ring people up.

Ultimately, I think the real draw for F&E will indeed be its ready-to-cook entrees. For dinner, I picked up a Green Curry Thai Chicken rice bowl for $3.99. Good price, good flavor (although I'm still tasting the garlic) -- and there's plenty more to try.

As for the store brands, like TJs, F&E sells a number of offbeat products -- and interesting flavor combos, such as a blue corn and lime cracker. I think TJs easily still beats F&E for the sheer variety of budget gourmet choices. Disappointed to see that Tesco didn't import any British items -- particularly, candy -- for its F&E stores.

Stay tuned for pics of the store, as well as our initial purchases.

The L.A. Times was out at several F&E stores, and filed this report:

The Fresh & Easy model is simple: The markets are relatively small, at about 10,000 square feet per store, and the advertising campaign includes references to environmentally friendly packaging and food free of artificial colors, flavors and trans fats. Stores are stocked with big names and in-house brands and offer more prepared entrees and side dishes than typical supermarkets.

Some industry watchers have said that Fresh & Easy might change the Southland's grocery-shopping landscape, if only because Tesco plans to open dozens more markets in the region by next year. (The six stores that debuted Thursday are in Anaheim, Arcadia, Hemet, Glassell Park, Upland and West Covina.)

The paper brought "Good Food" host Evan Kleiman to the Glassell Park location; she was quite impressed, and said she'd be back.