Whole Foods

For those not familiar with Whole Foods, here's a brief history...Whole Foods Market was founded in Austin, Texas, when three local businessmen decided the natural foods industry was ready for a supermarket format. Our founders were John Mackey and Renee Lawson Hardy, owners of Safer Way Natural Foods, and Craig Weller and Mark Skiles, owners of Clarksville Natural Grocery. The original Whole Foods Market opened in 1980 with a staff of only 19 people
Ok, so they recently opened this GIANT Whole Foods market at 6th and Lamar in downtown Austin, TX. For the first few months that the place was open, I didn't even go in. It was crazy crowded. That's not the reason though, I'm not claustrophobic to crowds unless it's a crowd of giraffes or other things taller than 6'5". But, about a month ago I decided to go in one morning and see what the store was about. I hadn't really been told much or hadn't even overheard much about what was inside except for the people talking about how huge it was.
I walk in through the produce section which in simplest terms of square footage is probably as large as some grocery stores that I've been in before. It doesn't stop there, there's loads of fresh seafood, meats, pastries, breads and so far I haven't thought of a single thing that they don't sell. Well, trying to decide what to eat when you go to McDonald's is easy, in about 15 seconds you can go through the menu... Single Cheeseburger, Double Cheeseburger, Triple Cheeseburger, Chicken Sandwich, Salad, Fries... done! Not quite so easy here. See, inside the store there are 5 areas where chefs will cook your food to order, while you watch, while sitting comfortably in a semi-circle.
So what does all this mean? Well, for about $6-$12 you can walk in to this grocery store, be surrounded by great smells, pick out a meal from a huge assortment, watch it be cooked before your eyes or choose from something already cooked like one of the 3 buffet bars, get a LARGE bottle of water for $.49 and sit outside in the great Austin weather eating your meal next to a small man-made creek complete with changing color neon lights :) Don't bother picking up any food you drop because the birds that hang out there have claimed it before it even hit the ground.