Trader Joe's Co. Inc.

The Latest Cupcake Trend? Cannabis Cupcakes

With so much talk of late about cupcakes and legalizing marijuana, we should have known a Cannabis Cupcakes cookbook wasn't too far behind. "What better way to take advantage of both [the cupcake and cannabis] trends than with a cookbook that satisfies these guilty pleasures?," the cookbook's press ... More >>

Two & A Half Buck Chuck: Trader Joe's $1.99 Wine Days Are Over Does it Need a Name Change?

Trader Joe's famous (Infamous?) wine, Two-Buck Chuck, is getting a 50 cent price hike. As reported in the Santa Rosa Press Democrat, the Charles Shaw label wine has retailed for $1.99 for more than a decade. Sources cited say that price was attainable in part due to a glut of grapes (we shall refrai ... More >>

5 Great DIY Gingerbread Houses A King Arthur Decorating Contest

Forget foreclosures and rent increases. The real estate market just got a lot sweeter, with new listings of holiday gingerbread houses. Once upon a time, back when Hansel and Gretel roamed the forest without GPS, people (and witches) made their own candy-coated condos. These days, most of us are too ... More >>

Trader Joe's Butter Chicken Recalled for Listeria Risk

We're still fond of you, TJ's, and we're hoping we can work this out, but your empty promises about caring for our health and safety are beginning to make us sick (literally). Coming on the heels of recalls this year of barbecue chicken salad (Listeria, July) and peanut butter (Salmonella, Septemb ... More >>

Top 6 Seasonal Pumpkin Picks For Under $5

We realize that the profusion of pumpkin products isn't everyone's cup of squash. So we feel a little sheepish admitting that we're suckers for some of this pumpkin stuff (which reminds us, we need to get to See's Candy for a box of their pumpkin spice lollipops). With that in mind, we put togethe ... More >>

Peanut Butter Recall Expands to Just About Everything

The peanut butter recall that began innocently enough with one Trader Joe's brand has expanded exponentially and now includes everything from crackers and cookies to gelato and tahini, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Almost 300 products have now been recalled in what the FDA is callin ... More >>

[Updated] Trader Joe's Peanut Butter Recalled for Salmonella

Update, 9/24 1:12 p.m.: The maker of Trader Joe's peanut butter tied to a multi-state salmonella outbreak has pulled 76 additional peanut and almond products because of possible contamination, NBC News reports. California is among the 18 states that have reported infections of the rare and nasty st ... More >>

Woodland Hills Trader Joe's Gets Super-Sized

More wine, more cheese and more shelves to move stuff around -- the new addition to the Woodland Hills Trader Joe's is shopping-cart ready, although still not completely finished. The long-awaited wine-and-cheese-and-snacks room finally got the necessary city permits, giving customers a chance to ro ... More >>

Conejo Valley Adult School Serves Up 20 Cooking Classes

Looking to improve your cooking technique, or maybe just to have a fun night out while fine-tuning your eating skills? Then grab your toque and set your GPS for Thousand Oaks, where 20 cooking classes are being offered by the Community Enrichment Department, part of the Conejo Valley Adult School. ... More >>

Pop Quiz: What's Your Picnic Style?

Picnics are one of those civic birthrights that redeems living with traffic snarls on the 405 and celebrity divorces superseding the one minute of world event coverage on the evening news. The very bones of the tradition forged by myriad outdoor spaces, summer events, and consistently genial weather ... More >>

3 Tons of Trader Joe's BBQ Chicken Salad Recalled

Nearly three tons of prepared barbecue chicken salads sold at Trader Joe's have been recalled, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service. The recall comes after the announcement of possible Listeria contamination at Oxnard-based Gills Onions, Trader Joe's o ... More >>

Trader Joe's Chocolate Chips: Kosher Label Change Leaves Bitter Aftertaste

Trader Joe's has whipped up a big batch of customer frustration by changing the labeling on its popular semisweet chocolate chips to Kosher dairy. Until recently the chocolate chips were labeled Kosher parve, which meant they were dairy free and could be enjoyed by observant Jews after, say, a bowl ... More >>

More Fun with Speculoos from Trader Joe's: Now in a Chocolate Bar

If you recall, a few months ago we waxed rhapsodic about Trader Joe's Speculoos, a product that is essentially, smooshed cookies in a jar. Imagine asking a five-year-old "What's your dream sandwich spread?" and lo, it came true. Now, TJ's has taken that sugar rush to an even further extreme, introdu ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 2/13-2/17

Flickr/Lauren Manning​In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "Bay Cities' mac is enough to give heartburn to an 8-year-old and good enough for him to know it's worth it." 9 Best Macaroni & Cheese Dishes in Los Angeles. "Okay, it's not out just yet, but it's ... More >>

Trader Joe's Cookie Butter, aka Speculoos, is Back!

ProfessorSalt.comTrader Joe's Cookie Butter, before they ran out last year​If you've never experienced the creamy, crackalicious wonder that is Trader Joe's Cookie Butter, it might be because the shipment they imported late last year caught on like wildfire. They've been sold out since before ... More >>

Trader Joe's Signs Deal With Tomato Workers

After years of nudges, calls to action and protests, grocery chain Trader Joe's has finally signed on to the Fair Food Agreement. Spearheaded by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, it's a major step forward in the decadelong campaign to improve working conditions for pickers in Florida, where nearly ... More >>

Trader Joe's Tries to Copy Kyochon's Chicken Wings -- And Fails

Guzzle & NoshTrader Joe's Crispy Spicy Chicken Wings.​We love Trader Joe's as much as the next cheap wine-swilling, Candy Cane Joe-Joe-snarfing American (except when they're shafting tomato pickers), but some things, even God shouldn't touch. Kyochon's chicken wings, to be precise. Where angel ... More >>

Art Gallery Food Files: The Evolution of Exhibition Opening Food

jgarbeeNew Opening Night Diversity: Heels Chef Clogs At Gallery KM​There was a time when art gallery openings typically featured a cubed cheese platter and the sort of cheap wine that made even die-hard red wine drinkers switch to white for the night. (The chill helped mask the unpleasantnes ... More >>

Trader Joe's to See Angry Farm Workers March on Headquarters: They Want Better Wages, Improved Conditions in Fields

​Tis the season of protest. Some angry people will be occupying Trader Joe's today, and not just for the frozen tamales. Unfortunately, this is not a case of occupiers carbo-loading for winter. Rather farm workers are pissed at Trader Joe's for failing to join a movement that seeks to improve ... More >>

Trader Joe's Tomato Protest Today in Monrovia

Top: Coalition of Immokalee Workers. Bottom: Guzzle & NoshWorkers protest Trader Joe's tomato policies.​A one-cent per-pound increase in the price of tomatoes may not mean much to most consumers, but to many of the workers who pick these tomatoes -- a physically exhausting job with no health b ... More >>

I Love Trader Joe's College Cookbook, Farmers Markets Not Included

​If you happen to be a cookbook reviewer, when folks find out your profession, the cocktail party conversation will soon become a running list of every brilliant cookbook idea the martini fan standing in front of you has ever had. It is from one of these gin-induced brainstorm moments that we ... More >>

Best Comment Thread of the Year: Blogging L.A.'s "The 5 Worst Trader Joe's Parking Lots in L.A."

Loafin': Top 5 Bakery Breads

Amy ScattergoodChallah-in-process at Stoneground.​ "Don't fill up on bread," a few million parents have warned, seated around a trattoria table, a basket of steaming slices and a cup of olive oil at its center. Their children have never listened, and it's no wonder. Bread is a much better fo ... More >>

Pantry Debate: The Shell Pasta Dilemma Chef Suzanne Goin's Anti-Clumping Tips

JGarbeeAn Unfortunate Orecchiette Torpedo​For some, the never-ending grocery store debate involves which shortcut ingredients will actually mean getting dinner on the table at a reasonable hour. For us, there is but one question (okay, two, as olive oil is always involved): Is it worth it to s ... More >>

Squid Ink's Most Beloved Discontinued Products: Well, A Few of Them

DSL in Jaz/flickrWe hardly knew you.​ Our favorite convenience foods are like friendly co-workers holed up in the next cubicle over. We meet them, like them, grow accustomed to their presence in our lives, and then, just as soon as we realize we can't quite imagine life without them, they di ... More >>

Wine Shop Report: The Food Is "Fresh & Easy" But How's The Wine?

JGarbee​ For this month's Wine Shop Report, we hit another grocery store chain, Fresh & Easy. Not because we are particularly fond of shopping for wine under fluorescent lights, but because that income tax check is still a little too fresh in our mind. And so we gathered up our recycled wine b ... More >>

Jonathan Gold Reviews Mo-Chica

Ask Mr. Gold: What's The Big Deal With Quinoa?

Anne Fishbeinthe invisible restaurant critic​ Dear Mr. Gold: What's the big deal with quinoa? I couldn't even pronounce it right when I first saw it on the menu at Hugo's in Studio City. Then I saw it at Trader Joe's and then I saw it everywhere. It has probably been around forever, but has on ... More >>

Wine Shop Report: Has Trader Joe's Grown Up Since Two Buck Chuck?

J. GarbeeThe Partial Trader Joe's Tasting, Including That Il Valore Sangiovese ​Welcome to the wine shop tasting edition of Squid Ink, an occasional roundup of current offerings at select local wine shops. Take note of the word "select," as it basically means those we can afford. As in, this w ... More >>

Squid Ink Food Writers' Guilty Pleasures: Or, What We Eat Over the Sink

Dommy GonzalezRamen.​ Every food writer loves to share "guilty" pleasures -- gritty eats with which he or she slums it when sublime tacos from phantom trucks or, on the higher end, things dusted with Parmesan and bathed in truffle oil are not available. While we abhor the notion that food sho ... More >>

Candy Cane Joe-Joe's Are Back!

More than miniature twinkling lights or The Little Drummer Boy blaring from every boutique, the surest sign the Christmas season has arrived is the return of Candy Cane Joe-Joe's -- or, as they're known on the street, Christmas Crack. Thanks in part to their seasonal nature, these ersatz Oreos ha ... More >>

Lasagna To Go?

Try the "cupcakes" from Heirloom L.A.

Fortune Magazine Enters the Secret World of Trader Joe's

Photo credit: Cafe SocietyOutside Trader Joe's​ Trader Joe's is one of the most successful grocery store chains in the country, and also one of the most secretive. Now, with an article by reporter Beth Kowitt in the latest issue of Fortune Magazine, we know a little bit more. The article, tit ... More >>

Short Attention Span Dinner Theater: Your Week in Food, 6/21-6/25

In which we highlight the past week in food, either at home or abroad. "Do I ever feel like giving alternative advice, suggesting you pick up Thai barbecued chickens at Sapp Coffee Shop, an armful of barbecued goat ribs at Phong Dinh or a sackful of barbecued quail at Marouch? Sure, all th ... More >>

5 Most Disgusting Items In The Trader Joe's Freezer Aisle

Trader Joe's is really inexpensive. To be honest, it is at times somewhat frighteningly so. But we continue to shop there, mainly because of those low prices, their large wine selection, snappy packaging and generally friendly staff. It is a brand we've come to trust, without ever really stopping to ... More >>

Breaking Up is Hard to do at Trader Joe's

Ben CalderwoodIt's happening again​ The un-sulphured dried mango has gone missing. It's not the first time, but it still stings. The crystallized mango is a snacking imperative, tucked away in my kitchen, my backpack, my car. Its absence induces a kind of gustatory panic. A friend muses that ... More >>

Trader Joe's Switching Over To Sustainable Seafood in 2012

Word is in, via the Mother Nature Network that Trader Joe's has changed their tune, and plan to sell only sustainable seafood by the end of 2012. Within the last year, Trader Joe's has been under fire from Greenpeace, who did not look kindly on their practices in aquatic protein sales. When Greenpe ... More >>

Merlot March Madness: What To Drink On the Road To The Final Four

H&K SculpturesWine Dunk​Welcome to Merlot March Madness. Squid Ink has been training for weeks, swirling and sipping -- definitely not spitting -- to come up with just the right wines to drink during the Road to the Final Four. Why Merlot? It's just so college basketball friendly -- a wine wit ... More >>

Top 10 Free Samples: Where to Eat in L.A. Without Worrying About Things Like, Say...Money

User Lucyrk in LA, from the LA Weekly Flickr pool.Wanna try a tomato?​You don't have to go full freegan to eat without a wallet. Times are hard, but that's no reason to deprive your stomach of tasty treats. Here are our Top 10 spots for free edible samples in Los Angeles: 10. Trader Joe's For ... More >>

Fish Tale: Does Trader Joe's Sell Endangered Seafood?

File this under Good Stores Doing Bad Things. The environmentally sensitive consumer's dilemma is embodied in Four Story blogger Nathan Walpow's recent post, "My World Is Coming Down Around Me," about charges that Trader Joe's is not green enough when it comes to protecting fish.

How Green Was My Weekend?

Cooking with all Things Trader Joe's: Crazytarian Recipes Made Easy

When I was in my early twenties and had the dual luxuries of copious time and disposable income, I loved to cook. I cooked different things all the time, experimented with various styles of cooking and ingredients, and wasn't afraid to take a chance on something exotic. "What's the worst that could ... More >>

Trader Joe's Aisle Meltdown

There are some things that the bonds of matrimony are no match for and they come up this time of year through my admittedly perverse desire to walk into Macy's on Christmas Eve (Union or Herald Square, in San Francisco or N.Y. -- the bigger the better) and, on New Year's Eve, to "pick something up" ... More >>

On Fashion Week

Couture Salvage, Bettina Hubby's Co-Tour 2008, Rocky Horror Reminder

Sacred Sounds

Flyers of the Week: Dirty Sailor / Sunset Junction

This flyer is just a thing of beauty. MJ's has been hopping lately. Thumping bass bleeds through the walls, and I catch glimpses of glistening shirtless man-flesh dancing on a tiny stage as I walk to Trader Joe's for bread and cat food like the 80 year-old lady that I am. Still, I thought it was j ... More >>

Best Way to Reap What Others Sow

The Tastemaker

Trader Joe’s days of wine and cheeses

Oh, Grow Up!

How to throw a party like a real adult

The Checkout Line