Was in San Marino and stopped to get cat food. Notice plums and peaches on sale, got some, they were amazing! A million times better than I get at my ralphs on pico/San Vicente. Which LA stores have great fruit?
Or fresh food and meat in general?
Back in the day the Ralphs on labrea close to fountain used to have great fruit. Haven’t been in years.
whole foods produce is insane in LA
for high end meat: Belcampo and Gwen
Seafood: Cape Provisions
Farmers Markets purveyors notwithstanding:
Produce: 99 Ranch Market
Fruit: 99 Ranch Market, Japanese supermarkets, Sprouts
Seafood: 99 Ranch Market
I love the responses thus far.
Reminds me of exchanges like this one:
Q: Which McDonald’s has the best fries?
A: Wendy’s has great shakes and Taco Bell for awesome chalupas.
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Didn’t realize that San Marino had either a Ralphs or Vons/Pavilions in city limits.
The sometimes think the motto of FTC should be: Answering all the questions you didn’t ask! 
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You’d think that all the supermarkets in a chain would get their produce from the same source, but I’ve occasionally encountered local stuff that’s better than the usual.
But that wouldn’t explain anything at a Ralph’s in San Marino.
Then this might belong on the drunk/stoned thread… 
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Maybe, but you wouldn’t have to be too drunk or stoned–especially re: the “San Marino” Ralph’s. The border between San Marino and South Pas is pretty uneven, so confusion is understandable!
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Technically true. San Marino doesn’t allow commercial development, right?
Not the residents, it isn’t… 
I had just left pasadena and there was a sign a few blocks away from the Ralphs that said San Marino.
Would you guys just answer the damn question. 
of course the rich neighborhoods get the best produce. I wonder how they divide it up?
I guess that answers my question. maybe I will go to ralphs in rich neighborhoods.
If you want the best produce, go to farmers markets.
This is like that other conversation I’ve often overheard
Q: “Hey, anyone know which In-N-Out makes good french fries?”
A: “If you want good french fries, go to McDonalds”
My suspicion is a large part of it is how good the produce manager is. Along with the buying habits of the community (turn over). I always thought the Ralph’s in Inglewood across from Pann’s had a nice produce section and very nice greens for braising (collards ect), while the Ralphs on sepulveda by La Tijera was just -meh.
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I’d go back to that branch in a couple of weeks and if the fruit was still superior I’d ask to speak to the produce manager.
It could have been random. I have friends who harvest superior citrus from old trees. They sell to Sunkist or the like so someone could randomly get a flat of oranges an order of magnitude or two better than average.
Well all supermarkets purchase their produce centrally so the initial presumption would be that the produce would be the same at all stores, aside from the random fluctuations among any batch of produce. So what might cause consistent differentials? Maybe one store does a higher volume of business and produce turns over faster, leading to fresher stuff on the shelves at any point in time. Or perhaps if the market doesn’t price consistently between stores then perhaps they might send the better product somewhere that they could charge more, though that sounds like more trouble than it’s worth.
I vote for the french fries.
There are Ralph and then there are Ralph Fresh Fare. Two completely store except they share the same weekly advertised specials.
Even between Ralph Fresh Fare stores, qualities and selections differs greatly between stores. For example the Westwood Ralph Fresh Fare has sit down sushi bar and wine bar for patrons to sample wine by the glass from their cellar. While the Ralph Fresh Fare over in Sherman Oaks is fancier than most other Ralphs in the Valley, it does not have sit down sushi bar nor wine tasting areas.
In addition, the floral section and the beer section at Westwood is far superior to any ordinary Ralph. Furthermore, Westwood Ralph’s meat department has a dedicated refrigerator for keeping and dry aging their beef.
Enough said.
I’m starting to think it’s just luck and knowing how to pick it. I had some amazing oranges from trader joes in studio city. I went back to get some last week and they were gone. Poof!