So, since we’re now a gluten free household, we’ve had to break down and become the type of people who shop at Whole Foods. We still resist it, only shopping there for specialty items like gluten-free andouille sausage, this non-frozen gluten-free bread we can’t seem to find anywhere else, sorghum beer and an array of snacks.

Thing is, we don’t have one of these stores in my town, so we have a few choices about where to go. At the new store in the Lakewood neighborhood of Dallas, they have more parking spaces reserved for hybrids than they do for handicapped people. The one time we went to the store at Preston and Forest, we couldn’t find anything because it was such a maze, and the staff was even snooty when we asked for help. “You walked right by it,” the woman proclaimed. Months later, my sister-in-law wanted to stop there for something, and I stayed in the car, not wanting to feel the bad energy in there ever again.

The best option open to us was the Whole Foods in Arlington, Texas. I knew the store, had even been to two cooking classes there since they were taught by my girlfriend’s brother. As I remembered it, it wasn’t that bad. But still, when we drove out there and I gave directions, I said, “It’s on the right up ahead, just follow the smug cloud.”

Just as I remembered it, it wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t set up on one of those crazy mazes where you can’t find what you need or you have to start over at the beginning if you miss something. Easy in, easy out, and good customer service. I’d like to think that if they ever put in a Whole Foods in Irving, Texas, they’ll put in one like that — nice staff, efficient layout, minimal pretension.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 14th, 2010 at 8:53 am and is filed under food travels. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.