HEB is a local Texas grocery store.  There is a small, sad one near my house, but recently I started driving the 15 miles to the fancier one off I-1o, the HEB Bunker Hill.  Oh, I love shopping at this store!  It’s everything I *wanted* the famed Central Market to be.

The produce selection is great, and they carry many organic selections.  I got organic collards and kale for New Year’s Day black eyed peas, and organic green onions and carrots were only pennies more than the conventional varieties.   HEB Bunker Hill #109 is the only HEB store I’ve found that carries organic potatoes, and has a far wider selection than comparable upscale HEBs such as the one on Louetta and Airline Stuebner or the Cypress Market on 290.

Their meat section is the best I’ve found at a mainstream grocery store in Houston so far.  There is quite a variety of grass fed beef, lamb, all natural bison, chicken, and pork and the prices, especially for the all natural beef, are competitive.  (Whole Foods is cheaper if you hit the sales, though.)  You can get a turducken here, quail, duck, goose, or pheasant (frozen.)  Elk, ostrich, and gourmet chickens stuffed with crawfish are in the freezer.  They even have boxes of organic, flash frozen chicken breasts that are convenient and not as expensive as I expected.

I’ve been buying our meat here lately, usually sticking to the all-natural beef.  It’s grain fed, but not given antibiotics or hormones.  I’m also becoming a bison fan, which are also not given hormones and antibiotics as well as being raised on grasslands (fed grain and grass, though.)  You can find several brands of nitrate free lunchmeats and organic hot dogs and bacon.

The cheese selection is better than most grocery stores, though not as good as Central Market’s.  There are some health and organic foods available in bulk, a bulk tea section, and bulk spices which will save you a ton of money over the little jars in the spice aisle.

What I particularly love about this store is that it has the gourmet/organic/health foods and the more common conventional brands.  You can get wasabi crackers, organic rye crackers, Wasa crackers, Ak-Mak, or Keebler club and Ritz.  You can get California sea salt, Mediterranean sea salt, pink sea salt – or Morton’s.  The store is large and has an excellent selection.  They have Bragg’s Liquid Aminos or La Choy, on the same aisle.  This makes choosing the best bang for the buck, nutrition wise, easy.

They carry the full complement of Promised Land dairy, too, including half and half and egg nog as well as milk.  I absolutely love HEB eggs, which come in a clear carton.  They are vegetarian fed, antibiotic free but cost less than “cage free” eggs and are WIC approved.  It’s the best price for antibiotic, hormone free eggs I’ve found in town.

I have a Kroger about 1/4 mile from my house that I hit once in a while, but HEB Bunker Hill is *my* grocery store and well worth the drive to get there.