Grocery stores happen to be a passion of mine.  Growing up in New Hampshire this world didn’t stretch too far beyond Shaws, Market Basket and Shop n’ Save but California has ushered in a new era.  Whole Foods where the employees smile and a 1/2 filled cart will cost you $200, Trader Joe’s where the employees sing and the patrons dance, and all along the way I’ve been stumbling across Chinese/Japanese/Mexican/Polish gems.

Today Mi Pueblo in East Palo Alto shook my world.  I use to sneak around the downtown palo alto Whole Foods for the generous free samples geared at techie elite, but nobody shakes their head at Mi Pueblo’s when I stuck around the chip/guac/salsa station for 5 minutes.  They engaged me in conversation while trying all 6 different types of their salsa, and at $1.99 you can seriously stalk up.  Free samples included, fruits, veggies, bowls of chips, buckets of flank steak, and did I mention the fresh oysters shucked at the door?

Spanish 3 served me well, and you could tell the employees where thankful for their jobs, (it’s the only grocery store in East Palo Alto, which recently won the award for most violent neighborhood in America).

The Stanford, Dartmouth and Facebook shirts on customers means there’s a new reason to cross 101 and leave the Four Seasons behind - check out Mi Pueblo, it won’t disappoint.  Don’t leave without a Rotisserie Chicken Yelp and I both say they’re the best in the Bay Area.