The East Side Gets an Earthfare!

Many of you may think I'm a weirdo, but I LOVE grocery shopping! So when I heard that a new Earth Fare was coming to Solon, I was really excited. Honestly, I almost didn't believe it when I heard about it because we already have so many great choices for healthy organic food. I couldn't wait to see what the new store in town had to offer.

I was invited to the grand opening and was taken on a tour of the store by Ritchie. He was very knowledgeable and as he took me around the store, I could see why he was so enthusiastic too. Since then, I've been back twice and so far, I'm impressed.

The store is large but not so big that it is overwhelming. The aisles are wide so you can take your time to look around and read labels without fear of being run over.

I love how they set up the store so it's easy for you to make shopping decisions. Want organic? It has a circle shaped sticker. Want local? Look for smaller version of this sign

Gluten-free products are also easy to spot - they are mixed in with the rest of the items but they are on wooden shelves.

My favorite parts of the store are:

1. Bulk bins - the selection is extensive and full of surprises. Fancy sugar, spices and herbs, unique flours, granola, candy and more.

look at all those spices!

Grains, candy, beans, granola and more!

2. They not only allow you to try things before you buy, they ENCOURAGE it. No more buying a new product only to get home and find out you hate it! All you need to do is tell an associate what you would like to try and they'll get it for you.

3. Prepared foods are fresh and fairly priced. The selection isn't as large as the Cedar Road Whole Foods, but the price per pound is about $2 cheaper.

4. The Tomato Bank is their rewards program. Just type your phone # into the key pad when you check out. Love that they don't make you carry a little plastic card.

5. Their Food Philosophy makes it really easy for you to make healthy choices. They won't stock products with a lot of the yucky stuff we shouldn't be eating like high fructose corn syrup, artificial colors, and growth hormones. Saves a lot of label reading while you are shopping! If you ever find an item in the store that does have any of the nasty ingredients, you can let them know and they'll give you a $50 gift card and add the item to their "Boot List" and won't carry it anymore.

Here's some other favorites

We tried these stuffed chicken breasts and they were excellent! $3.99 each

Perfect for those summer wines and bubbles - a flash chiller
(every store should have one of these!)

Scoop your own ravioli and artisan chocolates

Imported Italian meats ~ swoon

And here's your chance to find out what YOUR favorite things about Earth Fare are. They provided a $50 gift card for me to give away to one of my readers. It's good at ANY Earth Fare so all the West Siders can shop at their Earth Fare too. Here's how:

1. (mandatory entry) Like Earth Fare Solon and Eat*Drink*Cleveland on Facebook and leave a comment below telling me you did. If you don't have Facebook, you can subscribe via email or follow my posts by clicking the links in the right column and commenting.

2. (mandatory entry) Leave a comment below telling me where you normally do your grocery shopping.

3. Follow @EarthFareSolon and @EatDrinkClev on Twitter and leave a comment.

4. Tweet the following:

I entered to #win a $50 gift certificate to @EarthFareSolon at @EatDrinkClev and you can too. http://ow.ly/lv1xo #CLE

Leave a comment when you Tweet. You can do this daily for extra entries.

A separate comment for each entry is required. If you do all four, that's four comments.

This contest ends on Monday June 3rd at midnight. Winner will be announced Tuesday June 4th. The winner has until June 5th to claim their prize. If they don't, another winner will be drawn. Good luck!

** Disclosure: I was invited to tour the Earth Fare store and received two $50 gift certificates, one to use personally and one to give away. As always, all opinions and ideas are my own. **