Hy-Vee

I come here about once a week. Even though it can be quite crowded, I always find what I am looking for and the associates mostly are pretty friendly. I haven’t had a bad experience yet.

LOVING the new gas station. The traffic flow is great, wonderful bright lighting so a gal coming here at night by herself doesn’t feel unsafe either!

Great grocery store! Checkout is quick even during peak times. The shelves are well stocked even on the last day of a sale.

A bit bleak, a bit dark, a bit depressing, and a bit run down. I realize how lucky I am to live near the 119^th/​Ridgeview Hy-​Vee when I come to this one. I mean, it has everything you need in a grocery store, but it’s just not the most pleasant experience to shop here. Everything is dinged up. There is very little natural light. The people working here are friendly enough but not quite as much so as other Hy-​Vee locations in my experience, and just seem to go around a bit zombie-​like. It gets the job done, but not int he most enjoyable manner.

Drive thru pharmacy
Expectant mother parking
Excellent balloon and florist shop
Wonderful natural products selection
What’s not to like?

Great seafood and meat section. I used to be a Price Chopper girl but this HyVee has converted me! Awesome selection. Sometimes the prices are higher but it sure beats going to multiple stores to find what you are looking for.

They always seem to have food, which is good for a grocery store. I’ll be back next week.

This place has the best customer service of any grocery store I’ve experienced. It doesn’t seem to matter which location either. This particular location is huge and has a very good selection.

It seems that there is a Hy-​Vee every few blocks out here in the ‘burbs…
This location has a good natural foods selection, much better than the other Hy-​Vee a few miles to the west, but as with all the other corporate giant groceries out here, beware the ubiquitous corn syrup. Seriously, in an aisle with hundreds of ice cream flavors and brands I think it took me 10 minutes to find the one or two without added corn and chemicals. That and beware the suburban mommies in their gigantic SUVs, I was nearly run over multiple times in the parking lot.
On the upside, I totally appreciate that I don’t need a store card.
Overall, a minor environmental and social hazard, but better than the Price Chopper/​Hen House alternative if you need a quick pick up and can’t make it all the way to Whole Foods.

I shop this Hy-​Vee frequently, as it’s not far from me and conveniently located across Antioch from Sam’s Club and Aldi’s and a good Indian market. I appreciate that they’re the only chain in the area that doesn’t require a store card to get their best prices! This store has an over-​all excellent selection. There’s a good deli department with decent cheeses and cold cuts. They actually had some Spanish (as opposed to Mexican-​style) chorizo! Hy-​Vee carries a good sized selection of health foods, including their own store brand soy and rice milk, reasonably priced.
My best find here, so far, is the frozen crawfish tails in the seafood freezer. They’ve got a Louisiana name (Boudreaux’s) but are actually from China. I made etouffé with a package and the crawfish was delicious. It didn’t taste frozen at all! It’s $ 11 for a 1 lb. package, but that actually made a lot of etouffé — it’s all crawfish tail meat, cleaned and deveined, with no waste. For those who haven’t sampled crawfish, they taste like tiny lobsters (which is basically what they are, although they’re raised in fresh or brackish water) and can be used in lobster dishes for much less than the price of lobster meat! I haven’t seen crawfish tails anywhere else in town, so rush over here and buy some so they’ll keep ‘em in stock!!! They also have frozen alligator meat! So if you’re a Louisiana exile looking for Cajun or Creole foods, this is a place to check out! All they need now is to carry tasso and andouille, and mirlitons in their produce section, plus a big selection of Zatarain’s products, and they’ll be Cajun/​Creole HQ for the area! I also like their larger packages of the tiny frozen salad style shrimp which I’ve found to be excellent — tender and juicy, not rubbery and hard.
All in all a good all-​purpose supermarket that I’ll keep frequenting!
Another thing to keep in mind is that, like all the Hy-​Vee stores in Johnson County, they’re open 24 hours a day, although the pharmacy isn’t.
Update 11÷13÷10: Got this e-​mail today from the store manager:
«The frozen turtle has arrived. We put it next to the alligator meat. Produce now carries the chayote squash and it is next to the zucchini and yellow squash. The andouille sausage is on the top shelf of the meat case. The Zatarain’s crab boil, remoulade and fish fry are all on the seafood rack to the right of the fresh seafood case. Coffee and Chicory is in aisle four with the other coffee under the French Market label.»
How’s that for friendly, customer-​pleasing service? With these additions, this Hy-​Vee is now THE one-​stop shopping for anyone looking for Louisiana, Creole or Cajun foods in Kansas City! Fantastic! Louisiana exiles, RUN do not walk to this store! I just bought some of the turtle meat this afternoon and stuck it in the freezer. Soon I’ll get around to making some Creole turtle soup, great in the winter time because it’s a hearty, roux-​and-​sherry based affair that’s a meal in itself! Yum! (For the uninitiated, turtle meat is red, like beef, but has a kind of maritime flavor.)
This Hy-​Vee carries some other hard-​to-​find items. Their fish and seafood selection is good — today I bought some bay scallops for $ 7.49 a pound, which I thought was quite reasonable, and they looked very nice (dry, not swimming in milky preservative). There’s a big sign on the back wall announcing that they will steam lobsters for you while you shop! The Asian and Mexican sections are OK, but not as extensive as they could be (for Asian stuff try the gigantic 888 International Market on 119^th near U.S. 69, and for Mexican try the amazing Price Chopper on E. Santa Fe in nearby Olathe — both reviewed here on Unilocal!). In the rice section I saw cultivated Minnesota wild rice for $ 4.99 a pound, so I’ll have to stock up on that when I run out of my current supply. The health food section is extensive, with a pretty big selection of soy and other non-​dairy milks. I noticed they have the new MimicCreme non-​dairy creamer there. Hopefully they’ll also carry the MimicCream non-​dairy cream and whipping cream, too — they’re all kosher pareve and vegan, made from nuts. Great for cooking and baking!
Update 12÷27÷10: The store now has the sweetened and unsweetened MimicCreme vegan/​pareve cream substitute. It’s in the health food section with the soy and other non-​dairy milks. Didn’t see the new whipping cream product, though, although they carry vegan/​pareve RichWhip in the frozen cases, buried beside the whipped toppings.
All in all, this Hy-​Vee is turning out to be a real treasure! They’ve earned my loyalty!!! Laissez les bons temps rouler!!!