Post By: Ramses Seferino Trigo Torres, Peer Mentor
Hello, new anteater!! Congratulations on getting into UC Irvine! I guess that now that you have been accepted, you might be a little bit overwhelmed with a couple of things on how to prepare before coming down to Irvine. Courses, advisors, new friends, housing, groceries, etc. are some of the kinds of stuff that you need to think about before coming here so I’ll try to alleviate some of your doubts regarding where to do groceries close to UCI. This article will provide you with information about groceries stores that are at walk distance from campus and a couple of tips that might help you choose the best fit for you.
There are a couple of grocery stores close by to UCI but not all of them are at walking distance for some of them you’ll a bike to reach them faster or even a car. Also, we need to keep in mind that reaching the store empty-handed is one thing, and heading back home full of bags is something else, so you’ll prefer to go to the closest store obviously. Another factor you would also like to include in your decision of which one to choose from is price and type of food.
Now that I have brought a couple of variables into the equation, we can talk about the groceries that we have close by to UCI. To make it easier for you, below you’ll see a Google Maps screenshot where I highlighted all the In- and Off-Campus housing communities and marked the 3 groceries stores available for us. This should give you a rough idea of how close or far away are these stores from your apartments.
As you can see above, there are 3 grocery stores close to UCI Housing communities. These are Target (circled in red), Trader Joe’s (circled in green), and Albertsons (circled in blue). Each of them sells basically the same items but with different prices and types of food.
For example, if you would like to have any general grocery item at a standard price and you have no dietary restrictions, Target would be your best choice as they have general items with no specific restrictions are a decent price. From here, you can also get clothes, school supplies, and even medicine as they have an inner pharmacy, making it the best choice for most students that have recently arrived to UCI.
Now that we have covered the base store for most students, we can talk about Trader Joe’s and Albertsons. Don’t misunderstand me, the 3 of them are great stores but you can find different things in each one that you might want later in your path or depending on your situation. For example, if you have any dietary restrictions or prefer to eat organic or vegan food, Trader Joe’s will be your best friend as they sell mostly organic items, meaning meat, produce, and even cleaning items. This also includes that given the type of items they sell; these are a little bit more expensive compared to anything else that you find on Target.
Something similar happens with Albertsons as it is categorized as a higher quality grocery store which means their items are of better quality in general and you can also find a bigger variety of brands. Also, they sell more things in general as they have an inner pharmacy, and you can also find school and house supplies inside and not only food. Another great thing from this store is that they have a section of pre-prepared food which you only need to put inside a microwave or oven to eat which helps a lot for those times when you have no time to cook, or you still don’t have kitchen supplies to start cooking. At the very end, you can choose to buy everything from one store or get stuff from the 3 of them and take more care of your budget. The real answer will depend on you, your budget, and how close or far you are from these grocery stores. Also, keep in mind that there are public transportation services (Uber, Lyft, Taxi, OCTA, bus) that can bring you there and back home so you can avoid carrying bags while walking. I hope this information helps you a lot and I wish you the best of luck and once again, Welcome to UCI!!!