Transcript of Podcast #3: Grocery Stores by Campus
In Attendance: Melisa Perut (she/they), Sukriti Kapur (she/her) & Sharanya Bashyam (she/her)
Melisa: Hello, everyone, and welcome back. This is another episode of our GIC podcast. Today, we’re going to talk about grocery stores in Irvine, specifically. We have Sukriti and Sharanya with us who are going to talk about the stores that they like, the stores that they go to, which is pretty common for a lot of graduate students here. So we’re very excited to have their experience. But of course they also have their own particular grocery stores that they like. So we’re going to hear a little bit about something, some grocery stores that we haven’t heard about, and again, it’s your host, Melisa. As you always know. I always forget to introduce myself at the beginning, so I’m here again. So we’ll have Sukriti introduce themselves, and then we’ll move on to Sharanya.
Sukriti: Alright. Thank you for having me here, Melissa. Hi, everyone! I’m Sukriti and I’m a third year in the Chemistry Department. And I am from New Delhi, India, and I am a first time mentor with the GIC and when I started my grad school I was a mentee and I really liked the experience that I got as a mentee. So I came back like a year later to be a mentor here, and I am having a good time so far, and one of the things I like to do in and around Irvine is go to the beach, catch a nice sunset. Southern California has a lot of amazing sunsets, great weather, and so you can get coffee from like places near the beach and then watch a nice sunset. So Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, Corona del Mar, are all pretty close accessible, and very nice.
Melissa: Nice.
Sharanya: Hey! Hi! Everyone sorry for cutting you out there, Melissa.I am Sharayna, I am so excited also to be on this podcast. Iam a first year Ph.D. student in the Cognitive Sciences Department, just going to finish my first year soon. And I am from Hyderabad, India, and I was a mentee with the GIC when I started the program last fall, and it was in a very nice hand holding experience that I’ve had sort of transitioning from transitioning sorry transitioning into grad school life. So very excited to sort of give back and help other people transitioning into UCI. I have a similar experience. My favorite things to do around Irvine are for to go for walks. The campus is very beautiful, and we also have a lot of hiking trails nearby, and apart from just enjoying the weather and nature around, I really like going and hanging out at a Irvine Spectrum Center, which is this huge outdoor mall pretty close to campus and has a lot of restaurants and shopping, and a huge giant Ferris wheel that you can ride on.
Melisa: Yeah. Oh, yeah, that’s a great way of describing the Spectrum Center. And when you all arrive in Irvine you’ll notice that there are a lot of open air shopping centers around here, because it’s the weather’s always so nice, which was something that was really weird to me, because I lived in cities where it was always like closed. But it’s so great having you both thank you so much for introducing yourself. So we get to know a little bit about you and thank you so much again for coming here and talking to us about grocery stores. Which is something that I’m always interested in. So I’ll start off with our question of what are some unique offerings and popular products that are available at the 2 closest grocery stores around us. Trader Joe’s and Albertsons, and these are walking distance right? So what do you go to buy and maybe carry back home? Can you talk a bit about that with us?
Sukriti: Yeah. So I think when I came here, my first like store that I’d gone to was Target. And then I used to pick up like the standard stuff that you need, you know, for cooking. Just the veggies and snacks and stuff, and it was sometime until that I discovered Trader Joe’s, and my life has changed after that. I liked Trader Joe’s more than anything else, unless, like you’re trying to buy like some standard brands that Trader Joe’s may not have. For example, milk, because they’ll have everything of their own brand. But Trader Joe’s has a lot of seasonal snacks, and they keep coming up with a lot of, you know, just different food items from different parts of the world but give it their own little twist, so I wouldn’t say they’re like a hundred percent authentic. But they’re pretty good, and I think my recent discovery at Trader Joe’s has been this sauce or a dip that has cilantro in it, and like, it, tastes a lot like what we have in India. But it’s I think it’s it’s not. It has, like some Merititerranean ingredients, and so it goes really well with sandwiches, and you know, even as a dip, and I don’t know if I’m gonna pronounce this correctly but it’s called zhoug. So I don’t know how. It’s exactly pronounced, but that is my recent most favorite. And then their dumplings are pretty good. Their frozen food section has some amazing desserts. The Indian food is pretty nice, like, aso that’s frozen. But I think, yeah, it’s anything you pick up at Trader Joe’s is mostly a hit than a miss.Yeah.
Melisa: Nice. Yeah, and I know exactly the sauce that you’re talking about. It’s great, and I’ve also use it in pasta, too. I think it’s a great sauce absolutely.
Sukriti: It’s my go-to sauce for like any easy sandwich that I’ve done, made. And I’m like, Okay, I’m running late. Just put this with veggies and you’re good to go.
Sharanya: I feel like whenever people ask me, what’s your favorite thing about life in America? My top answer is, Trader Joe’s, followed by the Public library system. I think Trader Joe is the best thing that has ever happened in the world, because they have such amazing food items and it’s not just the things like the snacks that Surkiti mentioned. They’re great because you have multiple varieties of whatever snacks you can think of, and multiple varieties of snacks that you can’t even imagine. But another thing that I really like about is that they have a lot of cut and chopped or shredded vegetables available which comes really handy when you’re trying to cook. So, for instance, you have peeled and boiled baby carrots. So you know that’s a very easy, quick snack. Then you have shredded carrot and shredded cabbage, which is so much easier than you know buying a big head of cabbage and cutting it on your own save so much of time. They also have other sort of salad kits, and I really also appreciate the fact that Trader Joe’s has a lot of vegetarian and vegan options in most of their food, because I’m a vegetarian and I’ve never once felt like I’ve run out of options and Trader Joe’s. Albertsons, on the other hand, also has a huge frozen food section, but Albertsons is more like a regular grocery store and they sell out. They sell different brands, Trader Joe’s usually sells their own brands. Albertson’s the one thing that I’d say, Albertson’s, has that I like better than Trader Joe’s is that they have a larger variety of fresh produce, so they have a lot of fresh veggies and lots of greens available, lots of fruits also. Coming from a tropical country. I was, I miss eating the variety of fruits that I get back at home. Albertson’s has been able to sort of provide me with at least some varieties of those, and there’s also the Albertson’s app which, if you download on your phone, you can sort of clip deals and get discounts on orders.So, yeah.
Sukriti: I think that happens with Target as well. So Target has a reward system that if you sign up for and you can check what the deals are.
Sharanya: Yeah.
Sukriti: So, yeah, I think that’s a very good suggestion.
Melisa: Absolutely and especially if you are looking for large quantities of fresh produce Albertson’s is a much better option then, because at Trader Joe’s you’ll find like a small watermelon. But at Albertson’s you can get like a large watermelon, or if you’d like a bunch of herbs like, if you need mint, for example, you’ll only be able to get it in a small package at Trader Joe’s. But you’ll be able to get it as a bunch at Albersons, so there’s a variety. And of course the frozen food section is much, much larger at Albertson’s, and you might be able to find more. But both of them are frequent like I go to both of them quite frequently. One thing I’ll mention is that when we go to Trader Joe’s you won’t be able to find, like some basic household items like batteries. You won’t be able to buy batteries at Trader Joe’s. They don’t have those. I’ve never I’ve never seen them. Maybe they do.
Sukriti: I honestly haven’t thought about it till you mentioned it.
Melisa: Yeah, right like, or light bulbs. You won’t be able to find those, but you’ll find them at Albertson’s and Target. So it’s it’s quite interesting. But yeah, but oh, I’m sure we both all of us love them. But yeah.
Sukriti: No, that’s true. I think. Yeah. Trader Joe is my go to place for snacks and fruits, because I don’t buy a lot. I think one of the problems that I want to bring up early on into this podcast is that the U.S. Has crazy quantities for everything, and I was not used to that, and living by yourself, you end up buying more. Don’t go shopping when you’re hungry. First rule, and you end up buying so much more and you’re not able to finish it and sometime it like it goes bad, and there’s like so much guilt about wasting that food. And I think over time. I’ve overcome that guilt, or you know, I’ve just become more desensitized. I don’t know, but I think that’s a big problem. So I would say that, like, you know, have, if you happen to have a group of friends you could shop for groceries together, or, you know, like buy stuff that’s not in bulk. So I like Trader Joe’s fruits and everything so I’ll just pick up like an apple or 2 and then go back again when I have to, rather than buying like a whole bag and then letting it rot, and so I think Trader Joe’s is good in that sense. Of course Albert sounds as Sharanya said, have, like a lot more greens, and in that bakery section is pretty good, and sometimes they have like discounted deals and stuff on items that are just about to expire. So they’re not bad. But you can get like, you know, some desserts, for like a way cheaper price.
Melisa: Yeah, absolutely. And since we’re talking about, you know, buying in large quantities, can we talk a little bit about maybe tips of what to buy in bulk and what to buy in small quantities, since they go bad. And you know Sukriti you mentioned a little bit of cost, effective strategies like not going to the grocery store hungry is a huge one. But yeah, so how can we utilize first of all our time so we buy the stuff that we need in bulk efficiently and like not waste a lot of, great ways and spend too much money. So do you have any ideas about that?
Sukriti: I think it depends on how often you cook at home, and what is the kind of food that you cook, because I can only speak from my personal experience that you know, if I’m cooking a lot of Indian food, it will need a regular supply of tomatoes and onions. That’s the bare minimum that you will need for everything you make. And so you can buy onions or potatoes more so, in like bulk, so it’ll be cheaper, and you can like split it with your friends. But any food or fruit, for that matter, that would go bad quickly. I would suggest not buying it. So like when my roommate moved in. I think over time we had this understanding that okay, we can shop for groceries together, and that has kind of worked in our favor because, you know, we can get like cartons of milk or something and we know we’re both gonna drink it so it won’t go bad as compared to when I was living by myself, I would buy milk, or you know, I don’t have a car, so I would just order it off of Instacart, and they would send me like 2 big like 2 gallons of milk, and I’m like I will not finish this, and it’ll go bad. So it’s just things like that. I think just understanding that nobody really wants to waste food, is important. So if you can split it with your friends that’s good. Fruits and veggies I prefer buying fresh, and now that I have a car, it’s definitely way more accessible for me to go back and forth at grocery stores. But yeah, I think if you are regular like on fruits, you could buy bigger boxes. But I prefer the smaller ones, because I’d rather pay a little more than having to waste food. So it’s always a balance, but I think with like snacks or spices, or you know, things that really have like a longer shelf life, you can always, you know, buy in bulk or buy a bigger packet, because those things are cost-effective but it mostly boils down to are you like a person who likes to have frozen food more? Or, you know, just order in versus. Do you want to cook? And how much do you want to cook? So over time? I’ve just come to realize what works for me is just visiting grocery stores more regularly and buying like things in smaller batches rather than having it all like you know, like a 2 week worth of grocery, and then not cooking and then ending up, wasting it so I don’t know if Sharayna more insights to add.
Sharanya: I also follow a similar strategy. But I one thing which I would say is, since I also cook a lot of Indian food, I make sure that I have bulk supply of rice and lentils at any point of time. All the lentils that I cook with, because I keep making different kinds of dals, or lentil soups. Those things, they make sense for me to buy in bulk or and also flour, a wheat, whole wheat flour, which we make our rotis. Those things I always keep in bulk because they’re always cheaper. You buy it and bulk. I also every, I don’t have a car, so I go once a week for grocery, shopping, and I hit up Target, Trader Joe’s, and Albertson’s all on my walk. But one thing which I do is I always try to make sure every week I have at least one or 2 emergency frozen foods in case I don’t, in case I’m late or I don’t feel like cooking, or just I just don’t want someone to, you know cook for me, that it’s. It’s very nice to have that emergency frozen food that I can just heat up and eat. But yeah, for everything else. It’s helpful to, you know, because I also feel very guilty when I’m wasting food so some like it. I guess that once you move in to Irvine and once you move into UCI, once you go to all these 3 different places, you’ll sort of figure out what things you have preferences from, and where because, like for instance, milk, I always get from Trader, Joe’s because I just like the taste of that milk a bit better, no other reason even though it’s a farther walk for me and it’s heavier to carry like a one gallon, liter. Sorry, one gallon carton of milk, but I just like that taste better. So I do it in that way. So yeah, you’ll come up with your preferences. You’ll have your favorite Trader Joe’s snacks. You’ll have your favorite Albertson bakery item also. So yeah.
Melisa: Oh, that’s great! And that’s a great reminds me of a great recommendation. So, if something is seasonal buy them in bulk, because Trader Joe’s won’t have it until the next season. So you have to wait till next summer to get that same product again. So something to keep on.
Sharanya: The lemon, the lemon flavored ice cream, absolute favorite.I bought 4 cartons of it, finished them, bought 4 more again, and now it’s gone. So.
Melisa: That’s amazing.
Sukriti: You have these Takis that are so spicy, and they’re like those roll Takis that are like pink and green packet. And those are my favorite, and I think they run out of it at some point. But I had stocked like 5 packets before, and I kept some at my friend’s place because I was like I’ll eat them so whenever I need them I’ll take them from you. Yeah. So that’s a good suggestion. And I think there are a lot of like, Tiktok or Instagram pages, or even websites that just talk about what’s hot at Trader Joe’s. So you can always look up something that’s, you know a favorite.
Melisa: Yeah, I follow a vegan one. A vegan Trader Joe’s one. That shows me all the new vegan products. So it’s very exciting.
Sukriti: I’m vegetarian, too, so I think that’s what the 3 of us have in common.
Melisa: Yeah, nice. So do you have any favorite frozen foods from any of these 2 stores that you really like?
Sharanya: Garlic naan from Trader Joe’s can, it’s reminds me of garlic naan’s that I had hot hot at restaurants back in India. It’s so good. You can, and you can just pair it up with anything. And it’s also very quick emergency food, because it’s, you know, it’s like, it’s like an accompanying accompaniment. I don’t know how to say that word, but for any sort of vegetable that you’ve cooked, any lentil soup that you’ve made, or just sometimes with a dip, because it’s just so tasty that’s my go-to favorite food Trader Joe’s food. Another thing that I really like is the Thai Vegan Panam curry, the yellow curry one that’s so, yummy and so warm and just so perfect.
Sukriti: Ohh I love that!
Sharanya: I also really like the lemon bars frozen lemon bars, which are very yummy to have, and also, like I mentioned before, the lemon ice cream. But the lemon bars are not seasonal, but the lemon ice cream, unfortunately is. And I’ve honestly, they also have pretty good options for frozen Korean food, which is also Vegan. So you get good fried veggies, you get japchae, which is glass noodles, and you also get a tofu kimchi soup bowl, which are again all great options. As you can probably tell I am a great fan of lemon flavored desert, so another desert that I really like is their key lime pie. It’s frozen, but it tastes amazing. And one thing which I’ll say for Trader JOe’s is that you will never not find anything for yourself in the frozen food section. They have something for everyone, no matter what, your dietary restrictions are. So that’s why I really like that inclusiveness that they have. Oh, sorry! One more thing. The vegetables, Samosas the frozen vegetable Samosas also, which they have, amazing. And they also have these Indian chart roles, or something.
Sukriti: Spring rolls!
Sharanya: Those spring rolls. They’re also super good. They also have very nice vegetable pockets and Thai banana fritters. I’ll stop now before I list every single dish on the frozen section aisle.
Sukriti: I think you covered everything so well, and I love lemon-based deserts as well, so I’m glad to get more recommendations I have just had the lemon bars but every time I look at the key lime pie, I don’t pick it up because its so huge and I’m like I’m never gonna finish this ever. .
Sharanya: We should split it up as some point and share it, because it’s it’s amazing.
Sukriti: Absolutely.
Sharanya: The crust is very biscuity, like, and crumbly, and the top part is very lemony, and it just makes me it’s so sour, and you get that tang of the lemon. It’s amazing. If you ever need someone to split it up with, we should do that.
Sukriti: I’ll keep that in mind. But yeah, I think, apart from all of that, there is this one like they have the vegetarian dumplings.
Sharanya: Oh yes!
Sukriti: And I am a big fan, because one of the street foods that I used to get in Delhi is basically dumplings. And I was like, it’s an Indianized version, very different for those who know will know.
Sharanya: Yes!
Sukriti: We call it as Momos, and so they used to serve that with, like, you know, hot sauce, and like other, like some cream on the side. And I always miss that here, and then I tried like dumplings from different places, but nothing was really like getting close, so I think Trader Joe’s the veg dumpling, and I think the other one is like Shrimp. So those are pretty good. They have, like some pizzas that my roommate used to pick up. I’m not sure. But basically, whatever frozen food after I’ve tried, I kind of like to keep it lesser on the frozen side. So I don’t buy a lot of frozen foods. It’s just for emergency, or, you know, like some cravings. But I like to buy food fresh so. But other than that, I think, yeah, Sharanya knows best in this case. But yeah, I think I would definitely add the dumplings. Apart from all that she mentioned.
Sharanya: This is my every week I mix up what my one emergency food will be.
Sukriti: That’s a great strategy!
Sharanya: And yeah, so that way I have cycled through.
Sukriti: I think I keep. Yeah, I keep a lot of Indian brands that I know as emergency food. So those you get up more like, you know, different Indians, stores, or stores that are a little further away from campus.
Sharanya: Yeah, those that frozen food. Yeah, I guess we can also talk about.
Melisa: Yes, so the exact. This is a perfect segue, because I was going to ask about Indian grocery stores that are close to campus, that international students can access. And what kind of ingredients? Because I think some of the bulk ingredients you mentioned that you buy from specifically from Indian stores, and I was wondering if you could talk a little bit about that for us.
Sharanya: Yeah, the one store that I think is closest, which is not just Indian, but has a lot of international foods available is Wholesome Choice. It’s also accessible by bus from campus. It’s just a one bus like you don’t have to switch buses.It’s just a you like the bus just drops you off at Wholesome Choice, Wholesome Choice also has excellent variety of fresh vegetables available, and sometimes they are cheaper than what we get closer to campus. Not that much of a difference, but slight difference also Wholesome Choice has an entire aisle of just Indian foods of Indian ingredients, so you can get your spices, you can get raw rice, lentils, other ingredients like sooji, rawa, and rice flour, and for people from India will know this kind of instant noodles that we really like maggi. We have biscuits that are that have come from Indian brands. We have Lays chips with the flavors that are very Indian. You get like you, I sometimes, when I walk through that aisle, I don’t feel like I’m in America, because it has everything that I would see at a store back home, something which Sukriti also spoke about a little in the last section that we were talking about. They also have a frozen section full of Indian foods, which include frozen cut vegetables that you otherwise won’t find in the veggie section. So vegetables that are from India, I don’t know if they’re from India, but they’re just like it’s very difficult to find them otherwise. You have cut okra available, you have other vegetables that I only know the local Telugu name for it it’s called, kundru or parwalI think, yeah. And then you get like, yeah, so basically, a lot of frozen cut Indian vegetables which you otherwise wouldn’t get. And their pretty easy to cook also, because they’re already frozen and cut so all you have to do is just soak it in water and do the regular things. They also have very nice frozen Indian sweets, which is very useful and helpful during times of festivals. They also have frozen stuffed Indian breads like parathas.So you have mixed vegetable ones. You have specific vegetable ones. You also have ready-made chapatis or rotis that you just need to heat on the you just need to heat for them to be cooked. You also have. My personal favorite is a sweet filled roti kind of flat roti, or flat bread, called puran puri, which I that is also one thing that I stock up on.
Sukriti: Yeah, I think I have a bunch of things to add here. But the all these things that you mentioned Sharanya are all that I’ve tried, and I know they’re great. So Wholesome Choice I discovered it pretty late, but, thanks to my friends, who took me there one day. They have a lot of fresh veggies, but I don’t think that fruits are the best, so I would say, get your fruits from some place nearby but they will have like a lot of Indian veggies that you won’t find in grocery store nearby, and then, of course, the Indian aisle will have all your supplies, and then, if you’re listening to this podcast before you move to the U.S. I would say, don’t get spices, or don’t stock up on spices from India unless there is like something that is specific or a spice blend, that you get near your home because I bought like so many packets of just standard brands from India thinking that you know I won’t get them here or I had no idea I was just, you know, moving, and I knew I would get them but when would I get them? I don’t know. So this was a very refreshing change that I could find. Like everything nearby, and they will have all the brands that you want. So save some luggage space for other things, and get your spices here, and then, yeah, they have the frozen food. So paranthas are my favorite, and there’s this one particular brand that a lot of Indians will know it’s called Haldirams. And so anything you see by that brand is definitely gonna be good. So you know that you can stock up on their food. And then there’s this Indian cottage cheese paneer, that also you can get over there, which is the closest that you can get, because no place on campus will have that. And so if you’re a vegetarian like us, and that’s your source of protein, apart from lentils, they have all of that. And then, yeah, Wholesome Choices gives you a 5% discount if you show your UCI ID. So that’s something to keep in mind. And then they have this live food counters for different cuisines. So the Indian food counter in recent years has gone like gotten better. So they have, somosas, and they have, like, you know, just curries and other dishes. You can get packed, and then, you know, you can just cook the bread at home and have it as a quick meals. So some days, when I don’t want to cook, but I still want to eat healthy. I will just get like, you know the veggies from there for like 2 or 3 days, and then just cook the rotis at home, and then have those. So I think Wholesome Choice is pretty nice in that sense, and of course you get to like, look at what other cuisines or other you know, cultural foods are around there, and you can always try those one of my favorite stores. That is a little further away from campus. But it’s just an Indian grocery store. It’s called India International Bazaar, and that’s in Tustin. So I mean, if you get a cab, that’s great. If you have friends who have cars, they can take you. It’s a little further away, and I know there are grocery stores that are closer also, like Namaste Plaza. I’m just gonna drop names here. There’s Namaste Plaza. There’s India International Bazaar. There’s I forgot. There’s another one that’s nearby, but these 2 are pretty good. If you want like, you know, if you have a lot of breads or rotis and stuff, if you like, I, personally don’t take the flour and then cook them, or like knead the dough, and then cook them so you can get frozen rotis and stuff, and all you have to do is like take one out and just cook it, and they’re pretty good. But India International Bazaar will like it will have all of the, you know, smaller things that you won’t find at Wholesome Choice. If you’re looking for something very, very specific, or like oils, or you know anything else that’s even even like, I think some Indian like face washes or brands, or stuff that is just like an Indian brand you can find at these stores. And of course there’s gonna be more variety, because it’s just an Indian brand. But they have a live food counter again, and so there, you can get a lot of Indian Street food and snacks, and I think they have a buffet for like lunch. They have like buffets and stuff, and so I like going there because you can get your grocery stock. You can get a bunch of things that you won’t find at other stores, and you can get fresh food or snacks that you won’t find elsewhere. So that’s my personal favorite.
Melisa: Nice I and I think so Wholesome Choice also has, like a dessert aisle which has a lot of Middle Eastern desserts like Baklava and kunafa So all those kinds of things because I think it’s I think. It’s, I think Wholesome Choice, primarily Persian, and then also has other international foods as well. So it’s very similar to my culture as well, and it has a lot of foods from Turkey as well. So it’s great that you can even find rose water there, and that’s it’s very common in Turkey stores but it’s very hard to find anywhere else. So it’s I like Wholesome Choice in that sense. And I also like the baklava section like, if I’m having people over, you know, always go and get some baklava from there. And Namaste also has, like a dessert counter as well, where they have fresh desserts. So lots of great options for all of us. So before we kind of move on to the end, I was wondering if you have any recommendations for the Farmers Market that’s also close by, and if you benefit from the Farmer’s Market at all, I because it’s walking distance. But yeah, do you have any ideas or tips?
Sharanya: I’ve personally never been to the farmers market yet. But it’s my aim to at least go there once over the summer. What I have heard from people in my department is that they have a lot of fresh fruits and fresh vegetables, and they might be a little more expensive than what you get at these grocery stores, but there’s a to last longer, because they’ve and they’re also just tastier in with. So. Yeah, but I haven’t been there yet, so.
Sukriti: I’ll take you.
Sharanya: Thank you.
Sukriti: I am a Farmer’s Market pro at this point. I just like going there, because it’s a nice Saturday morning activity, so it’s not even that you have to buy things. It’s just you can get coffee, walk around, and there’s someone playing music. So it’s a nice change. My go-to places in the Farmers Market are the hummus guy, who will have a lot of dips and chips, and they also have stalls on like UCI Campus during like on the first, or like the springfest or whatever that is. They will give you 4 dips, or like 4 items for like $20, and their hummus and their dips are pretty good, and I go for that. A lot. So if you like that, I would suggest you go there. A lot of bakery items are really fresh. So, my friends really like this. I think Parisian bakery, and they will have this almond croissant. That’s super good. So you can get that, and then there’s this other guy who sells like banana bread, and he has the strawberry banana bread or sourdough, or Jalapeno bagels, and they’re all again, pretty good. Yeah, I think I’ve tried a bunch of things that are like around there. My friends really like the kettle corn. So, and that’s like made fresh. There are like, There’s this, little truck that has good coffee or another one that has Vietnamese coffee, and in recent times there’s this one popup that’s come up that has, like juices and stuff, and they’ll be you like you can try samples and buy whatever you want. You can buy a lot of fresh food as a vegetarian there, but I think for non-vegetarians there are like lines and lines of like for people buying hot dogs or something. I’m not sure what. I have not bought a lot of fruits, and veggies from there, because then again, I’m just scared of letting them go to waste. But if you buy peaches, or like some seasonal veggies or plums that they have, they are pretty good. And then, yeah, I think it’s mostly for me. It’s the hummus guy. It’s the bakeries, it’s the breads that are always, you know, going to be fresh, and it’s a good time overall. So yeah, Farmers Market is definitely worth a visit.
Melisa: I agree, 100%. And I think if you haven’t tried it yet, there’s an mpanada stall that has a Vegan empanada. So you can also have that and it has jack fruit in it. It’s pretty nice, so if you want to try that out, I highly recommend. But I want to thank you both for your time and for being with us here, and sharing all of these wonderful tips, because this is completely new information for everybody, and we really appreciate your insights. So thanks again for joining us, and we’re and I’m sure everybody’s looking forward to meeting you when they come to UCI at social events, and at other events as well. And maybe do a grocery haultogether. So thanks so much.
Sukriti: Thank you for having me.
Sharanya: Thank you for having us