US Foods CHEF'STORE — Local services in Hickory

I was not impressed at all. 90% of the items are in bulk sizes (which is fine) but the prices are not even close to being wholesale. If any restaurants shop here I will be surprised. The meat section was ok, They have a lot of different cuts of beef and pork But it looks like the cheaper brand that you see in regular grocery stores (swift). They also have what looks like maybe a brand that they offer. I can't remember the name but they had it on some of their butter and cheese and bacon. But the prices are decent. I'm not going to say it's cheaper but today they had their whole beef tenderloin for $10.99 a pound, which is an excellent deal for that. The gentleman that worked back there was nice enough to show us that there were even a few in there that were prime that got put in there and he said they were just some extra and they got put in there on the sale price so that was a good deal. I'm going to compare this place to Sam's club. I can go in Sam's club and buy everything for cheaper than I can at a regular store. A1 sauce. For example, I get a two pack for a little over $8 at Sam's club. One bottle at the US chef store is $8. So there's just no comparison. I know my prices and everything I looked at was either the same price as Walmart or regular grocery stores or more expensive just in bigger boxes. Some of the bulk Frozen items like french fries and fish and chicken are in big brown boxes and you can't even see what's in there. I want to see what I'm buying. The prices were very expensive and if I'm going to buy anything I'm going to see it before I buy it. So a lot of that stuff just got passed over because I'm not going to bust boxes open to see what they have. Some of their cooking utensils like just an aluminum pot and pan were $40 and $50. I just did not see anything wholesale priced in here. There were some things that I've not seen in other stores before but in no way would I go shop here to save any money. They had a lot of different kinds of cheese and butter but once again the prices were not even close to wholesale. They were just as expensive as walking into Walmart and buying something off the shelf there. Butter in Sam's club is less than $4 a pound and it was more in this store. And obviously everyone cannot pay the cost for a membership at Sam's club. But I'm telling you the prices in this store are even more expensive than regular grocery stores and Walmart. So make sure you look up prices and see if something in here is cheaper before you go in there and buy it. Because with inflation the way it is I watch the prices and I'm very careful what I buy and this place was expensive. Just make sure you do...

UPDATE! 8/25: Stopped in to get one of these 7" "Santoku" Japanese style knives. Found a similar one at a thrift store, but wanted to have a new one. Will never go back to a regular chef knife. This one is so light and thin. Makes chopping vegetables effortless! $30. They may go up soon to $45 with the new tariffs. Also picked up some coffee, tofu (wish they had organic!) and grapefruit, which were marked down 50%!

(Original Review) So glad there's finally some competition to Walmart and other Catawba County grocery store monopolies!

And the profits stay in the United States, instead of getting shipped to European stockholders and corporate executives (which is what happens when you shop at Food Lyin', Trader Joe's and Aldi's)

There are some good deals here: Great selection of discounted herbs and spices. Also picked up some frozen veggies. And they have all kinds of restaurant-sized LARGE #10 cans of beans, peaches plus dried beans.

Also saw a good selection of chef knives - Many sizes. Basically about 50% higher on many things than Costco. But you save $20 in gas and 2 hours driving to Moorseville and back. And you do save some, compared to Food Lyin', I'll be glad if they ever get some ORGANIC choices. And more fresh produce.

Good luck in...

My first time coming in the store with my mom and dad. I'm giving it a 3 stars because the manager is so rude! It was my first time here and we lost track of time. I went to the front to find my parents and the manager was coming to the front. I ask if my parents if they were done shopping? The manager walks up and said you can check out right here we are closed. I apologized and said I didn't know you were closed and was standing waiting to check out. I said that a announcement we are closing in 10 minutes would have been nice. She goes to the front to lock the door and said it has the time we close at the front of the door. I replied with a you dont have to be A Bi&ch about it. There was a guy in front of me waiting for 20 min to check out. He was waiting so long he left his stuff and went to the bathroom. The cashier was the only one up front helping customers. The manager did apologize for being rude and said I'm sorry if I offered anyone. She said I was in the office doing a drop with the guy bringing the money and couldn't make a announcement. I accepted her apologies and checked...