Maybe Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market can compete after all.
Parking lots were full and cash-register lines long at the six stores that British grocery giant Tesco opened in Southern California on Thursday. Some people showed up two hours before front doors were unlocked. In Anaheim, hecklers interrupted a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
"Just open the store and let us in," one impatient shopper shouted. "We've been waiting 30 years for this."
To find out whether the wait was worth it, The Times sent staffers to four of the new markets and asked Evan Kleiman, host of "Good Food" on KCRW-FM (89.9) and owner-chef of Angeli Caffe in Los Angeles, and Donna Barasch, a Villa Park gastronome whose cookbook collection numbers more than 250, to visit two.
They found Fresh & Easy to be a blend of Trader Joe's and Ralphs.
"I would definitely go back," Kleiman said after returning home from the Fresh & Easy in Glassell Park, where she spent $75 on bread, cheese, ahi tuna, shrimp dumplings, cleaning supplies and more.
Said Barasch, who toured the market in Anaheim: "If there were one nearby, I would take my mom there every week."
Kleiman and Barasch -- along with the Times staffers and many of the customers they interviewed -- gave the markets high marks for:
* interior design, because of wide aisles, clearly written signs, bright lighting and an uncluttered feel.
"I like the nice atmosphere," said shopper Sakinna Hamdan, appraising the Arcadia market. "It doesn't overwhelm you like other stores."
* product selection, including Spanish meats, such as jamon serrano and sliced chorizo, and cheeses from around the world.
"This is the first time I've had decent ricotta outside Bellwether Farms from up north or Italy," Kleiman said.
* prepared foods, including single-serving offerings of Greek salad, chicken fajitas and macaroni and cheese.
* convenience -- for instance, nearly all the produce is packaged in plastic bags or net sacks. (But that was a negative for Barasch. "If I want one tomato, I want to be able to buy one tomato," she said.)
* neat presentation of fresh-looking fruits and vegetables. "The apples and pears are beautiful," said Upland store shopper Lauren Ramos, whose husband works for Trader Joe's.
* unexpectedly low prices on items, including a 6-ounce tube of Total Advance Clean Colgate toothpaste selling for $2.47.
