Waitrose

I never realised that Waitrose was a fancier grocery store than say, tesco or sainsburys, but after a few comments from fellow workmates and finding out on BBC radio that Adele can afford to shop here, I’ve since learned I’ve been over spending on groceries at Waitrose for almost a year now.
Now, I don’t come here for my weekly shop. I think the distinction in price between Waitrose and the other big-​chain grocers is quite apparent and for the most part I struggle to justify this.
Don’t get me wrong– I love Waitrose, the quality of produce is good and I adore the 3 for £10 deal on pre-​prepared dinners that make my weeknights so much easier! They stock my favorite icecream and also have those few specialty products that I would not be able to find elsewhere. My issue is the basics, paying almost double for mashed potato or green beans seems ridiculous to me.
Service is great but when this place is busy, it is BUSY. The free coffee and tea with you Waitrose card is also a great touch that makes me leave super happy whenever I shop here.

Great for vegetarian options, especially for labelling their wine if it is veggie or not (many wines have fish scales in them)
With the My Waitrose card you can get a free coffee and paper each visit.
I like the green token you get with your shopping that is for the charity box, there are three charities each month that split £1000 and your token decides which charity gets your vote and this is how the funds are split.
If I am having friends /​family for dinner then I shop here to pick something extra special.
It can be pricey but also has plenty of offers on and also has an essential range which is comparable with other supermarkets so doesn’t have to be expensive.

It was lovely to have this around the corner when we first arrived in the city. There’s always a nice but overcrowded shelve of clearance food items at great prices, that they stock up near the evening.
With the free Waitrose card you can get a daily free newspaper (I believe with a minimum purchase of 5 pounds or so) and fee coffee or tea.
Just the fact that they have Bundaberg Ginger beer makes me very happy and a fan! We also purchased our towels and some other starters household items and they’ve all been very high quality, and one of the cheapest we’ve seen around oddly! Just need to look around for the deals in there, generally a bit more expensive store otherwise, but nice variety!

Waitrose is a pricey supermarket but one that Im still and grateful because of their speciality items!
Being lactose intolerant is a hard life and while tesco does put some effort into helping my poor fellow suffers, wait rose goes above and beyond. They have a great selection of soy products and lactose free ice creams!!! I know I sound silly but that makes me so excited! At home in CA I could get a lactose free option almost anywhere I went, but Scotland loves their cream and unwilling to bring in substitutes !! I have found a vanilla Swedish glance at my local tesco but never any other flavors. WR had three flavors of Swedish glacé and more in coconut ice cream too!!!
While I’d never be able to afford to do my normal weekly shopping there, I do app reset their specialty iteams! Oh I also get the refrigerated tofu I like here too! Yeah for WaitRose !

When I moved from Surrey to Scotland one of the very few things I missed was Waitrose. Living in Falkirk, we didn’t even have a Sainsbury’s but my Waitrose withdrawal ended when we moved to Edinburgh — where there is not only one — but TWO Waitroses to meet the foodie needs of North and South.
I would never consider Waitrose to be my regular grocery store — I suppose that’s where the missing star goes. It’s more of a treat — like going to a food hall of a posh department store. The cleaning supplies and toiletries are a bit more than at other shops and the selection isn’t as good — but they are there in case of emergency. The true delight comes in the more interesting selection of fresh fruit and veg — far more greens that any other supermarket — and even most independent grocers. Bok Choi, kales (whole not shredded), chard… perfect for green juices! Great cheeses, meats, fresh baked breads and the amazing dessert aisle! The salted caramel brownies from Maison Blanc are incredible!
The Strockbridge/​Comely Bank location is ideal for when you have other things to do in town and the free parking garage is a great bonus. Another bonus — free tea and coffee if you have a ‘My Waitrose’ card. Ah, Waitrose — you do spoil us!

This place scares me.
I don’t often shop at big stores like this. No, it’s not a hipster thing (ok… it’s kind of a hipster thing) but ever since moving into Stockbridge, my favourite Sunday activity is visiting all the little local spots to grab groceries for the week. There’s something charming about swinging into the butchers and then down to the bakery for tonight’s dinner.
But not everything can be found at a little haunt and sometimes, my bank account gets mad at me and I have to venture into a big spot like this.
The thing I will point out (as many before me have) is that the quality of their store brand here is excellent. Much better than the Tesco stuff I found my first few weeks (that’s the extent of my big box groceries though, so take this with a grain of salt I suppose). From the produce, to the pre-​made salads (the beetroot and quinoa is excellent! Oh gosh, I AM a hipster!), to the interesting pre-​made meal finds — it’s a nice step up from your normal big box selection.
Plus, they stock three different kinds of Yamazaki whisky. Coming from Canada where you can’t find this in the MOST exclusive shops — this tickles me.
So I would be a huge fan of this place, if it didn’t give me complete and utter anxiety every time I set foot in the place. It is SO DAMN BUSY. ALL THE TIME!
I don’t know if it’s because there’s a online pick up area right at the front (which is handy), or because i’m too used to my Sunday shop strolls, but this place seems like a bit of a zoo every time i’ve been in. Which would be ok I suppose if the lines moved a bit quicker at check out and there were more people to lead this lost Canadian to the right aisle, but as it stands — though useful, it’s a rather unpleasant shopping experience.
I’ll keep coming here for big ticket items and when I get my arse in gear to do a big shop, but I doubt it will make it on the regular rotation any time soon.

They have got those brands that you cannot get anywhere else. As of late they do try to compete with the former upmarket supermarkets like Sainsburys. It’s known that Waitrose is synonymous with quality. Prices reflect this. I would not shop here for the daily shop or even the known brands. My recommendation is to get your exclusive brands or special flavours as that is what they do well. Wines, spirits, meats, juices and chocolates. As Tanja already said: «you get what you pay for». The fresh meat and fish counters are a delight to shop at. For good quality bargains choose the essentials range.

I used to be a MASSIVE fan of waitrose. I would come here for all my foody delights, be it for a beautiful tart, fresh vegetables, or good veggie food.
Recently, I have worked out that a lot of it is just good marketing. Like Waitrose, marks and spencers also sells itself as being a slightly more upmarket, luxurious brand. This really rings true when one tries their ready meals, which are superb in comparison to Tesco. That said, I’m not a big one for ready meals, so let’s take a look at some of the other fresh produce:
Fruit and vegetables: Good selection, a few slightly more exotic options like pak choi and enoki mushrooms. They also often sell blood oranges. These options are expensive though, and dare I say it, inferior to the ones at lidls.
Bakery: Wonderful fresh French bread and croissants. Not so wonderful cakes. Had many cakes here which tasted either dry/​stale or just very creamy without much real substance. The cookies at sainsburies are 10 times better. They do stock some good pre-​made cakes though, like honeybuns gluten free brownies.
Store cupboard: Lots of exciting sauces to suit every cuisine: Thai, Japanese, Italian. Biscuits from around the world, including amaretti and Spanish tortas. The prices are pretty steep though.
Fridge: A few vegetarian options, mainly overpriced. Many delicious juices and smoothies, great looking desserts, from spotted dick and custard to French macaroons. Again, the prices aren’t so great. There is a good selection of yogurts and cheeses, again though, these can be found elsewhere for a much better price tag. It is worth getting the fresh pasta here though, fantastic options including pumpkin ravioli and gluten free chickpea pasta. If you have to get a ready meal, go for the chana masala, it is admittedly delicious…
Freezer: Some delicious ice cream options from time to time, vegetarian options, a few novelties like frozen ravioli.
What I like: Lots of variety, very continental. A few exotic things which are hard to get like guarana Antarctica, good selection of wines. Yummy desserts and good quality fruit. One of the only places to buy marsala wine and polenta.
What I don’t like: Very overpriced, sneaky marketing skills which make you feel like you’re getting something better here, as evidenced by the price tag.
Foodies could quite easily get overwhelmed here and end up spending a load on stuff that could be bought elsewhere. I know, because I used to be one of them.

High Class Shopping and expensive too!
You might wonder why people go to Waitrose with the prices being so high?
But if you look deeper, I believe that you get what you pay for.
So the WHY?
The veggies and fruits always appear fresh (so far no problem and I have been a Waitrose customer since I can remember), you find foreign variations of bread, it’s a smaller store than other Grocers and therefore easy to locate things, they offer a variety of cakes (little pink cupcakes — lovely), the shelves appear organised, no issues with products so far (no food poisoning).
Shame there are only two stores in Edinburgh, but I assume that the other stores already occupy a vast population area and not everybody can effort shopping at Waitrose on a weekly basis.
Simply said: I just believe in this Grocer and I am glad it exists.

I do love a good grocery store. This is the largest and nicest one that I’ve come across in this part of the city so far. It has a bit of an upscale feel to it, with some attention paid to aesthetics and packaging. It’s no Whole Foods, but it will do. Nice cheese counter, bakery section, wine selection.
I would have hoped for a little better from the produce section, but I suppose I need to adjust my expectations to the local climate and season.

This is it! It’s worth the trek by bike or by bus across town to the Comley Bank Waitrose. I fell in love with Waitrose when living in London and found that their meat and vegetables are of such high quality compared to competitors. I try to make my Waitrose pilgrimage every week or two to check out the deals and stock up on good meat, spinach, etc.
I have previously found that many things are red-​tagged and reduced price when they’re about to reach their end of display date, but they are perfectly fine, and this Waitrose tends to have a lot of great deals.
Although the perception is that Waitrose is expensive, many things are priced to mach Tescos and Sainsbury’s. The meats at all three can be 3 for £10, but Waitrose wins out on quality and taste. The fresh baby spinach is also fantastic and silky and the pizzas are so much better than the other stores’ ones! There is a fantastic cheese selection and the bakery section is also great. Although this store is on the complete other side of town from where I live, it is worth the trip!

I live not far from this Waitrose and totally love it. Thanks to their new Waitrose essentials range it is now possible to buy affordable groceries there, and I do so pretty often. It’s the best supermarket in my neck of the woods I think — if you want anything off-​the-​wall, they are pretty much guaranteed to have it. For example, I was recently looking for edible gold leaf to decorate a cake, and I was assured by fellow cake-​decorating friends that I’d need a specialist cake shop for that. I popped into Waitrose and had a look just in case, and they had it! That hasn’t been my only eureka! moment, either!
Also, I’m still surprised sometimes by how affordable they actually are — it depends what you’re buying, but mostly they’re OK… and if you do pay a bit more, you get a bit more in terms of quality. I should also mention the Comely Bank branch’s utterly lovely staff. They are always ready to help, they are very highly trained and super polite, and they actually want to have a wee bit banter with you — it’s like going into a small local business, it’s lovely. Particular shout-​outs go to till staff Philip — who is always super-​friendly and ready to converse, as well as very careful — and Ross, who is just a young Saturday boy (I think?), but very polite and helpful. Also Euan who works on the shop floor has helped me pick out a nice wine a time or two and is also lovely. Thanks guys!

Waitrose is definitely more expensive than the other grocery stores, but since its the closest to me, I’m in there almost every day. I don’t do my main grocery shopping with them, but if I’m shopping for anything that can fit in a bag or two, then I’m off to Waitrose.
I have to admit, it does seem like their prices are getting lower; or everyone else is getting more expensive. I’ll have to look into that. hehe
I’ve been a regular with them since they opened a few years ago, and have nothing bad to report at all.
The staff are extremely kind, helpful, friendly and always up for a small chat here and there. Any issues at all are dealt with immediately. Not that I can think of any issues I’ve had with them. :-)
They have quality food thats always in stock and I think maybe once in the past few years they ran out of something I was looking for… popcorn seeds. hehe They also bring in new food items regularly, so there is always something new to fill our bellies with.
Because of my growing boys, this Waitrose branch has become a second home for me, and I’d recommend them to anyone. :-)

I think Waitrose is a great shop. The choice and quality are far above other supermarkets and the whole environment is pleasant as they have wider aisles and much less clutter. Staff seem much better than other supermarkets too, they are helpful, friendly and actually make eye contact.
They have a reputation for being expensive. I think that’s slightly true, but if you look carefully for their offers and multi-​buys I am sure they are not. The biggest problem is temptation. Because the food is higher quality and attractive you tend to buy things you didn’t plan to. So self discipline and a shopping list is essential if you don’t want to exceed your budget!

Waitrose is more expensive than most other supermarkets but it is a fun experience now and again. They stock a lot of hard to find fruit and veg and have a great range of deli products, ready deserts and cakes. Those things that really are not essential at all, but look very appealing. Its not a huge shop and probably because its a bit pricier, never seems to be too busy, so it is always a pleasant experience to shop here. It would be too expensive to rely on Waitrose for all your basics though. much better to have it as an occasional treat.

I love waitrose. I can’t afford to do my weekly shop here as it’s a bit more than sainsburys but it so nice as an occasional treat! The basic products aren’t any more expensive but they have so many nice deli products and cakes I end up spending a fortune!
This is a really nice shop, but not very big. The shelves are always well stocked and the staff are really friendly and helpful.