Do a smell test. Go for the ones that smell sweet and fruity. A strawberry that smells like a strawberry is the best predictor of quality. Less accurate, but decent, is to look for strawberries that are uniformly red. This method doesn't always work - but more often than not a strawberry that's red through and through will taste good. Shape doesn't play a role in flavor, so I buy the oddly shaped ones with confidence.. Verdict: use your nose for picking good strawberries.