Trader Joe's with John Hodgman and David Rees

"Trader Joe's with John Hodgman and David Rees" is Episode 258 of *Doughboys*, hosted by Mike Mitchell and Nick Wiger. "Trader Joe's with John Hodgman and David Rees" was released on July 2, 2020.

## Synopsis

The creators and stars of *Dicktown* on FXX, John Hodgman and David Rees, join the 'boys to kick of **Friendly Green Grocer Mitch's Grocery Store Month** and review California-founded Trader Joe's. Plus, another edition of Family Food.

## Nick's intro

On July 17, 1955, Walt Disney opened his eponymous Disneyland in Anaheim, California - a city-sized theme park that would forever alter the amusement industry the same way he did for animation.

Back on opening day, decades before Disney Parks fandom became an entire identify for weird, childless adults, the park's footprint was smaller, the intellectual property in use consisted entirely of recycled public-domain children's stories, and the rides were simpler and fewer: nausea-inducing spinulator The Mad Tea Party, drunk-driving morality play Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and a water adventure that navigated through a maze of non-native tropical fauna called the Jungle Cruise.

Taking its inspiration from the John Huston film, *The African Queen*, and stocked with animatronic exotic animals and a narration script of cornball jokes, the Jungle Cruise was an early hit with park-goers, and endures today with some revisions to trim its problematic-by-contemporary-standards content.

And it's a ride on the Jungle Cruise that inspired another Southern California entrepreneur, Joe Coulombe, to borrow the already-borrowed tiki aesthetic for his own business: a specialty food store founded in 1967 in Pasadena.

At first, a gourmet grocer offering mostly international delicacies, the trend-conscious Coulombe adapted to the changing tastes of his California customers and was an early seller of the then health-food novelty, granola, which also introduced the store's own brand.

By the '90s, Coloumbe's concept had morphed into a more conventional full-service grocery store and expanded nationwide into the early 2000s, becoming known for its budget-friendly wine varietals named Two Buck Chuck. With over 13 billion in annual sales as of 2019, today this grocery chain staffed by workers in aloha shirts has inspired the same customer loyalty that exists in the pin-collecting annual passholders who spend the bulk of their leisure time at Disneyland.

This week on *Doughboys*, we being our month-long review of supermarket eats, **Friendly Green Grocer Mitch's Grocery Store Month**, with Trader Joe's.

## Friendly Green Grocer Mitch's Grocery Store Month

For this month-long look at grocery stores, The Doughboys take these aspects into consideration:

1. How's it looking? (overall impression/name/mascot/etc.)
2. Parking
3. Produce
4. Original Snacks
5. Frozen Snacks
6. Room Temperature Snacks
7. Check-out
8. Hoity-Toityness
9. Bagging and carts
10. Price

The scoring is not the usual five forks, but out of ten carts. A basket is half a cart.

An average of 8/10 will get into the Green Grocer Mitch's Freezer Club (the equivalent of the Golden Plate Club).

## Cart rating

* Hatch Chile Mac & Cheese
* Meat Lasagna
* Kung Pau Chicken
* Palak Paneer
* Sublime Ice Cream Sandwich
* Inner Peas
* Natural Turkey Jerky
* Nacho Cheese Tortilla Chips
* Watermelon Cucumber Cooler
 Mike Mitchell
* Breaded Mozzarella Cheese Sticks
* Strawberry Chia 100% Juice Smoothie
* Organic Cold Brewed Hisbiscus Tea & Lemonade
* Organic Watermelon Jerky
* Movie Theater Popcorn
* Organic Beef Jerky
* Limeade
* Sublime Ice Cream Sandwiches
* Hold the Cone! Ice Cream Cones
* Trader Potato Tots
* Mini Chicken Tikka Samosas
* Potato Fries
* Hot & Spicy Chicken Wings
* Big Soft Pretzels
* Bambino Pizza Formaggio
* Just The Lobsters Gummy Candy
* Organic Fruit Flavored Snacks
* Apple Strawberry Fruit Bar
* \*Lactose Free Fat Free milk
* \*Honey Os
* \*Apple Mango Fruit Bar
* \*3 Cheese Pizza
* \*Tempura Chicken with Sweet & Sour Sauce
* \*Pork Gyoza Potstickers
 John Hodgman
* New Zealand Sharp Cheddar
* Crispy Crunchy Okra
* Spicy Salmon Gyoza
* Super Burrito
* Cubano Seasoned Wrap
* Bamba Peanut Snacks
* Kale
 David Rees
* Steak & Stout Pie

Mitch's starred items are items he bought and took home, but did not try for the show. The other three did not list their entire orders, but what's listed are the items they mentioned.

To convert the carts into forks for comparison sake, this averaged 7.625 carts out of 10, the equivalent to 3.81 out of 5.

## Family Food

In Family Food, Nick finds a food-related survey, and Mitch and the guest guess the results. Three wrong answers eliminates you, though here, they sped it up and two strikes ended it.

For this episode, Nick has a list of the six biggest grocers in North America, and the others take turns guessing what they are.

 ~~Wegman's~~ (X)
 Albertsons (#3)

Mitch wins! The remaining two on the list were Publix and H-E-B.

## Quotes

**John**: If you work at Ralph's, FUCK YOU.

## Related Episodes

* DD. The Great Ice Cream Sandwich Competition
* 259. Whole Foods
* DD. Stephen King's Sierra Mist
* 260. Costco
* DD. Checkout Aisle Bounty
* 261. Albertsons
* DD. Biggie Feedbag XXIII
* 262. Kroger
* 258. Trader Joe's
* DD. The Great Ice Cream Sandwich Competition
* 281. Steak 'n Shake 5
* 186. Delta Sky Club
* 211. Papa Gino's
* DD. Friendly's
* 229. Regina Pizzeria
* 258. **Trader Joe's**
* 284. Popeyes 3
* THON21./309. Taco Bell 6
* 338. Tyga Bites
* 370. Pirate's Booty
* DD. Water 4: Avatar: The Way Of Water
* 386. Spitz
* 391. BOWL: Finale
* DD. Oops! All Segments!
* 338. Tyga Bites

## Photos (via @doughboyspod)

Trader Joe's productsHatch Chile Mac & CheeseInner Peas Baked Green Pea SnacksNatural Turkey JerkyOrganic Watermelon JerkyOriginal Organic Beef JerkyPotato Fries and Potato TotsMac & Cheese BitesHold The Cone! Mini Ice Cream ConesHold The Cone! Mini Ice Cream ConeSublime Ice Cream SandwichesSublime Ice Cream Sandwich