WTF: Hy Vee at 26th and Sycamore

Okay, okay, yes, it has been a while again. Life interferes with my leisure waaaaay too much. And, yes, this post is about Hy Vee, which has become the red-headed step-child of the Fork since the Argus pulled its head out of the paper box and stopped writing really stupid food columns. Wow! I miss those days! At any rate, here is the latest on my least favorite grocer redux.

From what I can tell, the remodel may be done. Maybe. I don't see any construction guys around, but I think someone is still moving grocery items just to screw with people.

So, as you can tell by the title of this post, the point is what is bad about the 26th and Sycamore remodel. But, before I start hacking away, I like to try to give credit where credit is due.

So, what is good about the place?

• The Pharmacy area is pretty nice.
• The organic/natural food area is well organized.
• I like smelling the bath salts near the registers. Maybe I will by some and soak my tines soon.
• The cheese counter is nice. Won't find that at the Taj Mahal of Hy Vees at 37th and Minnesota. That's nice. Of course, the cheese is pretty pedestrian. The day I buy Epoisses there, I will recant this.
• Much nicer deli and eat-in food area, if you feel inclined to eat at Hy Vee. Okay, admittedly a good option when you need to feed three kids who don't eat vegetables, or, ironically, if you want a decent salad super cheap.

What's wacky?

• Meat pricing, Honest to God, Hy Vee's meat pricing drives me bananas. It's like a forking integral calculus problem. Ironically same thing goes for pricing blocks of that regular old Hy Vee chunk cheese. Seriously, check it out next time.
• Bakery. Okay, so now we got "Baking Stone," but please learn how to make a credible loaf of French bread. You haven't yet.
• Sushi. Right, you read it, sushi. Hy Vee has a sushi counter, complete with a very white middle aged guy wearing a kimono. You have got to be forking a kidding me! I appreciate the cheap sake right there, but its not enough to get me to eat that stuff. If you think Hy Vee sushi is legit, eat up, buttercup.
• Mixed up aisles. Nothing is anywhere close to where it used to be. Plan ahead, get a map. which are available at the check outs, so you can figure out where the stuff you wanted but couldn't find might have been. If Hy Vee adopts the Wal-Mart plan of moving the merch around every few years just to make you walk around and buy more crap, avoid the sniper on the roof.

Last point and it is some good, some bad.

• Total full service, tricked out liquor area. Yes, it is nice. Tons of beer. Decent enough wine selection. Liquors. As expected, it is very handy. Where else can you pick up your blood pressure meeds, steaks you paid God knows how much for, rosemary bath salts, the Sunday Argus, a sixes of mixed micro brews, and a bottle of tequila? Exactly. The bad? Gregor's East Side Liquors across the street is going out of business. Told ya.