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La Graneria - Wonderful grain, herbs and nut store


sm1mex

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We went to the La Graneria today and they have everything, cereals, nuts, herbs, bread flour, yeast, honey, spices, many things you don't just find around and they are reasonable. The only store I know that has walnuts.

It is located just west of Gossips on the careterra lake side across from the Ajijic Hospital Clinic.

Check it out.

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We went to the La Graneria today and they have everything, cereals, nuts, herbs, bread flour, yeast, honey, spices, many things you don't just find around and they are reasonable. The only store I know that has walnuts.

It is located just west of Gossips on the careterra lake side across from the Ajijic Hospital Clinic.

Check it out.

Superlake also has walnuts.

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Regardless of what's available at Superlake or Costco, the woman there - don't know her name - runs a great store across the street from Ajijic Clinic. I thought it was called "El Granero", but that's not important. She keeps it amazingly well-stocked.

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A word of caution. We bought a large amount of whole almonds and after eating a goodly amount of them, discovered that they had worms (little white ones, about 1/4 inch long ) crawling through them. We went back to tell the owner about it. We were not asking for money back, just wanted to let her know that there was a problem, but she didn't seem to want to know or acknowledge our concern. Up until this point, we were frequent customers.

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A word of caution. We bought a large amount of whole almonds and after eating a goodly amount of them, discovered that they had worms (little white ones, about 1/4 inch long ) crawling through them. We went back to tell the owner about it. We were not asking for money back, just wanted to let her know that there was a problem, but she didn't seem to want to know or acknowledge our concern. Up until this point, we were frequent customers.

this can be a problem with buying nuts, spices and grains that have not been irradiated. personaly i would rather deal with a few bugs every once in a while. if i find any kind of infestation i'll put the entire bag in the freezer for a day and then have to sift through it before using. the owner of "el granero", named Adriana, has always responded to any request of ours, and if any problem she will be more careful of her purchases and change suppliers. please don't write her off....

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Wouldn't you rather support enterprising local merchants, especially women, trying to make a living? Adrianna (now I know her name) can be very helpful and will explain the different qualities of chocolate or whatever information you need to know. Apparently honest, as I asked her if something was organic and she said she didn't really know. She could have said yes and I would not have known the difference. She also will bring requests from Guad so when you need that exotic ingredient, she is your go to person. The higher the volume sold, the fresher her products will be. We all win. Yes, I'm a fan.

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this can be a problem with buying nuts, spices and grains that have not been irradiated. personaly i would rather deal with a few bugs every once in a while. if i find any kind of infestation i'll put the entire bag in the freezer for a day and then have to sift through it before using. the owner of "el granero", named Adriana, has always responded to any request of ours, and if any problem she will be more careful of her purchases and change suppliers. please don't write her off....

Is this really a wise thing to admit to when you're running a restaurant?

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her nuts are in a large barrel. you dont know how old they are, some things are there for months. @least in superlake there are dates on the bags of nuts & seeds & grains. there are new bags packaged every week or 2. i always shop @ superlake, fresh merch comes in regularly. also when nuts are bagged in plastic & sealed, roaches cannot get in.

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Is this really a wise thing to admit to when you're running a restaurant?

yes , i admit that i personaly supervise the quality of our ingredients, am willing to notify the supplier of any that are substandard and give them the opportunity to rectify the problem. and as a private person who buys also from superlake, i have gotten tiny black beetles in rice and moths in other items, it's part of storage problem concerning grains, seeds and herbs. obviously, insects will not be found in items that have been irradiated or fumigated, but the food value has been ruined too. if you think that other restaurants don't have to deal with this problem, you're deluded. whole products are exposed at every step of production from farm to silo to ship to warehouse to store to home or restaurant. we are talking about how to deal with it, not that it occasionally occurs. Adrianna at "el granero" is a consciencious person who carries a wide variety of staple products for cooking and baking. in keeping it local we will continue to work with her to have the best quality ingredients in our food.

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yes , i admit that i personaly supervise the quality of our ingredients, am willing to notify the supplier of any that are substandard and give them the opportunity to rectify the problem. and as a private person who buys also from superlake, i have gotten tiny black beetles in rice and moths in other items, it's part of storage problem concerning grains, seeds and herbs. obviously, insects will not be found in items that have been irradiated or fumigated, but the food value has been ruined too. if you think that other restaurants don't have to deal with this problem, you're deluded. whole products are exposed at every step of production from farm to silo to ship to warehouse to store to home or restaurant. we are talking about how to deal with it, not that it occasionally occurs. Adrianna at "el granero" is a consciencious person who carries a wide variety of staple products for cooking and baking. in keeping it local we will continue to work with her to have the best quality ingredients in our food.

I'm not naive enough to think that this hasn't happened at other restaurants, but when I know it for fact because the owner has stated it, it guarantees that I will never want to eat there. Most if not all of us have had bugs get into some food product over our lifetimes. When we are using the product in our own homes we each decide how much that bothers us, and in your own home if you want to sift out the bugs and carry on, that's up to you and only affects your own well being. Personally, I would take the loss of a couple of dollars and throw that item out. I would never, ever, sift through it and serve it to guests, allowing them to unknowingly eat something they might find repulsive. When you are charging good money to the clientele of your restaurant, I think they deserve better than to be on the receiving end of your sifting efforts. Why not take the infested product home and use it for your personal use, since you are ok with this process? All businesses have to write off a certain amount of product and you should be doing it too, in my opinion. If you want to have the best quality ingredients in your food, as you stated above, it means throwing out and taking a loss on some small amounts of food which become infested. If you have sifted moths out of a bag of supplies, it can hardly be called "best quality" ingredients, can it? If you are doing ANYTHING to food which you wouldn't tell the customer honestly about before you serve it to them, then you shouldn't be doing it. Would you cook and serve a piece of chicken that smelled like it was a little bad, rather than take a loss on it? Would you pick up and serve a cooked chicken breast that had just fallen on a dirty kitchen floor? I hope not, but the grain products you have sifted bugs and larvae out of are just as repulsive as both of those. Your paying customers do deserve "the best". Your bug-sifted products are not it.

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I could not even force myself to even try "the walker's" eatery after reading their comments. Had planned to go to Jasmine's this week. It would appear, their posted comment yesterday might prove to be their downfall. Their posted repulsive comment suggests that they should not, under any circumstances, be in the restaurant business. Wow!

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i would never go to a restaurant that sifts bugs. i never heard of that place anyway, but @least they are honest. granera is a nice store, but the dried foods @ superlake are fresh. poncho sells to other stores as well, he wholesales. the product is arriving every week. in the little store, the turnover is slower. so she wont buy that much untill she is running out. @one time "super laura" in san antonio bought brown rice from poncho, but it had ants in it. because it sat there too long. in torittos the almonds/nuts dont have dates either. sealed yes, dated no.

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cannot believe that we are getting so much flack for checking on quality controll--bugs, rocks, weeds,etc. and to go on from there and accuse us of serving up tainted products with absolutely no evidence . thanks a lot. obviously we toss anything that is suspect,but we were just explaining the facts of life concerning use and storage of dried goods. even the best methods have to be followed up by observation....we have an open kitchen, so come by and have a look for yourself.

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The Grain store being discussed 'El Granero' is not a restaurant, but it is next to a restaurant.

Bugs are OK..... chase them out. Freeze the product or heat it up in the oven or put it out in the sun. The bugs will run away.

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Yes I believe I have seen chocolate chips at El Granero. I love their spices, and their jicimica is the best. Also fresh popcorn. She also has interesting baking supplies if you like specialty pans and the like. Well worth a trip.

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A word of caution. We bought a large amount of whole almonds and after eating a goodly amount of them, discovered that they had worms (little white ones, about 1/4 inch long ) crawling through them. We went back to tell the owner about it. We were not asking for money back, just wanted to let her know that there was a problem, but she didn't seem to want to know or acknowledge our concern. Up until this point, we were frequent customers.

i spoke with Adriana this we about this, and she said that this is the first she's heard about it. she will be speaking with her employee to see if she remembers this conversation. her employee doesn't speak much english whereas Adriana speaks it well....she was shocked that she was being discussed online in this manner, and wants to reassure people that she strives to have the very best ingredients available at a decent price. we support her.

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It seems like somebody is concerned about the succes of this little store.

Im a fan of the "El granero" and I love it!

It is clean, roomy, all the merchandise are fresh (the owner goes every week to Guad, to bring it), It has excellent atention and you can find unimaginable things! They have from quinoa, caraway seeds, oat bran to hazelnuts, pinenuts and greek yogurt!!! It is amazing! This is the best store in town.

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  • 6 years later...

I shop frequently at the grain store by Gossip's and discovered a new store in Chapala this week.  It's called Lake Abastos and they tell me that if you ask for something they don't have, they will try to get it for you.  They plan to have an organic section, sell a lot of grains, nuts, seeds and some herbs.  They had a few vegetables there as well.  They are just getting started and becoming familiar with their "audience," so stop by and let them know what you need.  Located on Pepe Guizar #126 in Chapala.  376 765 6512, lakeabastos@gmail.com.

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What ever makes you think freezing the product with bugs in it will kill the bugs.  Unless you freeze for a very long time it usually does not.  This is the reason suppliers eradicate the bugs

The bugs will usually not hurt you but if you find bugs in a product it should be thrown away.  The shelf life of most grain products is short so they should be used if packaged by expiration date.  I have never been able to figure out how bugs get in some well packaged items but they do.  I have had several restaurants and any time we found bugs the item was discarded .  Most grain products don't cost much money anyway.

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Old salts know to put such items in plastic or metal containers, with a block of dry ice on top. It is not so much to freeze the critters and/or their eggs, but to displace all of the oxygen and replace it with CO2, which is heavier than air.  It works!

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