I want one!

You wouldn't think you'd find it here. New York City, yes. Washington DC, probably. But Melbourne, Florida? Nah. Not here. Why would you find the best gourmet food store in a small beach town on Florida's Space Coast?

I don't know, I don't care, I just want one. I want one to be in Arlington. Consider yourself lucky Harris Teeter, if I had a Green Turtle Market within walking distance, you'd never see me again.



Making a comparison to HT might be a little unreasonable, this isn't a two-story monster of an uber-grocery store, but think of Green Turtle Market as sort of a better, less pretentious Dean & Deluca.



Behind the counters of their bakery and prepared food section are an army of folks in white chefs coats, making things that Whole Foods which they had. A variety of dishes from the Middle East, Italy, Spain and South America that you're not going to find in a whole lot of other places.

Their fish and meat selection is also first rate, and very inexpensive. I ran across the store to find my father when I found that large pieces of hanger steak were only $6.00 a pound. Their wine section, which seems to cover half of the store, is also exceptional, with an impressive variety of both regions and prices.

On top of their groceries, they also serve some pretty good food. Just from the deli I got a half roast beef sandwich on fresh made bread and a salad for only $5.00, and my father got a rather large portion of Caribbean Grouper Chowder for only around $2.50.

Their Grapevine Cafe also looked interesting, with a pretty diverse and inexpensive menu.

The Green Turtle Market embodies a lot of what I really like about this area. A sort of humbled elegance that delivers a great product. Now if we can only get one in DC.