Which is the best supermarket for an olah on a budget? This is a topic on which I have, through extensive and occasionally traumatic experimentation, become something of an expert.

Throughout my time here I’ve cycled through Shufersal (online and in person), AM:PM, Rami Levy (online and in person), Carrefour, Osher Ad, Super Moshava, Super HaEmek, and several extended phases of “I don’t go to the supermarket unless it is an absolute emergency.” 

My husband and I have currently settled into a system that feels responsible but may just be unnecessarily complicated: giant Osher Ad trips every month or two for protein, pantry staples, and cleaning supplies; whatever’s closest for weekly milk and yogurt; and the Tuesday farmers market at First Station for produce, because I am somewhat insufferable about my fruits and vegetables and insist on choosing them myself. This system is intended to be both economical and convenient. Whether it succeeds at either goal remains an open question.

But anyway. Here is my highly subjective guide.

AM:PM was my supermarket when I was a single college student in Herzliya, and the only reason it worked was because I lived directly above one. Shopping at AM:PM is like ordering food at an airport; everyone involved knows it’s overpriced, and the shelves somehow always have seven kinds of kombucha but are missing something basic like eggs. 

For the stage of life where my weekly shop was........

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