Britton and I received a few “Welcome to the Neighborhood” coupons from about three area grocery stores after we bought our new rental. One of them was the Wholesale Food Outlet or its new name Avanza. Avanza advertises itself as “serving the growing Hispanic community” of Greeley. I had been in there a few times, but I didn’t like that they add 10% on top of the bill at the end, so we don’t shop there too much. However, with the coupons we received (free food and $10 off an order of $25) we decided we would try it again.

It was such a trip. I felt like I was having a flashback to the Puerto Rican Econos and Mr. Special stores. If anyone is interested in being a Locavore in the Greeley area, this is the store to visit. Almost everything was from the northern Colorado region. It was awesome.

Look at this HUGE bag of Peruvian Beans!

We also found all the ingredients to make tamales, although we thought we would research how to do those a little more. Like pasteles in Puerto Rico, tamales are a traditional Christmas food in Mexico and Central American countries. They are made with corn husks (banana leaves in PR), corn masa (yuca or cassava  meal in for the pasteles in PR) and filled with meat, spices and veggies.

It was busy, colorful and noisy and full of bulk food. The parking lot was so full we had to park in a non-designated spot. The taste-tester people encouraged us in Spanish to try various foods. We saw “beef cheek meat” and menudo bowls, pico de gallo and horchata. And piñatas were everywhere!

Lots of piñatas and people everywhere

It was a lot of fun and we will probably go back more often, especially if we get the hang of tamale-making. When we compared it to our shopping trips at King Soopers, King Soopers was so much more bland. It also made us eager to get back to Puerto Rico to learn about and eat more traditional foods. Of course, it is nice to know that in Greeley we have all of our favorite “American” comfort foods right around the block unlike in Puerto Rico, but still, what an adventure.