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SantaCruzSentinel.Com February 12, 2021 | READERS CHOICE | 14 S anta Cruz County residents are passionate about good food—not just in restaurants, but in grocery stores, butcher shops, health food stores, and other ven- ues. Here's a look at a few food store winners and runners-up. best grocery Store/market: Shopper's Corner (winner) & AJ's market (runner-up) best butcher: Shopper's Corner (winner) & freedom meat lockers (runner- up) best Health food Store: Staff of life (winner) & new leaf Community markets (run- ner-up) Sentinel readers voted Santa Cruz's Shopper's Corner Best Gro- cery Store/Market, and this is the fourth consecutive year winning this category! This year they also won Best Wine Selection and Best Butcher and have earned these hon- ors for several consecutive years. It's obvious the community loves and appreciates Shopper's, and the feel- ing is mutual. "This is a community store," says Andre Beauregard, an owner/part- ner whose family has been running the store since 1938. His family's lo- cal roots go back to the late 1800s. "I care a lot about our community hav- ing grown up here, then raising my family here. Rising to the occasion is something we will always do at Shopper's. I'm super lucky to work with so many great people who also care about the community and are willing to go the extra mile to make sure we handle whatever obstacles we face." COVID-19 definitely had a big ef- fect on Shopper's. "We were sudden- ly in charge of managing a pandem- ic within our store," says Andre. He spent lots of time making sure they did everything possible to protect customers and employees, while still maintaining the shop's high- quality products and top customer service. For weeks, he had trouble sleeping, his mind racing with ideas to make things run smoother and keep everyone safe. "Fortunately for me, my co-workers were feeling the same and pitched in to make things happen." With 14 full-time butchers, the butcher shop is a central element of Shopper's. "These days, there aren't many shops out there that do things like we do," says Andre. At the butcher counter, he says, people appreciate staff members' friendly service and cooking tips. "We still break beef the old-fashioned way with attention to detail," he adds. "They can count on products to be picture perfect and know we will do whatever we can to make them happy. Specialty cuts? Crown roast? Slice up your chicken to help with the prep? You got it." Andre believes Shopper's popu- larity is a combination of many fac- tors, including customer service and store selections. "From the produce always being freshly prepped and blemish-free to the vast selection of wines, cheeses, fresh local goods, lo- cal bakeries delivering daily, we take our job of maintaining the highest quality very seriously. Once you've finished your shopping, you're greeted with a smile and friendly service at the checkout. From start to finish we want customers to feel they are well taken care of," he says. "Santa Cruz isn't simply where we do business, it's our home." I had a chance to speak with El- lianna Javed, who co-owns Soquel- based AJ's Market and Natural Foods with her husband AJ Javed and also serves as one of the buyers. AJ and Ellianna are honored to earn Runner-Up for Best Grocery Store/ Market. They invite readers to stop by, especially those who may have never been inside. "Our market is quite a blend of many things and is super fun to walk through and see all the unique goods we offer," says Ellianna. After buying a gas station in 1987, AJ renovated the station and built and opened a convenience store which he named AJ's. In 2009 they expanded the shop to become the in- carnation you see today, with natu- ral foods, fish, butchered meats and even a restaurant. AJ's selections in- clude locally baked bread, dairy, dry goods, international and organic items, and local craft beer. Custom- ers tell Elliana daily how much they appreciate the market's interesting international products, plus unique selections they can't find anywhere else and "one of the best craft beer selections in the entire county." The butcher shop at AJ's has many halal meats plus chicken, beef, and lamb. Local Stagnaro Bros. catches and delivers seafood. "Another very large part of our success is our restaurant," says Elliana. "We of- fer a collection of wonderful items cooked to order for a great price. People appreciate that they can call in orders and then come pick them up," she adds. A few menu high- lights: gyros, chicken shawarma, falafel, burgers, sandwiches, burri- tos, and fish and chips. Speaking to Elliana, it's clear how much her family cares about serving the community. "2020 hit us with many challenges. One was the lack of goods," says Elliana. "We had to be very creative to keep our shelves stocked with items that were in short supply. We accessed smaller dis- tributors, stood in long lines outside of wholesale suppliers, and bought items in bulk to repackage and sell in our market. We can proudly say we did not run out of essential sup- plies our customers depended on!" Some describe the market as a throwback to the old family cor- Our favorite markets – for meat, health food, and more! By Tara Fatemi Walker continues on 15...

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