Cafe 
Soups, Sandwiches & Salads (click on photos to enlarge)
Fried Chicken & Pre-made Dinners
Floral Department
Bakery - Pies & Assorted Desserts
Bakery - Bread, Cakes, Cupcakes & Assorted Desserts
View of Produce Department from Bakery
Cookies & Pastries
Aprons Simple Meals - Sample Station
Aprons Simple Meals - Case for Recipe Ingredients
I visited the new Publix located at 34 Miller Street in Winston Salem, North Carolina on grand opening day, May 11th. The above photos give you a look inside of the Winston Publix.
Cafe
After getting off one of the four elevators arriving on the 2nd floor, turn right and you will see the Cafe. To the right of that are several tables which feature a view of the front of the store. There are also tables outside on the balcony. They serve gelato, smoothies, coffee, pizza, pastries, snack bars and cake. Sandwiches can be purchased at the deli and made in advance by ordering online.
Sushi
Turn left at the Cafe and walk into the store and you will find the sushi bar on your right. They feature pre-made sushi and you can also order something if they don't already have it out. Sometimes they give out samples.
Bakery
Walk a little further into the store and on the right side past the Sushi Bar you will find the Bakery. They offer bread, cake, cupcakes, pastries, cookies, pies, donuts, bagels, etc. You can request your bread to be freshly sliced, note in one of the Bakery photos above the unsliced bread. You can also order a custom birthday cake in person or online. I've heard people love their birthday cakes, but I wasn't crazy about the frosting. I love their key lime pie and I especially appreciate being able to buy half of a pie. I also recommend their Pumpernickel Bread, Marble Rye Bread, Italian Five Grain Bread and Chicago Hard Rolls. Just be sure to eat them in a few days or refrigerate or freeze them since they don't have preservatives. Their Petit Fours are really delicious and they make a nice little treat. They only had them in the vanilla flavor on grand opening day.
Deli
Just after entering the store you will find the Deli on the left side. Note the "Online Pickup" area where you pick up your Deli order after you order it online. There is a hot section and a cold section, so you don't need to worry about it if you are late picking it up. It will be waiting there with your name on it. Walk a little further and you will find the part of the Deli where you can order what you need while in the store, if you want to wait for it. I highly recommend ordering online ahead of time, so you don't have to wait in line and wait for them to prepare it. They offer Boars Head and the Publix brand of cheeses, meats and freshly prepared delicious subs. In the front of the Deli area you can find soups, salads, sandwiches, fried chicken and other prepped dinners. I hear their fried chicken is awesome, but have yet to try it. I love their salads, they are the best I can find in this area by far. Their soups are really good, my favorite is the Squash and Apple Soup. They didn't have that flavor on grand opening day though. Their hot soup is also scrumptious, but beware the paper tub they supply won't stand up to the hot liquid very long, so be sure to transfer it to a different container when you get home if you aren't going to eat it right away. I also like their coleslaw, potato salad, tuna & chicken salads.
Produce
They have lots of produce some of which is organic, juices, cold drinks, prepared fruit cups and the Aprons Simple Meals case. I like the quality of their produce and I can usually find everything I need.
Aprons Simple Meals
You'll find Aprons Simple Meals at the rear of the produce department. You can sample the recipe of the week and pick up the free recipe card. Then head on over to the left of that station and you will find the case that has everything you need for that recipe. I plan to do a review of one of these recipes soon, so stay tuned.
Cheese
After you pass the Bakery, Deli & Produce Departments you will find the Cheese Department on the right. They feature lots of gourmet cheeses. I prefer buying these at Costco since they are cheaper, but you could try out some of those in the smaller size prior to buying the extra large versions at Costco. They also have some hard to find cheeses.
Wine
They have a small wine section at the right rear of the store. Go past the Bakery, Deli and Produce sections to find it. Sometimes they have some good sale prices, but their selection is limited and it feels a bit cramped.
Seafood
After you pass the Produce Department, turn left and you will find the Seafood Department on the right. I haven't had a chance to try their seafood out yet, so I can't comment on the quality.
Meat
Keep walking straight after you reach the Seafood Department and you'll find the Meat Department. I really like their prepped meats, their seasoned whole chicken, marinated meats, kabobs, etc. I also love their Mild Italian Fresh Sausage Bulk and we tried their organic Prime Rib at Christmas and it was awesome. Their prices can be a bit high, so look out for what's on sale.
Dairy
Keep walking past the Meat Department and turn left at the left rear corner of the store and you'll find the Dairy Department. I highly recommend the Publix brand in this department. They have some unique flavors of Greek yogurt: Blood Orange, Cherry Pomegranate, Mango Pomegranate and Black Cherry. The expiration dates were far in the future on the yogurt, June! I appreciate that.
Frozen
The frozen foods can be found on the left part of the store around aisle 7-9. I highly recommend the Publix brand name of products. Their pizzas are really delicious and they have some hard to find frozen vegetables. We use several of their frozen vegetables to top our dogs' dinners. They really like the peas and carrots mix. I hear that their brand of ice cream is especially good, but I haven't tried it yet.
International Foods
I really like this section since we can find some British & Irish food, condiments, chocolate, etc. I highly recommend the Irish Mustard and the British chocolate. They also have a Mexican and Asian section.
This grand opening wasn't run as well as the one I attended in Cary, NC. The police were blocking off some of the parking, my guess is it was for out of town employees only due to seeing so many Florida license plates. There isn't a cross walk in front of the garage, so it was a bit hectic there and it looked dangerous. Parking was hard to find. I had to park far from the building and then there was no place to put my cart when I was done. The only place I saw to return your cart was located in the garage. I was hoping they would have escalators, but instead they have only four elevators to get from the parking lot to the store located on the 2nd floor. Each elevator fits about three carts and people weren't moving to the rear of the elevator, so they weren't running at full capacity. I was given a carnation at the entrance, but the bagger forgot to put it in my bag. Most of the samples weren't made fast enough to keep the lines short. I don't have patience for long lines, so I received only one sample. I felt overwhelmed with so many people asking me if I needed help even when I didn't look like I did or was busy reading a label. I found it annoying that the out of town managers were standing around talking to each other and blocking aisles. I stood in line for about seven minutes before giving up on one cashier who was extremely slow. The next cashier talked non stop about everything I had purchased which I found extremely annoying. But more importantly she wasn't concentrating due to all her chatter and rang up two items twice. I caught the 2nd one, but when I got home I noticed another item she rang up twice. I called customer service and they said I would have to bring in my receipt for a refund. I can't imagine how many people she overcharged that day. It's one thing to chat a bit with customers, but don't talk to them when they are busy concentrating on their transaction and don't talk if you can't do your job accurately. So this visit was a bit of a disappointment. I'm hoping they train their cashiers better and that they improve prior to my next visit. I'll be staring at the register to make sure there aren't any errors and I highly recommend you do the same. Most of the products I wanted were on the shelf though and that's what I went for. Have you visited this Publix yet or plan to soon, what was your experience like?
Check out my previous Winston Publix Grand Opening blog post. Feel free to browse around at my reviews of local restaurants, state parks and wineries before you leave. Share this blog post with friends by clicking on the Google red box (G+1) at the very top of this page or via Twitter and Facebook by clicking on the boxes below: Tweet
Have a PEACEful Day!
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