Elroy’s Fine Foods
15 Soledad Drive, Monterey (831) 373-3737, elroysfinefoods.com
Nicknamed the “uncommon market,” Elroy’s Fine Foods is uncommon in that it’s a grocery store that genuinely cares. Owners Chloé and Jay Dolata genuinely care about their store’s impact on the environment, selecting produce based, in part, on how far it has to travel to get to the store. They care about health, abiding by a strict 47-item “no-no list” of banned ingredients—they like to say, if you can’t pronounce it, you probably shouldn’t eat it. And they also care about boosting local products, whether on their shelves, in their wine fridge, behind the meat and cheese counters and in their bread baskets. Pull up a chair and enjoy a drink at the in-store counter, or go home to cook a feast.