+1. Not nice service personnel either (McLean's Balducci's).

Harris Teeter has a decent selection - you can either go to the one in Arlington on Harrison St or the one in Tysons near the Galleria. Downtown Mclean only has Balducci's which is ridiculously overpriced.

Anonymous wrote:
Personally, I've been to Wegman's a couple of times and I don't get all the hype. They have a lot of stuff, but when I started reading labels, it was junky food. For example, their house-brand baba ghanouj had both HFCS and mayonnaise (?!) listed as ingredients.

+100.
Sorry for a no advice about McLean, but if you end up going to Fairfax Wegmans, stop at Fair Lakes WH instead - much better food.

The Fresh Market in Vienna has a decent prepared foods section.

Hmm. Balducci's has stuff, but I'm pretty sure it's going to be more expensive than Wegman's . The Whole Foods on route 7 doesn't have the best section for that kind of stuff - it's a little small. Trader Joe's across from the WF has good stuff, but a lot will be frozen prepared, but not fresh prepared. It's very reasonably priced, and tends not to be overloaded with preservatives.

The Clarendon WF has a very big section, so depending on where you live/work, that may be easier to get to.

Personally, I've been to Wegman's a couple of times and I don't get all the hype. They have a lot of stuff, but when I started reading labels, it was junky food. For example, their house-brand baba ghanouj had both HFCS and mayonnaise (?!) listed as ingredients.

We love Wegman's prepared section but hate making the trip out to fairfax. Is there anything closer to McLean and the same pricing or less as Wegmans?