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Wilder Shaw is a staff writer at Cheapism covering food, specializing in taste tests and fast food. He has over a decade of food-writing experience, and his work has appeared in Thrillist, The Washington Post, L.A. Taco, Time Out, and numerous other publications.
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Delicatessen Delicacies
Not many deli sections of a grocery store fire with more heat than Publix, the popular grocery chain operating in the Southeast. Known for its sandwich counter (and rightfully so), you may be tempted to leave without anything but a sub. This would be a mistake; get a sub, obviously, but have a look around the deli and hot foods section. There are many treasures hidden in the Publix Deli. Let’s talk about them.
Related: 10 Whole Foods Hot Bar Selections That Are Actually Worth the Price
Subs
This is the truest form of “If you know, you know” and the crown jewel of the Publix Deli menu. Publix subs are legitimately excellent, made on freshly baked Italian rolls and served with Boar’s Head products. True, the chicken tender sub is what Publix is famous for, but don’t feel pressured to order something that intense. A turkey or a classic Italian will do just fine. Garlic pickles are available as a topping, and most of the Publix Deli subs cost $10 for a large. I love you, Pub Subs.
Related:A Sandwich Lover's Ultimate Bucket List
Prepared Salads
In typical Publix fashion, you get a lot of bang for your buck when you grab a prepared salad. You can pick up an enormous Cobb, Caesar, or other specialty salad from the cold case, all of which hang mostly in the $7 range. That $11.99 per pound Whole Foods salad oughta be ashamed of itself.
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Spicy Fried Chicken Wings
How many grocery stores do more than just your typical roast chicken? How many grocery stores make wings in addition to tenders? How many grocery stores make spicy wings on top of it all? Publix is here for us in all things chicken. A 20-piece will only run you $16.
Olive Bar
The olive bar is $10 per pound, which really isn’t horrible. The marinated artichokes are money, and it’s usually not hard to find olives stuffed with a nice variety of cheeses.
Soup
Though Publix makes a stronger showing in the soup aisle than most, this might not be the ultimate reason you’re here. I cannot in good conscience tell you to eat grocery store clam chowder, but I will tell you to get that chili going. We’re in the Southeast, baby, and this is the type of thing Publix knows how to do. There’s also an elephant in the room, and its name is Panera. At many Publix stores, mere feet from the soup section, is a large selection of take-home Panera soups. I’m not going to pretend like Publix can top the soup titan itself.
Deli Sides
Grab a little side for your sub, would ya? What do you need, a little tabbouleh? Maybe something classic, like potato salad or coleslaw? How about at least three types of pasta salad? Chips may be the most classic sandwich side, but we’re here at Publix, and the only limits to your side choice are the limits of your very imagination.
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Lemon Pepper Oven Roasted Chicken
Here’s another example of Publix going above and beyond what the other stores are up to. At a Southeastern grocery store like Ingles, you might be lucky to find a rotisserie chicken that looks halfway edible. At Publix, you’ve got a variety of chicken options, one of which is a beautiful lemon pepper oven roasted chicken. The whole thing is only $8. Gorgeous.
Prepared Meals
It’s been a long day, I get it! Tonight, you feel like you can’t even be bothered to pull apart a roasted chicken. The deli section has a bunch of prepared meals waiting for you, some already hot and others that are easy to heat up later. With global options like Korean-style pork, arancini, teriyaki chicken, and more, this is like shopping at 10 different restaurants at once.
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