How do I love thee, Mike & Judie’s Grocery Warehouse? Let me count the ways…

If there’s one thing Dine 909 enjoys, it’s a great bargain.

Thankfully, Mike & Judie’s Grocery Warehouse, at 580 Inland Center Drive in San Bernardino, is full of them.
I returned to shopping there late last year after stopping at the Harbor Freight Tools store next door to buy an electronic bug swatter.
Yep, you read that correctly. And it works great.
But I digress.

Mike & Judie’s is one of those “scratch and dent” kind of outlet stores. If you’ve ever been to a Grocery Outlet, you get the idea.

They’ve got food items, toiletries, some small appliance-type items, household items, pet food and more.
What surprises me most about Mike & Judie’s is the quality of some of the items they get in.
Oral-B electric toothbrushes? Check.
Pur water filtration systems? Check.
Joseph Schmidt and Dagoba Organic chocolate bars? Check and check.
They used to have Scharffen Berger chocolate bars, too. I know because I bought several.
The price? Well, on their Web site, they’re selling them for $5. At Mike & Judie’s, they were only 75.
Yep.
I picked up a Joseph Schmidt bar and a Lindt truffle bar for 50 each today.
Sometimes I hate sharing my secrets.
I’ve been shopping there mostly to pick up goodies to share with the folks here at work. Today, for instance, I picked up a jumbo bag of Reese’s peanut butter cups (19.5 ounces worth) for only $1.85. I also got an 8 ounce bag of chocolate peanut butter Chex Mix for a buck.
It’s not all rainbows and dirt-cheap bargains, though. You kind of have to know what you’re buying. For instance, their low-end shampoos are $1.00 and change. I’ve seen the exact same items at the 99¢ Only Stores.
The Pur water filter is a few dollars cheaper there than at most of the online retailers. However, they’ve got the flavor cartridges for it for only $2.50, while the online stores are closer to $10.
Another slight drawback is the complete randomness of what they’ve got in stock at any given time.
Since most of their items are overstock or nearly out-dated or slightly damaged, there’s no telling what you’ll find there from week to week.
I’ve been picking up Good Earth teas there ($1.50). Sometimes they have them, sometimes they don’t.
Of course, sometimes that randomness is a plus. A little element of surprise.
And if you like surprises, head on over to Mike & Judie’s as soon as you can.
They’ve got unboxed Pop-Tarts two-packs, 10 for a buck. There’s nothing on the wrapper to indicate what flavor’s inside.
That’s just one of the surprises waiting for you at Mike & Judie’s Grocery Warehouse, a definite Dine 909 favorite.