Where to buy Arborio Rice in San Diego?

[meadandale]

I'm looking to make some risotto and none of the grocery stores I've been to (Albertsons, Vons, Henrys) had arborio rice.

Do I have to resort to going to Whole Paychecks for arborio?

[normalheightsfoodie]

Trader Joes offers the least expensive rice.

[LisaSD]

In case one of our readers doesn't live near the places listed, they also sell it in bulk at Whole Foods. I just made some delicious risotto with asparagus and mushrooms using that rice. It was wonderful!

[meadandale]

How much did you pay per lb?

[LisaSD]

I just looked at my receipt from Whole Foods. It was $2.99 a lb. Very nice quality!

[meadandale]

That's still almost a buck a pound more than I paid but certainly an option if a cheaper alternative is not available or if they are selling non-domestic rice for that price.

[stevuchan]

Using a high quality rice makes a huge difference. Carnaroli is my go to rice for risotto. Look for the term "superfino". I buy this rice at Great News in P.B.

[meadandale]

You know, I've done quite a bit of shopping at GN and I love to support local businesses as much as possible but their prices tend to be WAAYY higher than I can get the same products for online.

Anymore, I only tend to buy stuff there when I have to have it right away and don't want to wait a week for something to be shipped. With Amazon Prime free two day shipping. That occurs less and less.

I highly recommend their cooking classes though. They are alot of fun.

[stevuchan]

I'm a slave to the kitchen whim. I agree the prices are a bit high, but like you I feel a responsibility to support local business. It's a bit of a curse as I will feel personnally responisble for their failure (If I only would have visited more). RIP Bird Rock Cafe, Cuvee, Bully's, Wiz Whit, etc.

[normalheightsfoodie]

Bully's is still open and it continues to be good and it has a great happy hour.

[stevuchan]

I was speaking of the Bird Rock location.

[Bobierto]

We've been buying it at Trader Joe's for years.

[araknd]

I have always been able to find arborio rice in the supermarkets. It's probably not the very best quality, but has been acceptable for my wild mushroom risottos. You just have to look very carefully.

Ciao!

[Josh]

Specialty Produce sells it in giant sacks. They also have good-sized boxes of Carnaroli rice. Not sure on pricing, you'd have to call and check, or go down there.

[honkman]

We make risotto more or less every week and like Italian grown rice most. The one from the Beretta brand is quite good and you can get it easity in Little Italy at the Mona Lisa and Assenti grocery but also at the World Market shops (obviously for risotto make sure to get superfino). Beretta also sells Carnaroli risotto rice if you want to play around visit different rice to find your prefered one for risotto.

[meadandale]

Nevermind. Found domestic grown (California) Arborio at Windmill Farms for just over $2/lb.

[tiffany]

just FYI, they also have it at Trader Joes... but yes, I DO love Windmill Farms and miss it since moving away from SD.

[beth1]

What is a Windmill Farms and where is this wonderful place?

[meadandale]

http://www.windmillfarms.net/index.html

Windmill Farms is a store located in Del Cerro (suburb of San Diego). It is owned and operated by Scott Boney of the Boney family that opened the original Boney's stores in San Diego, now known as Henry's Marketplace (and purchased by Wild Oats about 10 years ago). Anyone who has every stepped foot in a Boney's or Henry's will immediately recognize the pedigree when they walk in the place. The store layouts are virtually identical.