10 Things to LOVE at our new H-E-B Round Rock ~ University Blvd.

1. Café on the Run – Located right next to the door on the west side of the store, Cafe on the Run features a gorgeous prepared food section (think salads, meats & more); in-store made and build-your-own pizzas with ingredients straight from Italy; and Fresh Artisan & custom made-to-order Stackers sandwiches.  All offerings can be enjoyed at an indoor/outdoor dining area that includes free Wi-Fi.

2. True Texas Brews  – New to the dining experience are six rotating Texas brews on Tap including 512 Pecan Porter, St. Arnold Fancy Lawnmower, Live Oak Oaktoberfest, Thirsty Planet’s Buckethead IPA, Real Ale Devil’s Backbone and Independence Austin Amber in the opening line-up.  Available by the glass, or grab a 32/64 oz. growler to take home.

3. Made to Order Pizzas – Also available in the Cafe on the Run, you can build your own custom-made pizza and take them right home to bake.  I can’t wait to try one!

4. My Fit Foods kiosk  – Located right inside the door, with an on-site representative available to help customize a personal meal program.  Prepared daily healthy balanced meals that taste great for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snack options.

5. Full-Service Sushi Bar – I haven’t tried H-E-B Sushi but I have friends who love it – lots of selection and all made in-store daily, and rolled by professionally-trained chefs.

6. Cooking Connection – I always love this feature at H-E-B as I get the best cooking ideas! The showtime trained culinary chefs share tasty suggestions and alternatives for your recipes.  Local products available exclusively to H-E-B include Cookwell & Company, Canyon Foods, etc.  Featuring live demonstrations, cooking classes, wine and cheese pairings and daily sampling.

7. Best Prices on Gas in Town – Our new H-E-B features a Fuel Station with Diesel and Car Wash for convenience.

8. Wine Department – With more than 1,400 varieties of the world’s best wines, you can;t not find a good bottle here for a reasonable price. There is also a pneumatic tasting station with 8 different top-rated wines on tap.

9. Blooms Floral  – A full service floral department, ready to assist with any event including weddings, holidays, birthday, anniversaries, and corporate orders. Blooms will feature a wide selection of home décor gift items as well as offering FTD and area delivery. Not to mention it’s so pretty!

10. Texas Backyard –  A huge outdoor area with filled with décor items, potting soil, live goods and ceramics to dress up any yard.

Bonus!!  Miles of Clean, New, Shopping Carts!!

What I also didn’t mention but something I dearly loved was the little-to-no-wait to check out.  Now I fully understand that H-E-B brought in extra help from other stores for the opening, but it is my sincere hope that the check-out registers stay staffed and not dwindle down to only a few open at a time.

A few other features of our new H-E-B:

• Full-service Meat Market offering USDA Prime, Natural, Choice and Organic meats. They never inject our steaks with water or sodium phosphate and they grind our beef at least 3 times a day.
• Full-service Seafood Department with fresh fish deliveries from around the world with a wide variety of wild and local species. All Natural Seafood and Gulf shrimp right off H-E-B’s New Harvest shrimp boats.  
• Produce Department showcasing more than 600 varieties of the best fruits and vegetables from Texas, with more than 15 percent of the selection of produce being organic. 
• Fresh Guacamole Bar, where guacamole is made fresh daily with ripe avocados using fresh lime juice, cilantro, tomatoes and/or onions. 
• Fresh Squeezed Juice Bar using fresh citrus squeezed daily just at the peak of flavor.
• Full-service Deli will feature a variety of in-house roasted natural turkeys, roast beef and pork all available sliced to order. Other specialty meats include Premium Quality H-E-B, Boar’s Head and All Natural items in the service case.
• Cheese Shop and Olive Bar with more than 300 varieties of specialty and imported cheese from around the world. The Olive Bar offers an extensive olive selection as well as tapenade and antipasto salads.
• Bakery complete with a full assortment of scratch made artisan breads and muffins. Cakes, pies and pastries baked on-site daily. In-house Tortilleria featuring freshly made flour and wheat tortillas. Wide assortment of custom made cakes, including signature gourmet, wedding, sculpture and picture-edible image cakes are available.
• Pharmacy dedicated to providing superior service for all your prescription needs with expert consultations and savings via our Platinum Rewards program.   Private Patient Education Services Room along with Free Health Screenings & Immunizations.   A convenient drive-up window provides easy customer access.
• Grocery/Dairy/Frozen Foods, Thousands of items throughout the store ,including a great assortment of Gluten-free shelf stable and frozen foods, a variety of refrigerated and dry Vegan options, and full line of Central Market items.
• Kitchen and Dining, Selection including a kitchen gadget for every need.
• Mobile, Offering mobile services with most major carriers, a wide variety of mobile phone cases and accessories.
• A Healthy Living department with expanded assortment of bulk foods, vitamins, grind your own nut butters station, and more.
• Apparel, expanded women’s casual apparel and accessories, including scarves, footwear and totes. Plus sizes available in select styles.
• Business Center services such as bill pay, check cashing, Western Union money transfers and more.

Now here’s the truth.  I love to shop local and when I say local, I mean Round Rock.  I want my taxes to go back into my city – to rebuild my roads, pay for police officers, buy books for my library, etc.  But I have never been satisfied with the Round Rock H-E-Bs.  It was either a convenience thing or didn’t enjoy their layout/selection/etc.  So I went to Cedar Park (I know, I know) – I just loved the employees there and got to know them by name.  So it will be hard to give up that store.

That said, I am thrilled with our new H-E-B on University Blvd.  My hope is to get to know their employees just as well as the store over on 1431.  In the mean time, I’m going to enjoy all that they have to offer and stop dreading my grocery shop each week!