grocery shopping in DR

My husband and I are going to be staying at a timeshare resort near Santa Domingo over Xmas and 1st week of January. We will not be doing the all inclusive thing. Can anyone tell me if there are any "American style" grocery stores in D.R. Is food expensive? Thanks for any help.

Nancy,

How "near" SD will you be? There are several "American style" supermarkets and grocery stoes, but they're all in SD or Santiago (can anyone tell me whether Puerto Plata has finally gotten one?). These are mostly chains like Nacional, Pola and La Cadena, although there are some good smaller, more grocery store-type ones that are not as easy to find but are better priced and usually have better produce.

If your resort is out near Boca Chica or Juan Dolio, you may have to settle for a colmado. If there is a supermarket in Boca, I'm betting Jim Hinsch, a board regular, knows where it is and what prices are like (how about it, Jim?).

General rule about food prices the DR is, any fresh fruits or vegetables are much cheaper than in the US or Canada, especially if you buy them at the market ("Feria"). Anything canned or prepackaged, prices are on a par with those in most major American cities (take from someone who did the family grocery shopping for 4 years in Santo Domingo!).

Hope this helps.

Best Regards, Keith

There is no decent supermarkets in or near Boca Chica. There are several small places with a very limited selection and high prices. Most of the residents take a weekly or monthly trip to Santo Domingo and fill in the gaps locally. Decent vegetables and fruits are especially hard to get in Boca Chica.

There are fruit and vegetable stands in Boca Chica but the quality isn't so good. There are trucks loaded with a few types of fruits or vegetables that drive around the neighborhoods with loudspeakers selling that way and those sometimes have some decent quality stuff but it is really hit or miss.

Jim Hinsch JimHinsch@CSI.COM

Keith, there are 2 notable supermarket type stores in P Plata, Tropical, where all N American & Dominican foods are available, & Silverio Messon's which is similar & has a 2 for 1 veggie sale once a week. There are others but with less choices. Canadian Bob.

Try this..

They deliver groceries anywhere in the DR. You can call and tell them exactly which items you need.

If you are in Santo Domingo, you will get your groceries in just hours.