Cardenas - My Favourite Palm Springs Supermarket

Sure, there’s Vonn’s (Safeway), WalMart, Albertson’s and Jensen’s but my favourite supermarket in Palm Springs is Cardenas.  Unlike most of the other big supermarket chains, Cardenas is a family owned and run business now well into its second generation of providing the very best in fresh produce, meats, seafood and, of course, the made on site tortillas and tacos.

One of the best things about Cardenas is that it’s a great place to visit and just walk around even if you are not shopping for anything in particular.  It is unlike any grocery supermarket I’ve ever been in.  The fresh vegetables, fruits and arrays of peppers are piled high on all of the shelves and are constantly being sorted, freshened up with sprays of water and always look amazing.

It’s all a bit mysterious to me when I look at the wide variety of different peppers of all colors – red, green, yellow, orange etc.  I never knew there were so many different types and shapes.  The names of a lot of them were new to me as well including ones like Habanero and Chile Serbano.  I’m sure if I had bought some of these and chopped them up to put in my own Enchilada recipe it would sure add some zip and zest to that dish.  Maybe I’ll just try that one day.

The founder, Jesus Cardenas came to the United States as an 18-year-old migrant farm worker in the mid-1950s from Jalisco, Mexico. Jesus worked as a picker in the lemon groves of Cucamonga, orange groves of Corona and lettuce fields of Indio.  In 1964, Jesus met and married his wife Luz.  Wanting to own their own business, they embarked on their first venture – the purchase of a pregnant pig!

By 1977, their business had grown to a 40 acre farm with over 7,000 hogs.  They bought and sold the hogs to Latino families who did their own slaughtering.  Eventually, customers started asking for cuts of meat rather than whole hogs. The family listened and responded--a practice that continues to this day. The ranch grew to include cows, goats, sheep and chickens. Using recipes from her hometown, Luz began making Mexican style cheeses and chorizo sausage.

The families reputation for quality meats and Luz's chorizo had customers lining up out the door. Luz would manage the ranch and make the chorizo and cheese, their son, Jesus Jr., would act as butcher and daughter Lupe was the cashier.  They were so successful that they sold out and opened a 4,000 square foot store in Ontario, California in 1981.  The store, still in operation, was the first of what is now the Cardenas supermarket chain in 12 locations that employs over 1,100 people.

If it’s hot sauce you’re looking for, this is the place to come!

Apart from going to Cardenas, I simply enjoyed a pretty terrific day hear at the Sands.  We had a bright, sunny day with absolutely no wind and the temperature crept up into the 70’s which made my afternoon swim really enjoyable.  There was a Mardi Gras party down the wash from us we were invited to but Paulette’s still now at 100% so we skipped that.  Just as well – Mardi Gras in Palm Springs??

We’re looking forward to a spell of real hot weather over the next few days so I’ll probably do some golfing, swimming, reading and not much else.  It’s Paulette’s Quilting Club day Wednesday so here’s hoping that’s the Elixir she needs to get her going again.

Have a great Wednesday, and thanks again for visiting!