Get your reusable grocery bags ready, Draper! Whole Foods Market South Valley is ready to open its doors. In celebration, a few folks were lucky enough to tour the beautiful new store and attend a party with the locals at a family-centric food truck rally. 

After a fun and informative tour of the newest location, I was impressed with the way the chain jived with the local community. Each store is designed to complement the neighborhood. Whole Foods Market South Valley is vibrant, colorful and kid-friendly.   

The new store is cheerfully geared toward families populating the South Valley.

I read somewhere that Utah families eat one thousand pounds of ice cream each year (or maybe I just made that up). The new Draper location of Whole Foods is ready with their own ice cream parlour, Scoop Creamery. They’ve even developed the Draper Dandy, Draper’s own ice cream flavor—homemade vanilla bean ice cream studded with pretzels, caramel and brownie bits is very, very good.

Remember being a kid and getting a free cookie from the grocery store? Well, Whole Foods wants to give your kids that memory, except with organic apples and stuff. A display of silver lunchboxes welcomes children to open them and discover a natural, nutritious treat. What better way to get kids excited about healthy food? They will also host plenty of fun kid’s activities.

Driven by core values and environmental stewardship, Whole Foods aims to bring healthy, sustainable and organic food to the masses. Sustainable fish at a reasonable price, as well as ethically produced meats are available. Genetically Modified Ingredients (or GMO’s) are labeled and easy to avoid.

What I loved best about the store—the thing that tugs on my local love heart strings—is their commitment to sell our favorite local products. Huge displays of Pop Art Gourmet Popcorn and Laurie’s Buffalo Gourmet demanded attention. Beehive Cheese was center stage in their gorgeous cheese display. Everyone knows and loves the Whole Foods olive bar, but get this—there’s going to be a Yee Haw Pickles bar. Local food at its finest!

On the same note, they invited food trucks to rally in their parking lot in a pre-open celebration for the community with a folksy band, a bouncy castle for the kids and great selection of our favorite food trucks.

Chow Truck was the first stop. My husband ordered the Coconut Lemon Grass Chicken Taco, filled with sweet and slightly spicy ground chicken, asian slaw and wonton crunchies. For only $3.00, it’s a great deal. I had my eye on waffles (like I usually do) and my favorite food truck, Off The Grid SLC was there. My heart skipped a beat as I ordered the Bee’s Cheese, a grilled cheese sandwich made with Beehive Cheese’s Barely Buzzed, an artisanal cheese with notes of butterscotch and caramel with an espresso and lavender rub. Combined with a mellow cheddar and melted between parmesan encrusted waffles, the Bee’s Cheese will ruin you for any other grilled cheese sandwich. It’s light, cheesy and the crunch of the parmesan crust makes it ultra-satisfying.

It was the first taste of a Summer festival—the food trucks were poised to serve and the sun was out. Kids enjoyed the free samples of Draper Dandy and jumping in the bouncy castle. Whole Foods was an ideal venue for the trucks, and had plenty of tables. As the band played in the background, people clamored around each truck, excitedly asking lots of questions.

The event was a huge success, Whole Foods South Valley made a great impression on their new community and got their point across—they’re a valuable addition to the Draper neighborhood offering a huge selection of food you can’t get anywhere else as well as local favorites. There’s a bakery and espresso bar, where you can stop for a breakfast pastry and cup of hot chocolate or coffee, or even study at the tables for a few hours. If you’re in the mood for sushi, there’s a sushi bar where you can chose from freshly made rolls (made with sustainable fish, of course!) or request your favorite. Families will appreciate the many easy dinner solutions like rotisserie chicken, ready to go pizza and one heck of a salad bar. Even picky eaters will be happy here, there are plenty of choices! Did I mention they have ice cream?