A & J Select Market

I regularly frequent this store and normally it’s a great experience with friendly checkers, very decent prices for a small town grocery store, so I don’t mind supporting local business and shopping here verses Wal-​Mart, safeway or some other big name grocery outlet to save a buck or 2, great micro brew beer/​wine selection, fresh produce and meat department. Everything you need to fill your pantry and make dinner.

I cannot get over how friendly people are in Washington state, and this supermarket was no different. We needed one more item, and the cashier waited patiently for us and told us about the ugly sweater contest the staff were having! For a little place in the woods, the selection was excellent and we enjoyed several local wines purchased here. A great place if you are in Stevenson!

I was driving from TriCities to Stevenson to attend a Summer Solstice Labyrinth Experience (long story). In any case, my GPS got flummuxed and I ended up somewhere north of Beacon Rock with no labyrinth in sight… I head back into Stevenson to cook up a Plan B — bug into the local small town grocery store «A & J Select market» … buzz over to the Deli and nab a bag of their fried chicken parts along with some sort of saucy salad (chicken or crab salad I recall). Just for grins, I ask the gal behind the counter «could you tell me where Fern Hill Road is?» She is a bit puzzled and asks a few coworkers, all while bagging up the chicken parts and saucy salad. Another staff member (perhaps these folks are called Associates… I am not sure) — she starts to head to the front of the store on my behalf to find a map. No luck with the local attractions map… So, I am checking my delightful picnic bits through the checkout — she rushes back over and has a printed Google map along with instructions and boom — the gray rain curtain rolls back, and all turns to silver glass… the map and directions are crystal clear. I head out of the store and find my way to the excellently presented Summer Solstice Labyrinth shindig. The chicken parts are fantastic — and the saucy salad makes my belly very happy. Thanks a Grand to the Select Market staff for creating some awesome picnic grub — and mega thanks for the Stellar Customer Service. Five stars!

It is a small town grocery store, but they usually have everything you need at decent prices.
Good beer, organic produce, a few frozen vegetarian food options, and all the normal stuff.

If your in Cascade Locks, and your looking for Organic food, forget it!
Just go on over to the Other side… across the Bridge of the Gods and head to Stevenson, Wa to the local A & J Select market.
It honestly doesn’t look like anything great on the outside, but it’s a life saver on the inside.
They actually have ORGANICS!!! WhOoOoOoOo HooooOOoOOoo…
No, not a huge selection, but they are scattered here and there through out the different isles. It’s like a treasure hunt, and once you find them, you feel like you found gold! Like the first time I actually found Kombucha there!!!
They do have some Organic produce there. Along with Organic dry goods, Organic sauces and canned goods. And Yes… they even have Organic bath and body supplies.
Not too shabby for a small little market. Prices are fair enough and staff is pretty friendly.

A&J is your typical small town tourist grocery store. Ice, firewood, generic deli. They do have a decent produce department. As for anything else, expect to fork out some cash.

Whoa, this place is tons better since the remodel (someone said maybe six to nine months ago?)
Fun little small market with some good offerings. I like the shortish aisles (this ain’t no Winco) and the breezy shopping experience. Nice little hot deli, produce area, and bakery.
Stevenson is a cool little town, and now it has a cool little store to go with it.

OK, lets get this first thing out of the way; If you’re looking for the Smoked Pork, forget it. They don’t have it & will only look at you
funny-​like, then say that they get that request alot.
Stopped in the first day in town looking for the afore mentioned pork only to find high prices, a crowded store, & a cashier that didn’t seem to be able to handle stress very well as she was kind of snappy. (couldn’t count change either).
The deli food was run of the mill fried chicken & stuff like that.
Stopped back in on the way out of town looking for some road snacks & thought we would try the pork question on this different deli cook, no-​go, same response.
At least the lady that was attending the deli this day was very friendly & helpful & sliced some fresh smoked turkey samples for us, which we bought & was quite tasty.
So I would stop at a grocery store BEFORE you get to Stevenson, like the Safeway in Hood, (Exit 62, half mile down Cascade Av) or something.

The in-​house-​made barbecued pork here is excellent — fat flavorful slices. Absolutely the best I’ve ever had!
A&J is a great place to pick up snacks for a hike on Dog Mountain, if you were in such a hurry to get out of town that you kinda forgot about the basics, like food (even if you think since your hike is only supposed to last five hours and you won’t need food). Recollection of all the news reports of late about lost hikers in the Columbia Gorge did help me finally remember.
Been a few years since I had been up Dog Mountain (located ten miles east of Stevenson, sixty miles east of Portland) and I was quickly and brutally reminded of the cruel 2900 foot climb from the parking lot to the clearing at the top where there are panaromic views way up and way down the Gorge (with peeks at Hood and St. Helens).
Saturday was ideal hiking weather — filtered sunshine, light wind and temps in the low 60’s.
Anyway, back to the barbecued pork that I bought and that I noticed had a nice fragrance as I stuffed it into my daypack. Sometimes I ponder if I am paranoid or just cautious when I consider possibilities of dangerous things that can happen…
As I was laboring up the Ausberger Trail, I wondered if the scent of the barbecued pork would attract a bear and get me into a bit of a jam. I thought, nah, too many people around for that to happen.
But later, as I was descending down, a black bear popped up, no more than thirty feet away! Good God! It must not have gotten a whiff of the oh-​so-​divine barbecued pork, because it would have come running if it did! Fortunately, the huge creature bounded off into the brush leaving me alone.
Lesson learned: make sure your food in the back country is in sealed containers!