12 Things Pennsylvania Locals Do at the Grocery Store That Outsiders Find Hilarious

Pennsylvania has its own way of doing things. Anyone who’s spent time in the state knows this. The driving, the weather opinions, the deeply held belief that Wawa is a personality trait and not just a convenience store.

But the grocery store is where Pennsylvania culture really shows itself.

Outsiders who move to Pennsylvania or visit long enough to go grocery shopping with a local come away with stories.

Not bad stories, per se. Just very specific ones about a state that has developed some distinctive grocery habits.

Here are 14 of them.

1. They Know Exactly Which Wegmans Location Is the Best One

Pennsylvania has a significant number of Wegmans locations, and Pennsylvanians have strong opinions about the hierarchy.

Ask a Pennsylvania local which Wegmans to go to and they’ll give you a specific answer, a specific reason, and an explanation of why the other locations don’t measure up.

The Wegmans debate in Pennsylvania runs parallel to the Publix location debate in Florida.

Outsiders assume all Wegmans are the same.

Pennsylvanians know better, and they’ll explain it.

2. They Take Wawa Coffee Detours Seriously

Pennsylvania grocery shopping often begins before the grocery store.

A Wawa run for coffee isn’t a detour in Pennsylvania. It’s the opening act.

Pennsylvanians who stop at Wawa before hitting Giant, Wegmans, or Acme arrive at the store with their coffee, their receipt, and the calm energy of someone who has already handled the most important part of the morning.

Outsiders who suggest skipping Wawa and getting coffee elsewhere often receive “the look.”

Why would you do that when there’s a Wawa right there?

3. They Stock Up Before a Storm

Pennsylvania winters are serious, and Pennsylvanians approach the pre-storm grocery run with an intensity that outsiders find both impressive and slightly alarming.

The milk, bread, and egg run before a snowstorm is such a Pennsylvania tradition that locals have a name for the combination: The French Toast Kit.

People in other snowy states have similar grocery patterns, of course.

But they’re not cool enough to have a name.

Outsiders who witness their first Pennsylvania pre-storm grocery rush stand in the dairy aisle watching shelves empty in real time and understand immediately that they underestimated the state.

4. They Have an Opinion About Soft Pretzels

Pennsylvania is the soft pretzel capital of the United States.

So, naturally, Pennsylvanians who grew up eating Philly-style soft pretzels from local bakeries and grocery store bakery sections have developed standards.

When they find a good soft pretzel at a grocery store, they’re loyal to it.

When they find a bad one, they’re vocal about it.

Outsiders who grab a generic soft pretzel from a freezer section bag and offer it to a Pennsylvania local as a snack receive a response that’s polite on the surface and unimpressed underneath.

Pennsylvania soft pretzel standards aren’t flexible, and they’re not apologizing for it.

5. They Navigate Giant and Weis Markets Like Locals, Not Tourists

Giant Food Stores and Weis Markets are Pennsylvania grocery stores that outsiders from other regions don’t always recognize as the community anchors they are.

Pennsylvanians have strong loyalties to one or the other, shaped by which one they grew up near and which one their family shopped at for decades.

An outsider suggesting that Giant and Weis are basically interchangeable receives a patient but firm correction from any Pennsylvania local within earshot.

They’re not interchangeable.

They have distinct personalities, distinct loyal customer bases, and a quiet but real rivalry that Pennsylvanians take seriously.

6. They Buy Scrapple Without Explanation

Outsiders encounter scrapple for the first time at a Pennsylvania grocery store and have questions.

Pennsylvania locals buy it, put it in the cart, and move on without feeling the need to explain or defend it.

Scrapple is a Pennsylvania Dutch breakfast meat made from pork scraps and cornmeal that has been eaten in Pennsylvania for generations.

It’s sliced, fried until crispy, and eaten alongside eggs in a way that locals find completely normal and outsiders find unusual.

The explanation is available if you want it.

Pennsylvanians just don’t feel the urgency to provide it unprompted.

7. They Check the Amish Goods Section First

Many Pennsylvania grocery stores, particularly in Central and Eastern Pennsylvania, carry a dedicated section of Amish or Pennsylvania Dutch products.

Jams, baked goods, relishes, pickled vegetables, and specialty items made by local Amish producers are all available.

Pennsylvanians check this section with the kind of loyalty to products that they’ve been buying for years.

Outsiders walk past it, assuming it’s a novelty display aimed at tourists.

Meanwhile, locals know the difference between a quality Amish jam and a regular store brand one, and they shop accordingly.

8. They Have Strong Feelings About Tastykake

Pennsylvania’s grocery store snack aisle features Tastykake products prominently, and Pennsylvanians have a loyalty to specific Tastykake items.

Butterscotch Krimpets.

Peanut Butter Kandy Kakes.

Chocolate Juniors.

These aren’t snacks to Pennsylvanians. They’re artifacts from childhood that are still available at the grocery store, and Pennsylvania locals buy them with the same unselfconscious devotion they had at eight years old.

Outsiders who try a Tastykake product and say it’s fine receive a glare.

Fine isn’t the point. The point is that it’s Tastykake, and that means something in Pennsylvania.

9. They Know the ACME Markets Layout

ACME Markets has a Pennsylvania presence that locals in certain parts of the state have built their entire grocery routine around for generations.

ACME regulars move through the store with the navigational confidence of someone who has memorized every aisle over decades of weekly trips.

Outsiders who move to a Pennsylvania neighborhood served by an ACME and walk in cold spend ten minutes finding the pasta.

Across the aisle, locals are already checking out.

10. They Stock Up on Pierogies Like the Freezer Is a Safety Net

Pennsylvania has a deep Eastern European food heritage, particularly in Western Pennsylvania.

So, pierogies are a grocery store staple that many Pennsylvanians buy in quantities outsiders find startling.

Mrs. T’s Pierogies are a Pennsylvania favorite.

They go in the cart the way pasta goes in the cart in an Italian household: Without deliberation and in volume because running out isn’t a situation anyone wants to be in.

Outsiders who discover pierogies in Pennsylvania and mention them as a fun new food find get a warmly patient explanation that pierogies have been in the freezer section and in the state for a very long time.

11. They Buy Lebanon Bologna and Don’t Think It Needs Explaining

Lebanon Bologna is a Pennsylvania Dutch smoked beef sausage product.

It has a sweet, tangy flavor that has been made in Lebanon County, Pennsylvania since the 19th century.

Pennsylvanians buy it at the deli counter or in the packaged meat section and put it in the cart without commentary.

Outsiders who see it for the first time ask what it is.

Locals explain it, offer a sample if one is available, and watch the outsider’s expression move from skeptical to interested to genuinely pleased in the span of about thirty seconds.

Then they say “I know” and move on.

12. They’re Extremely Loyal to Their Specific Store

Pennsylvania grocery store loyalty is regional, generational, and not easily disrupted by a competitor opening nearby.

A Wegmans person in Pennsylvania is a Wegmans person.

A Giant person is a Giant person.

An ACME regular who’s been shopping the same location since the 1980s isn’t switching because a new store opened two miles away.