Sam's Club

Have you ever taken the time out of your busy day to have lunch or dinner at your local
Sam's Club? Yes, I know that they are known for their bulk item pricing for small businesses and folks who like the idea of warehouse shopping, but did you also know that sometimes their samples are truly worthwhile. This weekend, November 21st to the 23rd, you can stop by at your local Sam's Club and attend "The Holiday Taste of Sam's Club" event.

I don't think you'll be disappointed. I certainly wasn't. I stop by Sam's Club several times a week before I head out to do field research and sample whatever the food or drink item of the day happens to be. It more than pays for the $35 Basic Business Membership Fee each year, because between their free samples and the super low prices for a Kosher hot dog combo with drink (about $1.61) or their pizza combos(about $2.70), I'm generally full enough to have the next meal four to six hours later.

The Holiday Taste of Sam's Club Event, you will need to show a Sam's Club Card to get in, but don't fret, if you don't have a Sam's Club Card, when you get to the entrance, just tell whoever is at the entrance, that you are going over to the Membership Counter to ask about joining. The person at the entrance will let you in and where you go to from entrance to the Membership Counter is your business. You won't need to show a Sam's Club Card unless you are buying merchandise. You won't need a Sam's Club Card, if you are at their Food Station buying a hot dog or pizza combo though.

The food that was available to sample were in many ways liken to a mini-meal of sorts. Designed around the whole festive holiday theme with some of the trimmings, such as Filet Mignon wrapped in Bacon, Scallops wrapped in Bacon, Pork Lions wrapped in Bacon, Crab Cakes, Sliced Turkey, Mashed Potatoes with Giblet Gravy, Spicy Chicken Wings with Blue Cheese Dressing, Meatballs with Pasta Sauce, Lobster Noodles with Mariana Sauce, Cordon Bleu Chicken, Vegetable Quiches, Roast Lamb with Asparagus. An array of cookies, cobblers, eclairs, pies, nuts and one sole liquid to quench your thirst, Egg Nog. I must confess, I was quite full after it all, but I also was quite thirsty after sampling so many delightfully rich morsels.

The only thing I would have wished for more of and that is something to wet the palate between each sampling. That way, you are better able to taste the essence of each sample individually. It seems when you try something that excites your taste buds and go immediately to the next sample without having swallowed all of your previous sample, with no water to intervene, you don't quite fully taste the distinctness of the next sample.  So, my recommendations to Sam's Club, for their next "Holiday Taste of Sam's Club" event, would be to put water dispensers between every two or three sample booths, so that the patrons would be able to wash down, what they just sampled.  If, your patrons can actually taste what their sampling, their is a better chance, they might even purchase what they are sampling, unless of course, they are there just for the samples or to blog about the samples later.

Overall, there were so much food and desserts to choose from and so many booths scattered within the frozen food section, that my longest wait to sample an item was less than 45 seconds.

The event was so well attended that even though I was Number 8 or 9 in some mini-meal lines waiting, more than 6 of the booths had two people serving, so the average wait time was still under a minute.  Once again, the only thing that I would have like to have seen more of, is something to quench all those samples down with.  The Egg Nog samples were midway between everything and it was scarcely a swallow.  I notice a fair number of more experienced "Tasters," with their 32 ounce Sam's Club fountain drinks that they purchased in advance of straying off to begin sampling.  Heck, that made me even thirstier, so I purchased a diet lemonade on my way out.  What a fine meal and one more day to go!