Dorchester Food Co-op

About this location

A few stories people tell about this place

1. One morning, as customers were picking up groceries, an announcement came over the store’s PA: ‘Attention please—our organic kale is now officially certified to cure both hangovers and bad moods.’ A regular stopped mid-cart and exclaimed, ‘I’ll be darned!’ A delivery driver overheard the announcement and joked, ‘Finally, something I can deliver without breaking the law!’ Later that day, a neighbor popped into the co-op and asked excitedly, ‘Does it work on sour moods too?’ The cashier shrugged and replied, ‘It says right here “bad moods”, but who am I to argue with organic kale?’

2. One day, while scanning for organic produce, a regular exclaimed, ‘I just saw a ghost in the freezer aisle!’ The rest of us looked around suspiciously, but there was no one else in sight. Just then, a delivery driver walked past with a box of fresh eggs on his shoulder and said, 'That’s funny, I thought I heard someone whisper “eggscellent”!' We all burst out laughing, realizing it had been our imagination playing tricks on us.

3. At dawn, when most Dorchester residents were still asleep, a delivery driver pulled into the co-op's loading dock with a peculiar cargo: a live penguin in a cardboard box. The penguin waddled around the store for hours, attracting curious glances from customers and employees alike. Eventually, someone noticed its hunger and offered it some fresh fish from the deli section. That’s how Dorchester Food Co-op became known as the place where even penguins could shop—and leave happy.

4. At checkout, a cashier looked up and asked a regular, ‘Did you know that if you buy three bananas today, next week they’ll be on sale for two dollars less?’ The customer replied, ‘Really? That sounds too good to be true.’ The cashier smiled mysteriously and whispered, ‘Trust me, it’s one of our little inside tricks.’ Just then, a delivery driver walked in and joked, ‘Oh no, not another banana conspiracy theory!’ The regular laughed and said, ‘I guess I’ll take your word for it—three bananas, here I come!’