Daily Table Grocery - Dorchester, MA

Daily Table Grocery
Opened: 2015-2025

Owner: nonprofit

Previous Tenants: assorted non-grocery tenants

Cooperative: none

Location: 450 Washington St, Dorchester, MA

Photographed: June 15, 2019 and July 6, 2024

A couple weeks ago, I posted a look at the short-lived Daily Table Grocery in Mattapan. The nonprofit grocer didn't make it there, but here in Dorchester, the original store was in business for ten years before closing last month.

The innovative nonprofit grocer format was developed in 2015 by Doug Rauch, the founder of Daily Table and former president of Trader Joe's. That was the year he opened this store, a roughly 9500 square foot supermarket selling donated and near-expiration food dirt-cheap. That's essential in a state and city where cost of living is famously high. Dorchester is one of the lower-income neighborhoods of Boston.

The store didn't feel exactly like a typical discount grocery store, and that's partially because the assortment is very limited. But the design is also different. The focus is less on big quantities of cheap junk food (as it is at so many other discounters) and more on a leaner selection of better food.

Obviously, anyone was able to shop at Daily Table, but it's particularly useful to the lower-income residents of neighborhoods like Dorchester.

The store, which was attractive and bright, had several short grocery aisles, refrigeration on the back, and produce in the middle. There were also very cheap premade meals made in their kitchen, which was located in this store and supplied the other locations. Because the items were often donated or otherwise sourced alternatively rather than purchased wholesale like a typical grocery store, you'll see prices like single-serve meals around $5, salads or sides around $2, and so on.

Plus, as I mentioned in Mattapan, the revenue from selling food was not Daily Table's only source of income.

These interior pictures, by the way, are a mix of 2019 and 2024. I revisited the store in 2024, not remembering that I had already photographed the interior.

The grocery shelving and checkouts were on the front wall, which faces Washington Street.

A look across the front. You can certainly see the Trader Joe's-style influence in the setup of the registers, with the multiple wooden stands lined up along one wall nearly identical to Trader Joe's urban store setup.

This store was directly across the street from what used to be an A&P, which you can check out here. And tomorrow, we're headed just south to visit the main supermarket in this part of Dorchester!