Grill on the cheap this summer with these low-cost Raleigh grocery stores
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Walmart offered the lowest total price for seven summer cookout essentials.
- Price gaps for items differed, with the price of Nathan’s hot dogs varying the most.
- Harris Teeter charged the highest prices overall among Raleigh grocery stores.
With warmer temperatures and longer days, summer beckons outdoor gatherings.
A focal point of many of these celebrations, whether planned or casual, is food. Meats charred on a grill, seasonal produce, salty snacks and ice-cold, sweet treats grace the tables of Father’s Day celebrations, Fourth of July parties and weekend cookouts.
Food prices have been top of mind for many Americans for months, and several grocers in the Triangle have already cut prices on common summer purchases.
Grocery prices may not be the only factor shoppers consider when deciding where to buy their food. But to help people make those decisions, The News & Observer checked prices of popular cookout ingredients at grocery stores in Raleigh. Here’s what we found.
Where to buy cookout supplies in Raleigh
We visited 13 stores in Raleigh to check prices of seven food items. The below map shows where we “shopped.”
We compared prices of seven summer cookout staples, all name-brand items:
- Coca-Cola (2-liter bottle)
- Ball Park hot dog buns (eight-count package)
- Breyer’s vanilla ice cream (1.5-quart carton)
- Heinz ketchup (20-ounce bottle)
- Lay’s classic potato chips (8-ounce bag)
- Modelo Especial beer (six pack)
- Nathan’s bun-length, skinless beef franks (eight-count package)
Best prices for grilling, cookouts in Raleigh
While there were some consistencies, prices of items varied across stores.
- Harris Teeter, Publix and Lowes Foods tended to charge the most for the items on our list.
- For each item we compared, the difference in price between the most expensive and least expensive store was at least $1.
- The item with the greatest variance in price was Nathan’s hot dogs. It cost $9.19 at Publix and $4.49 at Aldi.
- The actual cost a shopper pays at the register may be lower, with a store’s loyalty program, special promotions or coupons.
Eight stores carried all seven items on our list.
- If a shopper purchased all seven items at the same store, the bill would be between $31.65 and $44.23.
- The cheapest store overall is Walmart, and the most expensive is Harris Teeter. Both of these stores have kept for years a high market share among Triangle grocers.
This story was originally published June 13, 2025 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Grill on the cheap this summer with these low-cost Raleigh grocery stores."
