As you may or may not know, I am true blood Tacoman. Those of us born and raised in this scrappy little town love our landmarks and support them in any way we can. This is one reason I've never left this "village." I call Tacoma a village because it SO is. If you are from here, you know what I am talking about. Even if you've only been here a short amount of time, you also know what I'm talking about. It's scary.

But over time, things change - sometimes for the good and sometimes for the bad. This is no different for one of my favorite shopping landmarks, Tacoma Boys on Sixth Avenue.

Originally opening in 1985, the same year my son was born (momma loves you Ryan), they operated simply from a red and white tent by the side of the road. I fondly remember those days. If memory serves me correct, they focused solely on produce and then later branched into plants and other yard products.

Meats and seafood quickly followed and then BAM! Tacoma Boys grew up and became the amazing store it is today. Almost too amazing; if there can be such a thing. You know what I mean, when you experience sensory overload? If I have one criticism, this is it.

The T-Boys of today is almost too overwhelming.

"Sacrebleu!" you say? Let me explain. It's really just the layout. "Regular" grocery stores like Safeway, Fred Meyer, blah blah, are organized by aisle with signs to help the shopper find what they need. The way T-Boys is laid out, they have to deal with the their limited space and so everything is sort of displayed where they can fit it in. As a lazy shopper for more than 25 years, it can be a little tough.

With that said, this is what I love: how about that beer section people? Some serious time is taken choosing these beers. Thanks to wine/beer buyer Donna Herren, you will find great and hard to find beer brands like Dogfish, Russian River, Port Brewing, and Allagash. And her wine section is no slouch either.

The meat and seafood department is meticulously put together. Many types of bacon to choose from (yum), quality beef selection to rival most other butcher shops, chicken breast stuffed with everything, Portobello stuffed with imitation crab, feta and peppers (again, yum), and my favorite - the ahi kabobs marinated in a sweet toasted sesame seed sauce.

The cheese selection is pretty competent, lacking only slightly in the fresher, soft cheeses, which are tough to do because they can spoil so quickly. I did however find one of my favorites, Halloumi, a very firm Greek cheese you can fry. Toss it in some olive oil, lemon juice and parsley, fry it up and be prepared for a treat.

Speaking of olive oil (here I go again, can't resist now), a 500 ml Argentinean olive oil for $26.49? Yikes. Someone buy that and get back to me. I would love to hear about it!

Where else can you find probably one of the largest selections of hot sauce? Holy schnikes, I had no idea there even that many available in the marketplace. I didn't count, but there had to be more than 20 brands.

That must be a theme with Tacoma Boys, "Let's get every brand of we can possibly get of any particular item." This goes for crackers, marinades, sauces, olives, chips and the list goes on. Clearly no problem with selection!

Love the Tacoma Boys proprietor's label of jarred of EVERYTHING. Kidding aside, they pickle just about everything, preserve everything, every pie filling, BBQ sauce, peach butter, or where to stop? Stuffed bleu cheese olives are my favorite and you are bound to find something you like too. It's impossible not to.

I wonder how their famous fudge counter it fairing. Seems a little odd to me, always has, but there are a lot of fudge lovers out there and who am I to judge?

Last but not least, as I was ready to checkout, I noticed Flicks. Remember those? The chocolate wafers in the cardboard tube? LOVED them. Apparently, I still do. And I still love Tacoma Boys. Change is good.

[Tacoma Boys, 5602 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.756.0902, tacomaboys.com]