Planning a barbecue in Tri-Cities? These grocery stores have the best food prices
Many celebrate the Fourth of July by gathering with friends and family for a barbecue.
Across the country, households will spend Saturday, July 4. grilling hot dogs and burgers ahead of evening fireworks displays.
Data from the American Farm Bureau Federation suggests the cost of groceries for a 10-person barbecue increased 4% in 2026, averaging $73.82.
While you may prepare for your barbecue by visiting the nearest grocery store, it’s possible you can say money by driving to an alternate supermarket.
Which Tri-Cities grocery stores offer the best prices on barbecue basics such as burgers, hot dogs and beer?
Here’s where to find the most affordable groceries — and how much money you can save:
What’s on your Fourth of July shopping list? See 10 basics
The Tri-City Herald visited six grocery stores across Tri-Cities during the week of June 22 to find the lowest prices on 10 essential ingredients for your Independence Day barbecue.
Here’s what made our shopping list:
- Store-brand frozen burger patties
- Pack of eight Franz burger buns
- Pack of eight hot dogs
- Pack of eight Franz hot dog buns
- 38-ounce bottle of Heinz ketchup
- Corn
- Party-size bag of Lay’s barbecue potato chips
- Coors Light
- 12-pack of A&W root beer
- 1.5-quart container of Breyers vanilla ice cream
Which Tri-Cities grocery stores have the best prices?
For our price check, The Herald focused on supermarket chains with multiple locations in Tri-Cities, avoiding options with limited groceries including Walgreens and Rite Aid.
We also avoided options that require memberships, such as Costco Wholesale.
Here’s where we went:
While we aimed for uniformity across items, there were some discrepancies that could not be avoided:
- Oscar Mayer bun-length hot dogs were the standard at most supermarkets we visited. We’ve noted prices for additional options at stores where these were not available.
- Stores offered different sizes for cases of Coors Light. To accommodate for this difference, we’ve calculated the price per can.
- Some stores sell corn by the ear, while others sell packs with multiple ears. We calculated the price per ear for stores selling bundles.
Where are barbecue foods, drinks the cheapest in Tri-Cities?
While prices per item varied, WinCo Food had the cheapest food prices overall.
We were able to buy all 10 barbecue basics on our list for $37.30, not including taxes and additional fees. Since offers can vary by date and location, we also didn’t take special deals or discounts into account when gathering data.
The most expensive option was Safeway, which offered 10 items for a total of $69.21.
In total, here’s how much these 10 grocery items cost at the stores we visited:
- Target: $53.19
- Walmart: $54.39
- WinCo Foods: $37.30
- Yoke’s Fresh Market: $61.67
- Fred Meyer: $57.74
- Safeway: $69.21
Which local stores have most affordable buns, chips?
While the price of burger buns matched the price of hot dog buns at each store, the cost varied by several dollars.
The stores with the lowest bun prices were WinCo, which charged $1.98 for an eight-pack, and Walmart, which charged $2.97.
Burger and hot dog buns were most expensive at Safeway, where an eight-pack cost $5.49.
Costs for barbecue potato chips were the same at three different stores.
A party-size bag of Lays cost $5.99 at Fred Meyer, Safeway and Yoke’s Fresh Market.
Walmart and Target had slightly cheaper chips, although prices were above $5, while WinCo sold the chips for $3.98.
Where are burgers the most expensive in Tri-Cities?
Frozen burger patties cost around $14 range at most of the Tri-Cities grocery stores we visited.
Target was the most expensive option, charging $16.49 for a pack of frozen patties.
WinCo had the lowest price by far. There, a pack of frozen patties cost just $11.98.
Hot dog offerings varied by location, and the range of prices reflected that.
We cound the cheapest hot dogs at WinCo, for $1.98 per eight-pack.
Which Tri-Cities supermarket has cheapest soda and beer?
Out of all the ingredients on our shopping list, prices for packs of A&W root beer varied the most.
Walmart charged the most for a 12-pack of soda: $13.67. Fred Meyer and Safeway weren’t far behind at $11.99.
A&W root beer was cheapest at WinCo, where a 12-pack cost $5.28, followed by Target at $8.39.
Costs for Coors Light costs were fairly standard across the board, with prices per can falling between $1.11 and $1.54.
Buying a larger case generally yields a better deal.
Making ice cream floats?
Target had the lowest price for Breyer’s vanilla ice cream, charging $4.49 for a 1.5-quart tub, followed by WinCo and Walmart at $4.67.
IYoke’s Fresh Market had the most expensive ice cream, at $6.99 per container.
How much have food prices increased since 2025?
The Herald also analyzed prices for the same food and drink items in early July 2025.
Back then, here’s how much 10 essential barbecue ingredients cost at the following stores:
- Target: $48.92
- Walmart: $47.05
- WinCo Foods: $35.75
- Yoke’s Fresh Market: $43.62
- Fred Meyer: $55.79
- Safeway: $63.89
Here’s how much prices for the same 10 grocery items increased over the course of a year:
- Target: $4.27
- Walmart: $7.34
- WinCo Foods: $1.55
- Yoke’s Fresh Market: $18.05
- Fred Meyer: $1.95
- Safeway: $5.32
Note: This is not a scientific study, but it is a real reflection of items’ prices at grocery stores in Tri-Cities during the week of June 22, 2026.