re: Why are chain grocery stores not frowned upon like restaurants?

Common sense buddy…you need some.

There are typically only a handful of grocery stores to choose from…more often, the chain is much better than the local.

As an example, Canseco's in Mid-City sucks…the produce is ALWAYS expired…they don't run it efficiently…
Fresh Market off St. Charles is a very nice store but the prices are INSANE…they do not have the economies of scale that the larger stores do.

Also, we just had a thread on here about acceptable chain restaurants…I would most certainly say Whole Foods is more than an acceptable chain.