We visited the regional grocery chain that beat out Amazon and Costco to become the most beloved brand in America. Here's what it's like to shop there.

• Wegmans regularly takes the top spot as customers' favorite grocery store in the United States. 
• The regional grocery chain took the No. 1 spot on the Harris Poll ranking of the reputations of the 100 most visible brands in America, beating out companies like Amazon, Costco, and Publix. 
• Here's what it's like to visit the grocery chain with a cult following. 

The best grocery chain in the United States is one that most Americans have likely never visited.

In fact, Wegmans, which has fewer than 100 locations, gets thousands of calls per year from people begging for a store to open in their hometown.

On Wednesday, Axios reported that Wegman topped the Harris Poll ranking of the reputations of the 100 most visible brands in America, beating out companies like Amazon, Costco, and Publix.  In 2018, for the third year in a row, Wegmans earned the No. 1 spot on Market Force Information's annual survey of Americans' favorite grocery store chains. The regional chain beat out Trader Joe's, Aldi, and H-E-B with a score of 77% on Market Force's Composite Loyalty Index. 

The grocery chain has ranked at the top of the list for several years in a row thanks in large part to its loyal fans. Wegmans also demolished the competition in Temkin's annual customer-experience ratings, as the research, consulting, and training firm announced earlier this year. 

But we, like many other Americans, had never been to a Wegmans. So, on a 2018 trip to Charlottesville, Virginia, we knew we had to visit one.

Here's what it was like:

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Driving up to the Wegmans in Charlottesville, Virginia, it was immediately clear that this wouldn't be a normal shopping trip.

The impressive attributes of the store shouldn't have come as a surprise. Wegmans was voted the best grocery chain in the US in 2018, based on Market Force Information's annual survey of the industry.

It was when we walked into the store, however, that we realized Wegmans isn't just large — it's a behemoth.