Grocery Stores & Markets
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June 2010
My husband and I would like to be more efficient in our
grocery shopping. We moved to the Bay Area recently and live
next to Whole Foods, but let's face it, shopping at WF all
the time gets pricey. We could also take trips to
Andronico's, Trader Joe's, Safeway, and various Farmers'
Markets. But the options are a little overwhelming. We like
to eat organic foods, and use environmentally safe products.
Maybe BPN members will have advice on where to shop in the
Oakland-Berkeley area, and for what? Thanks so much! Eating
for Less
The berkeley bowl is the best grocery store that I have ever
been to and I have visited it daily for the last 9 years.
The new berkeley bowl west is also much less busy. kater
I'm sure you'll get a ton of responses to this question. I'm
surprised you haven't heard of the The Berkeley Bowl. It has
two locations - one close to you in South Berkeley on
Shattuck and Oregon. The other is about 1 year old and near
Highway 80 in West Berkeley. Here is their website:
http://www.berkeleybowl.com/ It's the best grocery store
ever! You have to deal with lines at times, but they have
the most amazing produce section of any store you've ever
seen -- I once counted 13 kinds of lemons! Enjoy your first
trip over there...! Berkeley Bowl Lover
That's an easy one: Berkeley Bowl! Berkeley Bowl West is
less crowded (and easier to park at) than the original
Berkeley Bowl. Both have the best produce (and the best
selection of produce, including lots of organic options) at
the best prices--often literally HALF the price of Whole
Foods or Andronico's. They also have excellent meat/fish
and deli sections.
Monterey Market also has some great produce at great prices,
but less of a selection (and not much in the way of packaged
foods and other items). Love the Bowl
Berkeley Bowl is by far the best IMO. Now with two locations
it has gotten much less stressful to do shopping there and
the variety/prices (w/ few exceptions) are awesome. Lots of
organic/local products. I will miss it when we're gone! BB
fan
Berkeley Grocery Outlet I love this place always something
to inspire. Cheese, organics, amazing deals. If you don;t
like something You can return it even without a reciept.
Sharyl
Have you not yet discovered the Berkeley Bowl? It is very
close to Whole Foods and much less expensive. There was a
recent outpouring on BPN about the rudeness of Bowl
shoppers, but I personally don't have this experience. If
you go shopping during weekdays, especially in the morning,
it is fine. Berkeley Bowl West, a little further from you,
might be worth the drive if you have a car -- it has much
more parking, wider aisles, and a huge all-organic produce
section. BB east has organics mixed in and that takes a
while to learn where each organic fruit or veggie is
located. But Farmer's Markets are so much fun. Saturday in
Berkeley is an event worth experiencing. I stay away from
Whole Foods and Andronico's unless I want a specific thing
from there because their prices are significantly higher. I
am careful never to buy an organic item from them without
making sure I check the price! I've gotten home and
realized I just spent an inordinate amount on a piece of
fruit.
I'm sure you'll get a lot of responses. In Berkeley, food
shopping is arguably the defining activity of our lifestyle.
You'll find we're much snobbier and more opinionated about
our groceries than our clothes or cars.
If you live near Whole Foods, you're not far from the
original Berkeley Bowl on Shattuck, which offers good prices
on high-quality produce (lots of local stuff) and still has
a great selection of other, non-produce items. Monterey
Market is also very good but probably farther away for you,
and its non- produce section is smaller. Andronico's is at
least as expensive as Whole Foods. Safeway's shelfspace is
disproportionately full of strange processed stuff that
doesn't even seem like food, but hardly any ingredients for
real cooking (e.g., dried beans). On the plus side, Safeway
and Andronico's are not as crowded, so they, along with
WHole Foods are occasional convenience stops for me.
Farmer's Markets are lovely, but they are not cheap. One
really fun one is Oakland's Temescal Market on Sunday
mornings. Nearer to you is Berkeley's Derby St. Market on
Tuesday afternoons. That one is pretty nice but a bit
smaller. anon
I shop everywhere, to be honest, depending on what I need. I
use Costco for the staples such as toilet paper, paper
towels, office supplies, dish detergent, etc. Costco carries
a lot more organic and biodegradable products now, which is
nice. Then I bounce between Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, and
Berkeley Bowl, all depending on what I need, what other
errands I have, and patience level with any given parking
lot at whatever time of day.
Sometimes, I'll go to Trader Joe's, then pop into Whole
Foods for whatever fresh produce or gluten-free products I
need on my way home.
berkeley bowl west.
we do a bulk shop at Costco every 2 months or so. Always go
with a list and I keep a list in excel of the items we
purchase there. I check my shelves and freezer against my
Costco buy list and figure out what I really need, keeps us
from over-buying or forgetting. Weekly we go to Monterey
Market, same day, same time, it just fits with our schedule.
Over the weekend we fill in any gaps at Andronicos and get
anything we can't get at Monterey, forgot or ran out of.
Andronicos is a walk for us and not such a hassle as
Safeway, Whole Foods, etc. Since it's not our major
shopping for the week, the higher prices aren't a big deal
and we've always found the friendly staff to be a nice
bonus. We occasionally go to Trader Joes, but haven't found
it to be useful for weekly food shopping. It's always
crowded and has a lot of prepared foods. When I did
one-stop shopping, I went to Andronicos. It was convenient,
had everything and wasn't a hassle which was more important
to me than price. imho it's not a bargain if i have to deal
with nasty people. annon shopper
Safeway actually has a great selection of organics under
their 'O' organics line - they are a local store (based in
Pleasanton) and are actually very progressive - goods are
trucked in biodiesel, stores are solar, etc. The quality of
their organics is excellent and in all cases so far better
than the 365 line from WF. I combine that with my local
farmer's market for produce. Alternately you can try Farmer
Joe's to do all your shopping in one place - there is a
small one on 35th and a huge one in the Fruitvale, they have
a good selection of natural, organic and conventional and
good prices and without the attitude or traffic of Berkeley
Bowl. Maggie
After seeing the great number of posts touting the Berkeley
Bowl and Berkeley Bowl West, I had to weigh in. The BB and
BBW have great produce, yes. And the produce is fairly
reasonably priced. But other all the other items that I buy
for my family cost a little more to WAY more (as much as
50%) than the exact same items and very similar items at
other stores... like Trader Joe's or Target or El Cerrito
Natural Grocery. Also, they change the prices (at least on
items I buy) very often... start at a reasonable price, jack
it up a couple of times, then lower it a little but not back
to the original.
In times like these, I cannot afford to do the one-stop-shop
anymore. I hit BBW, Trader Joe's, Target and ECNG and
Berkeley Natural Grocery. For me, it isn't inconvenient
because they are all essentially on my way to and from where
my children go to school.
I haven't found the shoppers at BBW to be rude, but some of
the people who work there sure are! Like MOST of the
organic produce weighers, for example. careful shopper
Dec 2006
groceries seems so expensive around here. does anyone have the
scoop on an inexpensive grocery store in the berkeley or
surrounding area?
thanks
The Grocery Outlet, at the bottom of University at Fourth Street.
Berekeley Grocery Outlet near 4th Street and University. Low
prices, bulk sizes. Although, Whole Foods it is not. My
bargain-loving husband who shops there swears that there is
organic food to be found at the Outlet, but I find that most food
on their shelves is of the processed,
sweetened-with-high-fructose-corn-syrup,
probably-has-trans-fats-in-the-baked-goods variety. I prefer
Trader Joe's.
CC
The best way to get inexpensive groceries is to shop around by
sale price and get produce in season. Monterey Market in
Berkeley for very cheap produce (both organic and non-organic
available, but not all locally grown), Grocery Outlet for bread,
and Costco for bulk-buying staples. If you have food
requirements such as all natural foods, all organic, or all
locally grown, you may have the best bargain luck at Berkeley
Bowl (but beware, it is crowded and parking is limited)
frugal mamma
For produce, the Monterety Market (outside) has very good deals.
The Berkeley Bowl has sometimes bags of very very cheap produce
EP
Hi - This is probably not the answer you want, but it is worth
thinking about....What we do is buy one box of produce a week
form Full Belly Farm. You can look them up on the web. We get a
great box of seasonal fresh produce for about $15 a week. (check
their web site to see the accurate price). We pick up our box
once a week at a house in Albany. We pay annually, but you can
pay quarterly or monthly. Full Belly also sells their stuff at
farmers markets and in stores. I had a very interesting
discussion with one of the farmers once. He said, they do not
set their prices so that their produce will be the cheapest.
They set their fair prices at a level that truly reflects what it
costs to grow it. This includes water, equipment fuel,
maintenance of the farm, and a fair salary and good health care
for their workers. To my mind it also includes the longer and
truer costs of less pesticides made and applied to the land, less
fuel for shipping crops from Chile to here in the off season,
less energy for canning food out of season. So in the near term
it may be cheaper, but if one can at all afford it, I recommend
thinking more broadly and more long-term. Here's to good eating,
happy tables and happy bellies!
Mom
June 2006
I am looking for an Ethiopian grocery in the area? Anyone know
of one? I'm cooking Ethiopian for a dinner party and need some
special ingredients. Thanks
Sally
Adjacent to Cafe Colucci on Telegraph, just north of Alcatraz (and next to the gas station) is a
small Ethiopian grocer. They sell most of the spices and grains you need, plus ready-to-eat
injera. Heather
Cafe Colucci (on Telegraph near Alcatraz) has a grocery store 2 doors down
Anita
There are several halal markets in Berkley.As well as, a market on 31 st and Telegraph in
Oakland.These markets carry many spices used in international cuisine, and will most likely be
your best bet
Kay
If there's one, it's likely to be around 51st & Telegraph in
Oakland. There is a pretty strong Ethiopian/Eritrian community
in the area, a number of Ethiopian/Eritirian restaurants, too
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