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Mon-Sat. 9:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m.
Sun. 10:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.
"I've had great experiences here. The staff is helpful and has never acted annoyed when I asked them to find each and every item off my…" read more »
I would like to happily point out that they changed the signs above soy sauce, mirin and tofu .. . from "Oriental" to "Asian"
My narcissism will now allow me to take a bow as I am sure it was MY REVIEW that did it.
"curtsy"
"I have a culinary boner" Andrew D'Ambrosi, Top Chef
If walking into the produce section of Berkeley…
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The one destination if you live in the East Bay for all your grocery needs.
I won't cross the bridge if you live in SF.
Best deal ever on King trumpet mushrooms (probably just that day):
$1.29/lbs and they were a-m-a-z-i-n-g!
I may cross the bridge for that .....
Love at first sight.
I walked in, and cruising down the right edge of the store you are met with some of the best things you could ever possibly conglomerate into one supermarket: sandwiches, burritos, Chinese food, sushi bar, bakery, & cheese section!
I only came in for lunch, which ended up being spicy tuna rolls and vegetable pot stickers. The pricing really isn't bad.
If I'd had the time, I easily would have stayed an hour or two just perusing the aisles and aisles of stuff there is to buy there. What an amazing store.
On top of their very own parking garage, wider aisles, and fewer lines, the soy ginger trail mix is just as good as ever!
The BEST!
Berkeley Bowl saves me multiple trips to ethnic food stores, natural food stores, farmers market, and grocery stores. You can get it all here.
I could probably hit up all those aforementioned places in half the time it takes me to wield my cart through the precarious, unpredictable storm of hippies, children, carts, and the person who randomly stops in the middle of all the craziness for no apparent reason.
As much as I love all the products, I don't know if it's worth shopping here. It's so damn stressful, not just because of the crowd, but also the people who are constantly all up in your business. Today, I was merely trying to leave the organic food area, and I was accused of trying to cut in line.
I think Berkeley Bowl should start a VIP shopper's club where you pay like $20 a month to come shop before or after hours. They shouldn't let more than like 30 people in the store at a time.
Can you tell I'm stressed and irrational right now?
Okay, time to unwind, sip some wine, and cook some of that food I bought.
Don't get me wrong.. I love this place.. The fruit selection is out of control and BBW itself is beautiful..
For me.. It comes down to price.. I can find dozens of items at Trader Joe's for almost half off..
Sure, if ur a baller and can afford a markup in this economy.. More power to you..
After our lunch at Picante, I convinced husband to to check out BBW by telling him he wouldn't have to endure Ikea if he agreed. This was not a tough sell.
I must say that I feel kinda bad for rating this place only 3 stars but I will go through the reasons why in a bit. This one is much cleaner, nicer, and organized better than BBE and I didn't feel like I was going to be attacked by anyone wearing patchouli here, so that was a plus. We spent well over an hour going up and down the aisles which was fun, but the shopping experience here is still intense and not something I would choose to do on a regular basis.
Here are the things I observed which leads to my 3 star rating:
Produce:
Pretty colored produce-all shapes sizes and varieties. There were things I had never seen before like Buddah's Hand (some sort of citrus like mammoth thing worthy of Halloween). What would have made some of this better would be a description of what the more obscure items are or could be used for.
There was some produce that was very wilty and almost rotten. The cantaloupes were mushy on one side, the cilantro (in fact all the herbs) had been way over watered and super wilty and the scallions were oldish looking.
Butcher:
Not a single employee seemed happy to be there. In fact they guy that helped me I think I knew from his former position at a bakery somewhere in Berkeley. I have a feeling there are only a couple of actual butchers that work there and a lot of people who can weigh/measure but are not allowed to cut or trim. Some of the meat looked tired and sad, some looked great. They had both domestic(which I prefer) and Australian/New Zealand lamb and they had a bunch of buffalo offerings which was neat to see. We picked up a bit of slab bacon after seeing Alton Brown talk about its superiority to cured bacon.
Deli:
Odd service that took FOREVER. I wanted to get some lunch meat sliced-3 kinds, turkey, roast beef and kosher salami. Aside from the wait time to get served it took the guy 20 minutes to slice up a quarter pound of each. The roast beef was really fatty and looked overdone so when I asked if that was all they had, he sighed and said he guessed he could get me some more rare meat. I said thanks and hopefully daughter likes it on her sandwich today.
Cheese:
The cheese section is much smaller than I expected without anything special going on or any particular cheese-monger offering up assistance. I will stick with TJ's, Draeger's or even schlep out to Alameda for cheese.
Bread:
Nice selection of Artisan bread. Husband chose some rolls and a loaf for dinners this week.
Regular Grocery Items:
Way pricey-I compare these with the prices at Lundardi's out here in Danville with the organic milk and OJ among other items. I would steer away from here and hit up the smaller natural grocers for organic milk and regular grocery stores/Target for OJ.
Bulk Foods:
This alone would get a 5 star rating from me-especially the spices. I wish more stores would offer spices in bulk so when a recipe calls for a bit of this and a pinch of that you are not obligated to buy a whole jar of spices. Husband loved all of the baking supplies available and for this section alone he would come back.
There were some very fun items here-like a great deli mustard and big kosher pickles that I love.
All in all, this store was an adventure that we were glad to undertake. We had an easy time parking with the parking fairy working on our side and maybe someday, we will come back but for now, if I need anything, I will ask Toni to get it for me!
I was really pleased about a new grocery store shopping option near my home when these guys opened the new location. I was skeptical, because my experience of the former location was not favorable and despite wanting to support a local market, I stopped going after having several bad experiences with fellow customers running me over in the aisles. I have been going to the new location, however, and have found that the experience is pleasant as there is adequate space and folks seem to be more relaxed - it seems that Berkeley Bowl figured out how to accommodate their clientele - the lines are usually shortish when I go too. The stock items meet my needs - lots of raw and gluten-free selections, not to mention the fantastic organics selection.
There is always a great amount of organic and sustainable meat here as well, which is another huge plus.
I swear, I felt birkenstocks materialize on my feet and an overblown sense of entitlement swell inside me when I walked in the door.
Otherwise, though... ditto Hy C. Berkeley Bowl West is indeed the happiest place on earth... especially the olive bar and the meat section.
Eel river grass fed free range beef RULES.
I've been shopping at the Bowl since the early '90s, and actually started out at the first Bowl, which really was in a former bowling alley. If you think any of the existing stores are a cluster fuck, you haven't seen anything. All the produce was displayed in cardboard boxes, aisles so small you could only use a hand basket, gnarled up old ladies eating out of the bulk bins, dirty hands and feet on the checkers...the whole Berkeley experience under one leaky roof. The parking lot had about 25 spaces, so you parked blocks away and toted your tofu, seitan, bulk brown rice, mung bean sprouts and rose hip tea through the neighborhood. And I think there were a total of five check stands.
Fast forward to the gleaming, fabulous BBW. What an operation - kudos to the owners and workers for making it a great shopping experience. The store is very thoughtfully laid out. I love how the organic produce section is completely separate from the regular produce - just makes it much simpler. Three checkers for the bulk section, AND a guy wandering in the bulk area to see if you need help? Holy shit. The meat/seafood section was it's usual madness, but take a number, wait yer turn and you'll be taken care of quickly. Cheese for days, huge deli/chinese food/mexican food section - everything you could want/need.
We had a super fast checkout experience, which only made the experience sweeter.
Thanks BBW.
love, hoh
It's even better than the original Berkeley Bowl and my vote for best grocery store in the Bay Area. Berkeley Bowl West has all that Whole Foods carries (flowers, meat, bath & body items) and more (e.g., more Asian items) - at reasonable prices. Once you get past the shock of actually finding parking (they have their own parking garage), and wander upstairs from the garage, you'll notice the gorgeous, modern, sleek building with its wooden facade.
There's a separate Cafe area with a Peet's kiosk, sandwiches, bento boxes, pastries, gelato and more (it was about to close - there wasn't much left). The bakery is by the entrance and it serves Uncommon Grounds coffee along with assorted pastries (cakes, cookies, cupcakes, cream puffs, scones).
Some of what I spotted:
* Crave gluten free cupcakes
* Giant cupcakes from their house bakery
* King Pin donuts (!)
* Macarons
Then there's a taqueria corner (traditional burritos are just $4.95 and come with a choice of 6 different tortilla flavors, 3 types of rice, 3 kinds of beans, meat), Asian kiosk, deli with sandwiches, sushi, hot soups, olive bar and olive bar. The bakery section has baked goods from all over the Bay Area, including some items I haven't seen elsewhere like fresh soan papdi that melts in your mouth (yum). The mini chocolate chip brioche were adorable.
The aisles are wide and spacious. The selection of everything is really rather awe-inspiring. I saw yogurt there that I haven't seen elsewhere and in the freezer section, KICKS ice cream sandwiches. Organic produce gets its own section. If you can't find the produce you want at BBowl, it probably can't be found elsewhere. They have Mexican guava, durian, gobo root, champagne grapes, and things I wouldn't know what to do with.
Very clean and organized. Love the hippie ambiance! There's always cheese samples, YUM! Their selection of artisan bread is quite impressive!
I only get Fruit here because it's cheap. Everything else is comparable to Andronico Expensive, so I don't even bother to look at anything else aside from fruit.
If you could orgasm by shopping, BB West is where it would happen.
As soon a I drove towards the building, my heart started racing. The building is as beautiful on the outside as the inside. Simple metal with wood and glass, play beautifully off each other.
Ample well organized parking. I was skipping to the cafe and couldn't WAIT to see what they had. I hate grocery shopping when hungry, so this cafe was perfect. They serve Peets Coffee, sandwiches, hot and cold food. The cafe also sells beer & wine. I had my favorite lunch dish: veges wrapped in rice paper. If someone made me fresh veges like that daily, I could easily be a vegetarian again.
I was soooo excited to enter the new BB West, that I practically inhaled my vege wraps. When I walked in, I realized this was THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH... screw Disneyland.
I mean i thought i loved the original BB, but that was just puppy love. This new BB West is the real deal... sign sealed delivered.
I am sooooo visiting at least once a week. Nothing is going to keep me from my BB West, not a stupid bridge, toll, traffic or anything!!!
Everything is soooo well organized and they have everything, and like five varieties of everything! I'm talking EVERYTHiiiiiiiNG!!! Choices choices choices. I am giving up all my Asian grocery stores for this one. They had everything I needed and more. Ok, maybe the Korean grocery store has five varieties of kim chee, and all the ban-chan, but now I can make my own...theoretically...right? Plus BB West had the right short ribs to make Kal-Bi Jhim. I seriously did get my Asian fix here (rice paper wraps, sriracha, tofu, natto, mountain yams), and still bought beautiful Italian wine, Swiss Cheese from Switzerland, and an organic pineapple from Hawaii.
And the thing I love the most, is that although the quality of the shopping experience has gone up, the prices have NOT. Only a really hot place like BB West can get this much yelp reviewing excitement out of me.
Every time I leave BBW and peak into my grocery bags full of beautiful, colorful, delicious loot: I fall madly in love with it all over again. sigh.
I go mainly for produce, bulk foods and cheeses.
I prefer it to the original one downtown because parking is easier, it feels less crowded, and the aisles are slightly larger. I hear the trade-off is that prices are slightly higher, but I can't confirm that. Either way, produce is still cheaper than Safeway and other American grocery chains like Andronico's and Lucky's and probably better.
Avoid going weekends past 2 p.m. when there are so many people that it's probably a fire hazard.
actually 4.5------ close to perfection.
what a blessing to have such food choices available at every price point. if you have a tight budget you can eat very well here. if you have a bit more $ to spend you can eat like royalty.
the customer service is uneven among the associates. . .can be gracious and kind, or disinterested bordering on rude.
prepared food items can be inconsistent in quality and/or presentation
Berkeley Bowl is the greatest for the produces, the meat and the fish.
The made to order sandwiches are awful, bread (dutch crush) is from the day before, they don't follow what is written on your order !
The Chinese food is without taste, rice was over cooked !
For my 300th review, I had to reserve the slot for the wonderful new Berkeley Bowl West. It is the place that the original location only dreams that it could be. Ample parking, very clean and bright, very little attitude from other customers, and no waiting at the checkstands. There are so many foodie-heaven-worthy appointments to this great establishment, it's difficult to know where to begin. Price, quality and availability of items in the market are superior, while the food concessions are a bit spotty here and there.
The grocery store:
BBW did it right to not give their inventory the Andronico's/Whole Foods treatment of ridiculous overpricing. From organic produce to bulk foods, from meats and seafoods to canned and bottled goods, it's very affordable, and of above-average quality. There's no skimping on variety, either. Cashiers are friendly and helpful, and there's barely a wait at all. Lots of clearance was built into the store from the front end of the aisles to the cash registers, just in case.
As I go up and down the aisles, I see employees with clipboards running around, checking for quality and inventory, looking to constantly improve the experience. This is something I've never seen anywhere else, and it is a testament to the owners' great desire to make his business successful by seeing things from his customers' perspective.
Concessions:
Cafe:
Pricing for food and drink is a little on the high side here. There is food made to order, often times including barbecued meats and various sandwiches. The frites in a cone are a great find, and the gelato is mouth-watering. Peet's coffee is also served. There's always a dense crowd for the weekday lunch hour.
Aurora Sushi : In my book, better than Musashi and much better than Suruki for the fish-and-rice-in-a-box experience. Pricing is reasonable. My faves are the spicy tuna roll, and the tuna lover special. Unagi is even better than most- it's not too chewy when it's cold.
Deli : Pretty good deli with a good range of meats and side pastas, etc. One thing that put me off, though, was the guy that made my sandwich scratching the back of his ear with his gloves on, then proceeding to make my sandwich with the same gloves! Yecch!
Chinese : Very hit and miss. Potstickers, good. Honey walnut shrimp, bad. Chow mein, below average. Kung pao chicken, bland. Egg rolls, no meat. I didn't finish what I got.
Burrito bar : Make your own burritos. Haven't yet tried it.
Bakery : The offerings from Kingpin Donuts and Artisan Foods of Berkeley are unmatched. Really, try not to walk by this section without getting something like a vanilla eclair, buttermilk donut, sugar brioche, almond croissant, or any handful of cookies!
All in all, BBW is more of a destination for me than a plain ol' place to get groceries. It has worked itself into my weekly lunch and grocery schedule. Keep up the good work! And lay down the bad wok!
You know those architectural renderings of planned buildings, where everything looks idyllic and polished--with ant-like pedestrians walking to and fro through their softly-lit urban paradise? And you know how those buildings never quite live up to their architects' imaginations (boy do those architects have fine imaginations...). Well, though I can't say I've seen the plans for Berkeley Bowl West, I can pretty confidently say that the real thing has either met or exceeded expectations.
At the entrance, the structure rises up in a colossal show of glass and corrugated metal. It has the open, airy feel of an modern (european) train station.
The wood themes inside give the store an earthy feel -- not necessarily a new idea, but well executed.
The burritos are similarly executed -- fresh and bursting at the seams, with lots of tortilla choices (including spinach). You could go to the cafe next door for your salad, although I prefer to make my own at the salad bar where I can achieve a higher (non-lettuce) veggie density. However, although the salad bar has some nice exotic choices (sun-dried tomatoes), I would like to see a larger selection.
The rest of the groceries conform to the standard Berkeley Bowl experience---cheap & fresh produce, balanced by marked-up packaged/organic fare.
There's no going back. You've changed things...forever. YOU COMPLETE ME.
Adrian W. is always kind and generous to offer me a ride whenever he's making a grocery run so I got to check out the new Berkeley Bowl West. SO EXCITED.
I dig the new layout. Reminds me of Toys R Us in food form. The weight counter is now used for the organic produce as well in addition to all the dried goods. I love gettttting spices here as usual. Got a fat stack of turmeric and paprika for below $1 each and a big pile of organic roma tomatoes for $2. TOOGOOD2BETRUE.
Lots more elbow room and no dodging in and out of lanes inside or out; that dedicate parking garage is a blessing. I concur with Ada T. here that I'll rarely need to go back to Ranch 99 again. They had Chinese eggplants here for 99 cents a pound - A STEAL. They were also really great in quality and not bruised up like the ones at 99 Ranch. I promptly took about 1/4 of what was lying there mmmhm.
This place is better than the original. The location is more convenient for people who don't live in Berkeley near the college or NE Oakland.
The building is far more spacious than the original. All of the things you loved about the original are here. Fresh fruits and veggies of every kind. Bulk foods, a great butchery (if you eat that).
My wife won't go to the original because it was too crowded, it felt like a zoo. This one I can get her to go to, which is big for me. Plus this one has better parking and bus accessibility.
Berkeley Bowl West is everything fabulous about the original Berkeley Bowl and none of the crap. The store is absolutely enormous, with wide aisles and plenty of products. Even after a couple months of opening (or has it only been a month), store traffic seems fairly low, but perhaps it only seems that way because the store is so large. Either way, I'm not complaining.
Berkeley Bowl West has nearly been able to eliminate my need to visit Ranch 99 (all the way in Richmond) by offering my favorite Chinese veggies, as well as a great Asian food aisle. This not the token Asian food aisle of Safeway that has a couple overpriced bottles of hoisin sauce and ramen; Berkeley Bowl West offers a good variety of noodles, sauces, tofu and even my beloved seaweed flavored potato chips. In addition, they have lots of other assorted international food, including a good British section with Kinder bueno bars and McVities hobnobs (too bad the latter is $5).
No need to wax poetic about the cheap and plentiful produce, but rest assured that it's here too.
This new Berkeley Bowl location is thoroughly impressive! Upon walking in the sleek building, I could hear chorus line singing hymnals, it's grocery heaven.
The rows of produce and other sections are extremely organized. The store is clean and modern. Perhaps it's also due to the fact I came on a weekday afternoon that it feels extra special and not chaotic like the other location.
I was browsing the tomatoes (again!) and ended up talking to a lady who commented on my perfume, we talked for 20 minutes and she told me the loveliest story of a French girl falling in love with a Californian guy, all while picking produce next to each other.
Berkeley Bowl not only stocked up my fridge with fresh, organic produce, but more importantly, rebuilt my faith in finding true love and romance. :)
Just wanted to make an update about my complaint of the lack of Asian grocery items. Either someone heard my Yelp request and added a whole isle of Asian Food, ooooooor unfortunately the more likely of the two, I missed the isle completely. Hopefully I am not crazy. But it is there now. whoops. Sorry BBW (and i am not talking about the women... haha)
After reviewing both Berkeley Bowl, and Berkeley Bowl West, I am definitely a bigger fan of the West… Read more »
So thrilled to have a 'Bowl' in W Berkeley!
Same great produce, same great quick ready made meal options, and best of all PARKING. The detached cafe has some yummish looking options and the over all feel of the place is bright and welcoming. The go to place for fantastic produce selection at reasonable prices and hard to find elsewhere ingredients.
Yipppeeeee!!!
Much better than the original location. There's more space, more parking and an additional free underground parking garage. The variety here is great! There are items that you can find here but that are very hard to find at other grocery stores.
For common items that you can get at Safeway, I would recommend just buying it there since you would pay more for the same thing at Berkeley Bowl.
-1 star: flies in the morning bun bins and moldy produce.
The best food market in the Bay Area!
Huge organics section, all kinds of ethnic foods, great beer/wine selection and most anything gourmet you've ever needed in the main store; fresh sushi and other tasties in the restaurant next door. An entire parking lot beneath the store would be awesome if the ground-level lot weren't so commodious to begin with.
If you want to have some fun, go up the stairs near the restaurant and check out the public meeting room. This space can be yours if you're nice to Glen and Dianne (Yasuda, the owners).
The original lost all attraction with the opening of West...A+++
I went shopping there after work the other day. I got amazing salmon for $11.99/lb. I. am. so. happy.
BTW, they do this thing now where you go to an area to get your produce weighed and labeled/priced before you go to the front where they ring you up. I've only seen this in Argentina (and I thought it was the best idea ever) and I'm SUPER DUPER EXCITED THAT BERKELEY BOWL WEST DOES THIS!!!!!!!! It makes me feel cool and special for some reason.
Oh god, they have big bundles of long messy chives. I can't find that ANYWHERE. I'm so excited to go back; finally, I can make chive dumplings!!! The mountains of vegetables and fruit is just so pretty. And the cheese counter. It makes me want to cry just passing by. I've missed Berkeley Bowl's cheese counter so much since I've moved.
Just had to update my review to say that I've bought food in the market now and I just love it. (Obviously. I wasn't expecting anything less.) Prices aren't necessarily cheap, but you can definitely find fresher and/or somewhat less pricey items than in grocery stores in SF.
I Heart Berkeley Bowl West.
Note: I am biased. I Heart Berkeley Bowl, the original.
I went inside the actual supermarket today to…
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For all those who've written off Berkeley Bowl as a hippie grocery full of mumbling, bumbling spaced-out folks beelining for the sprouted tofu and bulk, time to reconsider! Don't get me wrong, the shining cornucopia of produce and rows of bins blazing "organic" will certainly cause giddiness for the gastronomically conscious, but this location's got mad style, and is frankly too immaculate for any proper hippies I know.
I'll spare reiterating all the other reviews about how incredible the selection is, how mesmerizing the broad aisles are, how efficient the registers are.
Tidbits of note:
- they have the same annoying bulk weight station so people don't munch away their dollars, but here there's no line, even at "prime clusterfuck time" to quote Reina G.
- the boys here are damn cute. Hollaaaa to the pair of adorable cheesemongers and customer service dude. And they're sweet, so I'll excuse sending me to the wrong aisle twice. Remind me to stop shopping in my workout clothes!
- the lighting is harsh. Less during the day saves energy and eyes.
- nice selection for bath and body, home and vitamins. It'd be great to have more bulk of these.
My griping is futile! They've near reached perfection. Goodbye, BB Original. I shall never set foot in your doors again.
I converted over to organic ingredients recently. BBW is the best source of organic produce.
Country/state of origin is well documented, unlike the Asian grocery stores I used to go to.
I found fresh sardines for $2/lb at the fish counter. The black cod, Loch Duart salmon, sushi-grade ahi and hamachi are delicious and fresh. Once in a while, I pickup a frozen slice of Chilean Sea Bass. Prices are fairly competitive with other quality sources.
Underground parking is plentiful, with wide stalls. It is a short walk from your car to the elevator that opens up in the store.
You'll find nearly everything in food here. I make the trek to BBW once a week. All of the organics last that long in the fridge!
Having young children in my life, I am very familiar with expressions of pure happiness and joy, like the time my daughter lost her first tooth or every time my son gets something related to his favorite super hero or every christmas morning. For most of us, that kind of innocent, wide-eyed, pure state of euphoria somehow does not last beyond our childhood years.
The first time I walked through the BBW store, I felt that joy. I was six again and I had just walked through the biggest candy and toy store imaginable! My eyes widened, my jaws dropped and I let out a loud squeal followed by a series of giggles. Literally. I think I had to consciously refrain from skipping. When I finally came back to reality and wiped off my drool, I looked around and giggled again as I realized that I was not alone in my euphoria. There were lots of other silly ass grown people acting like fools in there.
I LOVE this place. Hands down, I will not go to the original Bowl again. This place is classy. Love the fact that the organic produce it in it's own section. Like it's sister store, still wonderful selections of produce. Love the bulk area. The butcher area is fantastic. What else can I say about this wonderful Berkeley Bowl...OH the best part - THERE IS PARKING!!!!!! There is room to navigate and then some!
Class act - thank you Berkeley Bowl - THANK YOU.
My only wish is this one doesn't get overcrowded - don't think this is possible, as the other serves many students from campus as well as the many EBAY residents.
Also, wonderful cashiers came over from the other store. Just lovely, they even remembered us! According to my teenager, they stock some mighty cute helpers too, she just loves going grocery shopping with me. :)
Pretty much my favorite supermarket on the planet. Everything (and more) that is great about the original Berkeley Bowl, and none of the annoyances. The only negative thought, let alone comment, I can express about this market is that they seem to keep it unusually cold, presumably to keep all the produce fresh for longer. Great selection of all sorts of yummy things at reasonable prices.
If you are looking for a grocery type item-from a frozen Swanson's Chickent Pot PIe ($1.19) to fresh Fiddlehead Ferns to Coca Cola of any flavor in any type of vessel to galangal, they've got it here.
The prices are quite good. Actually there were a couple of things I was looking for that they didn't have, so I should take some of that back. They don't have mini sliced bread the kind you buy for parties to make little teensy open faced sandwiches on. No biggie, only Sonoma Market carries 9 varieties of these silly breads. One other thing I couldn't find was ground Mexican oregano.
Also they carry, but did not have on the shelves, several sizes of Pyrex containers. I asked customer service if they were out of them completely or they might have some that just hadn't hit the floor yet, and was told to come back tomorrow because they only stock the shelves at night. But the customer service person actually couldn't tell if they had any anywhere, so I could have made a fruitless trip back the following day. So, kind of a weird suggestion.
And, what about some signage indicating how you might access this underground parking? Maybe that is on the to do list. In the meantime, the whole parking scene is messed up.....as mums pointed out, they have plenty of experience with screwed up parking:-(
Even tho it's a bit of a meglo-mart, and I wouldn't say it's worth a regular detour, there can't be another place like BBW in the world, so you should go once.
Yeahhhh.
New Berkeley Bowl that has a modern fresh look.
Same Old Berkeley miltant freaks. Love it!!!!!!
This place is more like a congestion easer than a new store. Both places are great now because you can breathe and find parking. Hard to tell which one is better. Love You Berkeley Bowl. I want to get married there because to me it is a food cathedral.
It has taken several days before I could write this review.
First I had to wipe the tears away. The tears of nostalgia for the old
Berkeley Bowl.
You had to get up early Saturday AM, your only shopping day (if you had a job) to wait in a crowd (we didn't line up of course) to get into the first Berkeley Bowl while you still had energy for the most chaotic
market experience ever.
You knew, though, that when you were through, when the battle was won, you had the best of the ethnic, fresh, unwrapped experience of the week.
The second Berkeley Bowl was roomier, better organized, but still funky. ( does one still use that word?)
The NEW BB????
Like the Giant of fairy tales and Animated films, soft at heart, but too big , and too scary to cuddle up with. At first, and perhaps never.
The fennel I bought? Very little fennel taste at all.
The bins? Short me had to enlist the help of a tall person to get access to some of the (to me) sky-high containers.
The frozen waffles ( don't tell anyone I buy those) ?
Vegan, OK, but do they have to taste like the cardboard they came in?
Check out? Fast!!!
Service desk? Not multi lingual. i.e. Person did not speak any of my many languages.
Monterey Market I love you still.
I like this place but I wavered on giving it 3 or 4 stars. There are some definite pluses but also some negatives as well. I came here with my wife after a recommendation. A friend had just purchased a bunch of great quality uni and sashimi here for dinner and told us to check it out sometime. We made it in last Saturday afternoon. The overall drive is very quick from our place but parking was a little tricky. Luckily, the customer turnover is constant so we only waited 5 minutes for a space.
Upon entering BBW, it's easy to be overwhelmed by the size and the cleanliness. We stumbled our way through the milk and dairy aisle first where the prices appeared to be reasonable. Next, we headed to the meat section. This is where you simply can't beat either costco or an asian market. The meat quality was probably good but the prices were double that of an asian market. I trust asian markets more because they have a high turnover of their meats. The fish section was pretty good and all of their fish is guaranteed sushi grade.
Where BBW earns majors points is the incredible produce section. They had more kinds of peaches and necatarines than I ever knew. The fruit quality is very high, but they also mark up a little bit as well. It's still worth it though to know that your fruit isn't bruised and beaten up.
Overall, the prices are good and the selection is good. I would not recommend buying beef, pork, or chicken here. Produce appears to be the way to go if you come here. Also, try the soy chai latte at the cafe inside the actual grocery store. It's really good.
Best grocery store in the East Bay. Can't beat the produce, prices are reasonable, and the beer selection is a great added bonus. I recommend making your first trip be when you have some extra time on your hands to take it all in.
You know you are walking in to a pretty amazing grocery store when the shelf space for just eggs alone is bigger than the size of my entire living room!
This Berkeley Bowl is a welcome addition to an area of town that needed a major improvement such as this. And unlike the original Berkeley Bowl, there is a LOT more space for parking and everything else! The prices on everything are pretty fair...and actually kick the pants off of stores like Safeway! $1.39 for a carton of blueberries from Oregon? Are you kidding me? That same carton would easily be 4 bucks and lower quality at competing stores. A bottle of Moylander Double IPA, underpriced at $3.95, was sold out!
There's also a burrito bar and hot, fresh Chinese food ready to be served at reasonable prices as well. Oddly, the only thing missing was a salad bar...but maybe stores are finding those to be more wasteful than worthy?
I will be back for sure! There is even a separate cafe across from the store front that has even more choices for eating, and a large, casual dining room to relax and hang out at. Eat your heart out, Whole Foods Berkeley! I think this place is going to kick your butt!!
The following is a list of RUMORS I was considering starting for the selfish purpose of keeping the AWESOME NEW BERKELEY BOWL all to myself:
--the new facility was built by third world children personally commissioned by Kathie Lee Gifford, and was constructed with the use of a new mortar known to react explosively upon contact with Birkenstocks and/or natural fiber clothing
--every time you buy their store brand organic olive oil, they send 5% of the proceeds to Halliburton
--the organic fruit bins are lined with the soft pelts of baby seals
--Bill O'Reilly REALLY likes the falafel from the cafe
--The Dalai Lama said it sucks and that if you shop there, so do you
--their eggs are neither organic nor free-range, and rather are laid by Ann Coulter herself in a small coop behind the parking garage at 9th and Heinz
--the owner's wife didn't breastfeed her children
I feel awful for even considering writing such things. It was just that I was so worried that once word got out about how AWESOME the new Bowl is soon it, too, would be infested with giant swarms of hungry/angry/dirty hippies, making traffic, parking, and shopping the same unmitigated nightmares that have plagued the other current and past locations.
No such bad luck.
Sure, the crowds are there, but so are ample space, parking, and cashiers to the rescue.
It's my supermarket superhero.
This location is obviously not as good as the original B Bowl;
-more like a Whole Foods, devoid of character. The design is more Ikea, not really quality design per se...
-It seems like all the best employees stayed at the old shop??? the aisles are also less organized here.
-The neighborhood / clientele is a bit more ghetto than the other.
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