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The Cookbook Store
Rating Details »
Category: Bookstores [Edit]
Neighborhood: Kensington4108 Adams Ave
(between Kensington Dr & Marlborough Dr)
San Diego, CA 92116
(619) 284-8224
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Private Lot
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- No
6 reviews for The Cookbook Store
I love this little store! I happened passed it by accident and now I enjoy returning just to browse through the clustered towers of cookbooks.
As all the other reviewers have pointed out, the store is a bit cluttered but I find it quaint and inviting, however I can see how some folks might get turned off from it. Some books have made their way to the categorized shelves but other are simply stacked in their appropriate vicinity...i.e. vegetarian cuisine, international cuisine, notable chefs, etc...
I've had a few conversations with the owner...I didn't find her distant or rude like a few of the other reviewers. She even offered to call me if she received a specific cookbook I was looking for...still no call but it's the thought that counts, I suppose.
So the gist...great little store if you're into collecting cookbooks but claustrophobics beware!
The other reviewers described this place well. But I'll give my 2 cents.
The disarray: this place is so disorderly it's overwhelming. I found myself organizing things just because it needs it so badly...and perhaps because I likely have a case of OCD.
Owner: I hoped for a quirky fun owner that loved her store but she was very aloof.
Buying books: I overheard her talking to someone on the phone about buying their books and it didn't seem like she was going to be buying them. She said things like: "bring them in a box and I'll come out to your car to look at them." and "I'm very particular." She didn't want the person bringing the books in the store (I assume because she usually doesn't take the majority of the ones people bring in)
But here's what it comes down to for me: cookbooks + bargain = irresistible. I love cookbooks and don't mind spending hours picking books up from random places and thumbing through them. It makes it like a treasure hunt! The owner isn't ideal but I prefer her over someone that harasses me to buy things. As for selling books, I don't plan on selling any of my cookbooks so I'm ambivalent to her buying practices.
I sold all 50 of my cookbooks here as I simply had no room to store them all anymore and since I am on a restricted diet anyways I saw no need in having them anymore, it was a sad day, but I guess not a big deal as I never used a single recipe as I cook by intuition anyways. I love to look at the pictures (books with bad pics or no pics are not worth having) as I get most of my ideas just by looking and reading the recipes. The only recipes I find necessary are baking recipes. Cooking with instructions is just not as fun.
This place has so many books you can't even walk around. I love cookbooks but it's hard to leaf through any when they are stacked to the brim. One of those places to go to if you are looking for something hard to find.
This store is great. You can find (almost) any cookbook you have ever wanted in here.
On a recent journey I picked up; Moosewood's Restaurant Cooks at Home, The Vegetarian Feast, an original copy of Beard on Bread, a Time-Life Indian cookbook from the early sixties (for .93) and my personal favorite, Getting It All Together- Down to Earth Cookbook from 1971.
It starts off, "You don't have to be young, long-haired, sandal-footed, or healthy, to dig the fresh flavor of down-to-earth, organic foods where grains are whole, fruit is for real, and vegetables are good enough to live on." RIGHT ON MAN! Is that Freedom Rock?
Anyway, I've seen great cookbooks in this place. Sure it's a congested, cluttered, fire-trap and the woman who runs it absolutely owns cats...many of them...and they smell...but I digress, I just wish I had enough money to buy all of the great books I have seen here...SOMEDAY.
She gives a discount to chefs and culinary students and will give you a good deal if you pay cash over using your credit card. Go check it out, just on kitsch-factor alone.
This is the Bookstore of ALL bookstores when looking for anything involving food, new or used.
Tucked into a shopping center on Adams (behind the out-of-business JUST FAB and a liquor store that has a decent deli & sandwiches) sits a cute, cluttered bookstore run by a very quiet and helpful woman. She won't give me her secret on how she determines prices or where she gets her books from but she does give you a 20% discount if you are in the industry or a teacher. And when I say "industry" it can really stretch the definition and she's cool with it. Chef, owner, vendor, food-writer. YAYYYY!!!!
Lots of old collectibles.
Lots of out of print.
Lots of new books people just turned over.
You can ask this old woman (that I think lives w/a lot of cats) if you are searching for a particular book. She will take your information and follow up with you.
I LOVE THIS STORE.
My garage is lined w/bookshelves and books - yeah, I'm a nerd like that.
Remember, why pay full price. Check this place out.
(umm- I am almost regretting giving you my secret place ;)
Hours M-F 11a-5p
I wish I could give less then 1 star to this horrible business. Barbara the owner is ruder then hell and doesn't know anything about customer service and how to treat a human being with a little passion. Buyer Beware!