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Categories: Health Markets, Grocery
Neighborhood: Lower Hills
Mon-Fri. 8:30 a.m. - 8:30 p.m.
Sat-Sun. 8:30 a.m. - 7:30 p.m.
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I was very excited to go here, as my great grandmother frequented the Food Mill a majority of her life and I had heard family rumors of their baked goods, specifically cookie bars. My sharp Gran couldn't have been more right- this place is a delight!
Exceptional selection for: teas, natural nutritional supplements, spices, herbs, granolas and natural ingredient health care products.
The cookie bars are splendid and addicting. Luckily if for some reason you can not make it to the Food Mill, the cookies can be bought online or local store like the 24-7 Longs on Pleasant Valley Road near CCAC.
Lastly, for the final 5th star, the staff is warm, personable and makes you feel right at home. Plus others in the store that were regulars and newbies alike could not help but gush over their love of this place. A true mark of goodness. I will definitely be back!
Food Mill is where I must go to get my variety of flours for bread baking. Whether I want wheat flour, organic bread flour, unbleached bread flour, or just some gluten flour, there are no other options for me than this little shop tucked away in the MacArthur Oakland area. Overall, a lot of their food is quite unique and you'll be paying a little premium for these organic or specialty foods but it's really worth taking a look to see what tickles your fancy.
I've also had some of their honey, cookies, and poultry seasoning (it's called "spike" seasoning and it's HIGHLY recommended) and they've all been pretty good winners. The owner of Food Mill was around when I was doing my flour shopping about a month ago and he was very engaging...telling stories of the 70s and all the hippies that used to come here to buy their spices and bulk items & also of his personnel recommendations of what we were looking for. Quite a pleasant experience. Their meat selections are pretty limited so don't expect coming to Food Mill for those kind of items.
p.p.s. They let my wife return a bag of bulk tea (opened!) because she didn't really like the taste. Who does that? They also gave my sensitive-conscience sister a refund on some chocolate bars that weren't fair trade.
That, my yelping friends, is the kind of service that earns you a customer for life!
Have you ever ground your own peanut butter? If not, then you have no idea how good this typical… Read more »
This foodmill is the best! I have been going here a lot lately. I usually get some $1 produce bags, Vegan* beef TVP, Barbara's jalepeno cheese puffs, a soda or water, some yeast free wheat free breads and maybe some chocolate and milk, oooh and those vitamin c chew tabs. I love this place. Their bulk bins are awesome! Most have ingredient labels and you can ask for a list if they don't. The staff are really nice and cool. They will make an order for an item if they don't have it and help you with any questions you might have.
This place is right off of the freeway so if you are near 580 it's easy to get to and go back home. It's a great specialty store. Some items are obviously $1-2 more than they would be at other places, but I wouldn't advise coming here for everything, just a few odds and ends that you may not get as easily elsewhere. I can not think of any other store in this area that compares to this store, (not Farmer Joe's or anyone else for that matter). It's a cool store that's way bigger than it looks and I love it.
CHAD
My husband teaches 3rd grade. Locked in a room for 7 hours a day with 20 nosepickers with questionable hand washing skills, he is constantly bringing home hitchhikers of the bacterial-viral variety. Every time one of us feels a slight tickle in our throat, we mad-dash it to The Food Mill to stock up on body armor. The helpful staff has recommended remedies for everything from lung butter to insomnia, to PMS. Plus we can get delicious cookies along with our Rescue Remedy. Serious Saviors!
4 stars right away, because they have a great selection of budget *and* body-friendly dry goods (second only to Berkeley Bowl, in my estimation), sure they've all the usual adjectives in play (cage-free, omega-3, organic, all natural, etc, etc), but the 5th star is because they're so goddamn *nice* there!
Awesome selection of dry goods, especially herbs, spices, grains, nuts, etc. Seriously, they have everything, from ground mustard seed to organic quinoa to vegetarian beef broth to dried bing cherries. It is here, my friends.
Also an expansive range of vitamins and nutritional supplements, but I don't frequent that end of the store (being a heavy drinker, my aminos and electrolytes are always in abundance). Their produce and meats are limited, but should of the organic/grass-fed/free-range varieties.
It's like Berkeley Bowl writ small, without over-validated Subaru Outback moms in a manic phase as customers. Really, you gotta love this place.
Ok, I love this place. Again with these reviews, I would have given it 5 stars, but healthy stuff is expensive. Probably no fault of the Food Mill, but I have seen products they have online for a better price (of course then you'd have to pay for shipping.)
If you go there, and I highly recommend it if you're into being healthy, talk to Maria the nutritionist. I'm not sure if I agree with her on everything, but she is very friendly and cheerful, always smiling. She has good knowledge about a lot of things too, since she's been a nutritionist for a long time. I'm just not sure if I agree with her on everything. In the end you as an individual have to make a choice, of course.
Still waiting for my 5 star review, but the Food Mill comes pretty close. It puts the bombs on your moms.
I consider myself somewhat of a peanut butter connoisseur. The Food Mill peanut butter makes me tear up. Thank you Food Mill, for the best peanut butter a girl could ask for!
Update
I've taken a real shine to natural skin and hair care lately and The Mill has what I need to stand true to my commitment to taking better care of this mortal coil. Aubrey Organics is an outstanding line of hair care products for this curly head and they have the unrefined Shea butter and organic coconut oils that are de riguer for both skin and hair. Love this place. Extra points for friendly and knowledgeable staff. I have friends in the City who literally dropped jaw when I took them here as they were aghast at the excellent prices and superb quality. personally, I could care less if the place is a bit outdated, in fact I kinda find it soothing in it's constancy. I heart TFM.
Been here practically forever. I started going here in the early 90's. Knowledgeable, caring staff… Read more »
Where to begin?
Incredible selection of bulk items that rivals Berkeley Bowl and Whole Foods? Check.
Awesome vitamin and tea selection? Check.
Strong alternative meats options? Check.
Great Food Mill-brand products (including nut butters, which they're more than happy to make for you if it's not on the shelf)? Check.
Friendly, knowledgeable, and unpretentious staff? Check.
No wonder why this mom & pop store has been around since 1933.
I have always been a fan of the peanut butter slab cookies, that I would purchase at my local Long's drug store. I happened to be driving down macarthur and passed the actual Food Mill, which I didn't know existed! I stopped in and have been shopping there ever since for all my natural healthy items. Yes, it is more expensive but I have this thing about keeping local places in business, so I don't mind paying a little bit extra. I know that many people may not have this option, but I do and will continue to support local place as long as I can.
I came here in search of local honey and they have a huge variety of honey in neat little jars, albiet not all local...then I wandered to the back in the bulk section of the store and ta-dah, there were huge containers of bulk honey from the San Joaquin Valley.
I know this is a very specific review, but can anyone else tell me where they sell local honey in bulk??? I am all for supporting an Oakland institution.
I'm always amazed at how hospital cafeterias can have some of worst tasting food. Not only that, it's usually bad for you. Slowly the pendulum is starting to swing the other way. Way too slowly. Case in point: Kaiser Oakland. Check out the vending machines. They have a few healthy treats denoted by a tiny sign. The cafeteria still carries fried and fatty foods. I wouldn't complain as much if it tasted better, but it doesn't...
That's why most of my Oakland days I walk directly across the street to Food Mill to grab lunch and/or a snack. Organic, healthy, and tasty. All things considered, really not that expensive. Granted most of the store is devoted to supplements and "for the home products" but they have a sizable refrigerated section with ready for consumption foods.
The staff is always nice and friendly, which isn't always the case in hospital cafeterias. They even have a few tables set up if you want to eat in store. I guess the bottom line is that Kaiser could learn a lot from taking a peek out it's front window.
The Food Mill is the balls! It's what I remember health food stores being like before they became big corporate monstrosities like Whole Foods and Wild Oats. It even smells like a health food store should--ginseng, patchouli, and the oh-so heavenly yummy goodies baking in their on-site kitchen.
The people who work there are so nice and knowledgeable. And surprisingly, I've found their prices on many items to be much, much cheaper than larger stores.
Try the homemade cookies. Super Ginger and Honey Fruit Bars are soooo yummy with their coffee!
Great selection of natural/health food and related products -- the staff is wonderful, very helpful. They've helped me find everything from flax seed oil to herbal allergy meds to holistic stuff for my dog. A cool place with good people.
Very cool, random note: they make their own peanut butter on site and it is SO GOOD. I've eaten it out of the jar with a spoon! Mmmmm.
It's a nice store and the staff is quite friendly. I buy here selectively, as some items are significantly more expensive than Whole Foods. Others are a little more. Some are cheaper.
A powerhouse of a store considering the square footage is probably one-tenth of the size of the large corporate natural food stores. They even have a bulk food section and a to-go food section. I like the selection of teas and the selection of supplements. The staff seem friendly and helpful. I like the home-grownness of the store. It is like a Mom and Pop healthfood store from the 70s. My parents would have loved it too. Maybe they would have found some nice alternatives to Grape Nuts (which they served for breakfast EVERY morning).
Responsiveness to questions/needs: ***** (five stars)
Dairy-free selection: ***** (five stars)
Gluten-free selection: **** (four stars)
Vegetarian selection: ***** (five stars)
Vegan selection: **** (four stars)
I remember coming here as a kid! Passed by it the other day and promised I would to inside. It's a beautiful thing that we have this in our neighborhood!
I went to Food Mill recently with the beginnings of a baddass cold. You know, the kind that fills your nose and lungs full of slime. The lady at the checkstand recommended Larix(from the larch tree and more effective than echinacea) and a potion called Lung Elixir(you can only get this there). Within a couple days my nose cleared and the cold never grabbed hold of my lungs.
Friendly people and healthiness all around.
Yes, I'm glad they are there - healthy food in the neighborhood but please don't make me shop there without some mood elevators - oooh that place makes me depressed. Something so dingy and 70's about it - I can just smell vitamins when I walk in even if I can't.
I absolutely love the food mill. And this review goes out to their Food Farm'acy near Kaiser Oakland. Always a Hayward Kaiser girl (born and raised), I had to frequent Oakland once I moved to the other side of the East Bay. Since then, I've fallen in love with the Food Mill Food Farm'acy. They have an amazing health foods selection and prove to be a great spot for lunch. After i get poked and prodded, and injected with needles (yikes!!), this place always makes me feel good. I can get Honest Tea's First Nations tea and chow down with a yummy veggie burger or almond butter and strawberry preserve sandwich, all made in house! Their pre-boxed lunches are ready-to-rock and totally affordable.
Healthy popcorn, PMS tea, non-dairy ice cream and emergen-C ... it's all in the bag. And where else can you have a great conversation with a random person who also got a mean bruise at the blood lab? The seating is small, but gets the job done, and everyone is so welcoming. Definitely a spot to try before they close. :( they'll be closing the Oakland Kaiser location on August 1st! SAAAD!
I'm a big fan of the Food Mill! The food and variety are wonderful and so close to home. I also recently ran into a bind and needed to buy bulk candy bags for an event. Time was limited and when I went into the store and spoke with a manager, Michael, he was more than accommodating. I was thrilled and it yet reinforced how great they focus on customer service!!
Sorry Len, they have the best peanut butter ever. And cookies too... Yay!
Here's why I love the Food Mill...
I picked up some tabouleh and wakame, got some yummy TLC chewy bars, and picked up some airborne at the counter too!
A place where you can get healthy food and vitamins too!
Just a happy place to be!
Do your body some good!
This is me writing a review for peanut butter. That's right, peanut butter. Since November is "Peanut Butter Lover's Month" (you can't make this stuff up), I thought I'd put in a plug for what I consider to be the best peanut butter in the world, Food Mill Peanut Butter. Like Marina N, I've never been to the store, but I buy their peanut butter at Mollie Stones, and Piazza's all the time.
Right on the label it says, "Some say it's the best they've ever tasted, but we'll let you be the judge." Well I'm here to tell you, in my experience, it does not get any better than this in the world of peanut butter.
Typically, I'm not a crunchy peanut butter fan, but one day, Mollie Stones was out of smooth, so I got a jar of crunchy. I've never bought a jar of smooth again.
My favorite way to enjoy Food Mill Peanut Butter is either straight out of the jar, or to spread a thin coat on the bottom of a bowl and cover it with Breyers vanilla bean ice cream, getting a bit of peanut butter in every bite.
Love this place! Just discovered it, as I don't live in the neighborhood, but it's between Loka Yoga and my son's preschool, so I really just stopped there out of sheer hunger. I've been pleasantly surprised to find the friendliest staff, ever, which is so refreshing to someone accustomed to the blatant hostility of places lake Berkeley Bowl and the Rainbow Co-op in San Francisco. Everyone who works there seems happy and helpful, it doesn't matter that the store isn't terribly big.
I highly recommend the Flax Snax!
I love, I love, I LOVE this store! Especially the bulk section. Their bulk falafel mix is fantastic, and I get a kick out of the gigantic tanks of honey. Their powdered green food supplement is also rather amazing. The staff is really knowledgeable and helpful, as well. I think it's so neat to run into a health food store that's been open since 1931.
extreeeemly knowledgeable and helpful staff. Love the cookie bars. fav is the fruit nut bars. been coming here since the 70's. The dried fruit is so delicious and so many choices. love the dried mangoes and papayas hell, make your own trail mix uuh huh!!! get educated about natural foods, your body, mind and soul! good selection of books holla ,baby.
I haven't visited this place but I bought their peanut butter at Mollie Stone's in SF. It's outstanding.
This store makes me want to wear peasant skirts, Birkenstock sandals and slather on patchouli. I *did* grow up on Ashbury Street so it's inevitable that my inner hippie would manifest itself every time I come in here. This store smells like my 6th grade teacher, Mrs. Smith, who was a die hard hippie. . .she was the first woman I ever saw with armpit hair. . .so long that you could cornrow it!
Anyhoo, I digress. This store has potions, tinctures, salves, herbs, spices, vitamins, vegetarian and vegan food. Organic grains and no less than 15 kinds of granola! It has every herb, spice, herb & spice blend you can think of. They carry vanilla beans for $4.75 each - steep but way better quality than those dried out McCormick vanilla husks they sell at Safeway. They have organic bulk pastas, every kind of bean in the world, specialty flours, regular flours (all Guisto's which is da' best!), an amazing array of rices, carob candies (gack, but to each his own), and you can grind fresh peanut butter there as well. If you're a baker, this place is heaven for you - there is no form of flour, sugar, or dried fruit that they don't have. All these items are available in the bulk foods department. . make sure when you go in there that you don't act like a punk ass and forget to have your friendly bulk food person weigh and tag your bags. You will get the fish eye from the people behind the counter and they'll take the offending unstickered bag back to the bulk food section where the checker AND the bulk food person will exchange knowing looks and brand you an idiot.
They have loads of vegan and vegetarian food items and just opened a tiny bakery kiosk that sells vegetarian and vegan pastries. They used to have more of a selection of fresh produce but now that they are sandwiched between two Farmer Joe's markets, they offer very few pieces of produce.
If you have special needs pets like I do, their selection of vitamins and any and all forms of supplements are second to none.
Their prices are good - not as low as Rainbow Grocery but not anywhere near as high as Whole Paycheck.
Bottom line is even if you don't end up growing out your pit hair, for some reason, this place makes you want to treat your body better.
a friend recently bought food mill's peanut butter so when i was out and about yesterday, i finally stopped in here after passing this place hundreds of times on my way to farmer joe's.
i'm a sucker for whole foods- / health foods- type stores anyway, but i really liked this place. since it was a saturday, there were many friendly customers inside and the staff was quick to assist with checkout when more than one person was waiting.
huge selection of bulk food items. nicely selected bath & body products. good teas and supplements. i was a little disappointed by the small amount of produce, but i go to farmer joe's for that anyway, so no biggie.
all in all, a great, local place to visit for decent goods & prices.
My daughter came from Washington to get her fix of Sunflower Sesame Bars. This is where I learned what a cool, chewy thing gluten bread is. I've gone to this Food Mill since I went to Bret Harte across the way and it's always felt the same inside. Sure it's gotten bigger (YIPPEE!), but it still ~feels~ the same. An extra nifty store that has managed to maintain the original vision of providing pure, healthy ingredients, prepared foods, supplements, and the other necessities of life. Go here for whole-grain anything, fresh-pressed whatever, and to be treated like a customer should be.
The Food Mill is a one of the great things about living in the Laurel. They have an amazing selection of fake meat products, bulk foods, vitamins, organic juices, fresh ground peanut butter, etc. Their soft, sweet, and slightly chewy cookies make me salivate just thinking about them. The honey fruit and oatmeal raisin are my favorites. I only give Food Mill four stars because their produce section is only so so, and their prices are not always the best.
vitamins, concoctions, supplements, and any type of herb to cure or ease any type of ailment are available at the foodmill. Kind of reminds me of the mercado de las brujas in La Paz Bolivia. They also have some kind crunch organics and some great vegetarian sundries that make vegetarian and healthy eating much easier.
No one can compare to the Food Mill's bulk section. It's a good-sized room with aisles of bins, and someone will help you label every little last plastic bag you've filled. Ever buy nutritional yeast? They've got 5 kinds to choose from. If you buy a lot of spices, you'll definitely save money making a trip here to refill your jars. And you can choose between organic or conventional, depending on your preference.
They have one of the largest selections of nutritional supplements, too, and well-priced. Staff are knowledgeable, friendly and helpful.
The food Mill has an amazing bulk section and an entire wall of different kinds of tea. It's a lesbian version of heaven. The staff is great and knowledgeable. The only draw back is the almost complete lack of produce.
The Food Mill should be a historical landmark, it's been in the Dimond district since 1933, this year marks 75 years of carrying the best natural products, supplements & health foods on the market. I love the bulk food bins, talk about recycling, bring back your containers. I love the dried fruits, nuts, and I especially love the peanut butter & chocolate chip Food Mill cookies. I shop here for any homeopathic remedies I need, and if your not sure about anything, the staff is great, you can ask them anything, they're friendly and knowledgeable, and they give you they're undivided attention. If you've never been to the Food Mill, check it out, they are a Independently owned local business, so if you say your conscious about creating a sustainable community, shop local, buy local.
A natural food store that's been here since the early 1900's with a great selection of vitamins and natural household products as well. They also sell their own brand of cookies which are delicious. If you can't go to the original store on Mac (which is next door to Wing Wah), they've just opened a new store across the street from Kaiser hospital in MB Mall.
A great place to get your Healthy on. Lots of organic goodies, edible or otherwise. They have natural beauty products and lots of alternative medicines. The bulk food section is well stocked with lots of different dried snacks. If you have questions, you can bet your bottom dollar that they can answer it. A hidden gem that feeds customer's souls and stomachs.
this place gives me the creeps. With the exception of one person, a young african american guy with dreads, people who work there seem to be on some kind of cult controlled mind warp. yeah, they have an excellent bulk food section and a lot of organic stuff but it is often insect infested. That along with the unfriendly, cold looks on the employees faces keeps me from going in there with rare exceptions. Asking a question and getting a blank stare in return happened to me too many times here.
Neighborhood: Lake Merritt
Category: Grocery
Berkeley, CA
Category: Health Markets
Neighborhood: Lower Hills
Category: Grocery
Richmond, CA
Category: Health Markets
Neighborhood: Lower Hills
Category: Health Markets
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