Rainbow Grocery

Reviews 3

HO

Hopson Review

Where do we even begin? We could say Rainbow is sort of like the Costco or Smart & Final of health food stores – in that its massive, got those pared-down/lo-fi/industrial vibes, and offers the best prices in town on nearly everything they carry - but that wouldnt really do them justice. Rainbows so much more than that. For one, theyre a worker-owned cooperative, so everyone there not only gets a say in all decisions made, but perhaps as a result of, many of them care deeply about what theyre doing there. (The folks at the cheese counter stand out in particular.) Rainbow also makes a concerted effort to support the growth of new co-ops with their grant program. Almost every section of this store is amazing, but especial stand outs are cheese, produce, chocolate, kombucha, and weirdly enough, eggs. The bay area in general is pretty awesome for offering such an abundance of pastured eggs, but Rainbow takes the cake – offering the most variety at the best prices. Their cheese selection is out of this world, boasting one of the absolute strongest arrays of fermented milk weve seen, ranking right up there with the countrys best dedicated cheese shops. More raw milk soft cheeses (which are especially rare) than weve seen anywhere else, shocking diversity even within well-defined styles, and cheesemongers that really know their stuff. Produce is solidly seasonal, though not quite to the same degree as the nearby Bi-Rite(s). Mushrooms here though, as they should, change frequently and often include more obscure varieties like nameko and butter boletes. Their herbage is beautiful, representing not only every major Western culinary herb, but also fun varieties within families, plus other herbs popular in non-Western cuisines that are near impossible to find elsewhere – especially not organic! Fruit is less adventurous, but certainly provides more diversity than most comparable markets, with the occasional gem cropping up. Heirloom tomato season here stands out – they actually distinguish between varieties (e.g. green zebra, purple Cherokee, etc) and offer a good assortment. Their chocolate selection (like their cheese) takes up a ridiculous amount of space and boasts some of the best chocolates weve ever had (e.g. Marou and Amano) along with the now-standard health food store favourites (e.g. Alter Eco and TAZA). Kombucha variety surpasses Ashland, Oregons Shop n Kart who upon last inspection sported over twelve different producers – which at the time was the most wed seen at any one place. Rainbows got them beat out, with all the major brands present, but also smaller companies, like out-of-state (and currently out of commission – theyre suffering from the loss of their production facility to a fire) Magic Kombucha. Having such a raw milk heavy cheese selection, its no surprise that they also stock not just Claravale Farms and Organic Pastures, but also raw milk from smaller local producers (cow, as well as goat)! Raw butter, cream, kefir, theyve got it all. While we wont go into as much detail, we also have to give major credit to their well tended and unconventional bulk section (bulk umeboshi paste!?), surprisingly legit household goods aisle, and a body care collection that includes some of the best underrepresented brands on the market today. Essentially, Rainbow Grocery is a sort of paradise. While we personally wish that they carried meat (because that would then for us make it a one-stop shop), we can respect that theyre a vegetarian market. Whats cool is that as a co-op though, that could (but almost certainly wont) change at any time – they have the power to make that decision without a ton of bureaucratic bullshit.

A

A Private User

I had a pretty decent experience here. I came here on a hunt for above all things...molasses. I was at Trader Joes around the corner and to my surprise, they didnt have any?! I was going to make my special pancakes for my boyfriend and one of my homegirls. The guys at Traders suggested this place and wow, if you want to go somewhere that has that neighborhood feel, where the entire staff is friendly and willing to help and had every single option for every type of foodie lifestyle, this is the place to go. When we walked in, since I had never been there before, I asked the guy at the customer service desk where the molasses was, and he came from behind the desk, told a coworker of his to cover for him, and he showed me the aisle himself "to make sure [I] got there okay." After finding more than enough selections of molasses (they had about 5 different kinds), my boyfriend wanted to know if they had artichokes, so we wandered to the next aisle over and met a rather tall guy who wasnt sure where they were, but directed us to the produce person who then showed us the artichokes...wow. Service at its best. Seriously, thats never happened to me before. Upon looking at the price tag of the artichokes, I nearly swallowed my heart. $7.00/LB!?!?! WTF MATE. Uhh...okay, so maybe not the artichokes...what about some asparagus? OH GOD! $8.00/LB?! RUN! Then as I was trying to escape the overpriced produce section, I was overwhelmed by the smell of the organic beefsteak tomatoes...it was 3.00/lb and the one I picked up was about a pound...I dont know, I kinda felt guilty spending that much on a tomato, but it was one of those things that I really wanted in my omlette... We went up to the counter and bought the molasses and the tomato and my boyfriend found some Hibiscus juice for $2.00. The tomato was $1.50! Perhaps it was mislabeled? I didnt care Ill take it. This place was interesting, they have good prices on some items while their produce is out of control...and I would stay away from it. Youre better off going to a farmers market and getting a better bang for your buck. Their bakery is pretty great, they have vegan and gluten free recipes.

LU

Luke Boe

As I have always loved this store, I have come to realize that some of its CO OP employees are only concerned with the amount of money the business makes and as that is important so should be good customer service. I went there today with my mother and sister to go shop for mom since she isnt in the best health.we took mom today because its the date of my youngest brothers passing some years ago. My sister and I had mom pick out things that she wanted and my sister and I agreed to split up the tab between the 2 of us. Cashier 46 helped us and when mom pulled out her senior card to get a discount, the cashier rose her voice and said " you may not do that!" When asked "what?" she explained the discount was only for the individual buying the merchandise. I understood this and said fine. I told mom I would pay for the first one and she pay for the second one. My sister then said I will give you cash afterwards. Cashier 46 rang up my order, forgot to check the prices of some of my sale merchandise in the discount section and rang up the wrong amount. I did sign and pay for it but was looking at the receip whole she wrang up my mother. Oh Cashier 46 then tells my mom upfront that you are not getting the discount on any of these purchases. We let it go.... looking at each other in disbelief as how rude someone could be to a family trying to help mom out. Then the cashier 46 leaves. . Her shift was over and she was gone. I found the error as she walked away and said hey, this isnt correct. I was told to go to customer service.. customer service was very nice and corrected the error on my purchases. My point, please treat every customer as a customer!!! My sick mother was chastised for trying to use her senior discount and while Cashier 46 reprimanded her, didnt pay attention to anyone else except to make her point. Rude!!