Berkeley Produce Center

I was really disappointed with this. When I see a highly reviewed, dedicated produce shop in the Gourmet Ghetto of Berkeley, I expect the place to really bring it! Instead, I found what felt more like a fruit stand at the end of the day. They had very little variety. Even if they only carried local stuff, they should have more. I say «end of day» fruit stand because what they did have looked quite picked-​over. Definitely not the shiny piles of veggie porn I thought I’d be seeing.

I just walked out of here with an onion, carrot, head of broccoli, banana and some mushrooms for $ 2.79. Amazing deal!!! Skip Andronico’s, and stick to Safeway for your basics like pasta and canned goods. But for veggies? Berkeley Produce Center is amazing.
It’s small so selection isn’t off the charts like it is for Berkeley Bowl, but if you’re looking for basic veggies in North Berkeley after a Cheeseboard run, Berkeley Produce Center is amazing!
Cheap, quick and fresh!

Cute little place. Love their bulk bins. It’s a like subset of Monterey market but a little more expensive but less pricer than Andronicos! They have more exotic canned and tinned stuff like pomegranate syrup, orange blossom, rose syrup, etc. Nice place to quickly shop for dinner!

One of my favorite things in life is living in close proximity to an awesome produce store.
And I’ve gotta say that I’m pretty happy here.
It’s got everything I need for a good cooking night in: fresh produce, canned goods, prepped condiments, and grains in bulk.
It’s wonderfully affordable as well.
As an added bonus, the employees here are always friendly and helpful.
Neighborhood gem, I am your captive.

I love this little store — such ripe and inexpensive produce, and just the right selections of other items to purchase! I can pick up salad greens, fruit, and some local granola before I grab a slice of pizza from 2 doors down. The folks who work there are very nice and many may be related to the owner. It is good to support our local small stores, particularly those who can keep their prices just right. Try the Produce Center!

Produce here is significantly better and cheaper than nearby Andronico’s or Safeway. We live two blocks away and regularly get our produce here.

No need to hassle with Andronico’s or Safeway. Practically everything you need is hear and usually at lower cost! If you live near by and have kids, then this is the place to go for walking snack. Fresh fruit, ice fruit bars, healthy drinks, good munchies (like seaweed).

Just wanted to review this little place because although I don’t think any independent produce store will ever replace my beloved HPP in Chicago (
), it’s pretty great. They carry your staple needs and a few unexpected finds, the staff are always friendly, and when you live a block from a Trader Joe’s and shop there way more than you’d like to, it’s such a relief to be able to get fresh loose produce instead of having to buy everything packaged. Yay!

Somehow this little store almost always has exactly what i am looking for. For some strange reason I hate going into Safeway and Andronico’s, especially to pick up that one last ingredient for making supper. Great produce, including some organics. They always seem to have mushrooms, cilantro, and limes which I often need for cooking.

The Berkeley Produce Center is such a little gem in the Gourmet Ghetto. It is often overlooked by its larger grocer neighbors, Andronico’s and Safeway. Don’t be fooled by its small and modest storefront — there is a surprisingly large array of foods available inside, including a respectable amount of organic and non-​organic produce. The Produce Center remains one of my favorite places to go for local and affordable fruits and veggies. I also enjoy browsing for items that weren’t on my grocery list, but that add variety to my cooking palette.
Today I came away with the following:
–Mandarin ginger dressing for salads and meats
–Broccoli
–Millet
–Grape tomatoes
–Ritter Sport marzipan chocolate
–Fig Newman’s
I’ve already tried the mandarin ginger dressing over a simple side salad and it was marvelous. I can already tell that it will pair well with a fish dish.
The folks who run this grocery market are very friendly, too. Take a chance and step inside the Produce Center. I bet you’ll find something you like there :)

Hooray for the Produce Center! Flanked by Andronico’s and Safeway as they are, they thrive anyway. Why? Because it is so nice to shop there. The family that owns it is so sweet and friendly, all three generations of them that you are likely to see at the cash register. They have so much in there for such a small store, and all of it is excellent quality. Really great prices too. I also love the classical music.
Really sweet store, excellent quality, great prices. Getting harder to find places like this anymore, and so I treasure them. Five stars!

I love this little corner market! The sheer quality of produce per square footage is astounding — granted, the store is teeny tiny. But I have always been impressed with the variety and freshness of the produce. They also carry some dairy and eggs (including brands carried at Berkeley Bowl, Andronico’s, etc), and a modest selection of packaged and bulk foods.
The ethnic section is good — better than Safeway. Though I live down the street, I avoided this market for a long time because I thought it would be terribly expensive. Upon actually entering the store for the first time, I now see how gravely wrong I was (and how many years I’ve been deprived of their succulent fruits and veggies!!!).
The produce is fresh and meant to be consumed/​cooked in a timely manner. I haven’t had trouble with anything molding, but I usually finish my produce within one week.

I felt a bit nostalgic when I shopped here for the first time. It’s small and it reminded me of the Asian grocery shops that my parents and I used to go to in downtown Sacramento.
The staff are really nice and friendly! The cashier seemed to always have a smile on her face even when there was a line. Their food are definitely cheaper than Andronico’s, well at least for the foods that I was buying. I wanted some tomato paste, fresh tomatoes and broccoli, and I thought Andronico’s would be cheaper; so after purchasing a bottle of curry powder, some black beans, flax seeds, split pea, and lentils, I decided to to head to Andronico’s. Heck, while I was there, I compared prices for everything that I needed from my grocery list. And yes, the prices at the Produce Center were lower than the big super market, thought not significantly, but the little things do add up! I ended up walking back to the Produce Center and purchase the rest of my groceries. :)
And I think they accept credit card.
The only downside for me is that the aisles are small. I take forever when I’m picking out my food, so there were several times when I was in another customer’s way.
Other than that, I would be coming back often.

Edit:
The onions I’ve been buying there have gone mouldy very quickly. This has occurred for several months in a row. Something needs to be cleaned.
A great neighborhood small grocer. Good produce, at very good prices.
The other items; canned, bulk, dairy etc. are competitively priced.
I live nearby and walk there several times a week.
Always friendly, and no shopping cart battles in the aisles.

Love this shop. For such a small store, it had a great selection of staples. The vegetables are fresh and well priced, there is a surprising selection of basics like cheese, milk, ethnic foods and bulk foods/​cereals. Staff are friendly and remember me after just a few visits.
Berkeley needs more places like this!

Somehow, the Berkeley Produce Center always manages to carry everything I happen to need. I’m not sure how they do it, since its such a small place. But unless I’m looking for something super obscure, I’m sure to find it here.
They have a decent produce selection, with tons of veggies, both organic and non. They have a good selection of the basics like cheese, eggs, milk, etc., as well as a ethnic foods section that would put Safeway to shame. They even have a modest bulk foods section!
It’s great — they keep convenient hours, have super friendly people, and a bag of produce usually costs less than $ 5 – 10. For their size, I don’t think you could design a better market.
P. S. I bought the best basket of figs ever here for only $ 2.99! Can’t wait until the season comes in again…

Between the Berkeley Bowl, the Monterey Market, and the Berkeley Produce Center there is no excuse for eating bad produce within this part of the East Bay. This place is the unassuming Corner Grocery that is easily passed by on the way to and from the Cheeseboard. And since my son and Gayle pay more attention to such healthy things, I have been pleasantly surprised at the cool selection and reasonable prices that were previously hiding in plain site and in such a relatively small space. Nice people too.

I absolutely love this place. They carry fresh fruits and vegetables at a very reasonable price. Since it’s small and only have a few bunches for each item, they turn over their produce quickly.
A bag of salad greens I bought there would last 2.5 weeks, whereas the ones I bought from Trader Joe’s or Safeway would go bad in a week.

I recently discovered this little bodega around the corner from my apartment, and I don’t know how I’ve missed it for all these months! The Produce Center, combined with the new Trader Joe’s, is consprining to eliminate Safeway from my life completely. And, oh, how I thank this store each and every morning for doing so!
While some of their goods (milk comes to mind) are not particularly cheap, this shop, unsurprisingly, shines in the produce department. Fresh vegetables and fruits, almost all of which are California produce, with both organic and non-​organic options, are exceedingly reasonably priced. Their selection is extensive as well, with, for example, 5 or 6 different types of oranges available.
This place is an amazing store that is changing the way I shop.

I’m not ashamed to say it: I don’t like grocery shopping at Safeway or Andronico’s. In fact, I very much dislike it. That may go against some Berkeley cardinal rule, but I can’t help the way I feel.
Luckily, I have Berkeley Produce Center. Small, fairly priced, carries good products and not too overwhelming. The staff/​owners are always friendly and helpful. I had never really given it a second glance during one of my trips to the Cheeseboard, but one day after yet another shopping trip to Andronico’s — aka an assault on my wallet — I figured I didn’t have much to lose.
They may not have everything the other grocery chains carry, but the products they do have in stock are well worth the trip. Fresh vegetables, fruits and lots of ingredients for any spur-​of-​the-​moment meal.