Food Co-Op

I saw a mouse in the Parking Lot… Eeeek…And beware of the Cashiers, they will try and short change you… Check your Receipts!

I think the Food Co-​Op closed! When I walked over last, someone was loading a truck and said «They’re closed,» and I said, «Forever?» and he said, «Yes.» The website hasn’t been updated, though, so I don’t know for sure.
August 2011: It’s official, the website has been updated and they are closed. :(

I love the Food Co-​Op. I attend the Cleveland Institute of Art, which has a building right next door. And I can’t lie, I totally go in there just a little before my lunch class and treat myself to some sushi. The sushi is very good. It tastes fresh and the guy that makes it is Asian, which is a plus in my book. If you can catch him when he’s at the counter, you can politely ask him to make you a roll that you don’t see out, substitute and ingredient, or whatever. I usually get the jalapeño crab roll or the philadelphia roll, both with cucumber instead of avocado. But the eel roll is very good as well.
This store makes it very easy to maintain a low-​glycemic diet. And yes… certain things are expensive. But there are also other things that are not as expensive. For example, you can get soda there for pretty cheap if you want something like that. But I do have to say… the produce that I’ve picked up there? Absolutely phenomenal. And the fresh, organic peanut butter? To die for.

I love this place.
The only thing I have against this place is that they do not carry any shampoo soap bars except for pine tar oil soap, which is a soap that CAN be used as a shampoo, but was not made specifically for it.
They have tables and chairs inside and they are decorated with vases which I did not expect. They also have a small library inside the store with interesting books that I will probably never read but are interesting to fathom. They are free for borrowing as long as you return them.
They’ve got a pretty good selection of honey, including raw honey which reminds me of ear wax but I want to try anyway, and comb honey, where it’s just the honey comb. I’m going to have to try that too.
There’s a pretty big section of grains, beans, and almond butter in the back. Near the produce section they have packs of energy bar chunks that I didn’t realize were so cheap ($ 2 bucks for about ten chunks). They were all out of the goji berry and chia chunks, but they had plenty of carob and chocolate chunks.
And they carry Adbusters magazine. I’m not a subscriber yet so it’s good to know a place where I can get a copy.

The Food Co-​Op, as with most natural organic stores, is overpriced. However, with the high prices comes none of the usual perks of a nice, well-​maintained store. The staff is nice, but the with such a minimalistic store, I’d expect way cheaper prices. There are a few good deals here and there. You can get absolutely delicious cheese for $ 4/​pound. Not that bad. But most of the things you can get cheaper elsewhere. I’ll shop here if I need something quick, but there are better places to go. Unfortunately not around University Circle though.

Kinda scary but oh so convenient…
I still don’t understand the whole Food-​Co Op thing. All I know is that it’s a small organic grocery in walking distance to me. I go there when I am lazy and don’t feel like driving.
The produce is decent and they sell grains and things in bulk. They have a lot of local farmer’s goods which is cool. I got some yogurt cheese that was phenomenal. I’m skeptical of the canned goods though… I’d definitely check the expiration dates, kind of like you would at a Seven Eleven. I don’t think the stuff on the shelves moves very quick. Same goes for packaged items like chips and pretzels. I got a stale bag of (over priced) cookies once.
The biggest turnoff for me is the interior of the place. It looks dirty and it’s not well lit. Pretty depressing. The prices are really high as well. For the price, I’d rather go to Whole Foods.

This is the closest grocery-​esque store to my place in Little Italy. The array of foods that they have here is amazing. I have never bought anything perishable here, except for a dessert (I had to laugh when the employee informed me that it wasn’t 100% organic or warned me that it wasn’t healthy!), so I can’t comment about the produce or anything, but I’ve always been really pleased with the canned goods that I’ve purchased. The prices are sorta high, but that’s to be expected given the nature of the goods they sell. Too bad, though, because I (and many people, probably) would love to eat more organically if we could afford it! Unfortunately, they do have some gaping holes in their product line, but I suspect that it’s due to the fact they’re an organic store.
One caveat: do not purchase the Erehwon Raisin Bran and expect it to taste like good olé’ Kellogg’s Raisin Bran. Well, it will if you add approximately three bags of sugar…