Trader Joe’s

I absolutely love this Trader Joe’s location! Parking is great and I love the convenient location. My family and I went there just to pick up a few things. This store is always extremely clean and well organized. I love all of the organic foods they offer and the prices are extremely reasonable. This store has everything you can think of and what I love most about it is their awesome cheese selection. They have the best selection of any grocery store in the Columbia area. With Trader Joes there is no need to go to a specialty cheese and wine shop unless you are looking for something really specific. I love everything about this store, between the atmosphere and the staff it doesn’t even seem like you are doing your dreaded weekly grocery shopping!

I love Trader Joe’s– you can’t really go wrong with anything here. I love all their products, from their shaving cream to their cereal and frozen produce. Walking in here without a set shopping list is a dangerous activity because you will walk out of half the store. It’s always enjoyable to shop here for quality products. My hidden favorite is the burrata cheese– half the price of other stores. I also love the ginger almond soap. Can’t go wrong with TJ’s.

I came from Southern California and have always enjoyed shopping at Trader Joe’s. When they finally built this one, I was excited. And honestly, this location did not disappoint. Every time I shop here, it feels just like the customer service experience I had in California, very good. The place is clean, shelves stocked and easy to find. And I’ve always liked the unique items they sell. I drive 20 minutes to this location (only location in Columbia) for no urgent reasons, just because I like shopping here.

I love Trader Joes. We used to make sure we stopped at TJ’s when we were in cities that had one before they came to Columbia. Love their coffees, organic selection, meat department, frozen section, etc. Love that they hire tattooed peeps. FYI their wine and beers are good. Wish they’d put one in Cayce/​West Columbia!

The concept and layout has been identical to all Trader Joe’s grocery stores: delicious items such as the $ 4.99 dried white peaches, fresh $ 3.49 pasta raviolis with chunky portobello mushrooms, $ 1.99 hummus garlic roasted, $ 2.99 organic Fuji apples (2 lbs), $ 0.99 Italian pasta, free food and coffee samples, fast check-​outs, easy and free to park on their private parking lot free of debris, etc.
The small $ 4.49 pizza flatbread with organic portobello mushrooms and truffle oil was overpriced. The crust was delectable. Nevertheless, I was expecting bigger chunks of mushrooms.
The selection of fruity beers was tiny.

There are so many great unique items here. Prices are very affordable for organic items, it’s a lot more affordable than Whole Foods. I think a big reason is because majority of the products are in house Trader Joes banded. They have plenty of great frozen food items. My recent favorite frozen item to get is the shrimp toast which I usually only found as dim sum restaurants which Columbia doesn’t have. There are plenty of different nut butters available at great prices. I would say TJs is very popular for their cookie butter which is peanut butter flavored like the cookies you get when flying. I usually buy organic coconut water, frozen seafood, eggs, and organic produce. The bananas are a steal!

I really like this Trader Joe’s above all the others I’ve been to in 5 states for these reasons:
1. The staff really go out of the way to make sure you’re being helped and happy. If I get a deer in headlights look, someone always pipes up.
2. There’s some great suggestions from everywhere about food, wine pairings, and recipes.
3. I feel like the people here really like working here and working with each other. There’s good vibes and happy jabs going back and forth throughout the store.
4. This is a family friendly store. Carts with attachments for car seats, balloons and plenty of colorful signs to look at.
5. You’re greeted by bright beautiful flowers and sweet scents right as you walk in the door. You might be greeted by my white Husky Mischa as well. She hangs out looking for attention and peanut butter treats as well.
I asked if they had more Coastal Merlot in the back because I needed a case for my neighbor and the guy at the wine cases ran back and found some off the truck. I’ve accepted orders from large trucks like that so I know it’s a pain to take anything off the invoice so I really appreciated it! I do a little shopping for friends and family and they really helped out my neighbor.
When we were cashing out, the cashier noticed my selection for ciders and suggested one I didn’t notice and promised it was gonna be dry and not too sweet and he was right! I’m so glad I took his suggestion and my husband is too.

Would have given it five stars if they had more parking and it wasn’t so hard to get in and out of. Just goes to show lots of other people like trader joe’s too. Prices are higher than Walmart but food is fresher and better quality. TJ encourages to recycle by bringing your own bag but doesn’t charge for bags if you don’t like Aldi does.

I just had a most amazing experience at Trader Joe’s;
the cashier asked how I was & I responded well but
if it had been a week or two ago it would have been a different story.
On the 10^th was my last Chemo Treatment.
She rang a bell & low & behold there was a fresh bouquet of flowers for me.
Thank you so much for your Floral Support.

Hoy crap! This place is awesome! I can’t believe it took me this long to visit a Trader Joes! They have wine for $ 2.99, basically all of their frozen meals which normally cost like $ 7-​$ 10 at a grocery store cost $ 3.99, and they had samples. Thanks to them I finally know how to make a fruit smoothie! I really like that basically everything they sell is their brand, that’s really cool. Also, if you’re looking to buy herbs that have already started growing, go here, don’t settle for the half dead ones at other grocery stores. I definitely recommend this place!

I was impressed as a first time visitor that the sales associate handed me a list of all of the vegan items in the store. This was so extremely helpful! He even opened up a box of his favorite vegan item for me to sample and try. Two other employees nicely spoke to me as well. I couldn’t have asked for friendlier or more helpful service. It was also clean and very well organized. The selection is not as big as other grocery stores, but there are a few certain things (garbanzo beans, meatless meatballs, coconut milk yogurt, chocolate chips, etc.) that will keep me going back to Trader Joe’s even though it is way out of the way for me.

I don’t despise grocery shopping, but I don’t love it either. But this place? Well, this place I love because the staff are awesome, the quality of products remains high and the cost is always low.
I can’t think of anything I would change about this Trader Joe’s, and I’m not normally short on words!

I always feel the need to meander around Trader Joe’s. I don’t necessarily need anything… I just want to wander through the aisles, scanning everything on the shelves. It’s definitely a different kind of grocery shopping experience. One of those experiences that you should have at least once in your life and then fall in love with it and start coming back when you don’t even need any groceries and slowly come to the realization that you have an addiction and wonder if you should see someone about your addiction, but decide against it and choose to erase all doubt of right or wrong by stopping to get some eggnog ice cream at Trader Joe’s. I digress.
It truly is a wonderful little store with a vast amount of odd (in the good sense) TJ branded items. My favorite sections include: The floral arrangements (they are gorgeous AND affordable AND fresh! My only stop for birthday flowers!), their wine cellar (They know their stuff. Never had a bad recommendation!), and Jerky/​Nuts area (that Turkey Jerky… don’t judge me).
And their customer service is on point! I can’t tell if they are the best actors in the world, or if they truly are that please to interact with everyone they encounter. Good job TJ! Pats on the back and all the points!
BONUS POINTS: Free Sample Counter (including coffee)!
You gotta try it… do it… live it… love it.

Nice location close to a main highway. Easy access, but not many parking spaces available; it tends to be full during the weekends. Selection and prices are standard as in many other trader’s joes.

Tried the Trader Joe’s packet of peanuts — roasted and lightly salted — and can happily report that they are the best I have tried in USA. Why?
1. They are not overcooked (burnt peanuts cause indigestion in many people)
2. They are not dried out and tasteless
3. The salt level does not overwhelm the taste of the peanuts
4. They taste fresh and chewy and crunchy.
Well done! Literally.

I finally got a chance to visit Trader Joe’s when I learned of its existance being that it was something I was used to being from the mid-​atlantic.
This store always pleases me with its vast selections of organic, famr fresh and global minded product selections.
They do prepared foods and have a more than adequate cheese selection, but smaller than say that of whole Foods as the store in Columbia is smaller than other ones I have been to. They cater to vegans, gluten free, and many of the other avant garde types looking for the outer limits of foods.
the downfall to this… its location is not easy to see. and the prices are high.

Love this place! I love that the selection is kept minimal, shelves (including produce) are stocked daily so the product you get is fresh! Service is excellent– they are so friendly and helpful!
Tip– they will let you sample pretty much anything in the store if you ask!

Initially I didn’t think Trader Joe’s was anything special — we went out of our way one day in Charlotte to try it out since one of my friends said it was one of her favorite grocery stores. The first time I went I wasn’t looking for anything in particular — I browsed the aisles and grabbed a couple frozen items that looked appealing, I was very disappointed once I got home and opened the boxes (I know a lot of times the actual product doesn’t look as pictured, but the two pizzas I had were so far from what I thought I was getting — barely any toppings or cheese).
So when the one opened here in Forest Acres I didn’t get too excited. I waited a few weeks after the opening to try again.
I went in knowing what to expect in regards to the quality of the frozen pizzas — so I avoided them.
I tried a few varieties of the frozen fish and a couple other non-​frozen products.
I was very pleased.
I now go to TJ every few weeks when I want less expensive fish and snacks.
(They have really good vanilla almond milk and macarons)!!!
Sunday nights and weekday mornings are best if you don’t want the crowds or forest dr traffic to deal with.

Really like that I have a Trader Joes in my backyard know. Today I got to sample some turkey pot pie with root vegetables and cranberry butter awesome ! I really dig the sample area and a lot of deserts they have in the middle of the store. But the roasted seaweed for .99 keeps me coming back every time I’m hooked!

Just thrilled to have a Trader Joe’s here. Where else can you get chocolate covered potato chips, organic soy, coconut, AND almond milks along with 2 buck Chuck? I also love the delicious truly gingery ginger snaps and all sorts of dried fruits from peaches to blueberries.
The staff are always über friendly and willing to help you find whatever you need. The line greeter makes waiting in line much more pleasant.
It’s not the biggest of TJ’s but has all basics. The parking lot is unfortunately almost always a battle so I’m docking one star for that.