Trader Joe’s

This place is way too busy ALL the time! Cons: check out is not always so friendly and usually the cashiers are talking to each other, not the customers, parking is a nightmare, no easy walk ways, so if you’re walking to your car watch out for cars coming in all directions. Pros: in a shopping center, so if you’re looking to pick up lunch or run other errands they are nearby.

I’m not a real big Trader Joe’s person, but there are some things that I really, really like about TJ’s. The nearest one to me is in El Cerrito Plaza.
The good:
1) TJ’s routinely carriers three kinds of Proseco, and all are under $ 10.
2) Black licorice.
3) The crowd is mostly non-​Berkeley people since they opened up the TJ’s downtown. You will hear «Thank you,» «Please,» and «Excuse me» far more frequently than you ever would in Berkeley.
The bad:
1) It’s in El Cerrito Plaza: the traffic volume is heavy, there’s not much cover for pedestrians, and just parking can be terrifying.
2) It’s always swarming with people. Yes, the Berkeley-​ites have mostly started going to the downtown location, but it’s still crowded.
3) Most of what they sell is crap. Yes, I know, I’m in the minority, but it’s true.
So: a high two stars, because I like proseco.

I just heard a piece on 60 minutes concerning olive oil imported from Italy. The basis of the report was that the Mafia had infiltrated the olive oil business to the point where olive oil identified as Virgin was in fact not virgin but was contaminated with inferior oils not necessarily olive oil. The amount of tainted inferior olive oil being imported into the United States was stated to be over 50%. My question to Trader Joe’s is what guarantees do we have that the oil sold by Trader Joe’s imported from Italy is in fact extra virgin olive oil.

I never come here to shop, but a lot of the employees come to my store after their own is closed, great crowd! For the most part, the staff here are of Five-​Star quality. There are a few odd ones though, one of the supervisors and a manager are two people to stay away from. One of them I feel is extremely fake, the other is extremely standoffish, both things I learned from an interview I had for that store. I am glad that I was not in the minority with my opinions of those two people. I wish I could name them, but it would serve no purpose.
But for the most part, they always cheer me up when they come to my store, mostly because the two aforementioned people never do, haha.

How can anyone NOT be a fan of TJ’s? This particular location has its challenges, though. The parking lot fills up quickly and the lines can be long. But still, the employees are well-​trained and very nice and the free samples have many times answered the question «What’s for dinner?», enabling me to grab all the ingredients right there. I also like the fact that, unlike other locations, the employees are very compassionate about my 8:55 PM last minute rush to get stuff before they close.

I come here every week, but only for the good groceries. The staff can be iffy. The person serving the samples can be mean especially to people who have kids and the kids may want 2 samples instead of just 1 because they are hungry and happen to be in the store.
Also some of the checkout people (like one crabby old Asian woman with short hair) are kind of mean to kids. I only asked if my toddler could have one lollipop and she gave the meanest look and refused saying it was for a contest. Most toddlers may not even understand how to participate in their contest anyway, which I know nothing about. Needless to say I will never ask again on behalf of my child but geez, did she have to be SO mean about it? The staff need some manners. They need to learn how to SMILE.

I absolutely love this place! 10 minute walk from my apartment; so quick and convenient. I come here at least 2 – 3 times a week for my groceries.
Service: Top notch of course. It’s TJ’s. All the employees are kind and they are more than welcoming and are fun to have conversations with. They’ve tried the products they are selling, so I often ask them for suggestions or even give recommendations of my own. They never oversell and are pretty candid about their preferences to certain products, which I appreciate.
The goods: I love the cheese section, the quick wrap/​meal section, and the quick frozen meal sections the most. I’m not to keen on their meat section. I’d rather go to Berkeley Bowl or Costco for that, but it’s not too bad. I think I always leave with at least one cheese product every time I visit that store.
The hours: The open hours are very generous too. Sometimes I get up early or get home late and am super happy that they are still open so I can get something quick for an easy to make dinner or some quick supplies before an early morning hike.

I remember I came here to buy a 100 bananas i guess was the talk of the day wondering what I was going do with all these bananas.

Trader’s Joe is always my first choice in term of grocery shopping because TJ’ motto is serving the customer well (we can return a product if we are not satisfy or etc). As such, I spend more than a hundred with TJ every week. However, I was shocked to have a lousy service today.
My kids wanted to use restroom so I came to El Cerrito Plaza TJ. I did some shopping and let my kids sample the food, the pulled chicken and salad. My kid had two samples each and I had one without the pulled chicken. It was noontime, my son at 5 was hungry and asked for another sample for the pulled chicken. Since I didn’t eat the pulled chicken, so I thought it would be fine for him to ask for another sample of pulled chicken (by the way, I sample the food and I bought the food too). However, the TJ employee told us off and said that we already had 6 serving. I wasn’t sure how she came out 6 serving while my two kids had 2 each and I had 1 without the pulled chicken. When she gave us one sample of salad and pulled chicken, we told her nicely that we only wanted the pulled chicken. However, my son touched the plate, she was unhappy and threw it away. Then she gave us one sample with salad only. I told her nicely that we didn’t want salad but the pulled chicken. Right away, she was mad and being very impatient/​rude, calling another TJ’s employee over. She yelled and said that she couldn’t serve people are being rude to her. Then, she walked off and straight into the back of the storeroom. I didn’t manage to catch her name but I decided to talk to the branch manager. While I was making a payment, this SPECIAL employee ran to the manager and tried to cover her ass. I walked up to the manager and he quickly asked her to go to the back. The manager told me that some people took advantage of the sampling and kept eating, so thing happened. I told him that if three of us asked three servings, then we called it a lot. (3×3=9)Nonetheless, we were NOT and we even bought the food after sampling. Also, no SIGN stated that each customer couldn’t try more than one serving! Why can’t TJ be more lenient to kids who asked more than one??? If TJ couldn’t afford to let customers try more than one, TJ perhaps should put up a sign to let its customer know. The manager didn’t do much and only apologized for things happened. When I walked out from TJ, my kid at 7 said TJ was terrible, hiring a rude employee to humiliate its customers. Yes. she was right. so I decided to write in. If TJ continue to hire people like that will turn away their regular customer like me. Thanks!

The Peonies are back !! Great Flowers, get them while in Season !! Woo-​Hoo !!

I’ve lived a few different places and I always try to make Trader Joe’s my go-​to grocery store. Good prices, wide selection, and perfect meal portions for one (shout out to my single ladies) — what’s not to love?
This store, however, is just too damn crowded all the time. Morning, noon, evening… weekends or weekdays, I feel like I can’t move in there and it’s a real deterrent to the shopping experience. The staff, however, is incredibly friendly and helpful and the store is always well-​stocked. This store is just not for the enochlophobic.

Love shopping from there
I found a lot of things i really need it
Healthy food
Clean
Plus v good cust service

My go to local grocery store! Employees are busy, but are helpful and friendly. Some will even go to the back and check stock. The only thing is that this place gets super busy, especially after work hours. Sometimes frustrating busy! I have walked in and then walked out because I couldn’t handle the crowd on occasion. Sometimes employees will have conversations that are «inappropriate», which is entertaining to me because I’m just as perverted, but it makes prude customers grumpy, which reflects on the way they treat others while shopping.
What I love about trader joes is that they donate food locally! Also, not sure if this location or all locations do it, but they also donate their flowers to a convalescent home for residents to participate in weekly flower arrangement classes. I have seen for myself how significantly this improves residents mood and quality of life! Thank you TJ!

Where else can you get free coffee and food samples everyday and find all your basic necessities?
I’ve been coming here for several years and I always find it pleasant. Sure it can get a bit busy on weekends and right before holidays. If a store isn’t busy during those times, then it means something’s wrong.
This El Cerrito location has plentiful bicycle parking and a very friendly customer service desk. Twice I had to return items — once was a bad apple and another time I bought the wrong flavor of cat snacks — and the returns were very smooth with the only question being «why the return?». I mean seriously? Who accepts returns on bad fruit? It was a very nice surprise. Of course I had the receipts both times, which helped a lot.
Pro-​tip: TJ’s has the best prices on almond milk, eggs (although it went up a bit recently but its still lower than most other stores) and large cartons of yogurt. They also have great dessert options with reasonable prices. As for their breads and other baked good, eat them fast as they tend to go moldy if you let them sit around for more than 4 – 5 days.

My mom loves Trader Joe’s. She likes being able to buy bananas individually, since she cannot eat a whole bunch before they go bad. This is also where she goes to buy milk. Whatever sample they are offering at the back, my mom will try it, even if she’s just eaten.
I always hit up the dried fruits and nuts section for dried mangoes and pistachios. The snack section is my other weakness. I have a fondness for pita chips, peanut butter pretzels, and veggie chips. My mom loves the various popcorn snacks.
My only complaints are that the aisles are a little narrow and the place always seems crowded. It’s just a question of how crowded. I passed by on Christmas Eve and looked inside. There were at least a dozen people in each line.

I like this TJ’s and usually experience fantastic customer service, but I have also witnessed some very unprofessional behavior by the staff.
Sometimes they discuss their wages in full view of customers. Today I heard them complaining about a customer amongst themselves.
This happens right in front of the customers.
Wow. Management, good luck.

This is the Trader Joe’s I frequent since I prefer its location over their Berkeley branch because there is ample parking here. They try to replenish their stock regularly, and most employees who work here are generally helpful and courteous, which I always appreciates of course.
However, I hope they would bring back their frozen wild borealis blueberries and kimchi as they’re two of my favorite items. Prices here are more reasonable compared to stores like Wholefoods, Lucky, Safeway, and Berkeley Bowl, while still offering all natural (they ensure that there are no artificial colors and flavors in their products) and organic products. I highly recommend this store.

Somehow, I end up going to Trader Joe’s four or five days a week. Its not intentional, but just before dinner, I always realize that I’ve run out of something. Perhaps the dinner wine, perhaps sherbet. Maybe the veggies that I have in the frig don’t quite work with the menu. Whatever. So… off I go!
Zip down Colusa Ave, turn down Lynn onto Ashbury, drive (carefully) past Albany MIddle School. Park far enough away in the Plaza parking lot to avoid frazzled shoppers. Grab a TJ’s bag from the car, and I’m in and out of the place in a flash. Heading homeward before you can say Jack Rabbit. (Or Jack Russell terrier, if you’d rather.)
Now, TJ’s doesn’t have it all. Its weak on cleaning products, plastic garbage bags, 57 varieties of shampoo. Or specialized non-​allergic dog food. (I go to Pet Vet for the latter and get a Safeway delivery for the former.) But, what it does have is reasonably priced, of reasonable quality, and fairly easy to find in the aisles.
Fast. Its main virtue is that TJ’s is fast. The lines move fast, the baggers are helpful, they’re willing to load a case of sparkling water into your cart and ask you if you need help to your car. (I haven’t found this to be try for the nearby Lucky store where the lines are long and frustrating.)
So, four stars for a very convenient store. With enough variety to pull you through an impromptu dinner menu though sometimes you have to be flexible. (No non-​fat whipped cream. No problem, sherbet will do.)
And for speed… well…thumbs up! This store is excellent. Save the leisurely shopping for somewhere else. Like Berkeley Bowl. Or the EL Cerrito Nat. But bring a bit more money when you go to these other places.. TJ’s is going to win out on being moderately priced.
Sorry, gotta run. Its almost time for dinner.

Trader Joe’s. I knew of Trader Joe’s as the grocery store where single people – especially Men – who could not cook and/​or boil water as well as the worker bees within walking distance who would get food to heat in the microwave and eat. I once worked alongside a boss who got 99% of his groceries at Trader Joe’s. That was 30 years ago, the ex-​boss has since married a good woman who could cook and Trader Joe’s has evolved since then. Their clientele are families as well as single people shopping at Trader Joe’s for staples and in some cases, basic groceries.
Trader Joe’s has introduced me to some pretty cool food items of the world. Fage Yogurt from Greece and McCann’s Steel Cut Oatmeal from Ireland. They have some very interesting global finds. Now of they could get me Marmite made in the UK, not made in Canada.
The Mother was quite delighted to learn she could get oat bran at Trader Joe’s. It seems the major supermarket chains cannot find a good supplier for oat bran. So we stock up on oat bran at Trader Joe’s.
And even dog treats for Dolce and Bianco.
I have been to many of the Trader Joe’s stores in Emeryville, San Francisco, Blackhawk, Berkeley, Downtown Berkeley, and this one here at El Cerrito. The staff here are pretty cool and friendly. One does feel quite welcome here.
Trader Joe’s has come a long way since my worker bee days. I still see single people shop here along with couples and families. And even college students like me. Trader Joe’s has something for everyone.

Favorite go to place for food. The folks here have always been kind and helpful. We’ve made friends with some of the employees and it’s been fun. Parking is only an issue it the GDF farmer’s market is in there, taking up parking spaces.
Great customer service. Great prices. Fun food and fundamental as well. 99% of our shopping needs are taken care of here. If only they’d carry Monster Energy Drinks!