Open Sesame-Lafayette

After years of trial and error, I am a more discriminating consumer and can vouch for the integrity of Open Sesame. I’ve done EXTENSIVE research on green grocers, alternative medicine, health foods, and various natural remedies. The owner of this store is absolutely amazing in her knowledge of all products and cures. I’ve consulted her over the years and found her an invaluable encyclopedia of health information.
This shop is a local gem and I highly recommend you stop in to cover your family’s health and wellness needs. I am grateful to Sue Jun and her staff! They have shown not only patience, but a thorough understanding of cures and maintenance for the body.

Knowledgeable, friendly, and super helpful customer service along with an excellent inventory of healthful food, produce, supplements, and natural household and body products, particularly for a smaller store.

One of the few places I can get Claravale Farms raw milk. Not to mention they have all sorts of other good stuff. :)

They really know their trade. You can go in and describe what you’re looking for or your problem and they will make excellent thoughtful recommendations. Open Sesame really understands the things they sell and carries many local items. See for yourself.

I was in Lafayette near the Clock Tower building for work in March last year and noticed Open Sesame for the first time — I’d never seen this place before and was excited to check it out. It’s a pretty big store inside and I walked around the aisles quickly before checking out the small produce section.
I am definitely a fan of supporting local businesses and I love health food stores, but paying $ 2.99 for an organic cucumber is a little bit too much for me. I guess I’m spoiled living so close to Concord Produce because I get delicious, fresh cucumbers (but not organic) for a fraction of that cost.

Even though it’s really close to where I work, I hardly ever go here. It’s just not obvious. Sure, I’ve been here a few times, but for a «health food» store they sure do have a lot of processed foods (at least a fair selection is vegan though).
They have a OK if eclectic selection of produce (it is a small store), and the place could be considered «pricey», typical of small stores like this. But with all markets, it’s really what you choose to buy.
I’ll mostly still be going to Whole Foods though, even though I’d like to support local. But I’d much rather go here than Safeway.

Small store with nice selection of healthy food both packaged and fresh.

I am definitely a fan! I try to support the local health food stores. I know this one probably took a hit when Whole Foods came to town, but I try to go whenever I can. Don’t get me wrong I love Whole Foods too, but there is something special about this little stores. They are a little more pricey, but that generally is the case with smaller stores since they don’t buy in bulk like bigger ones. I love their selection of refrigerated goods. I am hooked on their yogurt covered stuff. They are all in zip lock bags which gives it the homemade feel, which I love. Lots of vitamins and a decent amount of lotions and face stuff. I will definitely continue to support them.

Wonderful little healthfood store in this area, great fresh fruits and veggies. Prices are higher than your average grocery store, but its a small price to pay for local organic produce. I only wish there was one out closer to me!

Went here looking for a certain type of low carb bread, the member of staff at the checkout was very helpful.
I didn’t really browse the store, but they did have a lot in there, the bread was quite expensive, but not sure if that is the case for other items in there also.
I would imagine this is the place to go when you are looking for some weird and wonderful ingredients or if you have lots of dietary requirements.

Great local resource. Truly a health food store, many things you wouldn’t find at Whole Foods. Great for gluten free, raw food, or other health-​diet– restrictions. The staff is nice and helpful but not in the «greet you with smiles”-way. They seem more circumspect, and get friendlier as you frequent the place, which is good for me. It seems more genuine. Knowledgable assistance. Very high prices though, so I usually only go for specialty items.

As much as I don’t want to put this store down, because of the lovely people running it and how helpful they were. I must…
I came in looking for red clover tea. She had a pound of it loose, but as I looked at it, It appeared to be kinda old looking, so I checked the date. It had expired a month ago. So I decided against it, and asked her if she ordered new tea to let me know. She took down my number.
The next day I went back in with my roommate looking for chili pepper to make kimchi, again she was very helpful. She couldn’t believe we were going to make kimchi and helped me with how to make it.
What bothered me was I noticed there were 4 zip lock bags worth of red clover tea. She had split up the expired pound and discarded the bag with the expired date. I then noticed there were lots of items in the store being sold in zip lock bags and not in their original package.
I probably won’t going back to this store, which is disappointing, but my health comes first. I can’t trust what’s safe to eat and what’s not.

Great asset for the area. Great selection. Sue takes special orders for things you can’t find. Sara and Yolanda are always busy re-​stocking.
The closest store for Clavavale milk for me, have a standing order. I enjoyed being a customer of Real Food (Bay Area), and until they expand this way Open Sesame is it.

What a great store with products you can not find in other local stores. Everytime I come in here I get terrific help and know that they know what they are talking about.

This specialty market carries product that you cannot find even at Whole Foods. They carry a wide variety of gluten free products, along with lots of organic & local products. There are tons of vitamins, a section of beauty products and even a section for Asian foods. Yes they are pricey, but they aren’t a big chain like some of the other markets, so the high prices is to be expected. The staff are helpful and you will often see the owner behind the counter helping customers. She is a very sweet woman as well as knowledgeable.
It’s not the place to do major shopping, (if you are trying to save money) but a great place to come to get stuff to cook for dinner that night and for specialty items as well as vitamins. Nevertheless, I am happy to have a Market like this in Lafayette.

They have raw milk, which is great. The staff seems quiet but nice. And I understand that it’s a small business so expect some price hikes — but they want $ 55 for the same bottle of vitamins that I paid $ 35 for at Berkeley Bowl. GTFOOH.
I have no idea how they plan to compete when whole foods opens: they don’t seem to have a vitamin expert, and the shop is kind of industrial and … grey.

wide selection of organic fruits and veggies, yummy breads and snacks, and other healthy products. I loved their organic milk that came in glass bottles. I wonder if they still have that.
I love supporting small businesses rather than the big corporate ones.

If you’re looking to eat clean, this is your destination!
Open sesame is like a mini whole foods. They carry organic, healthy products. You can find produce, locally raised honey, gluten free products and just about every vitamin and supement you could imagine.
I was able to purchase organic yogurt, bee pollin, blanched nuts and all sorts of other organic items I needed. Great spot!
They are very helpful, and parking is convenient.

Great selection. Knowledgable staff. Even when I barely know the name of something, they have it and know why I want it.
An asset to Lamorinda.

Amazing array of selection. If you’re stuck in Lafayette and need asian ingredients that’s around the corner, this is where to go! Including nori (seaweed) sprinkling, wasabe, good soy sauce and sesame oil.
Some great healthy produce, frozen foods, diary products, and great selection of vitamins. And some organic stuff for a somewhat more reasonable price than Mt. Diablo Foods.