Trader Joe’s

I find myself expending the extra 15 minutes to drive from Palo Alto to the Mountain View TJ than coming here to my neighborhood TJs! The parking here is terrible! It’s in a super hip and busy Town and Country shopping center filled with restaurants and retail shops so I almost always have to park further from this store.
The first time I went the freezers were down for maintenance so I could not access the mandarin chicken! That alone was a downer on my TJ trip.
Now that it’s up and running, I still find myself visiting the MV location due to ease of parking. (Maybe I just don’t have good parking karma, ok)

Normally I love shopping at Trader Joe’s. But I bought a premade Greek salad on Sunday and decided to eat it today. I took a few bites until I noticed something just awful. No, it was not even close to expiration date, the cheese wasn’t moldy, the greens weren’t wilted… but as you can see from the photo there was a WOOD chip inside. This is unsanitary, dangerous and uncalled for! Can I please speak with someone about this immediately?! I spend a lot of time and money at your store, and I’m so disappointed! Someone needs to contact me immediately to resolve this!

The customer service is just ok. Some of the employees have major attitude. This location also has the SLOWEST 15 items or less line.

Like all Trader Joe’s it’s superb. Great location, but sometimes parking can be a pain. Favorite item is Irish Black Tea. Trader Joe’s name brand items never fall short and are always great tasting. Staff is friendly and readily available, definitely don’t have long line issues much like other stores in the area.

This is the closest TJ to me in Palo Alto… but it’s also smaller than the other ones and I find that my greek yogurt and electrolyte water is constantly out of stock! They’ve been out of stock of my items on at least 5 separate occasions! Or maybe they just run out of stock on Sunday to Tuesday…
It’s on El Camino and Embarcadero so it’s probably pretty busy… I like their samples — I usually end up purchasing whatever they have samples of because it’s just so good when you try it in the store! I also like their selection of herbs and flowers… seem to be more stocked in that than other places.
I really like buying TJ salads and bringing them as my lunch on weekdays — cheap and filling! They also have good bread. Pair it with burrata and tomatoes from the store + my basil plant from TJ = delicious snack!
Their selection of produce is sometimes lacking though and I’d like to see more variety!

I don’t do my regular grocery shopping at Trader Joe’s, it’s more of a treat-​myself-​and-​wander-​aisles kind of thing. I usually end up with a sweet, a salty, and a beverage with each visit.
Definitely stop in to discover really interesting and delicious food, most of which is Trader Joe’s brand.
I was particularly impressed with the efficiency at the check out counters that got swamped by eleventy bajillion high school students on a school trip.

I seem to stop at this Trader Joe’s every time I am in town. Such a great addition to Town & Country Village! Boy it’s changed a lot since I graduated from PALY!

How awesome are these guys? I came in here about a week ago and I always pick up about the same three items occasionally I’ll use the restroom and sample the nice stuff they have on display. so while I was at the counter my last time checking out I always pick up one of these protein shakes that Trader Joe’s carries.
My only complaint I’ve ever really have had, and it really is a first world problem, is that they don’t have them chilled or cold their really just about room temperature. Now room temperature for me with the shakes its not that bad but it would be a lot better if they were actually chilled.
While I was checking out at the counter last time I was here I made mention of that to the gentleman who was checking me out at the counter. after mentioning that I come back in a couple days later only to discover bingo they are now being chilled above the freezers! Talk about listening to your customer and taking care of the little guy. honestly I would have been back here for hundred times maybe 500 no stopping me I love Trader Joes. however it is so nice to see such a small change to help you throughout your shopping experience.
You rock Palo Alto Trader Joe’s!

I really love Trader Joe’s, in every way. This one seems to have the best selection.
Too bad that TJ sometimes discontinues items that I get to like. This happens to me about 1 – 2 times a year. I must have an eclectic taste or what because when I inquire about a missing item, I am told that allegedly «it was not selling» … Who knows, of course, what the real reasons are.

While running errands in PA downtown I decided to stopby this location of T. Joe’s whilst my regular one just to try and see what they carry different from the other store. I love Traders Joe’s anyday. Since I am used to visiting the Mountain View location very very often the entrance and layout of this location somehow din’t please me. The felt the layout to be bizarre. I did not find some frozen items that i regularly pick up from Mt. View location. The staff were very busy and nice. I’d definitely prefer my regular SanAntonio Shopping Center location over this anyday in a whiff.

Just came in right now, Tuesday around 1:40 to just run in and grab a quick lunch. At checkout these two elder ladies rang me up. All I heard from the bagger person was «I told myself I would never marry or date a Mexican because I don’t like them» and then became silent as I stared at them thinking to myself «Is it not 2015?!» How extremely inappropriate and rude of this worker. And she straight up said pretty damn loud. I had higher expectations of Trader Joe’s employees, not to mention being in a high traffic area near Stanford. Makes me not want to come to this location ever again, that employee just ruined it for me.

Without a doubt, this my favorite grocery store in Palo Alto. Why?
No, not only the food, the reasonable prices, or the central location; but It’s employees. They make a pleasant atmosphere in the store, always helpful (even more than what you expect) and friendly. They also seem to enjoying working with each other. I hope the manager keep this harmony in the store.

Great grocery to go shopping and high quality! While I was living in Palo Alto I always loved to come to this Trader Joe’s to buy my favourite products. Here they are: marshmallows covered with chocolate, butter biscuits with chocolate, turkey corn dog and soy chocolate ice cream sandwich (I am lactose intolerant, so it was an awesome alternative that allowed me to enjoy a tasty ice cream).
This grocery was always clean and tidy.
And the staffs were AWESOME! Super nice and friendly people who were always smiling to you.
The price is a little bit high, but in some products is worth it because of the quality.
Definitively, I recommend it! :)

Everyone already knows TJs is awesome, convenient, fresh, priced well, blah blah blah, we all know this.
But this TJ’s is TJ’s on steroids, TJ’s 2.0, TJJ!, I feel like things are more in stock, more food choices, I might have even seen a unicorn prancing down the isles a couple times.
But perhaps I’m just really amp’d from their sample section.
Yes I am a freebie lover! And this place has the nicest sampler section, it’s right next to the bathroom, served one of the best samples I’ve ever had at TJ (fig crackers with fig butter and cream cheese), had coffee, and even something I didn’t expect, watermelon flavored water. And of course the guy manning the bar was exceptional.
Honestly I just had a really good experience at this TJ and feel like I should push forward the good karma.
The TJ is also in a great plaza, if you’re hungry, try Tava kitchen across the plaza.

Even though I live near here, this is my least preferred Trader Joe’s location. I much rather would make the effort to drive farther to shop at the Mountain View location than this one.
The customer service here is absent and sometimes, dismissive. This one caters to the much more uppity Palo Alto working crowd — hence, sometimes, I think the service can be a bit snooty; however, some may disagree. It’s located right across from Palo Alto High School so you’ll run into many high school students in skimpy outfits. The parking lot is crazy entering and exiting — another reason why I try to avoid coming here.
Anywho, if I know I’ll stop by here, and usually I’m here on a whim, I make sure to make my shopping trip quick.
Eh.

«We’re getting a new Trader Joe’s!» she told me. It was 2006 and I was in College Terrace, the cutest and most idyllic neighborhood I’ve ever lived in, adjacent to Stanford.
«That’s great!!! When will it go in?»
«I’m not sure.»
: FLASH FWD 2.5 YRS: 2008 :
«NOOOOOOOOO!!!» screamed my heart every time I walked by Town & Country Village, which was often because I now lived just on the other side of Alma, in another über-​cute Palo Alto neighborhood. Every time I walked by, the sign taunted me: «COMING SUMMER 2009!»
By the time the construction was finished, I would be gone,
graduated into oblivion.
I find it some kind of poetic wonder, though, that I’ve been privileged to return to this neighborhood for nine idyllic months,
Back in CA after four years away.
And now, every time I want to freshen my step I can walk across the street to TJ’s,
To drink a little free coffee
Or eat a little free snack
(two little free snacks! One sweeter and the other more filling. I like to eat the sweet one with my coffee. It helps cool it down and make it less likely to burn my tongue.)
TJ’s characters add such variety to my life.
Reggie and Gabriela and Leisi and Dean
Are as little as a two minute walk away.
Am I feeling stuck in my work?
I just walk on over!
If it’s Reggie, he says «Hey big guy!» and gives me a hug.
Reggie has a crush on me, and it makes me smile. I keep a little distance from him just because I’m not sure how close I want to get.
Dean is more reserved, but always open to chatting. It’s Dean’s picture behind the counter at the samples; it’s a picture of a young boy dressed as a chef. Some day I want to take a picture of Dean next to that picture, because when it clicks, all the cuteness of the kid transfers to this sweet white haired man who you might otherwise not even notice.
Leisi is from Mexico and I have a crush on her. She definitely has a boyfriend (a husband?), and almost as much can be said of Gabriela. There’s a little bit of flirting that’s allowed in that space, and I play with what I’ve got. If they let me hug them the way I let Reggie hug me, I think I would hug them. I’m not going to try, though, because I’m not as bold as Reggie is about that kind of thing.
I usually buy something when I’m there.
Tuna,
coffee,
bread,
peanut butter,
jelly,
one of those pre-​made wraps,
energy bars,
fruit,
almond butter,
almond milk,
eggs,
cereal,
beer,
wine…
this is a 90% exhaustive list of all of the products I’ve purchased at TJ’s in these nine months.
Sometimes I get liquor or bacon or greens, or something I’ve never gotten before (dried kimchi fr a dollar? sure!),
but usually it’s something on my list.
Those things keep me going, diet-​wise, along with vegetable-​based meals I eat at a neighborhood coop, or on campus or wherever.
Everything you get from Trader Joe’s came through Monrovia, at some point in its journey.
MONROVIA: the word feels good to say.
It’s one of my top five favorite words, as far as feeling goes, right up there with «oriole» and «fork» and «gentle.»
MONROOOOVIA; food shipped from there up the five in trucks, hundreds of miles to a place so close to where we live, SO CLOSE I FEEL GUILTY for how this place is the opposite of a food desert.
We live in a freaking food jungle, items ripening regularly for suburban foragers; we get what we want when we want it, sold by happy people… something must be wrong with this situation because it all feels so creepy it’s so perfect it’s so creepy it’s so perfect it’s so perfect it’s so perfect.
Palo Alto.
Everything here so smart. So friendly. I’ll miss this place when I’m gone again.
It’s great for the people who can make it here. It’s great for me during the times in which I can make it here.
Some day I want to swim upstream to Monrovia, to see where the wonder comes from, where the pre-​made wraps are prepared. Are they prepared with the same joy with which they’re sold, here in Palo Alto?
I like to hope so.
And I pray that the people who pick the lettuce are satisfied to be employed,
Working faster than the younger version of themselves would have thought possible,
Sending some portion of their money to their families back in Mexico or El Salvador or wherever,
Or saving some portion of it for the future,
Or both.
I doubt I’ll ever make it to the lettuce farm to see for myself the marriage of earth and sun and water and air… I’m unlikely get so far upstream that I can hear for myself what Jesus or Jorge or Javier thinks of his job. (or maybe Gerald, for all I know, or Geraldine), to see whether s/​he even thinks about the people who walk to the store from their cute houses in Palo Alto to buy a pre-​made wrap for a fraction of what’s earned in an hour of so-​called knowledge work.

The parking lot can be a mess but there is A LOT of parking. You might just not get parking right out front. get over it. The selection is great, all the same stuff as other TJ’s. They run out of stuff bc it gets SO busy but they get new shipments every single day. The staff is wonderful– many of them have been there for a number of years and know the products and store well.

My new favorite grocery store!
I’m so grateful to my sister for having introduced me to Trader Joe’s. I’m now a big fan of this place.
From their world’s yummiest onion n sour puffs to their frozen Indian food, it’s an amazing collection of snacks. Do try the chicken tikka/​veg samosas, vegetable masala burger patties, kati roll and oh, of course the very special confection ‘Mochi’.
The employees are very nice and professional, at all times.

I like Trader Joe’s brand. I can’t say it’s cheap but still great deal.
Also they deal with international things. For me, some Asian stuff is good. Of course NOTHING authentic Japanese food. But still frozen Chinese/​Vietnemese food are good.
Finally, people working there are really nice :)

Conveniently located in Town & Country for Stanford students who can bike or take the marguerite.
Inconveniently located in Town & Country for car drivers who will have to find parking (although, the newly added parking is helping on that front).
This is the only Trader Joe’s I’ve ever been to, so this is more of a review of some Trader Joe’s stuff overall most likely.
I like how they always have a sample in the back of a sweet snack & a savory snack.
Trader Joe’s doesn’t really have a great selection of normal grocery store stuff. It seems mostly aimed at folk who don’t wanna cook with lots of frozen, ready-​made meals. Students especially seem to love these.
Then there is also the lovely Two Buck Chuck.
I, personally, am not a fan of Trader Joe’s. I’ve tried some of their stuff, and they haven’t impressed me. I prefer just making the stuff myself and going to a bigger grocery store for the supplies.
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Macaron review for my macaron list:
For frozen, boxed macarons that only cost $ 0.50, these are actually pretty good. Actually better than most of the macarons I’ve tried that cost far more.
The vanilla and chocolate seemed to have completely different textures. The vanilla was really light, and tasted more like sugar than vanilla to me. The chocolate was really chewy (which I liked), but the chocolate had a really strange taste for some reason.