Gelson’s Market

I go here to get coffee and my fav breakfast sandwich. However, the staff is very unfriendly, especially at the wolfgang puck express line where you get ur breakfast sandwich.
Every time I have ordered it takes 5 min for someone to ask if I need help and the employees behind the bar seem like they are annoyed that they have to make it for you. I will admit the line is never busy and it probably is a pain for them to make my sunrise sandwich, but it’s soooo good. It’s just a bummer that I always leave feeling slightly guilty for making someone do their job.

My favorite grocery store in the country! The employees at this location are so nice, happy and helpful!!! I love visiting SB and this store is one of the reasons why.

Excellent quality foods at top shelf prices. It’s expensive, yes, but they have great stuff that no one else does, like Ba-​Tempte Half Sour pickles and the Sonoma Brinery pickles (I am very serious about my pickles). They also carry the elusive Wolfgang Puck’s Caesar dressing! There is an awesome bakery and deli there too. It’s worth the drive for me; I usually stop here when passing through Santa Barbara for the hard to find goodies and a yummy lunch.

Very conventional products. Love that they have a renauds bakery inside! The staff is always so nice; which always helps. :)

The best Deli! Love all the different salads and soups! Beautiful selection of flowers… gorgeous orchids & Hydrangeas… excellent for a quick gift!

Made a salad to fill out with chicken and pork chop leftovers. Fresh and delicious. Romaine, mixed, microgreens for choices and other stuffs. Behind it was a carving station — they had fresh whole roast turkey AND roast prime rib !!! Amazing. It’s like a Whole Foods on steroids. Fresh flowers excellent.

Overpriced overhyped wannabe Whole Foods. Save your time and money and go elsewhere. The Renauds in store is nice. Top notch bakery with quality pastries. The hot food section is solid but way overpriced. Other then some fancy sections here and there this just feels like a regular grocery store that try’s to mask its self as a Whole Foods. Not sure what all of the hype is about, just an average store for n my eyes.

Pricey yes, but the quality is there. Renaud’s pastries inside, large organic section, clean, great service. More and more I like to shop there. Like a cross between grocery/​gourmet/​health food stores, but still more like a conventional market.

I thought this would be like a Lazy Acres, but it’s pretty conventional — a step above Safeway and not comparable to Whole Foods or Lazy Acres.
They sell Renaud’s pastries, but Renaud’s IS right next door and many of the croissants are only next door.
The sandwich combos from the deli do look generous, fresh, and delicious. Produce and groceries are pretty typical with a few exceptions of some unusual products. They carry a large variety of butter and gourmet butters. But at the same time, they don’t carry any natural toothpaste, for instance.
It’s pretty much a typical grocery store with typical, mostly bland customer service, but it’s more local in that the locations span from only Dana Point, CA to Santa Barbara, CA.

I love Gelson’s and shop there all the time. The staff is knowledgable and friendly and the food, fresh. I do wish they offered more Organic selections though. And If they ever decide to improve the hot case I wouldn’t have to go over to Whole Foods. Maybe in 2015!!! Best grocery store in town. And cleaner and fresher than Lazy Acres. Gelson’s is great, especially Rob and Jennifer and meat/​produce guys.
PS the Renauds inside is different-​they have decent desserts but the staff is sort of unavailable and well, oddly flustered all the time and I dread having to pick anything up… it’s all about them, not the customer. If they think they are acting French, they’ve missed the boat.

I enjoy stopping here when I’m in town and have a little time to kill. I love browsing their fresh baked pastries, cookies and cakes, as well as their fresh produce and meats. They have a nice selection of beauty and skin care products as well; I was really in a bind last winter with dry, cracked lips and Gelson’s had the most amazing balm that I still carry with me and save for when I really need extra special care of my lips. Their fresh flowers are fantastic and I’d recommend them for any time you need something extra special for a meal or a gift for that special someone.

Such a great store have just recently moved back to SB and so happy to shop at Gelsons. Such a great cheese selection! Great healthy food selection.

We were just finishing up a little Early Autumn getaway to Santa Barbara, and we needed to pick up a little nice desert item to bring with us as a host gift as we were planning to stop off and visit a friend of a generation where if guests show even for 10 minutes, you offer them a bite to eat. We didn’t want to show up empty handed. Plus we didn’t want just plastic wrapping mass produced cookies.
An Entenmann’s would be nice. A little breakfast danish. Maybe their coffee cake?
Gelson’s clean, glorious, and has a large free parking lot. The staff is plentiful, helpful to the point of walking me to the aisle, knowledgeable and courteous.
I’m not criticizing Gelson’s for only have a few of Entenmann’s. I grew up in the Northeast where the Entenmann’s display is more plentiful. I don’t readily find a full scale fully stocked Entenmann’s display anywhere in California. I’m just ever hopeful.
Gelson’s did have some very nice bakery quality scones which we went with. Perfect!
The lines moved quickly, with plenty of check out lines open. No super long waits like at the 99 cents only stores.
Highly recommend.

I am indeed a fan of this Gelson’s. The store has a wide selection of high quality goods and I can usually find anything I am looking for. The main issue with Gelson’s is that like similar stores it is high priced and, while some quality items merit the cost, some seem to be just over-​priced.
Pros:
Salad bar– The Gelson’s salad bar is lovely, clean and well maintained. I get lunch here all the time and I love their cilantro salad dressing. I also appreciate that they have strawberries, blue cheese and quinoa.
Bread– The bread at Gelson’s is baked fresh whenever they run out and it is very good considering it is a supermarket.
Service– The staff are very helpful and cheerful all the time, even when they are busy they will take time to help you out.
Cons–
Price– Because price is a factor for me I have to bring this up. Shoppers these days are savvy and Gelson’s is not always the best value.
The Coffee/​Bakery Counter– This is like the black-​hole of Gelson’s, although I think it is not actually part of Gelson’s officially. The staff are always absent or busy and nothing like the rest of the store staff. They are regulatory dismissive bordering on condescending and I once saw a man take out the trash and then come over to enter my coffee order into the machine without washing his hands, so I left before seeing if he would make my order without washing as well. Yuck.

I love shopping at Gelson’s.
The staff is always very nice, the store super clean and has a wide, beautiful selection of everything you could need.
Sure, some things are pricey, but the quality is excellent and they have a lot of local and unique items which I always love and appreciate.
Santa Barbara has some great grocery options for being such a small city, Gelson’s would be on of the best when it comes to freshness and taste.

This is a really nice market. It reminded me of Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s because of its vast offering of natural, organic foods. It’s more intimate like Trader Joe’s though. There’s also a lot of local products (milk, ice cream, etc) which was a nice change from the usual Las Vegas markets that I’m accustomed. I walked around briefly to kill some time, so the only area that I really looked in detail was the ice cream, frozen yogurt, and gelato section. There were pints of local McConnell’s, Three Twins from San Francisco, and Jeni’s from Ohio to name a few of the small artisan companies offered here. There’s also a Renaud’s Bakery in the market, so it’s a good alternative to their busy bistro nearby. I actually ended up making a purchase because my favorite Blue Diamond Brand almonds were on sale! Anyway, if I lived in the area, I would certainly enjoy shopping here.

How can I begin to describe my love for the hot food deli at Gelson’s? Part of it is based on nostalgia for the Silverlake location, but really the hot deli at the Santa Barbara shop makes some of the best beef ribs I’ve ever had. They also keep the old school comfort food stocked with creamed spinach, mac and cheese, fried chicken, etc.
The salad bar is pretty decent. And oh, I almost forgot! The cornbread here is one of my favorites.

My favorite grocer in town with tri county… quality, everything is good here… Lazy Acres and Whole Foods are so inferior to Gelson’s… Their prepared foods are amazing unlike Whole Foods which is disgusting… salads, sandwiches, salmon, pizzas, olive bar, ceviches, sushi, produce… top notch… they even have Renaud’s pastries inside. Best market in town, nothing comes close, you find everything you want here. Friendly service and great quality.

I only go here because of the meat department, which I would rate at 5 stars easily. They have an excellent selection, with outstanding service and quality that rivals any of the high end mail order places that I have tried, plus at a better price without the cost of shipping or waiting! Their ribeye roast (prime rib) is absolutely out of this world! Also their rack of lamb, pork roast and even their ground beef is far superior to anything you would find in chain stores. Overall, the store is well stocked (with some unique and hard to find items) with wide aisles and is always meticulously clean. I’m knocking off 1 star because some of the checkers are more involved in conversing with the baggers instead of acknowledging the customers (except Kent, he’s friendly and professional). It’s all good… I just grab a few items and I’m on my way!

The store seems to have a lot of specialty items but I just didn’t find what I needed. I needed chestnuts (the Christmas nut) but what they had was not the quality I needed plus it was overpriced at $ 9.99 per pound. However, this place gets four stars because all of the employees were super duper friendly and helpful. Plus there are many other items I’d like to try if I wasn’t in such a hurry. I’ll have to come back again and give them another shot.