Trader Joe’s

Sadly, I’m no longer a fan of this location and I avoid shopping here unless it’s absolutely necessary, i.e. when I’m asked to pick something up if I’m in the neighborhood.
I DREAD doing this favor: (
#1: The primary issue is that the parking lot is minuscule for the amount of people living in the Downtown Walnut Creek area who apparently shop here.
Back in the day, this wasn’t a big problem, but now, with the build out of more apartments in the downtown area, it is.
#2: A secondary issue is the crowd inside and employees nervously hovering likes helicopters anxiously surveying the shoppers, especially in the refrigerated foods section.
They’re so busy doing this, that they’re unable to assist. When they are available, they don’t seem to be familiar with their stock.
#3: A third issue are the hit-​or-​miss cashiers.
On my most recent trip to the store last week, the cashier double charged both the customer in front of me (who bought 5 items) — AND me (who bought 3 items) — and then told me to stop talking (in FRONT of the manager, mind you) when I began showing her the receipt.
If I *must* shop at TJ’s, then I’d rather drive farther out to Lafayette, where I can park on the street, experience friendly customer service, and make it a breeze to shop.

I love trader joes. The One in Walnut Creek is awesome the people are friendly and they are fast and efficient. The lines are always long during my lunch hour but the store does its best to make sure there are as many cashiers as possible. The fresh salad selection is always fully stocked. I also find it convenient to pick up a quick dinner and the samples always give me great ideas and a chance to taste what’s new. A friendly smiling face makes it that much better

It’s always crowded, parking is a nightmare, the lines are always long, the checkers move at a slower place, and the samples aren’t as good as the ones on Oak Grove. Still, this store needs to exist in my life.
As far as Trader Joe’s’ go, this one is A-​OK. It works, it gets the job done. If I ever have the option to choose, I always go to a different one, especially if I just want to get in and out.
Plusses are the friendly staff and always having the food I need — if TJ’s can just bring back the ready-​made Eggplant Parmesan, the world would be a much brighter place!

One of my favorite T.J.‘s in the East Bay.
Service: Wonderful. Employees here seem very perky, happy and in good spirits most of the time. I think TJ’s allows them to be themselves and it always seems like they’re having fun on the job. It makes the experience pleasant for the customer as well as their mood determines how they will treat you!
Selection of Items: Always well-​stocked for being such a busy location. I don’t like buying produce at Trader Joes, aside from spinach and other packaged produce, but I do browse the produce sections and the stuff always looks fresh. They always have my top items in stock: baby spinach, greek yogurt, cottage cheese, rolled oats, various nuts, almond butter! I am in/​out with all the things on my list for the most part.
Parking Lot: You think it’s big, but it’s actually not big enough. Often have problems finding parking, especially when Petco decides to have puppy events. I try to park deeper in the lot or really close to the exits so I avoid any issues when backing out, a lot of elderly people shop here and their driving skills aren’t the best anymore.
Overall: Great service, good selection of stuff that is well stocked, great samples! Overall, likely one of my favorite T.J.s in the East Bay.

When I lived down in So Cal (most of my life), I lived in a little town called Monrovia. Which also happens to be the home of Trader Joe’s corp offices. A little interesting tid bit about their corp offices. There’s absolutely NO signage outside that identifies it as their corp HQ. At least that’s how it was when I lived there from 2004 – 2010. Anyways I got to know a few of the folks that worked there because a lot of them would work out at the 24 Hour Fitness next door. One of the things they told me is that one of their favorite stores happens to be down the road on Foothill Blvd in Sierra Madre. It was the best TJ’s I’ve ever been to, and not before I got this opinion from the employees I got to know.
So how does the WC TJ’s rate? Of course, a 10 for customer service. But there two main reasons why this TJ’s isn’t my favorite. First is the atrocious parking. The lot is like a small corner strip mall, small spaces, and it is very difficult to get into if you’re southbound and turning left into the TJ’s parking area. Second, and while this is not TJ’s fault and what I’m going to say might offend a few of you: there’s a lot of elderly people shopping in this particular TJ’s and there have been two occasions where an elderly man and a woman (2 separate incidents) have nearly rear ended me. I know a lot of you are going to hate on me for saying that, but really, just pay attention because many elderly don’t have the awareness, hearing, and/​or motor skills that they used to have. It’s just what it is, so please be careful and alert while in the parking lot.
Third: while I have no idea of the square footage, this seems a lot smaller than other TJ’s I’ve been to, even the one in Lafayette. That said, I’ve yet to not find what I needed during my 4 visits.
Though we live closest to this TJ’s, we prefer to drive a little farther to the Concord TJ’s which has a huge parking lot and seems to be a bit bigger.

Ahh my neighborhood Trader’s. I’ll write this review for those who have never been before. It’s the best place for essential items at a good price and is also famous for their wine selection!
Let’s get one thing straight, Trader’s isn’t known for having the broadest selections. Sure, you might not have a choice of 12 types of mustard, but who needs that many options anyway? They’re known for trying to have one choice — what they deem to be the best choice.
This Trader’s has everything you’d expect — fresh fruits and veggies, a floral arrangement section, pre-​packaged deli meats and cheeses, coffee, dairy, eggs, baking supplies, frozen foods, snacks, laundry/​cleaning/​hygiene supplies, etc.
The service is always very helpful. Most recently I was looking for puff pastry — I didn’t even know what it was, but the staff was very helpful and helped me find it. Who would have thought Trader had puff pastry?!
We always come here for our weekly groceries and will continue to!

The workers here are so friendly and seem to be happy to be there! Lots of choices and a reasonable price. In fact, everything there was cheaper than in our normal grocery stores in Hawaii!

Trader Joes is awesome!
I love coming here to fulfill my grocery shopping needs. They have a great selection of goods that are good quality, great tasting and at a reasonable price.
I’ve been a Trader Joes regular for about 5 years now and rarely have I been disappointed by their product offerings.
My personal favorites are their ice cream options (ever heard of speculos ice cream??? YUM). They have lots of tasty and relatively healthy snacks. Their wine options are pretty extensive too and very reasonable compared to other places.
My only qualm is that I wished they had a better produce section. Traders is on the smaller side compared to other grocery chains.
Nevertheless, I love coming here to see what specialty items I can find. They do a great job of having unique product offerings that you wouldn’t find elsewhere.
The staff is always super friendly and helpful too.
Do check it out!

I hate to give bad reviews but I am done with this TJ’s at this location. I’ve had many bad experiences here in the years we have lived here.
— Multiple times I have come home with moldy fruit, especially the berries. Who has time to go back over and over again to return the moldy fruit and get a refund?
— My son found a worm in his edamame back in May (eeew), see picture. These are the frozen edamame that you boil. The reason we found it was because he squeezes the edamame out onto his plate instead of popping it into his mouth.
— The parking lot is horrendous — an elderly lady backed up into my car a few years ago as she was backing out of her parking space. I honked and honked but she still proceeded to continue backing up and then the damage was done.
— The last straw was when I had to wait for a long time while the cashier took his sweet old time bagging and chatting with the person in front of me while multiple people came and gone in the next lanes.

Great store !! Im a Big Trader Joes Fan and shopper. I go to traders joes probably every other day to get food or snacks.
I Love have they AlwAys has a lot of healthy great choices can’t ever go wrong shopping here!
Did a small little run today, picked up a new snacks and healthy choices! They also make it very affordable for anyone to shop here !! Which is awesome who wouldn’t want to shop somewhere who has great food and great prices.
You can find about everything you need here. They might not have the best and large produce section like Safeway but they have plenty of other goodies you can find.
Trader Joe also have great friendly worker that are always available to help you find anything you are looking for!

If you don’t know about Trader Joe’s and you’re a Californian, then I don’t really know where you’ve been for the past 20 or so years they’ve been popular.
They have pretty much everything you need in a grocery store and a lot of cool little niche seasonal stuff. Everyone has their own favorite TJs product.
I like them because they’re basically a health food store but really cheap in comparison to Whole Foods and Sprouts etc. They treat their employees well and it shows. I’ve never had a bad experience in any Trader Joe’s ever.
As far as this one goes, it’s a little small and like 99% of Walnut Creek, parking sucks.

I love Trader Joe’s in general. I found that this one here in Walnut Creek is a little bit larger than the one in Brentwood. So yay for me! This TJ’s shares a building with Pet Food Express, which is great because that’s where we shop for our pets. 2 scores at one location!
Now the only down side of this location is the parking lot. It’s a pretty small lot. The parking lot can be a mad house during the weekends. Most notably Sundays around noon-​ish/​1pm. Just fair warning about parking.

Stopped at Trader Joe’s this morning (Walnut Creek) to pickup some sugar free chocolate bars for my brother, he’s a Type 2 diabetic, and can only eat these types of chocolates. They have several kinds: Milk, Dark and Dark Chocolates with almonds. They taste very good and have that wonderful non-​sugary taste (like bitter dark chocolate). The price is $ 1.99 each with tax… they are well worth the price and not expensive.
Did not forget my dogs; bought them a box of Dog Treats Assorted Natural Flavors; cost was $ 3.49; they enjoyed them.
And also, while looking around, I found a tartar sauce with dill and jalapeño. It’s $ 2.49. Bought it, couldn’t wait to get home and put some on crackers… so good. I love that sharp/​dill and hot/​jalapeño taste. Another food to use this on would be deviled egg. (So good!!)

The only place I can shop for groceries with the kids. They have the little kid carts to keep them busy, and everything is well organized and always stocked, unlike Safeway where it seems I always have to ask someone to pull milk from the back. Great selection of quality products, and the staff is always friendly and helpful.

Love this store. Close to home and it has everything. Quick pace inside – be ready to shuffle. Plenty of employees to help/​reach/​answer/​search for your need! It’s a TJ’s Gem! Bring your own bags, it’s WC! But you can buy bags: $.99 — $ 2.99.
Bullet Points:
Plenty of carts
Limited parking
Security guard (didn’t know we needed one, I may rethink.)
Post Script: I was walking out with my three bags, super heavy and pregos. The associate working the carts/​parking helped me remove my bags from the cart. I’m 4’9 with «heels on»…this was so generous. And kind. The security guard just watched… he must have been busy… with our WC crime. He never smiled at me once, I moved away from him quickly. I felt judged. One star removed.

They carry afforadable delicious food that is completely handy for quick lunch grabs! Kind of a smaller location compared to others that I have been in, but definitely still decent enough to throw a meal or two together and even handle some general errands off your grocery list!
Still not a huge fan of Trader Joe’s incessant packaging of their products, but I recycle what I can at home so that makes me feel a bit better!
Wish they carried 100% whole coconut milk in the can instead of light or ½… not everyone is on a diet and it has multiple uses. Their essentials are almost non-​existent at this location so for something like that I would head over to Sprouts who has a massive selection in comparison.
Parking at this location is not ideal. almost wish they would’ve built up and had the entire ground level parking, but hey. I don’t run the world…
Simply because it’s a convenient location for me, I will be returning as needed!

I heart TJs but the parking here can be very difficult. Especially during the holidays. The staff is friendly and very tolerant of my toddler who runs around the store and tries to grab endless cheese samples. The store is not big but it is well organized and easy to navigate. ThIs location has all I typically want from a TJ like $ 0.19 bananas, raisin Rosemary crisps, triple ginger brew, hummus quartet, mochi ice cream and Autumn wheat cereal.

You know what TJ, I heart you.
Not only are you a stone’s throw away from my work place but you carry affordable delicious food that I can grab on the go for lunch. On those days I didn’t pack a lunch, I have lots of choices to choose if I stop at TJ. And let’s be real, eating lunch at Whole Foods is rarely under $ 10.
The employees are always friendly and I pick up a Basil plant here every few months because I love having fresh basil to cook with at home. Plus, my little bunny, Dexter, loves his fresh herbs.
Now that I have a puppy, I notice they also carry organic dog treats as well. Bravo, bravo.
October is a month the store gets drenched in pumpkin. So if you are a pumpkin lover, get your booty over there ASAP.

I love this Trader Joe’s!
I won’t go into how awesome Trader Joe’s is in general (I’m assuming most people know that, across the board, TJ is a wonderful company with high quality groceries at affordable prices… At least, I hope most people know that). I’m a devoted Trader Joe’s fan, but I’d like to focus my attention on the Walnut Creek store specifically.
Yay, staff members! You guys are great! I am always asked if I need help when walking around the store. On more than one occasion a staff member has gone to the back to get more of something I don’t see on the shelves and done it quickly and with a genuinely positive attitude. When I get to the checkout, the people are friendly and ask me about my day, my weekend, my plans, the delicious things I’m going to eat, or they offer suggestions based on what I’ve purchased.
Okay, the parking is pretty terrible, but that’s really the only negative thing I can say about this Trader Joe’s.
Keep up the good work, Walnut Creek Trader Joe’s!

So one day in 2012 I’m poised (elegantly, of course) at the checkout stand of the Trader Joe’s I stop by almost every morning (because I almost always forget some food item in the morning scramble to get to work) and I look up at this big mural that had recently been painted. Children playing, mother’s mothering, bodies of water just sitting there – y’know, the yooj (Sidebar: Is yooj or us’ a better way of writing the abbreviated form of «usual»? The grammatical part of me wants to go with us’ but the rest of me just wants someone to actually understand. I digress.) But as I surveyed the scene, I realized there was something missing… Namely, brown people. That’s right. The mural had no brown-​skinned people of any sort. Only pale people milling about on a jovial day, not a brown person in sight. Now, I may use humor to express this situation but it actually disturbed me deeply to imagine that children of all colors and creeds could be standing exactly where I was that morning and fail to see any images that they could identify with. Incensed, I started a petition and wrote to Trader Joe’s corporate office. I patiently awaited a response and talked to the lovely staff at Trader Joe’s about it whenever I had a chance (they were also pretty confused once it was pointed out). After almost a year, I decided to write again. This time, the manager of TJ’s called me personally to apologize and let me know that something was being done to rectify the situation. I was very happy with her determination to find a resolution that would work for everyone. (However, seven months have passed since that call. No changes have been made to the mural.)
Really, the only reason I really go to Trader Joe’s at all nowadays is for a few select items that are actually a bit cheaper here and for specialty TJ’s-brand items that I can’t resist. (I should probably just find somewhere else to buy a nice bottle of almond champagne and roasted coconut chips and get my life.)
But overwhelmingly, their produce sucks, the prices are steeper than their niche counterparts, and I just ain’t got time for all that.