African Hut

The checkout process with Frank is excellent. He is always smiling, professional, and…read moreknowledgeable. It is such a pleasure to see him.

Zero consistency at the "build-your-own" sandwich deli…read more My first visit here was fantastic where the sandwich maker pulled out a note pad and made a list of my ingredients and produced a delicious East Coast Italian grinder in a very reasonable amount of time. Saturday early evening was the exact opposite. This gent had zero business being assigned to this department working solo and really should be in another department altogether. He had no idea what he was doing, and I had to guide him through the entire process. I recommended he make a list and he vetoed that. As a result, I showed him my list of ingredients, and he took it with his glove hand and set the dirty paper on the board where you lay the bread out to make a sandie. Woof! And then he could not read it anyway, so he had to ask me. He could not find anything and even when I pointed out obvious packaged meats in front of his face, he did not hear it or was not listening. I had to say the word and point it out three times. When he saw the list, he said he would have to use less of each because there were too many. There was no offer of "it will cost more" to do this so I just said fine, do what your able to do. In the end, he forgets the cheese entirely and when I ask for dressing (oil and vinegar) he drops a 1/4 of a tsp on the bread only and not on top of the other half. I said to myself "shine it" I'll fix this cold mess at home with a jar of giardiniera I recently bought in Chicago at a sandwich shop. I only noticed the absence of provolone cheese when I got home. What I did observe was three slices of meat, two strips of lettuce and the roll for their standard price. I am all for giving people opportunities or a shot whether young or old but if someone is not a fit for a particular department do not place them there even during the off-peak hours or to sub for someone's meal period. Another associate entered towards the end of this 25-minute fiasco. I am a rare breed in the "tech age" and very patient but this guy tested even my patience. He was not rude, but he was not very personable either. He seemed overwhelmed out of the gate, and it stayed that way throughout. In the end, I fixed it at home on my own dime with my own provolone cheese, red wine vinegar, EVO and giardiniera. I likely will not be back unless I come at the lunch hour and look for a different worker. Otherwise, I will try out Sprout's or go back to Ralph's who has done a nice job in the past. They offer the same services.

Amazing Gelato / Ice Cream

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Cute floral cupcakes

Ralphs Fresh Fare

2.8(193 reviews)

3.7 mi

They do manage to have a little of everything in a small store…read more However, they routinely have only one register open. It's not even 7:30 pm and we have 10 people in line. The line for the one register and the line for the self serve merged. The entire front aisle was full of people. It was like a bread line in Soviet Russia during the war. And it's a routine occurrence. The lack of air conditioning was another excruciating factor. Is this Aliso Viejo or a third world country? The prices look like Aliso. The employees told me they always cut the staff at 7pm. I can see being short staffed at 11pm but it's not even 7:30. Some people get off work at 7 and want to buy something for dinner! This is barbaric. I will not shop there after 7 ever again.

Normally their grab-and-go and bargain grab-and-go sandies and foods are legit…read more Today I pushed it with the $3.60 about to expire BOAR's HEAD PASTRAMI SANWICH on RYE. No mayo or condiments could save this stale bread and dry meat with wilted turning black lettuce. I will use more caution next time in spite of having winning bargain priced fried chicken, baked chicken and crab cakes here in the past.

Black mold on refrigerator racks

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Ralphs

2.7(158 reviews)

1.1 mi

I come to Lake Forest pretty often and this Ralph's is my go to. The store is always clean. It's…read morenormally a come and go trip with little to no interactions, but on Saturday 8/15/2026, I was highly annoyed by a worker there named David. My fiancée and I were there and wanted a bottle of Tequila that was locked in the cabinet. I left to find a worker and didn't see any so I went to self-checkout to see if the young lady there may have a had a walkie or something to help. Behind an organizer of reusable bags I could see a worker just standing there. David. The young lady asked if he could help me since she could not leave her post and he said he had a customer. He didn't. He then opted to call someone to the front who didn't come. He behaved this way all thinking I did not see him. I walked over to his checkout lane and looked directly at him to which he looked down. The young lady then came to help me as self-checkout was empty. It was fairly quick. Less than 2 minutes. She told me it'd be at the front. I know at this location, I can purchase liquor with an employee at self-checkout but I purposely went to David's lane. He couldn't say "Hello," look at us directly, or say "Thank you have a good night." while checking us out despite doing just that to the person in front of us and behind. Hmmmmmm? Interesting yes? I loudly thanked the young lady for helping us and leaving her post to do so while remarking on David not helping her or us. I wish I had asked for her name. She did not have on her name tag or it was on her pant loop. I didn't get to see it. This interaction will not stop me from going to this store necessarily, but I will not forget the interaction. To be that purposely evasive so loudly is poor work ethic and customer service.

A little disappointed to be leaving this review because this is our local grocery store. However, I…read morefeel it's important to let other customers know to PLEASE CHECK the expiration dates before purchasing. Unfortunately, we've come across multiple expired products here. A few months ago, I noticed Cotija cheese on the back shelf that was moldy and well past its expiration date, which I immediately reported to the cashier. Then just two days ago, my son purchased bacon that turned out to be two months expired. This doesn't seem to be an isolated incident, and it appears expired items are not being removed from the shelves consistently. I hope management takes this seriously and improves their inventory checks, as this is a food safety concern.

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Bought some essentials

99 Ranch Market

3.8(104 reviews)

3.1 mi

My guy bought some seasoned meat from the deli and he said it was great taste and price for what he…read moregot. We mostly browsed the market just to see what they had available for grab and go. The misubi was decently priced on sale, $2.50 each if you buy two. The store is very big, with lots of options and plenty of staff to help with any questions. Parking lot is plentiful, we were there on a Saturday afternoon. The fresh fruits and vegetables were excellent and decently priced. I loved all of the different items you can't find at the usual markets. Store is clean and bright and they have plenty of carts to use. The dessert section is fabulous!

99 Ranch Market is a wonderland if you are a foodie. You can find a large array or proteins,…read morevegetables, frozen foods, sauces, snacks, beverages, and candy. Definitely worth checking it out.

Liquor section.

Clean aisles

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Beer run + misc items

Mission Ranch Market

3.6(730 reviews)

2.3 mi

Love the restaurant here and the produce! Wonderful market! Been going for years and finally…read morewriting a well deserved review

My favorite place to shop. Great produce, prices, and clean. Easy to navigate isles and find what…read moreI'm looking for with clear markers.

Love the nut section. No one has access except employess.

Variety of rice

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Ralphs

2.8(124 reviews)

2.6 mi

Back at my favorite Ralph's in Laguna Hills this store is fantastic.. stocked to the brim, great…read moredeli, super meat case gigantic wine and alcohol department lots of sales everywhere a little pricey, but worth it, you can't beat this cool fun store. friendly staff It's been six months since I've been here. I'll be back. New gas pumps are open lots of room

How is this grocery store location is still in business?! Incompetenceand poor service was the…read moreatmosphere at this location today. The deli can't even fill an adversed fried chicken order. The frontline deli staff, cannot even speak English. I don't care that they can't speak English, but why are they even put in that uncomfortable position? It's not their fault, it's bad management, and I felt bad for the staff for being put in that position. I had to resort to my broken Spanglish to be able to articulate a simple 12-piece order for fried chicken which was a total fiasco. Then they were unable to fill the order because they didn't have the containers, didn't have enough sides prepped, and no ability to price the order simple chicken combo as stated on the TV menu board. So I told the front end manager and he simply said, "oh the staff is new...). Finally, and the short cashier with the big eyelashes and bad attitude was just plain lazy and rude, demanding I empty the hand basket that contained only unlabeled containers from my fried chicken combo, and asking ME the price of a 12 combo. Give me a break, this is the most frustrating shopping experience I've had in years. Im never going back and DEFINITELY sticking with Stater Bros

Ralphs

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Clean aisles with flowers

Sprouts Farmers Market

3.5(289 reviews)

4.0 mi

I normally don't shop here, but I ran in to grab some eggs and bread and was pleasantly surprised…read moreat the friendliness of the employee who helped me, Sophie. She showed me where the eggs were since I hadn't been in before and even told me which ones were on sale. I also grabbed some fun fall items to try that they had out on display. I will be back to this location.

A grocery store will always be as is - personally, I love Sprouts, the store is clean, organized,…read morerelatively well stocked, and all of the workers are friendly and helpful. As a "crunchy" person, I could you would call it, I love that they have so many things for holistic wellness/medicines. These are so much better than the ones in drug stores. I found that many of these things have worked for me. The prices can seem a bit high for some - but what prices AREN'T seeming high these days. When they have good sales, it can be quite fair, and the produce is fresh. I'm leaving 5 stars for the care and service by the manager. I don't like to make a big deal - I purchased a bag of avocados that were all rotten inside - it happens. They took care of me more than a week later. The manager's name is Sophie. Thanks Sophie, for your great work and care for your customers. They had even helped with the coupon I got and ensure it worked for me, prior to this event.

SPROUTS Farmers Market, Laguna Niguel, CA! They Finally have back in stock Good Culture~ IYKYK! (9/20/2025 Visit)

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Grocery Outlet

3.6(47 reviews)

4.6 mi

Pleasantly surprised with this place. I went on a whim after going to the gym cuz I needed snacks…read morefor Bible study and ended up spending $80. This place is impulse buy heaven. They had Olipops for $0.50 each, Celsius for $1, and so much more. Purchased a pound of grass fed ground beef for $8, plus a pound of chipotle beef sticks for like $8-9, which normally would cost $18-20 easily at a normal grocery store. That's not even a quarter of what I purchased. Suffice it to say, I'll definitely be coming back.

We purchased a case of wine today from the is store and while other customers were getting cases of…read morewine and provided a discount (for wine Wednesday), the cashier failed to provide me with the same promised discount of 20%. I looked at my receipt when I was home and the manager told me I had to drive all the way back to the store (20 min away) with the wine to get the discount. They refused to issue store credit, a gift card or even let me bring in the receipt tomorrow vs today. It's false advertisement and they need a better manager. It's extremely disappointing since we shopped there frequently and have never had this issue. We won't be back we'll go to other stores that care about retaining their customers

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Trader Joe's

4.1(226 reviews)

3.3 mi

I just wanted to write this to thank one of the store employees of this Trader Joes location who…read morefixed the problem that was entirely my own fault. I bought three smoked salmon that was priced at $8.99 each, and opted out of getting a bag and also failed to bring my own. But when I got home which was about 5-10 minutes away, I only had 2 out of 3, meaning I believe I dropped one sometime after I walked out of the store. I frantically drove back from my home to the parking lot trying to find my missing third salmon but to no avail. I had to accept that I lost one of my purchases... I went back in the store and frantically explained my situation to the employee at the registrar, and he deferred my issue to a store manager (I think), his name is Brendan S., who gave me 1 smoked salmon on the house to compensate for the trouble that, again, was my own fault! I instantly felt so much better and was very grateful that he understood my predicament. I cannot thank Brendan enough for fixing my issue. I have been a longtime customer of this Trader Joes, and I will be sure to continue to do a lot more shopping there in the future. To any fellow customers reading, don't do what I did by not using a bag and carrying things by hand! :)

I took off a star because of recent experiences with produce which went bad too soon and for other…read morereasons. TJ's take on Korean food, in my opinion, was disappointing and a waste of time. The Beef "Bulgogi" in the frozen aisle? Never again. The "Japchae"? I do not recommend it. Many of you probably know that some of TJ's heavily marketed snacks and candies taste very good. I like to buy the Thanksgiving stuffing seasoned kettle potato chips. Employees are helpful and many of them know a lot about the products like jarred pasta sauce, apple cider donuts, and what have you. The store always seems clean and bright.

Cute Halloween decorations

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Whole Foods Market

2.9(613 reviews)

4.8 mi

•$$$

I go to the Laguna Niguel Market Bar. I love the buffalo cauliflower and my wife loves the steak…read moresalad. Both are cooked to perfection. The wait staff are always friendly and you can watch sports while you eat. They have a wonderful selection of pilsner beer, my favorite. It is a nice place to sit and relax before or after shopping, or just to get a bite and a beer.

The one star is for the pizza bar. We come to WFM pretty regularly and the pizza there is actually…read morevery good and a steal for $12 for a cheese pizza considering Costco is $9.99. However, they really need to step up the quality of staff they hire for the pizza bar (the manager or a more seasoned employee is usually at the cold deli section). On one recent visit, we placed an order for one pizza and when we dutifully came back 15 minutes later, there was literally no one at the pizza bar and one pizza was in the oven and we watched as it got progressively more and more charred. Finally, another customer got the attention of another employee who was shocked and apparently the pizza person "had an emergency" and "didn't tell anyone". So our pizza was never made and the employee just ran off with a pizza baking to literally ash. Fast forward to another incident and it's 1PM and nearly all of the self service options are empty. We ask the pizza person if we could just order an entire pizza and was told 45-50 minutes. So needless to say we left because we definitely didn't plan on shopping for an hour just for a pizza. Here's a picture of the embarrassingly empty self serve section. I did inquire if they'll be stocking more self service pizzas and that was another 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile they were still taking more phone orders. However, I'm glad this experience told me they accepted phone orders. Now I'll just order at home before leaving the house so it's all ready when we get there.

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Hundreds of millions of reviews are posted on Yelp, and our automated recommendation software works in the background to showcase the reviews that it …

7 reviews that are not currently recommended

The reviews below are not factored into the business's overall star rating.

J A.

5 years ago

They used to be in Laguna Niguel, now in Laguna Hills under the name Origins World Foods. It's a much bigger store now, with more than just South African products, there's German and other European goodies too! Decent prices and new staff, but just as friendly and helpful as the old staff. They also told me how to do a store pickup if you have time at home, but not when you're on the road, so be sure to ask. Soon they will have South African wine and other alcohol too! read more

Hilary L.

3 years ago

please communicate with your customers. i have been e-mailing, texting and calling for days and no response. i need to know if my package has shipped. items ordered after the package in question have shipped but no news on the original order. listen to the voicemails, read the e-mails and texts and respond please. read more

Gillian M.

7 months ago

Received an item short in my order. I've contacted them several times. Both via email and Facebook. **** crickets ****

Andrew A.

5 years ago

I am a constant shopper here and time and time again their shipping time is less than pathetic.

Marie m.

13 years ago

Beware when ordering online and submitting credit card info

David B.

13 years ago

Peri-Peri, enough said.

Kyle L.

14 years ago

very cool place!

African Hut - gourmet - Updated October 2026

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We had the absolute pleasure of coordinating with Yahya on our order from iSweets & Delights. He…read moremade the entire ordering process extremely easy. He was responsive and answered all of our questions. He provided follow ups on our order and gave us timelines that he met. The sweets and pastries themselves were extraordinary. They looked amazing and tasted even better. I couldn't recommend iSweets & Delights highly enough.

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