Best grocery ever hugest selection of gourmet foods at great prices i have ever seen compared to BBEast this place feels 10 times bigger in size and selection wish i lived next door! they gave fine bakery items loads of sushi(rice is too moist) and fresh pasta galore including japanese and chinese noodles beyond impressive they also have tons of prepackaged deli foods and they even have bags of chips from other countries read more

If crowds or parking put you off, come here on a Friday night. You'll practically have the place to yourself. I'm something of a grocery store connoisseur. I love browsing the aisles of food shops wherever I can find them. And when I travel, I almost always bring back edible souvenirs. Visiting Berkeley Bowl West is sort of like going on an exotic trip with the many amazing products they carry. The bulk offerings are truly remarkable. You can find everything from spiced rooibos chai, dried organic persimmons and hibiscus flowers to azuki beans, roasted buckwheat groats and garbanzo flour. My personal favorites are the honey roasted sesame sticks, genmaicha tea and dark chocolate chipotle almonds. I also spend a lot of time in this area of the store when I'm getting ready to bake. They have a great selection of special flours, spices and teas that are worth a closer look. Berkeley Bowl West also has an above average cheese selection, solid wine offerings and a huge amount of both conventional and organically grown produce. You can get a made to order sandwich or burrito here too. After years of shopping at this East Bay institution, I can safely say if you can't find a fruit, vegetable or spice here, it may not exist! read more

Berkeley Bowl West - Sandwich from the deli counter - Cafes Near Me - Berkeley, California

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This place is the cafe attached to Berkeley Bowl West. You can't miss it. The interior is spacious with plenty of seating. It's brightly lit and easy to read the menu selections. I came in on Wednesday looking to grab a quick bite to eat after getting groceries. I ordered their special of the day, which was a lobster roll and sweet potato fries for 10.99. Yes that's right, a LOBSTER roll and a side of sweet potato fries for only 10.99! The portion size was good as they don't skimp on the lobster and was quite tasty. Also the fries were perfectly fried. The ingredients were all fresh. Before I knew it, I had already finished the whole meal. Overall, I was pleasantly impressed by the food I got here and would definitely come back if I come back to Berkeley Bowl West (especially if Wednesday's always have that lobster roll special). Would not be opposed to trying the other options as well. read more

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I've visited Berkeley countless times over the past 20 years, and this was my first visit to Berkeley Bowl. Just an awesome grocery store with such a vast array of items. It definitely is a better, a bit less expensive version of Whole Foods. The produce section is of good quality, neatly organized, and has such a wide variety. The bulk items, prepared foods, bakery, cheese, were just some of the things I looked at but couldn't really buy as much since I was just visiting a friend for a few days. On a weekday, it was great walking around but I returned during the weekend and it was super crowded walking around the aisles and at the checkout lines. Minor quibble. I'm already looking forward to coming back again on the next trip. read more

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I don't think Berkeley bowl needs my recommendation as there are tons of people going there. Yes, lots of variety of good quality selection. Price , bit on the steep side but I did find great quality bunch of lilies for under $7. read more

One of the most memorable super markets in the bay area. They have AMAZING produce section for organic AND non-organic. They have so much variety. They had at least 10 types of eggplants, 8 types of mushrooms, 5 varieties of apples. They have porcini mushroom powder. Great buy-by-weight area for grains/beans/mixed snacks. Parking can be tricky. They don't have a lot of space but I have always observed very nice drivers that do not swipe spots from you. read more

Berkeley Bowl West rocks! It's such a big space packed full of a variety of produce and packaged goods in addition to a fish counter, cheese counter, dairy aisle, prepared food, and an adjacent cafe. I'm able to find anything that I need here for all of my culinary needs. I appreciate that I can get all of my shopping done in one place, and for reasonable prices : ) Although the aisles are full of shoppers, everyone is polite and lets one another through with a smile and a courtesy "excuse me." Thanks to all of the open registers, you don't have to wait long to check out. Just make sure to check your receipt to confirm you were charged the correct price for the correct produce (they can sometimes mix up the seemingly hundreds of varieties of organic and non-organic options.) There is a ton of parking both in the above ground lot, the below grade parking garage, the extra parking lot on Heinz Avenue, and street parking along both Heinz Avenue and Ninth Street. I'm glad that this Berkeley institution lives on! read more

This place has everything you could ever want and more. They have a huge produce selection, ethnic foods section, spices, bulk items, and a hot foods bar. I was able to get everything checked off my list. read more

This Berkeley Bowl is already six years old, but it's taken me a while to find it. Yes, I have a GPS in the car, but I don't live in the East Bay so I needed an excuse to look. That finally happened when I was driving a friend over to Berkeley to run some errands and she mentioned a need for fresh produce. Of course, the older Berkeley Bowl came to mind out of force of habit, but the thought of dealing with that squeeze tube of a parking lot made me want to hurl. Finally I had a valid excuse to visit this operation, which turned out to be as crazy-busy as the Oregon Street location (photo: http://bit.ly/1HD2fvP). What is nice is that they offer an underground lot which was only half-full when we arrived. When we made it into the store, the layout didn't look terribly different, and frankly the aisles looked a bit narrower of which we had a heightened awareness since it was late on a Saturday afternoon when everyone appeared to be there. the ready-made food was all on the right where it was crowded with lookie-loos who were trying to make up their minds on what pizza slice to get. Once you get past the swarm, not an easy task with a cart in tow, we made our way to the produce area which made all the near-body blows and excessive shoulder posturing all worthwhile. The variety of fruits and vegetables here was astounding and made me recall my first visits to the original Berkeley Bowl located across Shattuck from the current one way back when I was a Berkeley undergrad. That was the first time I had zucchini. Flash forward to the present day, and seeing all the variations on mushrooms made me feel like a kid in a candy store (photo: http://bit.ly/1LQmF8E). I bought beets I would have never bought at Safeway or even Whole Foods simply because it's Berkeley Bowl, man (photo: http://bit.ly/1FhcSDa). It isn't cheap but it never was. I come here because I know I can get fresh, organic quality in abundance and never be disappointed. read more

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Berkeley Bowl West is great. This is a big, independent, and popular grocery store located in Southwest Berkeley. The organic produce section is huge and you can buy several foods in bulk. There's a bakery-cafe serving breakfast and lunch as well as offering delicious made-to-order cakes, a flower shop, a meat counter with butchers and a deli, and a seafood department with fresh and interesting selections. They even sell Japanese housewares, cooking supplies, and various ingredients. You can find a lot of neat and unique stuff such as watermelon gherkins (cucumbers less than the size of grapes that look like watermelons), hard-to-find types of pumpkins and squash, cheryimoyas (custard apples), speckled swan gourds, and kiwanos; grass-fed Wagyu beef, game hen, pheasant, capon (castrated chicken), squab, quail, and ground buffalo, elk and camel; and all sorts of fish and seafood like sushi-grade fish, Nordic gravlax, and sea urchin (uni). Needless to say, it can be entertaining to simply browse the inventory. On my last trip to Oakland to visit family, my sister and I came here and loaded up on a variety of groceries and goodies, though nothing too crazy, just a lot of basics. We got a loaf of bread, rolls, English muffins, blueberry muffins, sliced cantaloupe (1/2), sugar, sour cream, and other cooking ingredients, cartons of organic juice (apple and orange), Berkeley Farms eggnog, ice cream, assorted day-old pastries, and a spectacular fruit tart which we took to a dinner party for dessert. It was a hit. Berkeley Bowl has a nice selection of discounted day-old items from the bakery along with old produce that's still good to eat. It's the biggest I've seen of any grocery store. It's a terrific way to save money on yummy snacks/sweets and organic produce. I ate the day-old pastries for breakfast over the next few days and each one was delicious. One was made with blueberries, another strawberries, and another with sliced almonds. The fruit tart was beautiful, symmetrical in its design and fruit placement. It came with ripe and sweet raspberries, blueberries, mango, kiwi, strawberries, and blackberries. It had a luscious cream filling and a hard appetizing crust. Service is good too. If you've never been to Berkeley Bowl, I recommend you check it out. Berkeley Bowl West is the second location. The original Berkeley Bowl is located a couple miles east in South Berkeley. The grocery stores are called Berkeley Bowl because the first store opened inside what used to be a bowling alley. This location, Berkeley Bowl West, has plenty of free parking, both on street level directly outside the store (in surface lots) and inside an underground garage. read more

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Hands down one of the best markets I've ever been to. As a cook and as a regular, this place never seems to fail at amazing me each time I have walked in and shopped. The food selection is 10/10. Everything you can dream of is in this place. The people are amazing 10/10 the ambiance is 10/10 love the location and what they have to offer. We need one of these in or near Sacramento please! My brother who lives in Berkeley took me here for my first time a few months back and now when I am in town visiting, we are almost there all the time! Thank y'all for doing what y'all do best! Much love please go here read more

It's so weird... Berkeley Bowl has always been well-known for having scrumpdiddlyumptious to-go selections inside of it's quarters. So when the Berkeley Bowl West location popped up and included a Berkeley Bowl West Cafe, patrons (including myself) assumed that the food would coincide with the fantastic flavors we had always encountered in the main thang. Um, not so much. What went wrong? I will never know, and I don't really care. It's totally irrelevant to me as I'm (slowly but surely) learning that it is better to find a solution than to complain needlessly about the problem. The solution is to march right inside the glory known as Berkeley Bowl West, grab yourself something from one of the prepared food counters and go have a seat in the Bee Bee Dubz Cafe (or on one of the outdoor tables if you're up for sharing a spot with other custies) to enjoy that satisfying deliciousness. Problem solved. They do have some coffee and tea options that I've found nice, but their coffee is ridic overpriced. Four bucks for an iced coffee?! Even Starbucks hasn't skyrocketed to that level, bro. read more

Awesome choices friendly staff and very helpful. Some interesting exotic fruits. High quality and multiple choices esp mushrooms and potatoes. Fresh durian and exotic fruits. Very cool and neighborly. Everyone mind their own business. Good selection of pastries. Hit and miss on the to go Japanese food. read more

Overall Berkeley Bowl West is perhaps slightly smaller than Berkeley Bowl on Oregon St. The bulk section might be slightly smaller here yet the produce section is perhaps bigger than Berkeley Bowl on Oregon St. Great place to stock up on bulk, produce, & everything else you might need even some products you never knew existed. The diversity from high priced rare organic speciality foods to more readily available affordable goods is a unique feature about Berkeley Bowl. One essential improvement would be to move the fermented food such as sauerkraut & kimchi away from the cold cuts as well as the meat section to put it by the tofu or miso products or another section. That was a turn off as vegans or vegetarians also enjoy fermented foods. Either Berkeley Bowl is as good as a natural food store gets & Oakland needs one! I still give Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco the best of the Bay Area honors as it is 100 percent vegetarian & they give you a .05 cent discount for every container you bring to fill up at the bulk bins if you are a package free diet vegan, vegetarian, or homo-sapien. Rainbow Grocery also has 100 percent organic produce while both Berkeley Bowl & Berkeley Bowl West offer the option of organic or conventional produce. read more

I love this place, I found my stevia plant and okra plant I have been looking for these plants for awhile. Bought bulk lentils n chickpea.

Coolest grocery store with so many options & affordable prices! Place is super packed but for good reason... they have everything. I was in a rush when I went but I want to return and just walk around to see where all everything is from! read more

Omg this is a paradise for produce If your in Berkley it's worth a trip. Just to give you an idea of variety they have 12 varieties of pineapples. read more

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I got the moco loco! I was shocked how every bite had the most amazing flavour, sometimes Japanese food is lightly flavoured but not here! It was delicious.... yum! read more

One of just a handful of places to shop in Berkeley! They've got everything! Separate areas for organic produce, meat, bakery, take out ...

Don't panic it's organic! Berkeley bowls have a certain hypnotic scent that draws you in and makes you forget your worries as well as your name.. until you leave checkout and realize you blacked out and spent $500 on a lifetime supply of cherry tomatoes and blueberry granola Pros: Local & organic produce Lots of local names throughout the packaged food section Local bakery items The bulk section is extensive, has basically everything you need and you don't have to buy all that wasteful packaging to get what you want There is an ugly produce section Cons: A bit pricey but it is always great to support the locals. Swarms of people on the weekends. Like I'm talking lines through the isles Jam packed isles make carts a little inconvenient, baskets are the way to go! They started needlessly wrapping some items in the bulk section in separate plastic wrappers (pre covid) seems wasteful.. You can't put your face under the bulk granola and pull the lever. read more

If you like fresh produce, Berkeley Bowl is heaven. This is the second, newer Berkeley Bowl location that has the same great produce and groceries, but with some perks like more ample parking (parking garage below), more space among the aisles, and in general a more spacious and organized feel. Personally, I enjoy some of the grunge and character of the hectirc original berkeley bowl, but this new location can be a bit more relaxing. PRODUCE: Think of every fruit you could ever want. Berkeley Bowl not only has them, but they probably have multiple cultivars of each one. Are you a mango snob? You'll never have to eat a Tommy Atkins mango again! They have kent, keitt, hayden, ataulfo, manila mangoes, etc. Same for apples, pineapples, peaches, etc, often labeled with what part of California they came from. I love being able to know more about the produce I'm eating and where it comes from. The quality of fruit is unmatched between "traditional" grocery stores like Safeway. Did I mention that the produce is CHEAP? ORGANIC PRODUCE: Like the original Berkeley Bowl, all of the organic produce is in its own section. They have that much organic produce! Good for people who want a one-stop shop for all their organic produce. BULK FOODS: My favorite part of Berkeley Bowl. They have everything from grains, herbs and spices, snacks, nuts and granola, dehydrated soups, pasta, beans, etc. Less waste, less cost, and you can get exactly how much you want. ASIAN GROCERIES: Good expansive aisle of asian groceries, and they carry a surprisingly thorough inventory. It holds me over until I can hit up an actual Asian grocery stores. PANTRY: I usually buy my pantry items elsewhere as they can be a bit more expensive at Berkeley Bowl (e.g. staples like greek yogurt, cereal, hummus, etc.). read more

Tears of joy when I came back to the Berkeley Bowl West from my new home in Arizona. The huge array of foods and reasonable prices are outstanding. read more

Been here several times and never wrote a review. Shame on me! I mostly come here for groceries and for lunch. I hate the afternoon crowd shopping for dinner so I do most of my shopping during lunch. Convenient that this also has a cafe both inside the grocery and outside, a separate cafe. My favorite here is their seared ahi tuna sandwich with sweet potato fries. I also get their breads, desserts and fruits here for my home. Always fresh and good selection. There veggie selection is pretty great as well. There's 2 locations in Berkeley so choose either one. Trust!!! read more

This is pretty much a local version of whole foods. They have pretty much everything and has a large variety of things you can get. There is a lot of delicious stuff here. I came here with my brother and he just picked up coffee while I phantom drooled all over the bread and cheese section. Relatively the produce section everything loves very fresh and it quite clean. I guess anything is clean to me if you compare it to an Asian supermarket. Fresh goods but with freshness you will be paying a premium price of course. For sure, if I lived in the area I would probably shop here given the quality of goods they have. read more

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My heaven on Earth, every possible food offering your heart might desire from all ends of the World at amazing prices. I love to grocery shop when I travel abroad, it's part of the discovery experience for me, and Berkeley Bowl brings all these wonderful delights to us. Johnny and the butchers are so friendly and helpful, if you mention what you're making, they'll gladly suggest which cuts they recommend at various price points. I'm Asian and they are always so patient with my custom cut requests. Eduardo and produce guys offer the same concierge style knowledge, with all the offerings it's overwhelming and they'll advise you on which ones taste the best or the ones they like the most personally. I have been incredibly surprised during covid that I can walk in without a line at times and tons of parking downstairs in the garage. Also super pleased to see how comprehensive their instacart offering is for delivery. Thank you Berkeley Bowl, it feels GREAT to support a Family Owned Business that supports local food entrepreneurs. No one wants Corporations telling us what to eat. read more

This store is one of the best. I feel spoiled it's walking distance from my house. Great selection of organic and conventional produce and fresh meat and seafood. I love grabbing local redbay coffee and Boichick bagels here. I have always had amazing help from the employees and I think what would make this place perfect is if they were to transition to being a worker owned coop. The folks operating BerkeleyBowl west are outstanding. Unfortunately some of the most pretentious, rude and entitled people in all of California do their shopping at this location. I'm talking no awareness of space or sense of courtesy. I have to wear headphones listening to something soothing and know EXACTLY what I need to get so I don't spend too much time in here and end up in a fight. For this reason I have begun utilizing their delivery service available through the Berkeley bowl app. It's a lot of the same amazing stuff but a more generalized and pared down selection. read more

Fruit selection is cool. Sushi section is ok for a quick bite. Pastries look nice but a little to expensive for me. Has a great selection of Asian groceries. Over all will shop again. read more

I absolutely love this grocery store. The most fruit and vegetables options I've ever seen. Organics too. I've had the breakfast burrito here a few times and it's huge and packed with fillings. The sandwiches are good too read more

I used to love coming to Berkeley Bowl West since it's the closest grocery store to my house but my last shopping experience has made me not want to come back at all. I called the day before my plan to visit Berkeley Bowl to see if I could stand in the senior citizen/disabled line because I was pregnant and was told over the phone that I qualified. The next day I was in line and I got such a huge ruckus about being in the senior citizen line and was told I couldn't go into the store. Well now we know that Berkeley Bowl is an uppity grocery store and the only grocery store in the city that doesn't count pregnant people in that category. When I told the woman guarding the line that I called the night before she had to call in her manager to triple check and a man came out of the store to tell me that he would make an exception for that day for me to come in but I wouldn't be allowed in next time. I'm sure there are hundreds of pregnant women just trying to take advantage of the senior line at Berkeley Bowl every day- I mean, come on. read more

Great market to go to for a giant selection of produce. They have both organic and regular produce. The selection is so huge and contains produce that I do not typically see at a "regular" super market. They also have fresh squeezed juices without sugar. I definitely recommend the orange juice and the grape fruit juice. The meat department is also stocked with fresh stuff. It gets a bit busy, so you will have to grab a number and wait to be served. I recommend grabbing a number for the meat department and then shop for your produce. Otherwise you can spend about 10 minutes waiting to be served in the meat department. Bottom line: Come here if you are looking for good quality food. Eat at the cafe before shopping. Grab a number from the meat department BEFORE shopping for produce. Finally try to make it out without spending too much money. read more

I've been shopping at Berkeley Bowl since I was a child. Over 30 years. It has been sad to see the decline in quality of produce. I even posted about this over 5 years ago, but I guess Berkeley Bowl only cares about money not quality. But why do I constantly have to sift thru moldy fruits and vegetables? What are are those produce staff for in the produce section? I guess we're supposed to tolerate it if we don't want to pay Safeway or Whole Foods prices for produce. read more

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The selection of food here is amazing. Since it's close to my job I like to come and pick up some snacks before I head in. I was definitely not expecting to experience a clear microagression from one of the staff this morning. I was in line to check out, in front of me was a woman who was purchasing a lot of groceries but I had no problem waiting although I only had 4 items. I notice a man come behind me with a cart full of groceries and that's when the lady who was bagging groceries says, "sir since your ready, I can check you out in the next lane over here." She then proceeds to stop bagging this woman's groceries to check out the white man who just came in line behind me. Prior to this, I was the only person in line and had been waiting a couple of minutes for the lady in front of me to finish checking out. I think it's quite interesting how the lady bagging groceries decided to offer to check out the man behind me despite the fact I had been there for a while. Berkeley bowl should do better! Workers should not be treating customers differently based on race. This wasn't the first time I've felt like this in Berkeley Bowl and I've decided to no longer shop here. read more

I was a bit skeptical of this place. I thought it was a football game? But then my friend said it was a local grocery store. It felt like a less expensive version of Whole Foods. They had fancy products but a lot of the produce was actually reasonably priced. $0.49/lb for yellow onions is always good in my book. The bakery was cool. I love fruit tarts and theirs were really good. They had a good ratio of custard and fruit. read more

Berkeley Bowl West - Cafes Near Me - Berkeley, California

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I love this place but always hate the crowds..doesn't ever seem to be a good time to come to this place...maybe first thing in the morning on a weekday...i usually go to the original one located on Oregon/Shattuck but the newer place has better parking. Great place if you're looking for different ingredients and ethinic items. The produce here is always fresh with different varieties of potatoes, mushrooms, sweet potatoes, etc. Fresh fish and love their prepared foods counter. Found out they carry B-dama sushi and chicken karaage...surprisingly, chicken was still crunch-worthy by the time i brought it back to the office. read more

Berkeley Bowl West - B-dama to go! restaurant is located in Swan's Marketplace in Old Oakland - Cafes Near Me - Berkeley, California

Love Berkeley Bowl West! Whenever I have a recipe where I have to search the world wide web for where in the ham sandwich I will find some random a** ingredient I always know I can count on Berkeley Bowl West to carry it. Produce is always delicious - omg their plantains; they're always super ripe, the shelves are always stocked even in these unusual pandemic times, and staff is always helpful. I U, Berkeley Bowl West. read more

Things that Berkeley Bowl West has that I can't find anywhere else -- that blow my mind: - CHAS Blueberries from Oxnard, CA - Alden's Organic Blackberry Ice Cream - Delicious crumpets in the bread and English muffin section I should write a long song -- an Ode to Berkeley Bowl West. The greatest. read more

Had the manager harass me twice today shopping. Asked me rhetorically, "are you a senior?" "No." "You can't be shopping here now." "Does chemotherapy count?" ::takes out letter from Kaiser physician:: "oh....ok." "They checked outside and you saw them already do it, I went through this already." "Well I didn't know they were checking for that, just needed to make sure." "But you know I'm not a senior, so you just come over to ask a rude rhetorical question you already know the answer to just try to prove a point? (I'm in my 30s with a backwards hat on)" "I just asked if you were a senior." "Ya, but then you told me I wasn't allowed to shop at this time without any reasonable communication attempt already knowing that I got checked outside, you were there and saw me." "All I asked was if you're a senior." "Are you the manager?" "I am the manager." "Is there anyone above you I can speak to?" "I'm the manager." "Ok, you're an inconsiderate jerk for zero reason, thanks for being a shitty person." -Worst experience out of any stores for immunodeficient people. By far. Shame on you Berkeley Bowl. I'd love for the GM to contact me, your store can do better than that. The manager wouldn't even refer me to the GM to try to save face for his own behavior. The guy apparently is completely unaware, excessively impolite, and is too embarrassed and unprofessional to allow themselves to be held accountable for their actions. A man in his 40's or 50's that is a manager of a grocery store that's too afraid to have a customer speak with their boss regarding their behavior. Reminds me of the actions of children, not grown men. Good call, Berkeley Bowl, you've got some real quality leadership. Side note- They also seem to have the most self entitled customers around (obviously). Everywhere else people seem to respect the idea that they don't know the medical history of every person they encounter, but for some reason, several people here thought it was appropriate to try to police the age of shoppers. Not to mention people yelling at me in line to get out of it. One even after telling them why I was in that line. "Seniors only!" I was told. Go at your own risk, not sure the amazing produce is worth the headache, disrespect, and potential harm to your health. read more

Just witnessed a "security guard" tell two young women of color that their friends couldn't hold their spot in line as I a white man walked into line where my gf was waiting without a peep. Pretty bad look and I'm sure not what management intended. read more

COVID19 specific review - Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays: the 1st hour of store opening is for seniors only. all others will be waiting for at least an hour to be let in - seniors are able to cut the line (show ID) at any time and will be allowed in as long as they haven't met their max capacity - starting Wednesday (April 22nd, 2020), you will NOT be allowed to enter the store without a face mask (unsure if they'll let handkerchiefs or scarves slide) - you are not allowed to bring your reusable bags from home - Berkeley bowl is providing latex gloves for your use as you enter the store (and some boxes are stationed, in line while you wait) - as of April 18th, Berkeley bowl was fully stocked with all types of flour they normally carry thank you berkeley bowl for doing your best to keep seniors/customers and their employees safe! read more

The bees' knees of grocery stores! When you need a very specific and hard to find ingredient, you can often find it at the Bowl. It also has a large meat counter with ample seafood. The organic and non-organic produce is amazing! There's a bakery, take-out counter, fantastic mushroom section, and between the seafood counter and carrot section is a room with marked-down produce. They have house brand items as well, such as EV olive oil, balsamic, and more. Although not an open market, it reminds me in its variety, quality, and fair pricing of the markets where I shopped in Paris. You'll learn to cook and enjoy foods you've never heard of and, whatever dietary restrictions you may have, it seems to offer endless possibilities. read more