The Pros: Massive Variety: Truly a "one-stop shop" for tea…read moreenthusiasts. Low Pressure: The staff greeted me and then stayed hands-off until I had questions. The Price: Easily some of the best values in the city. The Con: Sealed Packaging: Everything is pre-sealed in 1lb plastic bags. Because of the sealing, you can't smell the tea before buying. I'd love to see them implement scent jars in the future to help with the selection process. Neutral Observations In-House Packaging: All the tea is packaged identically in 1lb bags, which suggests they likely process and bag everything in-house. Labeling: I didn't notice any specific organic labels on the packaging, though I didn't explicitly ask. If this is a deal breaker, you may want to ask. Review If you're looking for a genuine loose leaf tea source -- your search ends here. I stumbled upon this place after endless online searching (blogs, search engines, etc) and it was well worth the effort! Just a heads-up on navigation: G-Maps is slightly off. If you rely solely on that, you'll be a few doors down. Look for the Volvo mechanics and the shop is located just on the other side. The exterior is unassuming, no windows, just a sandwich board on the sidewalk and a door. Looking inside it's a bit of a mysterious vibe, you'll see a stairway to the left and a hallway ahead. Go for it. Ignore the single pane glass, bank-teller-style window to your right (which directs you to the main door) and just head in. Also, keep an eye on the clock because, per the phone tree, they close for lunch from 12:30 to 1:00. I arrived right after 1pm and was able to park right in front. There was also plenty of other parking spot around at that time. IDK why, but before walking in, my imagination had prepared me for an old-world San Francisco opium den. I was thinking there was going to be this lingering aromatic smoke, plush floor pillows, people lounging, sipping tea, and the soft, ambient melodies of an upscale spa. I had also pictured rows of heavy, whiskey-style wooden barrels overflowing with loose leaf tea, topped with clear lids and metal scoops. The reality is much more utilitarian. This is not a den or a spa. It's clean, straightforward, and focused entirely on their product. The selection is robust and incredibly diverse. While they claim "wholesale to the public", I can't verify the industry margins, but I can tell you the prices are very good for the quality you receive. The employee greeted me and then stayed hands-off while I browsed, which I appreciated. When I did ask specifics, they had basic foundational knowledge. Honestly with the diversity and sheer quantity of products offered, it would take forever to earn a Tea Master badge. No harm no foul. The only real bummer here is that everything is pre-sealed in 1lb plastic bags, so there is no way to smell the product. I'd really appreciate scent jars in front of the bags. Since they seem to be doing the packaging in-house anyway, it makes me wonder why they haven't set aside a small amount of each batch for scent jars. It wouldn't require a change in their supply chain, just a few ounces and a glass jar to help customers navigate that massive variety. That aside, I absolutely loved this place. I've been searching for a spot like this for a long time. I'm just glad I finally found it. If you're at all interested in loose leaf tea, I'd suggest giving these folks an honest try.

I needed dried lavender for simple syrup and ice cream and found this place online. Prices are very…read moreaffordable and they have so many options! I'm not able to post all my photos but this is some of what they offer! Will definitely come back.

All. The. Spices! I…read moremay have temporarily lost my sense of smell while so, so excitedly sniffing ALL the scents, but I finally made a decision (with a little help from the nice employees). My favorite so far is the smoked salt because it's so versatile! I also bought a guava jam that looked so divine, but sadly the airport trashed it (I am convinced they just ate it because again...it looked so yummy), so maybe one day I'll try again! I will be back next time I'm in the bay to stock up on more spices.

You'll know you're right at home as soon as you walk through the door. For anybody that's wondered…read morerows of disorganized shelves of stuff all over the place or spots that are less than well kept, look no further. Oaktown Spice Shop is immaculate, well organized, and staffed with folks that are quite passionate about the goods! Also helps that it smells amazing, but it really speaks to the quality of their stuff. If you had any doubts about them, put that to rest and just visit or use their online store! Any foodie worth their salt (hah get it) will be able to appreciate what this place has to offer.

Amazing co-op grocery store with tons of specialty food items and more! They have produce, pantry…read moreitems, frozen foods, snacks, home and body care, and a huge selection of things you can pay for by weight. From herbs & spices, dried foods, olive oil, soaps, shampoos and more, they have everything. The prices are reasonable and there's less plastic waste. They also source locally which is nice. They also carry some gourmet food items like sambal from Azalina's, and locally made curry paste. I need to come here more often.

I really enjoyed this grocery store. The chocolate selection was so delicious and we got so many…read moregood ones to take home. They also have wine by the can that's cold that we were able to take with us to Golden Gate Park. A lot of unique finds

Lots of awesome spices and selection along with knowledgeable and friendly staff, more than willing…read moreto help you find what you're looking for and provide their opinion! Prices are also very good even though it's located in a more expensive retail area. I'm looking forward to trying more items from here!

I noticed this spice shop while stopped in traffic and walked over after I parked…read more The store is highly visible and inviting from the street and inside, beautifully organized with tempting sounding blends like popular Cyprus Wild Mushroom Umami Sea Salt I happened to pause in front of. I remarked how this salt looked like Egyptian frost salt and got a head shake, "Don't know that one". Okay, it's esoteric but also got a non-committal head shake they don't carry Maldon sea salt, commonplace for baking and a finishing salt. I explained I use it to make Blue Bottle Coffee's granola blend. Weak smile. I remarked that I liked their photography cards of beautiful recipe ideas near the jars ("What a good idea!") and shared my use of Vadouvan in a eggplant, chicken & basil stir fry I made up. I got another tepid response. I explained I cook a lot at home and had over 200 jars from the former Spice Ace store that needed to be replaced, "Sadly they faded with time." At this point, don't you think the salesperson would've jumped on that, "Would you like me to pull some jars, get that project underway for a New Year?" No. The owners should be slapping their hands on their forehead watching hundreds of dollars not go into their till that day and developing me as a regular customer. I have money to spend, clearly like to cook and told them I need to replace 200 jars. I practically placed a grappling hook in my cheek like a big mouth bass and told them to reel me in! I decided to ask about their pricing structure, noticing the nonsensical spread on the large and small jars, "Because they didn't get good pricing when they bought the smaller jars" Now muttering to myself, "So how is that *my* problem?" Oaktown Spice Shop is a growing and well-received small chain of three retail stores, two in the East Bay, that has a wholesale roster of James Beard and Michelin starred restaurants and high end delivery services like fellow East Bay business Good Eggs. If the owners read this review, they desperately need to retrain their retail staff. They rang up my small $22 sale as I began mentally filling my old Spice Ace jars at Rainbow Grocery.

It was great working with Dana on my custom spice blend. She was professional…read more and had a fast turnout time. Not only that but she has affordable prices as well as a huge variety of spices in her warehouse.

California Spice Basket is the best co-packing service I've ever worked with! With so much…read moreknowledge and experience, Dana went above and beyond my expectations and gave me advice about everything necessary to ensure quality and helped me release my product to market. Definitely recommend!

I was amazed and truly loved this local Spicery with the unique tea and spices options…read more The staff is amazing. The prices are a bit higher than the market, but at the same time it is a special tea options from green tea till herbal tea with some flowers that makes it blue in the cup! There are good options for a gift or a present for a special occasion. Parking is limited and only street parking is available in front. But if you park near by you will have an opportunity to walk around the area, which is itself a nice experience.

Visiting family near this waterfront gem recently, I discovered the most amazing spices! There are…read moreso many uniquely blended spices to choose from here. Upon walking in, the woman at the counter was friendly and helpful in asking how she could help find the exact one I was looking for that day. My Mom accompanying me, she ended up guessing which one too, the Baker's Cinnamon. The shop has such a comforting, welcoming vibe too no matter what spice you're looking for or are curious about. This should be Marin's go to spice shop no doubt.

Love this local gem…read more I'm slowly replacing all my seasonings with their products (with the exception of some Persian food seasonings like sumac which I still get from Sadaf). Friendly and helpful people working here and a nice bottle recycling program. If you are anywhere near 24th St. enjoy cooking, I do recommend stopping by. Both their standard seasonings and special blends have been great.

I love this place, and it is so great to have them in the heart of Noe…read more The selection is excellent and the blends are superb (I recommend the Noe Valley sweet herb blend.). The space is calm, the folks helping are friendly and knowledgeable. It feels good to support a local small business plus their goods make great gifts - who doesn't want to spice up their spice rack from time to time!

My friend told me about this great spice shop I had to go to, so happy I did!…read moreThey had so much to look at everyone was really welcoming and friendly. Any questions or welcomed I was looking for two particular spices and my daughter wanted some loose tea. The lady that was helping me was so nice. She actually gave me a recipe for one of the spices that was recommended to me. Very excited to go back to Los Angeles and try what we purchased, even more excited to come back to the San Francisco area and come back to this Oaktown spice shop. I found street parking quite easy. They did have 20 minute parking so be careful where you are parked. I found a one hour parking right across the street.

On our stroll of Solano Ave, we stopped by this spice shop. Talk about spices. This shop has an…read moreamazing large selection of spices from all over the world. Two in our group bought several types of spices. The workers were friendly and answered their questions. If you are in need of spices and hard to find spices, you will find it here. I must shop for you home cooks out there.

There are not many places to get supplements (besides Whole Foods), so I shop here periodically,…read morebut I do not appreciate the staff's demeanor, and have not met a helpful one yet. I think I need to stop going there...the treatment by the last employee has stayed with me for days. When going to a place to get healed it doesn't help to feel like crap after an interaction.

Alex is the epitome of cool. He took my (phone) order to ensure the shipping would get to us in…read moretime. He was SO friendly and I absolutely LOVED that he narrated the clacking the computer keys "do do do...doing computer stuff." If you're ever in Berkeley, stop by!

Very knowledgeable they speak English very well,as I am an English speaker, clean well stocked herb…read morestore.

I buy Chinese herbs prescribed by my vet for my elderly cat here. The herbs work great and are very…read moreaffordable here, and the people running the store are also super nice. I actually drive past several other Chinese herb stores that would be closer and more convenient for me because of the good prices and friendly service here. Definitely recommend this place if you are looking for Chinese herbs!