I'll start with how I am a foodie who is equally interested in preparing the food myself. I have financier molds from France, moon cake molds from Hong Kong and kueh pie tee molds from Singapore. I have been to the Sur La Table Berkeley store on multiple occasions and been quite disappointed. The most recent experience was just looking for a replacement non-stick omelette pan. When I asked for a suggestion, the salesperson suggested something from the Sur La Table - Green Pan collection. I told her I was just looking for a non-stick pan to cook my omelettes and eggs. She informed me she has had the pan for a long time and uses the pan daily to cook her eggs without any oil. So I took her recommendation and purchased the ceramic pan. (After all, most of us have seen the infomercial on the copper ceramic pan. So I thought this ceramic pan would be of equal quality under the Sur La Table label.) Unfortunately when I started using this pan, it was sticking every time. I probably gave it 10 attempts cooking various things. I tried stir frying with peanut oil, etc. I was originally told by the sales person the pan can withstand oven temperature of I think 500 degrees. Like all good consumers, I started documenting with photos on my iPhone.... Eventually I got frustrated and called the store. They said it could be because I used olive oil and it can burn with olive oil because of the flash point. Problem is I cook my omelettes typically with butter and I use peanut oil to stir fry. I only use olive oil as a finishing oil most of the time. The person I spoke with finally said it was ok to bring it back as all Sur La Table products have a 2 year warranty. I thought that was reasonable and had planned on exchanging it for something else. When I made it to the store, the salesperson informed me that my Sur La Table pan was only subject to a 60 day warranty. I would then have to wait to speak to a manager. Really? Is that not total bull shit? It turns out my Sur La Table pan was from Green Pan and that only carries a 60 day warranty. I asked the manager how would I know? "Sur La Table" is imprinted on the bottom of the pan and on the packaging. She kept telling me the store policy. Then she finally said I could exchange it for something else but no refund. Since I did not have the receipt, she could not do so. Somehow she could not pull up my receipt even though I purchased in the same store a few months ago. Maybe they delete their records after 60 days when the warranty expires on selected Sur La Table products. Honestly who thinks about keeping a receipt on a $49.99 pan from a "trusted" brand??? And it is not that I cook up an omelette every day so I would find out within the 60 day warranty period that was never communicated to me. Aside from the issue of private labeled products with poor performance, the manager handled this so poorly. She could simply have said she was sorry it did not work to expected performance standards (i.e.: non-stick) and provide a replacement. The ironic part was when I started asking another representative about what other pan to select, he gave me the same old speech. "Oh, I have had this pan for 2 years and it works great for me." It was very incredulous. I don't think sales representatives should pretend to give an endorsement to a product as being a long term user in lieu of true product knowledge. So why do I feel the team at the Berkeley store lacks product experience? The last time I was at the store, I was looking to purchase refills of coffee capsules for my Illy Espresso maker. When I could not find the ones I was looking for, I asked a salesperson. He directed me to an Illy product that did not have the same packaging. When I asked, he said Illy changed their packaging. When I got home and opened the package, the filter coffee was for filter coffee and not espresso and a completely different Illy coffeemaker. I ended up having to go back to return the product. The salesperson happened to be there and was genuinely apologetic and gave me some samples to carry me over. Bottom line is, this is a high end store for kitchen products. They get 2 stars for the products they carry. However the team at the Berkeley store does not live up to their brand. It is questionable if their private labeled products are that great if they can't stand behind for more than 60 days. read more

funny. i always get the impression that Williams Sonoma is more snobby than Sur La Table. Sure this place might have a bit more expensive things, but they have varieties (from a 60 cent plastic pastry scraper to a $6 silicone one). They have stuff that I'd actually use, though the prices might be a bit steep so only if I can't get them anywhere else. They have some gimmicky stuff, but I appreciate that everything isn't gold colored (WS), though they could do something about organizing the place. read more

I love this store. If you have an appreciation for kitchen products, then this is like a dream come true. I often wander in and drool over all the fancy shmancy gagdets and dodads. It is a little pricey, but you get what you pay for. read more

Yvette and Nina helped me today and were very knowledgeable and friendly! I appreciate their wonderful service ill be back here plenty more the selection is amazing and they have great sales too! read more

i really dislike how often i end up here and how much of my money they have in the till. its less expensive then william sonoma and you can test the knives out by cutting real things (carrots or what have you usually). they also have a better selection of baking equipment and random assorted kitchen things. i wish to stay out of this store in the future but know damned well that I wont. read more

I actually like this place given that I rarely cook. This is the treasure troth of all things kitchenware. On the pricier end but still a nice place to stroll if you're on fourth. read more

I can't even afford the refrigerator magnets at sur la table. It's rare to find a good deal there, but the perfect place for those unique cooking items you never thought you needed - like a glittery spatula, rose-shaped cake pan, or cupcake tree with reusable silicone cupcake liners. Fantastic. read more

Sur La Table makes all of my gourmand dreams come true. Tons of shiny and coppery gadgets, heavy ceramics and spirals upon spirals of cup cake stands abound. Prices range from two dollar kitchen utensils to stainless steel paella pots that cost well over two hundred dollars. There are also wine glasses, cutlery and small appliances of varying expense. Sur La Table is love. read more

spend an hour in here and you'll discover things that you never knew you needed but now absolutely cannot live without. some of my recent discoveries include the saladacco spiral slicer that makes those perfect-for-salad-and-garnishing cucumber rings, the citrus zester that works so much better than a grate, and the barefoot contessa cake mixes which are great for faking a batch of cupcakes when you're short on time (shhh....they really don't taste like cake out of a box). besides the variety of cookware, appliances, and gadgets, their specialty baking supply selection is great. you'll find icing tips, gel colorings, cake molds, and packaging materials. its definitely a kitchen goods oasis with lots to be discovered. most of their products are mid range to high end goods. i prefer WS for appliances and basics but come here for specialty tools and nifty gadgets. read more

Did you ever wake up wondering how cool it would be if you could find the right shaped ice-cream scoop? If so, look no more! Sur la Table carries all the little weirdities that make cooking easier, more effiecient, and better looking. read more

I don't think this store likes it when my kids handle all of the cool kitchen toys. I don't let them use the knives. I keep looking for awesome items in their clearance areas, so far no good hauls, not like that one time I got a fancy wooden salt/pepper shaker set for stupid cheap at Williams Sonoma. read more

I went to return a stock pot which I purchased at a different Sur La Table location. The stock pot was a Sur La Table brand, and there was a burn mark or some blemish on it. The pot was made in China. It seems as if there is always a problem you read about in the paper about a product from China. Anyway, I just wanted to exchange the pot with one without a burn mark. They didn't have one in stock but there was one in the SF store but I would have to pay shipping. In addition, it was kind of a hassle in that I would have to do a return and then call the SF store and buy the pot over the phone. They couldn't call for me. Rachel was very helpful and found an equivalent size pot but it was an All-Clad brand and she did a straight exchange. Customer service is tops! This just saved me the hassle of calling SF and making all the arrangements and I got to have the replacement pot right away instead of waiting. read more

A chef's wet dream. I will do the dishes as well, if you let me cook with the stuff in Sur La Table! It's positively orgasmic in there!

Things are pricey, but this is definitely a fun place to shop at if you love to cook. They have pans, spatulas, knives, pasta makers, baking mixes, aprons, cookbooks, coffee machines, and so much more! There's always a sale section so occasionally you can find a great deal. I especially love going to this location on the weekends because there are good brunch places nearby like cafe m. There's also a crate and barrel outlet and an anthropologie for more shopping! read more

Another great example of good California customer service and good selection. Robin was the best!

Great store. The staff has been incredibly helpful every time I go in. The selection of coffee/cappuccino machines they sell is impressive and the fact that you can try them out even more so. Great store. The staff has been incredibly helpful every time I go in. The selection of coffee/cappuccino machines they sell is impressive and the fact that you can try them out even more so. read more

One of my favorite go to kitchen places. I love coming here and spending hours picking and choosing what I want/need. I specially love their holiday collections!!! read more

you know.. it's just so overpriced, and disorganized. i'd rather shop the Chef's catalog and wait two weeks when i need the ravioli cutter that isn't a mold and is just the classic wheel with the checkerboard edges to make my pumpkin ravioli authentic. also, i generally know more than the staff, so they're just totally useless, and i hate all the wanna-bes that come in here and end up buying some bullshit yuppy cookware like a silicon rolling pin. what the hell. real cooks know how to use wood right. read more

Sur La Snob! Where oh where did I hear someone refer to it this way? I love it. It's fun to go in with a friend and paw the endless racks of kitchen gadgets and expensive cookware, not to mention attack each other with the crab-claw oven mitts, but there's no way I can afford to shop here. If I spend all my money on the fancy spatulas here I will have no food to spatula on - fancy or not. read more

Damnit, Sur La Table! You have sucked me in and taken my money yet again. I have recently started teaching myself how to bake and I have tired of making cookies... I am trying to learn fondant and wedding cake. Well, I have scoured the stores on my side of the bay looking for 3in deep cake pans...and come up with nothing. I rushed from work last night to make it to this Sur La Table before they close at 7pm. As I walk in, lo and behold, there is an entire section of different sizes and makes of cake pans! Couldn't find one of the sizes I needed on the shelf (10"), but Brigitte (according to my receipt) at the register went and found one in the back for me right away! She was very nice and chitchatted with me throughout the ring-up process, and gave me some baking tips of her own for making cakes. I ended up getting frosting bags, 2 tips, gycerin, three cake pans, and a brown sugar saver for $50, which is pretty good, and had more of a selection than Williams-Sonoma, for what I needed. They have a small section of actual baking supplies (luster dust, gel coloring, sprinkles, etc) but I will probably go to a baking supply store for all that stuff. Great experience & friendly staff even though it was right before closing! Plus one of the girls at the register was wearing a knit cupcake hat, so this Sur La Table gets my vote! read more

friendy & helpful staff stock up on olive oil, gadgets and tchotchkes for your kitchen here. in search of a place for a gift for a friend who's into entertaining - you'll find it at sur la table, if not ask me some questions and i'll lead to you a gift :] read more

Thus place is always super expense but has a great selection of kitchen equipment. Bought a shun classic 8in chefs knife from them for a pretty good price, I love the fact that they let you test the equipment and have a good cutting station. The markup on knifes really isn't that bad, but small wares and utensils are always over priced read more

Always get realy customer service here....Parking looks like a nightmare but it really isn't that bad, and the location is pretty nice to walk around and there's some good stores nearby. I'm really suprised that they don't sell any good baking cocoa though. They have all the pre packaged baking packets, but for those of us who like to do it from start, cocoa really is a must. That's why Iknocked off a star. read more

I love this place! The store is just loaded with kitchen do dads, and great gadgets n stuff for piddlin' in the kitchen. Wether you like to cook or want to present the host of a dinner invite with a cool gift, they have something to appeal to every taste and budget. Plus, their wares are of high quality. read more

I've never met a Sur La Table I didn't like. Friendly staff, great gadgets. Wish it was a little bigger.

Love it. It's pricey but you get what you pay for and the service is top notch. They do have some range in terms of price points too so you can buy things on the less expensive side too. read more

Hmmm...after a snooty cashier experience (10% off signs posted everywhere, but when I asked where is my discount she snarked that it is a coupon that will be sent to my email for a future purchase). Guess what...2 months later I have no coupon. read more

I go to this place cuz I love to cook, and they always have good quality items. I've gotten honest input from knowledgeable clerks, so yeah--it's got almost everything the typical (and untypical home chef) might need. Bear in mind that prices on some items are a bit la dee da--there's quality and there's quality, so while I have spent a good deal of $$ in this place, I'm not averse to popping into a Target or the Crate and Barrel discount store across the street to save money on 'basics'. But overall--yeah, I'm a fan. read more

My big gripe with Sur la Table is that they have a virtual monopoly on choice kitchen ware (only Bed and Bath offers any real competition in the East Bay), and yet are almost always out of stock of items they supposedly carry. They no longer have the attractive orange juice glasses. The Creuset mugs we like were entirely missing on our last visit. And our third visit to buy a silicone steamer insert was futile. This insert comes in two colors and three sizes, and only a single large one was available. We're giving up! read more

Horrible service, I really used to love this place but not anymore! A cashier was so rude and didn't even ask if I wanted a bag! Although I always have a reusable bag, she just left my paid product and gave me a strange look! Rude, very rude. Never again will I buy there. read more

Just outfitted a whole kitchen at Sur la Table and Morgan was the most delightful person to work with. Great shop. Great salespeople.

Wanted to say a big thank you to the dude who let me in really late last night, after closing hours. I needed a darn garlic press that works! Great Cust Service read more

Years ago Sur La Table used to offer complimentary knife sharpening twice yearly and we used to take advantage of that. Some time ago they stopped offering it gratis, but they still offer knife sharpening. The cost now is $5 per knife, which seems pretty reasonable to me. A couple of weeks ago I made grilled artichokes, which involves parboiling/steaming them in water w/ a little salt and the juice of a lemon. After letting them cool you cut them in half and remove the choke, etc. My unsharpened knives made a mess of those poor artichokes. They tasted good, but the appearance was pretty poor. I was not happy, not at all. Alan confirmed w/ Sur La Table that they had a knife sharpener and he took 6 of our knives down when the store opened the next morning. He was the first customer and all the knives were done in about 15 minutes. They are now a great pleasure to use. I haven't grilled any artichokes since their resurrection, but I plan to before they lose their edge. read more

My husband and I LOVE Sur la Table. We love to cook, bake, and entertain so we spend a lot of money here. But I don't think we'll be coming to this location anymore! I went to sur la table today to make a return and a couple exchanges. Boy! Was I treated like crap! The Older African American lady approached us as we came in the store and right away her eyes went into my return/exchange bag, to check out what I had. Jeez I'm not at a walmart and I don't look like I shop there so back off! She even came up to me and said didn't you already get help with that item? And I said yes, I have 2. I will give it 3 stars because we love the store and she did try and locate a couple things I wanted to buy. But here is where I think it gets bad. I bring out 2 receipts because 1 is for an EXCHANGE and 1 is for a RETURN. Meanwhile she is confusing herself because I had other return and exchanges on the same receipt, so she starts crossing, circling things that have absolutely nothing to do with the exchanges or returns I'm doing. I returned some oven mitts and gloves because they shrunk and got weird after I followed the instructions on these items for wash/care. And she did not like that I was returning them even though the store has a lifetime policy on their products! This is my first time even returning anything used to this store and this is the treatment I get? So, I got a different glove and she was like I'm not going to return this for you again if this happens again. Duh, I'll take different cleaning precautions to not make it happen AGAIN. So after that transaction along with exchanging some glasses she rudely asked me if I really wanted these items. And when I whipped out a coupon for 10% off, she quickly said no that doesn't work anymore. And when I gave her a look, she read the print and it doesn't expire until the end of the month! Anyway we finally finished my transactions and I'm calling my husband because I can't find him and I see her staring at me and talking about me to another worker. REAL PROFESSIONAL! Sur la Table, please hire some more professional and nice people that you used to have and still do at other locations. read more

I just had my knives sharpened there. I think they just use one of those electric machines and maybe hand hone them. I could have done better. I will have to go get them done again as they are not shart/ read more

Solid, large, upscale retail kitchen supply joint with cooking demonstrations and book signings. Much nicer than the smaller kitchen shacks in most shopping malls, not quite as good of merchandise as the Williams-Sonoma flagship or a specialty knife or appliance store. Back when there was only one, and it was at Pike Place Market in Seattle just across from the famous fish tossers, I used to fantasize for weeks before my visit, and spend an hour or two pawing the myriad kitchen tools and gadgets. Now there are dozens across America, all clones of one another, so it isn't as special. A lot of this stuff is useful, most is quality. But you have to ask yourself, who needs it all? Like the egg slicer, the silicon cupcake molds, the many kinds of citrus juicers, the yogurt maker. . . . I used to have one and use it all the time, and if you start with good milk and a decent culture (thank goodness they haven't passed copy protection laws on bacteria strains or called it theft if you make your own copies) it makes yogurt far better and cheaper than store bought, but really, unless you have a huge house and lots of time and money on your hands who needs it? On my last visit I bought a $3.99 wooden lemon reamer, which I named Pervis and was all I really needed. read more

Did you receive a card in the mail stating discounts for shopping during Sept - Nov? If so, realize it's a sham - the discounts are not on your purchase, but AFTER you buy something you get a coupon for a later purchase. This is not stated on the card. I consider this false advertising, and won't shop there again. They may have quality kitchen stuff, but their so called sale and the way they advertise it is phony. read more

i like this sur la table - it doesn't feel too crampy and things seem to be organized and arranged well. there also seemed to be a generally jovial vibe around the place - or maybe it was because it was a sunny Berkeley day when i came in. despite tempting wares, I managed to stave off spending what can only be gobs of moola as I am quite a kitchen gadget ho ho ho. read more

Look...it's a nice store, and nice people, but for the markup on kitchen items, customer service should be top priority. We bought a more expensive toaster here, thinking it would be more sturdy (no fancy features...we were just looking for quality) and it broke in just a few months. These guys refuse to take it back. Like I said, I like them, but they need to stand behind the products they're selling. read more

Shopped at 5 different stores looking for an espresso machine and ended up here. I didnt come here first because I thought it would be the most expensive, but the prices here were the same if not lower than the other stores! Brenton was so nice and helped me pick out the perfect espresso maker for my girlfriend. She even wrapped it beautifully, with a bow on top. Great products and excellent customer service, would give 6 stars if I could. read more