This grocery store is inside a Citgo Gas Station. The parking lot was cluttered and dirty. I…read morestopped to use the restroom and the toilet was extremely dirty, and there were live roaches crawling freely in the facility. There was no soap or hand towels available. I feel it is unacceptable to operate a food establishment and not have a clean and well stocked restroom. I would not purchase anything from this insanitary establishment. I did point out the issues that I experienced, and the person manning the store did not show any concern. Buyer Beware

They'll scam you with the prices, I bought 3 things and the total came up to 6.49$, and they bumped…read moreit up to 10.79$, since they don't use the regular card machines that you will see at any other businesses, they have it set up so that the price for certain things doesn't match up and they get a larger revenue off the product. Don't buy from them.

This is based on the produce I picked up from the booth at the Fall Creek Bend's Farmers Market…read more Plant It Forward empowers refugees by setting aside some land for each farmer to grow their own produce and partners up with markets for a place for them to sell within the community. The produce I bought had been harvested the day before. The lettuce looked delicate but didn't get damaged en route to the house in a tote bag next to a loaf of sourdough and a container of sliced broccolini. It was tastier than expected, had a leafy but not weak flavor, and was easy to clean. The broccolini was hardy and had a sweet yet earthy flavor while eaten raw. Usually I find broccolini to be more grassy but was surprised at how sweet it was. The produce was still good when I ate it all on Friday.

Plant It Forward is a non-profit company that offers outstanding local, organic produce at seasonal…read morefarm stands & through its CSA farm share program. This is grown by Congolese refugees each given a 1/2 acre plot w/in Houston, & the training necessary to farm it. The company is exceptionally good at maintaining the quality of its produce. Everything we bought over the summer, at the U St. Thomas farm stand, & received in our CSA shares in the fall & winter were unparalleled, relative to produce we've bought at farmers' markets here & in VT; from Abel & Cole grocers, in the UK; and even from Home Sweet Farm, in Brenham. Excepting a few boring mandarins, everything was gorgeous & tasty, the varieties, well-chosen, and all had been carefully picked & cleaned, ready to go directly from farm to table. But you needn't take my word re. Plant It Forward's quality--some of the most acclaimed restaurants in town use Plant It Forward's produce, too, inc. Underbelly, Uchi, Coltivare, Oxheart, Local Foods, Sparrow, Dish Society, Down House, etc. And let's face it, if it's good enough for their chefs, it's probably good enough for you & yours. If, like us, you opt to join the CSA, you'll receive at least 6-8 types of vegetables in each share, grown by a single farmer. Our share sometimes includes other local goodies, too. We've gotten honeycomb, pecan & rosemary infused honey, bread, Java Pura coffee, the mandarins, & Republic of Texas oranges. We even got a reusable Plant It Forward bag, just for being new members. This year, expected winter produce includes kale, spinach, collards, radishes, beets, carrots, turnips, Swiss chard, French sorrel, arugula, salad mixes, bok choy, cabbage, celery, cilantro, dill, fennel, & green onions. Sugar peas will be available in winter & early spring. Expected spring produce includes tomatoes, peppers, radishes, beets, eggplant, summer squash, green beans, arugula, cucumbers, collards, kale, fennel, mint, and other herbs. Expected summer produce includes winter squash, edamame, eggplant, peppers, okra, arugula, basil, cucumbers, green onions, roselle, malabar spinach, & maybe cantaloupe & watermelon. See my pics for fall produce. (More to follow.) You can pick-up farm share produce in Montrose (at Plant It Forward Farm-U St. Thomas), Greenway/UK (Urban Harvest Eastside Farmer's Market), Rice Village (Local Foods), Sunset Heights, Southwest Houston (Plant it Forward Warehouse), Meyerland (both at the JCC & ERJCC Bertha Alyce School), South Main, Greater Fondren Southwest, Westbury, Sugarland, or Pearland. Or try Plant It Forward's veg at one of their seasonal farm stands, at Urban Harvest Eastside Farmers' Market, the University of St. Thomas, Braeswood Church, or Westbury Community Garden. Presently, the full cost of a CSA share starts at $580 for a 25 week season, $1120 for a 50 week season, for those paying by check, one month before the start of the next growing season. Though, near the end of the last growing season, we received a coupon for $10 off the price of the 25 week season or $20 off that of the 50 week season. So the cost of a share currently starts at $22 per week. This is a steal, compared to the cost of a Local Box from Greenling ($35.99 per week, for a comparable amount of produce, some of which comes from Plant It Forward Farms, anyway) or a share from Home Sweet Farm ($36 per week). And as Plant it Forward's farms are located in Houston, itself, if you live in Houston, you'll be getting truly local veg, rather than produce grown up to 100 miles away. Best of all, Plant It Forward offers not just outstanding produce, but outstanding customer service too. This season, I failed to spot that pick-up times had changed--my bad. But Farm Share Program Manager, Kassy R. went above and beyond, switching us to a pick-up point & time that worked for us, then switching us again to one that works even better. *Thanks, Kassy.* So Plant It Forward's employees aren't just relying on your bleeding heart goodness. They actually want your business. Wow. The winter growing season started this week. Stop by one of Plant It Forward's farm stands to purchase their produce, or contact Kassy at Kassy@Plant-It-Forward.org to join their farm share program. In all, Plant It Forward offers truly exceptional locally-grown, organic produce at a fair price, & offers outstanding customer service too. It also helps refugees earn a good standard of living. How can you argue with all that? Plant It Forward is a great cause & a great solution. Special thanks to Gretchen P. for mentioning Plant it Forward on Talk-Houston. This is the single best business I've found using Yelp. And we weren't even looking to join a CSA farm share program. But this one was just too good to pass up.

This is my Favorite store! Cashier manager Alisha is Thee Best! Sooo helpful and smart! And ALL the…read moreemployees at this store are Polite, and ready to assist. I'm going back!!!

At least take the stickers off the vegetables when making kabobs in the meat section. Thanks. Ugh.read more

I was glad to discover the opportunity to support black owned businesses by visiting the Palm…read moreCenter Farmers Market on 2nd and 4th Saturday's. This is one of the few opportunities I have to give back and I feel accomplished each time I support. If you visit Palm Center on 2nd or 4th Saturday's you will find various vendors....jewelry, vegan products, fresh vegetables/fruit, food trucks. They'll occasionally have live cooking shows as well. Upon entering, you will probably be asked to provide contact info so that can keep in touch. If you're really lucky, you'll be greeted by the smiling face of "Mr Palm Center" himself, Mr Cavanaugh Nweze!

From the owner: Palm Center Farmers Market is open every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month, rain or shine…read more Our vendors include farmers, small business owners, and other local artisans. IG: @palmcentermarket

I went to Phoenicia Specialty foods for the first time ever and realized I have wasted the last 8…read moreyears since I moved to Houston having never been here before, because wow! I mean my pocket book is probably better for it because I want to buy the whole store but honestly I've been missing out. The place is cute and welcoming from the corner sign on the building to the moment you step in- bright, inviting, great displays so you know where to go. You can't get lost in here with the signage, but you can't definitely get lost in the aisles with all the great, unique choices. The ready food display has so many Mediterranean treats, some I've had before some I've never heard of and everything I tried was amazing. We got the cabbage rolls and Armenian veggie dolmas. Great flavor, both specific items I haven't had before. Nice citrus, spiced flavor to these. I'd say they're have to try items. Not only found jarred tomato paste, which I've been on the hunt for but they had choices in this category and that's another first for me. Will have to go back and try the others. Also got the cured Serrano ham -amazing. And I thought the prices were going to be insane having a spot right in the middle of the city and nope- pleasantly surprised for my goodies, great prices even less than some of the other stores I frequent in the suburbs. I'll be back again and again and again until I try the whole store lol. Definitely give them a try, you won't regret it

My niece and I checked out Phoenicia's for lunch, which was surprisingly delicious…read more My niece has simplistic tastes, so she opted for the chicken burger, which I tried of course. Perfectly seasoned, crispy exterior. The sweet potato fries were equally delicious. I got the Hill Country salad. Same tender but crispy chicken on a bed of greens with berries. So good. Definitely bookmarked as a return option.

A Hardie's Produce driver hit my car at a stop light, pretended to pull over and took off in…read moreanother direction. When I called Hardie's to get the damages taken care off, they turned me over to their insurance company and not only did their insurance company deny my claim they said maybe it was a Brother's Produce truck that hit me instead. WOW!!!! When I went back to the Hardie's representative to give them one more opportunity to do the right thing, she insisted it was out of their hands??? What kind of company is this? Negative Stars!

Horrible produce company!!! DON'T purchase from them! Rotten produce, horrible customer service!!…read moreBuy local from a farm. They order all their produce from Mexico, which in turn hurts the smaller local farms here in the Southeast Texas area. Also, their organic isn't organic, it has GMOs and deadly pesticides! They love to scam, change invoices and steal from their customers. Buy local and buy USA!!! Stop importing cheap and deadly vegetables!

I was there in order to volunteer! This festival was held at Pershing Middle school! The school…read moremascot is "Panda". Panda's favorite food is Bamboo. Panda is a vegan! I walked around the school. The venders started preparing for the festival.I saw a Nichiren Buddhist.The real Buddhist never kills an animal.They love everything which has life. I saw a lot of food vendors.There are some funny names.What is Tofurkey? It looked like Turkey.But it was made of Tofu.What a nice name! People were very nice.Vegans love animals and people.They are very calm and barely mad.I visited some demonstration room. Kids were making sushi rolls.Of course, the kids don't use ay fish. I am not a vegetarian at all. I love fish.I saw a couple of Asian Japanese vegetarian foods like Wakame, seaweed, Tofu-Turkey, and Nori-seaweed. I ate a lot of fish-sushi. We were running out of fish in the sea. I needed to get used to eat more vegetarian sushi. Finally, I took pictures with one of organizer.She was very nice.I became a carrot mascot. I walked around the festival.People loved my carrot. I love Vegans! See you next year!

Great event! Lots of fun with a variety of venders and speakers. Entrance is free and it's inside…read moreand air conditioned. This year it is July 19, 2014 at Pershing middle school.