I have traveled all over with my service dog and have never been treated so rudely as I have in this store. Do better Monterey!

Gurlllll I love TJ! My favorite is their plant selection coz I'm a sucker for cheap and cute houseplants. The pots alone would cost more than the plants elsewhere LOL My favorite part of shopping here is the super friendly peeps! You can tell that the people who work here are happy. I assume that all TJ takes good care of their employees. Although the selections can be better, I appreciate the prices here because it's pretty reasonable for good quality products. This place is also always so clean. I miss the coffee sampler and other goodies but I know it will be available again someday soon. Thanks, guys! TJ days are my happy days! read more

The parking here is terrible bordering on horrendous. It's too small to support the 4 or 5 businesses here. There is no real street parking either. You have to keep circling around to find a spot. There's always atleast 4 cars circling so you almost have to fight for a spot. I really like shopping at Trader Joe's but the parking situation keeps me from it. They never have enough check out isles open. I wish they would carry organic ginger. read more

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I love trader joe's in general, but this location never has everything I'm looking for. I came in the other day for some groceries and to get some more soy sauce and they were all out. Trader joe's has good products though for a reasonable price and I will continue to shop here (even if it's an incomplete grocery shop) read more

I love Trader Joe's foods! And typically the folk who work at TJ's are helpful and friendly but this location is a stark exception. The last three time shopping there the person at the register (3 different people) did not greet me or say anything. The last two trip the cashier literally did not even look at us and seemed very annoyed to be doing their job. I was also yelled at, seriously, yelled at, because I did not take the sample closest to the front but took it from the second row. I am sure there are some happy folk working here but they are hard to find. read more

I love how everyone has a smile on their face and are always willing to help. I love the groceries, but especially the workers! It's a great welcoming environment. read more

I am not Asian but I am married with a Vietnamese. My mom in laws have taught me how to prepare certain Asian dishes, ans these spring rolls are awful! First, you cannot hold it because it breaks. Second, flavorless and Third expensive for only two rolls. Also I bought Sweet Red Cherries which besides to be expensive for 16 oz are NOT SWEET AT ALL! And do not ever try whole grain crisbread. These are a bag with crackers which have horrible flavor. read more

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LOVE THIS TRADER JOE'S! Friendliest team, best prices, and within walking distance of everything in Downtown Monterey. Parking lot can get a little crazy, but it's no big deal. read more

I shop here on a pretty regular basis. The store is really clean and is fairly well stocked. My only beef is that some of the people that work there are not very friendly. It used to bother me but now I just expect it. The parking is a nightmare. People are all jockeying for the handful of parking spaces that exist in this parking lot that also has to share along with chipotle and Peet's coffee. I always try to get to the store before 11 AM if at all possible or will park on the street usually 1 to 2 blocks away and walk. read more

Came here Sunday 9/15/19 about 1pm-ish. This place is crazy busy at this time. The parking lot is pretty hectic but if your patient you'll get a spot quickly. Spots are continuously opening because the store is really busy with customers coming in and out. It looks harder and worse than it is. PROS: - normal Trader Joe's store with everything you need. - shelves were stocked nicely, which I love about these grocery stores - Tarragon Chicken Salas wrap was delicious - Free sample was the turkey meat sauce with Alfredo noodles..... deliciousness!! - Nice staff even on a busy day - always planished with bread - alternative chip options like crispy crunchy okra or broccoli, parsnip, or lentil chips. CONS: - parking can give a bit of anxiety - they need to have a store with an enormous parking lot, not a tiny one like they do at allllllll their stores. So annoying - really wish they sold baked goods separately. Like where you can pick 1-2 cookies if you wanted. - wish they had more chips or treat options that were lower on calories or carbs. Like Spinwheels read more

Love the place. Great & happy staff. Good selections of products. Love the flowers & plants read more

Excellent Trader Joe's location. Good merchandise selection, and attentive customer service.

I never leave reviews for grocery stores. I didn't know customer service existed at grocery stores until I shopped here lol staff is friendly and welcoming! The experience in and out was awesome! Things seem to be ran well. read more

Worst meat you'll ever buy, and very expensive. It seems like the quality has gone way down.

Trader Joe's in Monterey always tends to impress me with their amazing team, customer service, always clean and organized. They have the best quality in their food. Love getting my baking supplies from here! Chocolate chips are on point! read more

Smallish and tucked away in a very attractive part of Downtown Monterey just steps from historic registered buildings. Had just about everything I would want a some new products as well I really enjoyed! read more

Worst Trader Joe's store I have been to. Big line of people forced to wait outside in the cold to get in and the guy out front is day dreaming and letting people walk straight in. A woman in a wheel chair stated she had a medical condition and couldn't wear a mask so they wouldn't let her in at all. read more

This place was great!! Good service, fair prices and great selection of products! Wish we had one in Merced !! There is parking if needed at no charge. read more

When it comes to grocery store chains, I'm a big fan of Trader Joe's. Trader Joe's seems to specialize in stocking interesting & even quirky items that you'd never find in a typical supermarket. This location was super convenient for me to get to on my last trip to Monterey as it was a short walk from the hotel. It's a pretty busy store & the parking lot is small for the number of people who shop here. Inside, the layout is similar to a lot of other Trader Joe's stores. Looking for beer to go with the pizza that I was picking up on my next stop, I came across something I hadn't noticed at Trader Joe's before: Stone beers! Do other Trader Joe's locations carry Stone beers? Hmmm, I thought about checking the Trader Joe's closest to my house, but that would wait for another day. I snatched up a 6-pack of Stone IPA & merrily checked out. The checker was friendly & conversational. Parking may not be the greatest, but the Trader Joe's in Monterey is conveniently located near downtown & they have Stone beers! Yup, still a big fan of Trader Joe's. read more

Regardless of where you are, walking into a Trader Joe's is just very comforting. My family and I were in town for a few days and wanted to do some cooking instead of eating out all the time. The area isn't really big into chain stores and such but we were thrilled to find Trader Joe's in the neighborhood. Parking is somewhat of a mess especially at peak hours (and it's always disconcerting to see security checking out the parking lot) but once inside, it's just like all the other TJ's you've come to know and love. For those people whose towns have not banned bags, bring your own bag or pay for them at TJ's! read more

I come here at least once a week for lunch, since I work about a block away so i walk, or else I would spend more time looking for parking rather than shopping. And during lunch all registers seem to be open so it speeds up the shopping experience! I love the fact that have organic and local produce, much cheaper than other places. When I go to a potluck or party this place is convenient to get cheese, flowers or wine! The trader brand is really good, from the yogurt, cereal chocolates to their almond butter! It is always organized and free from clutter. And did I mention they have free samples of coffee and food.Yay!!! read more

One of the nicest trader Joe's I have ever visited. Spacious aisles, natural sunlight & an efficient check out system. The employees are always courteous & helpful. Store is always clean & well stocked. Great place if you want to run in and grab a few things. They do not carry any big name brand products. If you're not familiar with Trader Joe's they only carry their name products. No Coke, Pepsi, Lays, Crest...anything of the sort. The parking issue here is terrible bordering on horrendous. It's too small to support the half dozen businesses here. There is no real street parking either. You have to keep circling around to find a spot. There's always a group of cars circling so you almost have to fight for a spot. Best bet, follow a customer heading back to their car. Or, ride a bicycle! read more

Ok the staff at this Trader's is the kindest, funniest, most helpful anywhere. It's a joy to shop there, and of course their products are amazing and even now the store remains incredibly well stocked. Appreciate their efficiency in the pandemic line, too! read more

The best seller of moldy fruit in the area. If you're looking for crushed moldy berries, old dairy products or overpriced bananas, this place will be great for you. I understand there's difficulties in supply due to Covid-19 but other grocery stores do a better job with supply chains. I recommend going to Andronicos on lighthouse. I've lost enough money here due to bad produce or short-life dairy products. read more

Genevieve was so sweet when my partner and I came in to grab a few items for our picnic. They were very kind and gave enough utensils for our items! read more

Kill two birds with one stone.. hanging out with pops and grabbing stuff like toilet paper.. Friendly location with lots of street parking in addition to its own lot... read more

crowded, hard to find a parking spots and cashiers are mostly rude or impatient and not friendly.

This TJ's is hoppin'. Very busy, packed parking lot, but service was still good. We were here for the Monterey Bay aquarium and being food in there costs an arm and a leg, we decided to buy a picnic lunch to bring in. We got bread, cheese, deli meat, and a big bag of cuties for our little group and everything was a hit. Very convenient to be able to hop in and hop out. Not as time consuming to shop here as a full size, full service supermarket. We plan to come back the next time we need some quick meals and snacks while visiting. As with all other TJ's, we always like the samples and the superb service, so please keep up the good work Trader Joe's! read more

It's Trader Joes - what's not to like? O picked up a nice Malbec which I had before. It's a steal deal! Like $4.99 a bottle. It's called La Finca and it's a moderately robust red. I did think of one criticism though. Please get those delicious carrot cake cookies! read more

Dude! You cannot beat their avocado prices! Love this store. Also their register people are all super nice and professional. It seems like everyone really enjoys working here. They are very prudent about Covid procedures (capacity, sanitizing, line social distancing, etc), and the wait is never more than a couple minutes! read more

The parking blows, but the prices are stellar. Check the veggies well before you buy them. Thankfully there is a 100% satisfaction guarantee because the produce and refrigerated goods don't keep for long. Everything else is awesome. read more

I'm so bummed about how rude the cashier Matthew was to me to day... He rang the order up it was $31.96. I gave him a $50 bill and then said wait I have $2 he would not make change because he already rang it in he couldn't add and give me a $20 bill back and 4 cents.. Any just shrugged his shoulders and said yeah I'm the worst.. read more

I love Trader Joes! I'm so glad they turned the old crappy Safeway into TJs. They have the best snacks, best hummus, best frozen section, I never shop frozen anywhere but here. Weird, huh? A good selection of vegan and vegetarian foods, good cheap wine. Today I found that they have my favorite triple creme brie "Delice de Bourgogne" Get some if you haven't tried it yet, you won't regret it. The produce section is not very diverse, but much better than it used to be and they usually have what I need. The staff is super friendly too. I get the feeling that they are really sincere about wanting to help and the chalkboards are awesome! I wish I could go to TJ chalkboard school. The parking lot is my only complaint, but that's the case with every TJ's I've ever been to. This Trader Joe's is better than I expected for Monterey. My best friend works at the San Francisco store so I'm partial to that one, but I've shopped TJ's in Sacramento, LA, New York... Monterey holds it's own. read more

Trader Joe's - My fave Triple Creme Brie. Get some! - Grocery Near Me - Monterey, California

I have always had a pleasant experience at every Trader Joe's I've ever been to until today! Rude older women cashier was upset with me without even giving me any direction onto where I was suppose to bag my groceries. Some clarity would help instead treating customers this way. On the other hand had the best experience at pharmaca next door! read more

My 86 year-old mother recently moved to a retirement home in Monterey, Yesterday, she had the home's driver take her to the medical lab for some tests. Afterwards, she walked across the street to the pharmacy and Trader Joe's to do some shopping. After she checked out, she tried calling for the driver to take her home, but couldn't get through. TJ's manager offered to help, and he too couldn't get an answer (they were replacing their phone system). Seeing she was stranded (and probably a bit scared and frustrated), he offered to call a cab for her. Then he got a chair for her to sit in while she waited. Then he PAID FOR THE CAB (including tip). Talk about exceptional customer service - way to go TJ's! read more

In town on a little vacation and popped in to grab a few necessities. We love TJ's and have one within walking distance of our home. This one was very similar. Nice and open. Smaller than our store, but they had all the familiar items we NEED from TJ's lol We had done a little road trip and grabbed a couple new things from our TJ's at home we didn't care for, and we were of course able to return them here no problem, no questions asked. A familiar friendly TJ's experience at a TJ's away from home. So consistent and always super easy. Nice large parking lot. Friendly staff. Thanks Trader Joe's! read more

Kids I'm updating the old what's for! Why four score and no golden pointers? Good old fashioned service, that's the why dee why! Kids have you heard this joints a rocking nad stickers and crumb oldies! Despite the human garbage that frequents this locale and the smell of urine just outside the portal, this place has massive jimmy squalls blowing your way. You can get free pixie portions of coffee and a dental cup of the goop de jour! The bread's all stacked right up and labeled and the cold stuff is smoking! And despite all the squares with burning glances this rocking garbage pal has all the shimmy noodles and raw crankers you'd even want. Forget the parking and zoom about in circles for a few hours until you find a place, it's worth the wait. Don't forget to make a purchase from all the good stuff just north of the frozen coffins baby. The sweet edibles are aces and the candied pecans are the end all and be all. All around aces in my book and jumping with the groovy ass clowns of yesteryear. read more

The store is well-monitored, with someone outside checking for masks and making sure there aren't too many people in the store. I appreciate the care they take and everyone seems friendly in the store. The parking lot is a little nuts but it's worth it. read more

Parking lot is a headache but when you get inside it's gigantic for a Trader Joe's. Location is hard to find without GPS. Usual stuff and pricing. read more

I've been shopping at TJ's for years. But this shopping day has been on my mind all day. What kind of store management allows their costumers to be openly criticized by another costumer? A woman was shamed in this store because she claimed her right not to wear a mask, for whatever reason, it did not deserve the shameful treatment she received! I was saddend to see her walking around with multiple signs on her cart stating she wasn't wearing a mask, like she's gross or everyone needs to keep extra distance. Trader Joe's I'm disappointed by your discrimination! Then there was an older woman babbling behind the normal-non-masked women half way through the store being rude as ever telling her to move, you're being mean, stay away and the staff did nothing to stop her ridicule. And what's more that babbling lady called the other woman a b***... and still nothing. Nothing from staff or the woman being spotlighted for all to see. I should have said something. I'm disappointed in myself, I cannot stop thinking about it. I feel awful but TJ's you are turning out to be worse than I thought. I will find a substitute for my shopping. I hope everyone reads this 1star reviewed as a 5 because I want it to be seen. read more