Most Trader Joe's that I've been to are located in the suburbs or in the middle of the city. This one was outside of downtown San Clemente in a nice neighborhood inside of a strip mall. March is definitely spring season and there were so many fresh flowers at store front. Picking up groceries was mainly the purpose of the day. From snacks to salads to basically anything you might have forgotten in your toiletry bag. Price is always right, service from all clerks and cashiers are very consistent whenever you visit any Trader Joe's in any state. What I didn't expect to see was crowds and crowds of customers at this location, and the store clerks were extra friendly. Also bought a bunch of reusable canvas bags to use on the way home and more to give away as gifts. Trader Joe's is always a must go whenever on the US Mainland. read more

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They changed bags or something, all my brown bags tore and ripped, bursted in the floor loading and unloading. Ok, the parking is terrible here. Lived here for 20 years and I avoid this store as much as I can, they just do not have adequate parking and it's too tight. I'm just not going to come here anymore, it's not a pleasant experience when you bags rip open, omg. This is avoidable!!!! read more

I live in Irvine, and I stopped by the Trader Joe's in San Clemente while visiting the outlets. The service I experienced there was completely unacceptable. The staff came across as dismissive, unfriendly, and openly irritated toward customers. In particular, the male employee at the first display was extremely rude and spoke to customers in a very unpleasant, condescending tone. His attitude alone completely ruined what had been a good day for me. As an Asian customer, I couldn't help but feel like I was being treated differently, which is deeply concerning. This kind of behavior is not only unprofessional but also raises serious questions about how customers are being treated. The contrast with the Irvine locations is striking--the staff there are consistently friendly, respectful, and hardworking. The San Clemente store clearly falls far below that standard. Management seriously needs to address this and provide proper staff training. read more

The sweetest ever cashier Erin saved my daughter. At checkout, my daughter was sitting in the top seat of the cart and her cousin was helping unload groceries. While trying to reach the bottom of the cart, her cousin was hanging on the side and the whole cart tipped over and almost landed on her and my daughter would have smacked her head really bad. The (gorgeous might I add) cashier Erin swooped into action and saved the day. She caught the cart mid fall. My chicken Caesar wrap was the only casualty and they promptly sent someone to replace it with a new one. She even remembered to give my kids stickers at the end. I can't say thank you enough. What an amazing employee and the coolest ever grocery store. read more

I love Trader Joe's! They have incredible and unique food options. I love the option to sample foods and even drinks in the store. The staff are always friendly too! My only negative is the parking at this specific location can be a bit crazy sometimes. Overall though, you can't ever go wrong with Trader Joe's! read more

Second time in a month that I've been there where an employee is rotating product, without their hair restricted, which means their hair is SITTING on the food. If I'm seeing this just in the times that I'm there, I can only imagine how many other times it's happening. read more

Trader Joe's - Trader Joe's employee arranging items while her unkept hair sits on the produce. - Grocery Near Me - San Clemente, California

My older friend went to this location to buy some of those TJ bags everyone's talking about and was standing in front waiting for them to open. This nice lady named Nancy went to the trouble to fetch her a chair to sit on while she waited--so thoughtful!! And some fellow from inside helped her get her bags and checked her out and the service was exemplary!! I'm a new fan of this location!! read more

I love this location. Small parking and store but friendly staff and easy to get through. I left my orange juice in the cart. I went the next day and the manager gave it to me no questions. I really appreciate the service and good will. read more

Come here all the time and it is such a nice store. The folks who work here are nice and knowledgeable! They know their products. Eric helped me out as he was walking to the front and even offered a recipe tip for my chicken. Told me to soak it in lime and orange over the BBQ. Going to give it a try. Thanks Eric. read more

Food of course is great, but the people make the experience here even better. Everyone is friendly and goes above and beyond to help customers. read more

I love this little TJ's and enjoy shopping here! Today I came in and spent $175 then came out and it was POURING!! One of the employees walked me out with his huge umbrella and helped me unload my cart into the car. He was cute too! I wish I took a Snapchat of his sweet face without a mask. read more

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My kids and I were in the area, so dropped in for a few items. Kids were waiting to use the restroom. Several workers saying the f word and using the r* word. Terrible! read more

Service is always top notch and employees are happy and helpful and seem to like their job. This is kudos to leadership.

Who doesn't love Trader Joe's? It would be like hating Santa, or kicking bunnies or putting up fly traps to mess with the Tooth Fairy. This location, is the worst of the worst for Traders Joe's infamous parking after thoughts.... and the BEST OF THE BEST for employees! Everyone is funny, cheerful and have seriously worked their buns off and endangered their own health during the pandemic so people can buy groceries. I have had a lot of great experiences here, * not* including getting freaking addicted to Trader Joe's dried banana chips . read more

We have shopped at many TJs in the Southland and have always found the employees to be friendly and courteous. The check out process has usually included friendly greetings and interchanges with the employees. Yesterday, at checkout, two of this San Clemente store's employees were discussing their tax rates and whether or not they'd be in a higher tax bracket with a certain raise. The customer ahead of us was another TJ employee. The three had a brief conversation then the two continued talking traces. We put our items on the counter, the checker scanned them, I payed with Apple Pay, and we took our items and left. NOT ONE WORD FROM TJ GUYS! No greeting. No, "Did you find what you were looking for?" and no, "Have a nice day!" We might as well have been in a self checkout line! Talk about feeling "dissed!" read more

Shawn the Store Manager should be reprimanded and apologize publicly. I don't think she should be fired unless this is something she does often. I don't want anyone loosing their job but Shawn needs to be trained and apologize. People make mistakes and as long as she apologizes and owns up to it or produces evidence of alleged misconduct (I'm sure theres cameras). Back to Whole Foods for me. read more

Safe and comfortable shopping experience during COVID-19. They limit the number of customers in the store and sanitize the carts. This results in a short line out front sometimes, but it moves quickly. Highly recommend for those concerned about safety while shopping. Their product selection is always great and then tend to be stocked on most items. The staff is friendly and helpful, but it can be a little hard to shop around them late at night while stocking is going on. The store is on the smaller side for a Trader's , which is ok - but the parking situation here is atrocious! The little lot directly in front is a hazardous area with too many cars and people , so I park in the larger , further lot and walk - but even that feels dangerous with so many cars whipping around trying to find parking. I'm not really sure anything can be done to fix this , but it's definitely a deterrent to shopping here during normal hours, so I tend to shop very early or very late at this location. read more

Really rude guy here. I'm not comfortable with male cashiers , they keep insisting me to go there when I'm not comfortable

I always enjoy shopping here. I love that they have seasonal items so you always have something new to look forward to. The prices are great, especially for Organic items in the store is always very clean and well stocked. Service is wonderful, plenty of easy parking. read more

This place is constantly exceeding my expectations. Freshness, variety and cost conscious. The staff are always super friendly and helpful. As long as I'm in SC, this'll remain my main market! read more

My favorite trader joe's in the local area. Always well stocked. Staff so friendly and courteous. read more

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I have a love/hate relationship with TJ's. Love some of the unique healthy items that I can't find anywhere else. Love the prices. Hate actually going there. As others have mentioned, this location has an absolutely awful and tiny parking lot. You are almost guaranteed to get a fender bender the way it's laid out. This location is a small store, with not much room to move in the aisles. Very hard to safely socially distance here. For a brand that seems to pride itself on healthier stuff, I was absolutely shocked that not one single cashier at this location was wearing a mask. I kept looking from lane to lane and nope, not a one. Unfortunately, I have found this too be all too common at San Clemente businesses, but I was surprised that TJ's allows this. I will not be coming back until either their policy changes or the pandemic ends. read more

Love love this store , associates are awesome and very polite . I always have a great time chatting with associates while shopping ! Although they give you attention, smiles and talks they do not stop what they're found doing , amazingly looks like they're pros in multitasking! Congrats Tonight I will give a big thanks and shoutout for LENA the cashier who helped at the checkout, she was very nice and patiently helped me with my "tons" of goods ... She bagged it all like a pro ! She is very polite , efficiently giving me attention without stopping what she was doing ... she truly made me feel a valued customer ! Thanks Lena for the perfect customer service ! Maria G. read more

Please bring back more of the sparkling French rose, Le Rose I was at the San Juan location and they said it was a 1 time offering read more

Trader Joe's - Grocery Near Me - San Clemente, California

Yelp 2017 challenge 54/100. This location has really bad and awkward parking. Its best to go to the other side of the location and park and walk because finding parking and getting in and out is a nightmare. Inside is clean and has a variety of sandwiches and salads and other yummy items that I enjoy. Like their sweet potatoe chips. It is a pricey and im assuming its because of the location and demographic. I would find another location with better parking and cheaper prices. read more

I love TJ. This store is on the way to San Diego, so we stopped to pick up some flowers and wine for the holiday gift. As usual, people are friendly and helpful. The tasting always have good coffee, which I really appreciate. The treats are delicious. The only bad about this TJ is the tight parking. Better to park a little ways away to avoid accidents. TJ I love you. read more

I love trader joes. I love their products. Their treats/desserts are dangerously (as in I can't resist and won't last long in my kitchen) good. Everyone has always been friendly at this location. I echo some other yelpers... the only issue is the parking. I usually just park a little ways away, so I don't have to deal with the small parking area in that part of the shopping center. read more

Of all the Trader Joe's locations I've been to, I must say this one has the most friendly patrons and employees. Although I can see parking/traffic being an issue due to it being located in a really tight spot within a shopping center, the experience inside is worth the trip. Came here recently to do some grocery shopping and found everything I needed and more! Most of the time I come in to just pick up what I need, but this time around I picked up extra goodies. Even picked up some extra reusable bags while chatting it up with the cashier. Though it's not located in an ideal spot due to it's tight entrance and parking, the customer service and stock of items is what I like about this Trader Joe's. read more

I had to go back & reshop for items I had bought & they didn't put in my cart the previous day. A huge inconvenience as I drove 40 min round trip just to get the items I had paid for. I had to go through the bags of groceries & circle what wasn't received (another 20 min wasted). I had to wait in line. The person I spoke with said they had taken a picture of the items but then they didn't have it. This necessitated coming back the next day after going home & checking receipt. Then when I was reshopping the manager or Ian who was handling it came to close to me and did not respect my 6 feet of space. He came within 2 feet. I didn't think this was thoughtful even tho he offered to reshop the items. He knew I came from far but offered nothing for the inconvenience. So I was out probably 6 bucks in gas & 20-30 min in time. & I didn't have what was planned for dinner that night. At least Trader Joe's could do as Vons does when you get bad produce. Offer a kindness, offer some fruit of choice. The cashier who rung it up charged me double for two items too. He was nice enough though. I ended up getting those. I just though the manager's resolution & not respecting the 6 ft distance rule not good. I hope he can learn by this. Otherwise there used to be the nicest checkers there. The cashier that made the mistake I have no problem with. The manager didn't have the people skills necessary. At least I got the groceries they forgot to put in to the cart. Watch your receipts and make sure the food makes it into the cart. read more

I love Trader Joe's. The location of this one isn't ideal as the parking lot can be a bit troublesome. It's small and it's only one way in, one way out. The friendly and helpful staff and product offering makes up for it though. Near the entrance is a good variety of well priced fresh flowers to choose from. I've purchased and planted many a fresh herb plants- basil, thyme, mint. I mainly come here for the flowers, wine, coffee, and almond butter- best options and prices in town. . read more

Trader Joe's is my favorite place to go for groceries and for idle chitchat with the crew. It often seems like there is a sincere connection with the crew members of Trader Joe's at the San Clemente location. I enjoy the complementary coffee samples and I only wish that once a week on Tuesday nights they would also incorporate tea so we can choose a pretty simple guy Stewie variety that is appropriate for this season. Even though there is limited parking and it seems as though this is a Trader Joe's squeeze into a corner I don't know what I would do without the convenience of a Trader Joe's stop in and grab a few items on my way home after my yoga class. read more

Trader Joe's - It's Vegan - add Tofu, Mushrooms and Chives. - Grocery Near Me - San Clemente, California

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Everyone be aware that any boxed or packaged items like cereal, pasta, baking mixes or any other boxed or packaged item when you bring them home you will be bringing home moths tiny little moths that will infest all the other food in your house you don't really see them till it's too late the larvae are super tiny so most people eat them never realizing this Trader Joe's food is cheap because they pay cash and warehouse everything they have the most sophisticated warehousing and distribution program in the grocery industry they have millions of square feet and can store items for years it's why you never see holiday items on sale after the holiday they put them in the warehouse and wait till next year It is also very common to get rancid oil's and nuts these items are in the warehouse for years before they see a shelf and also why the return policy is no questions asked and the amount of people that return is super minimal so they can keep up this practice without suffering the loss to throw these items out or keep proper rotation I asked my roommate not to shop here because he would bring home these moths he did not believe me now I am killing 10 a day and had to throw out half my food ask me how I new this would happen I used to work for TJ 25 years ago and it was the same then no change in all these years read more

GREAT PEOPLE WORK HERE! lovely samplings, feels like community, BUT the corporate crackers are plummeting and deplorable. The cracker sandwich conditions are below prison standards. What makes the cracker sandwiches so bad you ask? The sandwiches aren't sandwiches! The cheese is barely cheese! The crackers are SO dry it should be illegal considering California's extreme drought! There's not enough water left in Orange County to wash these puppies down. Help trader joes, butter these sandwich crackers and fill them with more cheese! The people are begging for it. Otherwise, trader joes has a great jam selection. read more

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I've been going here two or three times a week since I moved to the area and I still can't get enough. Two recent interactions made me finally need to post a review. I was there three nights ago looking for ingredients to make a fancy sandwich recipe from Pinterest and was trying to figure out substitutes when one of the guys asked if I needed help. I showed him the recipe on my phone and he walked me around until we hunted down everything I needed. When I went back last night he remembered me and asked how my recipe turned out. Then I asked my cashier (A., Ron) about how to do the pork chops I was buying for dinner that night so he gave me his favorite recipe. It was to die for! Coming to this TJ's for me is like going to a spa for others. Everyone here is so polite, friendly, helpful and enthusiastic, I always feel that much happier and have that much more of a lighter step when I leave. I want to be here all the time. read more

Trader Joe's - Grocery Near Me - San Clemente, California

Love this location! The staff is so incredibly friendly and have never had a bad experience. Can get busy so try to go at down times. read more

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Rude and disrespectful. Management was rude and disrespectful toward me. Apparently wearing a face shield will cause them to humiliate you and shame you. I was told that I wasn't welcome any longer. read more

The set up isn't the greatest. Let's start with the parking lot. The spaces are seriously small and there aren't that many next to the store. But I'm not reviewing the shopping center so moving on...They have one little ramp area in the front transitioning from the sidewalk to parking lot. Everyone gets all jammed up trying to leave or go into the store. And the cart area is really small too. I feel bad for the cart runners. Once inside, I feel like the isles are more narrow than typical grocery stores but, at the same time, they've worked really hard to organize and make improvements. I've had nothing but positive experiences with the crew. Very helpful, friendly, happy and generally seem to enjoy thier job. Most the prices are reasonable. I'll spend like $50 here compared to $80 anywhere else at another grocer. read more

We love this store. Friendly, knowledgeable staff. But please, bring back the Joe's Os. There's nothing like them that compares. Our grandsons favorite. read more

4+ stars. It happened today. I became a "Creepy Dog Lady". I blame it on the clerks here. I mean, they are just so darn NICE, and genuine. They ask about how my day is going...make conversation about my microbiology exam...ask if I worked that day...ask how my dog is. I mean, of COURSE I am going to whip out my lovely new iPhone and show them a picture or 10...right? Who cares if the lady behind me gives me a dirty look, the cashier and I were HAVING A MOMENT. Yeah. I am totally Creepy Dog Lady. The staff here are all excellent. So excellent that last Tuesday, when I rushed into the store 5 minutes before closing (9pm every night, for those of you wondering), after 13 hours straight at school, absolutely STARVING, the lovely gentleman in the back giving samples gave me a plate so large that I actually didn't even make dinner when I got home. If you're wondering what they were sampling it was chili poured into the bottom of a 13x9 pan, cornbread mix poured on top and then baked. Perfect one dish meal. If the parking were better (you've heard this before) and the store were a little larger, and if they had a reminder sign outside so dumb people like me wouldn't forget their reusable bags, I would give 5 stars. The best buys here? -Chipotle Ranch Fries (Frozen) -Frozen Brown Rice -Birds' Nests (Frozen) -Organic White Corn Tortilla Chips -Emergen-C -Unsweetened Plain Soy Milk -Soy Yogurt (recently reformulated so it is super creamy) -Green Chile and Cheese Tamales (Frozen) -Dorot Frozen Crushed Garlic Cubes (A LIFESAVER when cooking) They also now take American Express. Oh, and did you know...if you buy something and don't like it, they will take it back NO QUESTIONS ASKED. This even goes for produce that you don't think was up to snuff. Brilliant. read more

Trader Joe's has great products! It is indeed a special place. John Calvin wrote about some Catholics whose god is their stomach and their place of worship was the kitchen. Maybe he was a little rough on them - but Trader Joe's is certainly a place of cosmic importance for that "select group" who wear Birkenstocks as their talisman and their amulet of protection is a Trader Joe shopping bag. I suspect TJ's is a secret meet-up place for quick romances and that if I wore Birkenstocks and carried a Trader Joe shopping bag I would have little problem taking home one of the ever present tan emaciated divorcees that cruise the aisles loading up on rabbit food. Well, enough of that. Trader Joe's is one fine place to shop. Sofie notes that the floor plan of this Trader Joe is identical to the one the Trader Joe store on Santa Rosa Avenue in Santa Rosa. She was able to home in on the restrooms, the black liquorice and the free sample bar for us. You people in San Clemente owe it to yourselves to visit the Trader Joe's in Santa Rosa. Guardians of the Light and Practitioners of the Ancient Wisdoms often shop there. read more