Monte Vista Food Center

They were open on Xmas day and very friendly.

Extremely helpful and friendly team. Great selection of fruits and vegetables and reasonably priced.

wonderful produce and prices, and nice drink selection. love the bulk food area as well and the service is always very friendly.

I love this place everyone is nice and the produce excellent condition if not you can get a huge bargain. friendly staff and great produce!

Great little grocery store, nice selection of organic produce and high quality grocery items. I try to buy as much food as I can here, Piedmont Grocery is right next door, yet they charge way too much and lack high quality items. Monte Vista also has gluten free items and bulk bins.

You’d be amazed how great their produce selection is given how small the store is. They don’t have everything in the world here, but still a pretty decent selection for a corner market. Really friendly owners and workers. Vital to the neighborhood.

Love this little gem in my neighborhood. Can’t beat the little clearance section they have stocked full daily. I find great deals on produce with a lot of life left in it. My bunnies enjoy the huge bags of romaine. Thanks Monte Vista… we wouldn’t eat so good if we had to pay the prices the big guys charge. You even have my favorite coconut water… Taste Nirvana.

My favorite place for produce! I just found out that they’re open until 7:30 now! For some reason they’re Unilocal hasn’t been updated.

I’m not a big cook, but they seem to have all you need for most recipes, except the meat. The produce is really fresh, and the prices are good.

When Oakland started charging 10 cents a bag, THEY UPGRADED THE QUALITY OF THEIR PLASTIC BAGS so that the bags are thick, durable, fit for a king’s groceries! If you use plastic bags from the store as trash can liners or pet poop bags, you have hit the motherlode my friends! Worth shopping here just for that!

I LOVE this little mom and pop store. They have a wide selection of fresh produce and, overall, their grocery prices are much cheaper than Piedmont Grocery. They also have lots of natural/​organic options!

This place is rad. I agree with everyone saying it’s a better choice for a lot of stuff than Piedmont Grocery. The people that work here are really nice too. I just stopped in and got a dozen local eggs, a cantaloupe, avocados, nectarines, and broccoli and it only totaled around $ 10.

Good produce selection for a small store. Would definitely pick over Piedmont Grocery for produce. Cordial employees. Prices are a little high for some things. A limited selection for dairy products. All-​around good if I am in the neighborhood and need to pick up a few things.

Excellent little neighborhood grocery with a truly amazing variety of quality produce packed into their tiny space! Prices are quite good — and I am so amazed that anyone would bother going into the much pricier Piedmont Grocery. The staff are very sweet and helpful. They also have a great selection of yummy chocolate! Pick up your snacks for the movie theatre here!

Go here for the cheap produce — a much better deal than Piedmont Grocery next door. If you only need a few basics in addition to your veggies, definitely go here.
I do find myself going to Piedmont Grocery sometimes when I want a bunch of things and specialty items. I mean, when I really have the time, I’ll go tot he Berkeley Bowl. But for Piedmont area grocery stores, grocery stores I can walk to, and are easy walking distance from other places where I want to run errands, Monte Vista wins.
Monte Vista foods has that sort of bodega feel, like it seems like they have EVERYTHING, I mean, they have that one weird brand of ramen and certain unusual vegetables and a cute little bulk section, and then it’s really shocking when they don’t have everything ever.
Really, go here for produce and any of your favorites they happen to carry.

Okay, walking through the door you’re not greeted by the friendliest bunch BUT if you ever need assistance locating an item or have a question they are more than helpful. Personality aside– I love the selection of food. This store is not large but you can always find just what you need-​at a fairly reasonable price-​especially as compared to their neighbor Piedmont Grocery YUCK!!!
Also, I appreciate the discounted produce that they sell at the end of the produce isle.

I found this place randomly after being disappointed by the high prices and lack of interestingness at Piedmont Grocery.
They had a sign saying they have kaffir lime leaves. Unfortunately, I wasn’t cooking Thai that day, but it’s good to know where to get them! Also had a bigger selection of asian sauces (at great prices too!) than Piedmont grocery. They had a nice selection of organic things, though they could probably cut back on all the imported organic apples and other out-​of-​season things.
Friendly service!
There are two bike racks right around the corner on Monte Vista, woot!

This little market has a pretty amazing selection of vegan stuff. Sure they have produce and other essentials you would expect to find in small moms-​and-​pops markets, but they also have vegan jerky, vegan candy bars, and a decent selection of actual vegan food.
I dunno how parking would be if you were driving over. I also don’t know why you would drive over. If you live around Piedmont Ave, however, this is the joint. The woman who seems to run the market is always pleasant as well.

Summary based on 1 visit:
–good selection of produce, including some items generally not found except at Berkeley Bowl or 99 Ranch
–competitive or cheaper prices
–ok parking

WHY haven’t i been here before!!!
today i was on a mission. a mission to find torani italian syrups so i could make my own yummy lattes at home. i hit up piedmont grocery next door, and surprisingly they don’t have it. i even go to A.G. ferrari across the street because i figured italian market must have italian syrups. no such luck. then i decide to try my luck at this place.
THEY TOTALLY HAD IT!!! they had like 6 different flavors. and it was 5.50 or something? i don’t know how much these bottles usually are but i figure they’re kinda pricey. seemed like a sweet deal. i poked around and noticed they actually have a good selection of groceries and i am for surely coming back. save your wallet and come here instead of overpriced ass piedmont grocery!
there’s also a super nice couple running the place. the guy at the register asked me,
«are you thai?»
but he spoke kinda quiet, so i said i’m sorry? and he repeated himself. and i said,
«ohhhhh man i thought you said are you tired? and i was like crap do i look that bad without my make up!!!» and we had a nice little laugh. genuinely nice people make my day, for serious.
*FYI: i’m not thai.