Whole Foods Market

This review is solely for the ice cream bar inside the whole foods (I actually really like this Whole Foods location). Ordered their $ 2 mochi ice cream balls– WORST mochi I’ve ever had in my life. It was dry and crumbly, almost like it was super old or just not made correctly. That and although there are cash registers at the ice cream station, they don’t have cashiers… so they send you to get in another line in order to pay for your ice cream… that you already stood in line for.

Seems like a nice enough place. Let me know when you get a bike rack and I’ll change this to a 5 star review.
The bulk food section was good. Lots of organic stuff.
Free dog food outside and a place to LEAVE YOUR DOG. But nowhere to leave your bike.

Living in Culver City I was ecstatic to see that a new Whole Foods was opening up ten minutes from my house. I’ve been shopping at the one in El Segundo due to size and selection since the Mar Vista location is pretty much the size of a walk in closet.
I do a lot of my grocery shopping at Whole Foods but not all as I can find lots of the same items cheaper at other stores. Now, this review is for the store itself, not parking. I have made my peace with LA and it’s lack of proper parking for every establishment. The store itself is very modern and pleasing to the eyes and senses. The produce department is well stocked with workers around organizing and restocking. In all the time (which is once every week) that I have been in this dept. not one single associate has asked if I needed help (sigh). On to the seafood department… Great selection, impressive display and everyone there has always been attentive and helpful with a smile to boot. Now for the meat department, very stark contrast to seafood. You get a curt hello, half a smile to no smile depending on the employee and I must say the selection is decent but the butchers are not on point with the way they are cutting their meats, very sloppy.
One of my favorite departments is the cured meats and cheese department. Not here though, not only don’t they ever smile at me or anyone else, they have an attitude to go with the face. All the other departments are adequate but not great. I will say that the employees who work the aisles restocking and organizing have always been pleasant and helpful. The Astro bar… Yeesh. I’ve been in there 3 times already, every time hoping for better service. They are friendly but unfortunately not very competent and the food is mediocre. The cashiers are hit and miss. Some have been super friendly and fun while others act as though they are doing you a favor.
A few years back a manager of another WF over heard me complaining to my husband about how pricey an item was and he explained to me that not only was I paying for quality but also good service. At this WF I am paying top dollar for quality but honestly, I get better service at Ralph’s. This WF has the potential to be all around great if the staff or department managers would train their staff on people skills. I started going back to El Segundo and still come here on occasion when I’m too lazy to drive. Put in a little effort WF…

Small! But I like!
As usual, everyone is super friendly and helpful. Sprout’s really needs to take lessons from WFM.
People complain about WFM being expensive (and it can definitely be) BUT, I find that many things are offered here are LESS expensive than Sprout’s. Example– Safflower mayo is like 5 bucks (tiny) at Sprout’s and only $ 6 here for a giant size! And so I bought a few…
Lot’s of seafood!
Ground veal
Alpine’s Hoppy Birthday .
All the stuff you can’t get anywhere else can be found at Whole’s.
But, again, it’s a small store in comparison to some, such as the Pasadena store, and so the selection here isn’t as fantastic.
I’m personally ecstatic there’s a Whole Foods close by to me. I’m just scared of this area turning into the zoo it inevitably will be soon enough.

This location is still fairly new, I had the opportunity to come opening day. This shopping center is newly built, with a couple of shops around. I found parking right away. The walked up to the second floor. I love to grocery shop here. Everything is so fresh and many of the vegetable you can sample. I usually come once a week to juice. Sometimes when I’m having a hard time looking for particular item someone is always there to assist. If I’m not in a rush I like to grab a bite, sit the bar and grab a drink as well. The bartender Lulu is very helpful, I had the pleasure of meeting her twice. She also suggested a couple things to try out. I have to admit the only thing I don’t like about whole foods are they’re price. But you definitely get what you pay for, and that’s quality.

I am a big fan of Whole Foods Market and shop there daily. I was excited for the Jefferson location to open, since it’s the closet to where I live.
It’s nice that it’s right next to the movie theater, Starbucks and some cool new restaurant but honestly I much rather drive to El Sungdo location and second the Venice location. They have a better selection on certain items and the staff are friendlier.

Parking is plentiful, it’s bright and clean, and of course, there’s an amazing selection.
The people are incredibly friendly. Awesome!

There is a wide selection at this Whole Foods location. The have an express lane for faster check out and ready-​made food by the deli. They had a small selection of wine and champagne.
Their parking wasn’t too great though. Overall, this location does the job.

Whole foods is always a great place to grab some healthy food to go. They have such a large selection of dishes, salads, and other sides that it can get a little overwhelming, but you’re almost guaranteed to find something you like.
At this spot in Playa Vista they have a pub right by the buffet area so you can grab some beers and enjoy your meal sitting outside. It’s great for a healthy yet boozy meal!

Park in the parking structure, walk over to whole foods! Line gets pretty long for lunch but that’s expected, hot foods/​salads are discounted on Wednesdays!
Its a pretty big Whole Foods with ample seating area outside. Got a bar, seafood, bbq, drink station. Pretty solid! Will come back again.

Here’s a thing: if you like the way whole’s been you probably won’t like this new whole foods. This one is more condensed with a more «urban» feel. Most people come here to grab a quick lunch since there’s a lot of surrounding hip business parks.
Love that they have a good lunch section with a great amount of veggie/​vegan options. Soyrizo mushroom pizza is my favorite. Also this is one of the places to come to if you need to «pick up a few things» for the house.
but expect to be pretty busy and more «grab-​n-​go» than a suburban wholefoods.
lots of out door seating.

Not my favorite Whole Foods
Ambiance:
*Lighting is good
*New refrigerators
*Solid hot bar
Layout
*A bit convoluted
I prefer the Whole Foods in Venice

So heres the deal. I shop at WF almost every day at the three locations nearest to my home in Santa Monica. When traveling I make a point of finding a WF in other cities. You can say I’m a bit of a WF aficionado.
This store has all the makings of greatness. Love the olive bar, well stocked produce, meat and fish selections are fantastic. Exotic deli meats and imported cheeses, great. The fresh breads and pastries delightful. Astro restaurant and outdoor seating pretty cool. The little dog bowls outside a nice touch. Love all the urban artwork and swanky décor. The attempt to make this modern shopping experience feel like the hometown store down the street.
The reality is one key area has been overlooked. Heart! Lacking in heart and genuine compassion. If you want to make this a first class establishment then focus on the employees to be inspired to provide memories for the guest. Slow down a bit and bring in the energy and light.
Many of your other stores engage you. I watched your managers spending there time looking over the store and not at the guest in front of them. What people remember about greatness is the employee that says, «Hey Brad we just got in the almonds you mentioned last week!» Chat with us, you will learn a lot and become great.

I’m still embarrassed to be obsessed with Whole Foods as all these allegations continue to arise about ripping customers off, but I can always find exactly what I’m looking for when I’m here. When I shop at Trader Joe’s, I know I’ll still end up shopping at one or two other places to complete what I have in mind for the week. Whole Foods is a pretty price to pay but it saves me a ton of time being able to shop at one store.
First, there’s a huge selection of fresh seafood. There’s even a make-​your-​own poke area (not really my thing because the cooked and ready-​to-​eat seafood cases share space with raw food) and raw uni (sea urchin) still in the shell and a selection of 4 or 5 different raw oysters still in their shells.
In the beef section, they sell short ribs, but with the bone length-​wise. These are difficult for me to find at normal grocery stores because they’re typically cut thinner. They’re also only $ 8.99/lb which is the same cost as the cut ribs.
The last highlight of my trip to Whole Foods was an ice cream mochi bar! The mochi were smaller than the ones at the grocery store but they were so much more fresh! The mochi surrounding the ice cream was soft and not too powdery, and the ice cream was creamy without being overly sweet. The were a lot of flavors to choose from. Being Chinese, I like to see how Western places make their rendition of Asian flavors so I got the lychee and it was sooooo good! It felt exactly like biting into the juicy little fruits, but not teeth-​bitingly sweet.
I’m a fan of this Whole Foods location!

I love this new addition to my neighborhood!
It’s Whole Foods, so you know the quality is there. It might be one of the smaller Whole Foods, but I’m fine with that. I used to live in Brentwood, where the Whole Foods was really small, and I kind of prefer the neighborhood supermarket vibe.
The couple of times I’ve been here, the seafood selection has been impressive with various whole fish available for sale, such as black cod, coho salmon, and branzino. They even had live sea urchin, how can I ask for more?
The deli/​fine meats section had 4 – 5 different kinds of prosciutto for sale, the butcher section looked impressive, and the various cheese alone can stop you in your tracks.
I LOVE their fresh baked chocolate cookies, it is so delicious and reasonably priced. I don’t think I’ll ever bake again! It’s the perfect chocolate chip texture that I like, chewy and slightly crispy but soft when you bite into it. And not too much chocolate either, just right.
Would I come here if I didn’t live in Playa Vista? I doubt it, so it’s not some place that I think will be a destination market for people outside of this area, but for people that are within walking distance, this is one exciting addition.
Plus everyone at the seafood counter to the meat section to the cashier has been super friendly and helpful. It just has a nice feel to the whole place. I’m sure I’ll be back soon!

Whole Foods is the perfect grocery store for Playa Vista! It’s overpriced (like the real estate), it looks fancy on the outside but the quality is just OK (like a lot of the construction in Playa Vista).
I stopped by to check out the store on June 27, which is about 2 weeks after the grand opening. The grocery store looks great, which it should for being brand new. I give thumbs-​up to the meat & seafood departments, which are the best I’ve seen in any grocery store. Great selection, including fresh sea urchin!
There is a good selection of pre-​made food for takeout, but I opted to try the Astro Bar — a full bar in a grocery store? Why not! There is not much inside seating, since it was happy hour (4 – 7 daily). I took a seat at the bar & ordered the flatbread pizza with fig spread, prosciutto, caramelized onions, and gorgonzola cheese. They went WAY too heavy on the gorgonzola, but the other flavors worked well together. My buddy tried the oysters, which looks like a bargain at 6 for $ 6. He said the oysters were OK, but the red sauce was horrible. We also tried the fried calamari, which was just OK. I had a glass of Malbec, which was not bad for $ 6, and my buddy had a draft beer — they’ve got 14 on tap, and are happy to give samples. However, they had run out of several already.
As we ate & watched the workers, it’s clear that the front of house food prep area was built for looks more than functionality. There is almost NO counter space (small carts are used for counter space), the bar itself could be half the width, freeing up space for food prep. Communication is also an issue, as I saw many dishes coming out of the kitchen with workers asking «who is this for?» Don’t the tickets have the waiter name or table number?
It also became pretty obvious what was happening when an order was placed. For example, if someone orders the oysters, someone has to run back to the seafood dept to get them. If someone orders the Bananas Foster, someone has to run to the freezer section to get a container of store-​brand ice cream to put on top.
Overall, the Astro Bar prices are pretty reasonable (I hope these are not just introductory prices while the staff gets acclimated). But keep in mind that the food is grocery-​store-​diner quality, so you keep your expectations low.

Brand spanking new Wholefoods!!! It’s a great spot in Playa Vista on Jefferson Blvd, and there is a big parking structure there at the Runway, as they call this new plaza.
You will find everything and more here. I found my favorite baked goods here, the cured meats section is amazing, the deli is super fresh and delish, there’s actually like a gastropub in the back called the Astro too.
I may sound like a nerd but I really enjoyed shopping here.

Stopped by to check it out the morning of the store opening. It was a zoo. ‘Course all the bags they were giving out were gone within minutes. Wish the store were more prepped with more bags giveaway given all the crowd support that turned up this morning.
Typical Whole Foods aisles and food displays. The express checkout line is nice. Need trash cans, couldn’t find a single one in the store. Tried a sample of the Breakfast pizza, not bad. I saw some specials such as the $ 8.99/lb sockeye salmon. Good shopping deal couple with the Facebook coupon $ 15 off min $ 50 purchase.
Attached parking structure makes parking easy unless it gets busy grocery shopping time.

For years now, I’ve been ripping Unilocal off by reading reviews and scoping out pictures before ordering and not contributing back to my community. It was selfish, I’m shameful. And, I’m turning over a new leaf. What better a way than with the grand opening of Whole Foods at Runway Playa Vista today?
Whole Foods is Whole Foods, it’s a constant. We all love the premade foods but honestly, a part of my heart breaks every time when it gets weighed at the checkout counter and I scold my fiancé for putting in mashed potatoes. But what makes this Whole Foods distinct from the one down on Lincoln and Rose in Venice or any other Whole Foods for that matter? It’s hard to distinguish if I am as pleased with «Whole Foods» as an entity so much as I am «Whole Foods in Playa Vista.»
Things to look forward to here:
1) Outdoor seating around fireplaces and water fountain
2) Slices of fresh baked pizza for $ 3.50 for quick and cheap meal (which conflicts my internal dialogue about Whole Foods being overly priced)
3) While neighboring Piknic has great soup, Whole Foods brings choice to the bowl
4) Astro Pub — we didn’t eat here yet, but I’m looking forward to it. Happy hour from 4−7pm daily. Thursday’s you can get a burger and a draft beer for $ 10 — ftw.
5) Community location which will be within walking distance for a tremendous amount of people
6) Strong craft beer selection. Wondering if Pliny the Elder will get delivered here since the Whole Foods in Westwood gets it?
Overall, this is a fantastic addition to the developing community of Playa Vista. It’ll be a great place to stop for dinner after a jog on the bluff, baseball practice with your kids at Sports Park, dinner before catching a movie at neighboring Cinemark, or to meet and catch up with an old friend.

OMG it was truly a mob scene on opening day at the new and beautiful Whole Foods Playa Vista «the Runway.» The parking was not bad but I’ll bet when more businesses open here you will not be able to park on the ground level where you can walk right into the store.
In front they had a calypso band and a fresh fish market. Inside there were tons of WF employees all over the place helping people find stuff. Their wares were generally the same as other stores but I have to say they were lacking in some things that Gelson’s Market has.
Could not find my favorite peanut butter: Santa Cruz Organic Dark Roasted Pnut Butter
Could not find quart size Lactaid milk (they had gallons).
Could not find lima beans. (Am I weird that I like lima beans?)
They have various offerings that I didn’t try because it was so crowded but they do have a kind of café over on one side. It’s not the biggest Whole Foods but it is so very convenient to my hood that I will be a regular here.