Any organic grocery stores.... (other than Whole Foods)? (San Jose, Sacramento: to buy, prices)

[bentobox34]

Are there any locally owned full-service grocery stores with organic produce and bulk bins in the South Bay? I need a place where I can do an entire grocery shopping trip, please don't list vitamin stores. For examples, see: Berkeley Bowl, Farmer Joe's, Sacramento Natural Foods Coop, etc.

[sonarrat]

Smart & Final Extra on Hillsdale has some of the bulk bins and has a lot of the local produce. If you haven't been to the store in the last couple years, give it a shot, it has changed greatly for the better.

[capoeira]

New Leaf has recently opened a new store in San Jose on Silver Creek Valley Rd.

New Leaf Community Markets

[marcopolo666]

Sprouts Farmers Market (111 East El Camino Real, Sunnyvale)
Sunflower Farmers Market (5205 Prospect Road, near where Saratoga & Lawrence Expy cross)
Old Macdonald's Farmers Market (a one-location-only fruit/veggie seller on Saratoga Ave in SJ, near Williams)
Lunardi's Markets :
- 4650 Meridian Avenue, San Jose
- 2666 South Bascom Avenue, San Jose
- 720 Blossom Hill Road, Los Gatos

"Sunflower Farmers Market" is mainly fruits and vegetables. You won't be able to buy diapers or vitamins or toilet paper there.
Lunardi's is a full-service market.
I *think* that Sprouts and Sunflower are "mostly" food.

Oh, and they aren't *exclusively* organic (but then Whole Paycheck isn't either)

[Radical347]

Great question. I've been wondering the same thing.

Sprouts and Sunflower (same company now) are probably the most in line with what you're looking for. They're not locally owned, but they are pretty "crunchy," have a lot of inexpensive organic and non-organic produce, and bulk bins of everything.

Lion Supermarket (many locations in the South Bay) may be worth checking out, IMO. It's a locally owned Vietnamese market and has very cheap and good quality veggies. They buy directly from the farmers. They are not certified organic, but many of them do not use pesticides. They also have a lot of good packs of mixed grain.

Lunardi's is ok, but it's more ethnic-European (with European pricing) than cheap and crunchy.

capoeira, thanks for posting about New Leaf! I'll check it out for sure.

[marcopolo666]

And of course, the local farmer's markets :

Cupertino (Fri)
Saratoga (Sat)
Campbell (Sun)

[511pf]

Not answering the question, but it may help people with similar questions to know that Oakmont Produce has a great variety and excellent quality of locally grown fruits and veggies. Their prices are MUCH lower than equivalent grocery store prices. The Campbell location is right down the block from Safeway.

[jbunniii]

Originally Posted by marcopolo666

"Sunflower Farmers Market" is mainly fruits and vegetables. You won't be able to buy diapers or vitamins or toilet paper there.

I don't know about the other locations, but the Sunflower Farmer's Market that recently opened in San Jose (Branham at Almaden Expressway, in the old OSH location) has several aisles dedicated to vitamins. Dunno about diapers but they do have toilet paper. Nice beer selection too. I would classify them as a cheaper Whole Foods, with a greater emphasis on bulk bins and snacks of the kind you would find at Trader Joe's, but a much smaller prepared foods/deli section than Whole Foods has. Also, the bakery section is pretty meager. Produce section is a bit smaller than at Whole Foods, maybe half the stuff is organic, similar to WF in that regard.

[Radical347]

Originally Posted by jbunniii

I don't know about the other locations, but the Sunflower Farmer's Market that recently opened in San Jose (Branham at Almaden Expressway, in the old OSH location) has several aisles dedicated to vitamins. Dunno about diapers but they do have toilet paper. Nice beer selection too. I would classify them as a cheaper Whole Foods, with a greater emphasis on bulk bins and snacks of the kind you would find at Trader Joe's, but a much smaller prepared foods/deli section than Whole Foods has. Also, the bakery section is pretty meager. Produce section is a bit smaller than at Whole Foods, maybe half the stuff is organic, similar to WF in that regard.

The one on Saratoga has all of this too, as does the Sprouts in Sunnyvale. It is indeed a full-service grocery store.

[marcopolo666]

Crap. Brain Fart. I meant to say :

Old Macdonald's Farmers Market is mainly fruits and vegetables. You won't be able to buy diapers or vitamins or toilet paper there.

Old Macdonald's is actually located in an old McDonald's burger building, and is almost exclusively fruits & veggies.