Lhasa Karnak Herb Company

Great store, very knowledgeable, they have everything but their prices are quadruple other stores for the same EO’s and herbs.

My fiancé has been hassling me for sage for weeks, but I live in Pittsburg. Walking around Berkeley yesterday, we walked inside and they had it! I’ve never been in a place like this, but the shelves are lined with books and herbs.
Upon walking, we were greated kindly and offered assistance right away. They had 3 different kinds of sage and these tea tree oil toothpicks I always have trouble finding.
With 2 sage bundles, tea tree oil toothpicks and a book it all came to 20 bucks. It was less than I thought it would be, but their prices are pretty hefty.
I would definitely return

This was a serendipitous find. Waiting for a YEE to start and not wanting wait out on the street, I found Lhasa Karnak Herb Company to be open. The first thing I noticed was the wonderful incense wafting out the doors, bringing back the ’60’s all over again. The window display was well done, with a few things that were intriguing. So I ventured in to become immediately overwhelmed! Raw materials lined the tall wall. Glass jars full of every kind of dried plant life you can imagine. Infusers big enough to work a whole stock pot of liquid needing infusing. Amber bottles with twist tops and droppers. compact jars waiting to be filled with your creation.
On the other wall were pre-​made professional grade products for the quick fix. I purchased a pot of Country Comfort Herbal Savvy with Comfrey and Aloe Vera. It has properties comparable to that of Neosporin, but natural.
A woman, who works there, offered her expertise in finding the right product. Even pointing out the best buy for the money.
Back in the day when I was concocting my own remedies, it would have been nice to have know about Lhasa Karnak.
Pros: Fairly Priced
Tremendous Product Stock
Friendly, Helpful Information
Great Hours
Cons: Located in the Unwashed Armpit of Berkeley

I was very pleased with the vast selection of options. I went in congested (head & chest) and fatigued. they suggested the perfect mix of herbs to help me. Although I’m not 1o0% I was able to rest. Can’t wait to see what the days to come have in store. Yay peppermint!

No. Just no.
I come in here looking for Kava-​Kava, heard it was good for stress. Except, I couldn’t remember the name.
I walk in and a blonde, younger lady approaches me, abruptly asking me if I needed help. I say, «yeah, Im looking for this one herb thats good for relaxation, it starts with a T or a K.» She rudely points to a section and says this is our relaxation stuff, and walks away, As if completely annoyed with my request.
Will not be back here, ever, ever again. I take customer service very seriously as I was a waiter and know what its like to deal with shitty customers, one of which I am not in any way. This was an awful experience, avoid this overpriced, terribly-​serviced establishment.

I think it really depends on what day you go. One time I went in and got wonderful advice and ideas from the woman working at the store. Last week the answer to every question I had was, «I don’t know» and/​or blank stares. That being said they have a great selection of items so I always take my chances and stop in here when I am in town.

I’ve been going here for a long time. They are very helpful and always have good suggestions. Their essential oils are the absolute best quality and therefore have no problem with their prices that some people seem to want to complain about. I also noticed a couple of one star reviews that start with the exact same sentence about «you would think the owner of the store like this would be enlightened…» Which I find very interesting. I love the teas they sell and their incense as well. In fact, I’m going to get up off the couch and drive over there and replenish my supplies. I just came on Unilocal to to check their hours and saw some of the weird reviews. Thought I would put in my own two cents.

Great place for herbs, oils and natural remedies. Great staff with willingness to help.

So… I’m now officially into the essential oils. and this shop has overwhelmed me with endless possibilities. Great customer service, knowledgeable and a good location… so MUCH of everything! Great neighborhood shop!

DO NOT GO HERE!!! You would think that an owner of a place like this would be very enlightened — I mean what else inspires someone to open a store so full of eastern paraphernalia? If you need any herbs go to Whole Foods/​Berkeley Bowl or anywhere but this horrible place! 1 star for many reasons… starting with their lack of customer service. It seems like the employees hate their jobs, the customer service was horrible. The owner is a complete idiot. Dont waste your time or money. Oh and not mention they are very pricey!!!

I was visiting Berkeley and the last thing that would come to my mind is herbs or herbal medicines, but since the pretty factor push more than the need in many cases, my 2 girlfriends and I sniffed something good was in there. So I got my great deal of licorice root, that I like to eat as is, raw and dry (although also like licorice tea). It is not easy to find this root in many stores unless they are specialized and I was very glad to see them displayed there and at a cheap price. Both the licorice root and the style of the store (like an old apothecary) reminded me my childhood in Spain. We also got beauty goodies like water rose and Moroccan clay to have a DIY facial session. Not that the prices in that department are cheaper than the ones you can find at Indian stores, but not bad the amount of products they carry.

Been coming here for a few years! They pretty much have all the herbs on hand (no Kratom… yet). Always helpful and everything else ypu need from a great herb/​oil/​homeopathic supplies.

I heard about yerba maté through friends, and looked around the bay area for the best place to get it. I tried a couple of places before finding Lhasa Karnak. Not only is their maté way better than all the rest, but the store is quiet and nice, and they sell all the gourds and accessories too. I keep shopping here, even now that I don’t live in the Bay, because they do mail-​orders too!
Here’s a tip: they have a deal where you can buy 2 lbs. of maté for $ 26. The place to go for herbs and things!

Looking for herbs? Lhasa Karnak is a comprehensive herb shop. This is not a vitamin supplement shop or a nutrition shop where their main products are muscle building supplements and herbs are a side business. This is a true natural healing and wellbeing herb shop. They stock jars and jars of herbs that you can buy in bulk or if you prefer, they also sell them by the capsules. If you are not sure what you need there are books and also some very knowledgeable and friendly staff members.
Next time? Replenish my supply of teas.

I’ve been helped by the owners, Jim and Aaron, as well as a few of their employees, during my various visits. I really like their vast selection of teas, their low prices, and they’re friendly personalities. I highly recommend their Hearthstone Tea.

Holy crappy customer service, batman!
The good:
relatively wide selection of medicinal herbs that seem relatively fresh (decent color/​odor)
awesome, comprehensive selection of Herb Pharm tinctures
open later than most other similar businesses
The bad:
high prices
won’t itemize receipts
no returns/​exchanges, even if it was their messup
did i mention the customer service?
I’m an experienced lay herbalist with close to 20 years of study under my belt. I love herbs and natural healing. I’ve been to herb shops in cities and small towns all over the US. I make my own herbal concoctions and skin care products and am the go-​to person for my friends about various healing modalities. Why am I saying all of this in a Unilocal review? Because I’m no newbie. I know what the herbs I purchase should look and smell and taste like, Ive purchased herbs all over the place and have a lot to compare my experiences to. And the customer service here ranges from neutral if youre lucky to downright atrocious. I’ve never felt quite so unwelcomed in an herb shop… usually its the opposite, because the staff have such a love for herbs and natural healing that they are excited to share the love for anyone who shops with them.
My last straw today was sending my partner to pick up some bulk herbs for me and he came back with bags with the labels INSIDE the bags. EWW. I have celiac disease, for one, and now these herbs are wasted because I have no idea what the labels might have come into contact with or what the shopgirl might have had on her hands. And even if I didnt have celiac disease, gross. I’ve never had a label put inside a bag at an herb shop, never. Hello, health code violation.
I can buy herbs with the click of a mouse online, but am trying to support small local businesses, but places like Lhasa Karnak make that hard to do.
I really hope they get a clue.

Lhasa has some of the best bulk herbs and spices in the region, and their selection of supplements and other health/​beauty products is fine. I used to come here for years *despite* the staff’s disregard for customers, but decided recently to just stop coming. I believe strongly in supporting community businesses, but LK takes its customers for granted in a major way.
I have experienced exceptions to the following (i.e., some genuinely kind people there), but they are exceptions. There’s a weird cliquishness at LK. Customer service varies by day/​mood and (I think) whether or not you manage to impress whoever’s working as «cool.» Their criteria is different than mine. If you make it to the club, it seems like you get treated with anything from friendliness to excitement to somewhat superficial herbaphilia. I suspect there is an earnest sense among the staff that herbs are great paralleled by a sense of scarcity, because pay at an herb store is a lot less great than the herbs. This scarcity culture likely contributes to the us/​them mentality of deciding who is and is not «real,» herbal-​wise.
I’m an experienced herbalist; I worked for 10+ years at a similarly-​sized herb store far away from here; it had a slightly different business model (they employed a large number of professional practitioners part-​time rather than what appears to be a somewhat less experienced full-​time staff). At the end of the day, I practice herbalism because herbs and holistic medicine are, in my estimation, environmentally and physiologically helpful, viable modes of sustaining health. Meeting a more experienced herbalist or a relative herbal neophyte is no skin off my nose; we’re all on this interesting journey together, and I love sharing my knowledge.
Very little such affection for cooperation and intellectual curiosity here. It seems like competition was a requirement to shop: I lost track of the number of visits where staff were visibly (and audibly) impatient with and condescending toward me or made it clear that a friendliness was a privilege that could be lorded. I’m confident with herbs and keep my own counsel (especially when the environment reads as ambivalent or obliquely hostile). Here, I have received unsolicited and exasperated advice about how to prepare herbs, some of which reflects an incomplete knowledge of the medicine. If I were really into recreational confrontation, I might like going here to set people straight, either from a service perspective or an herbalism one, but I’m not. Life is hard; I don’t need to be abused in my personal time by people who are disinclined to hear me anyway.
Staff of LK: You have a lot going for you. If you’re that unhappy, think a little more carefully about why before taking it out on your customers. Hubris is not a business model. Potential shoppers: Beware. If your emotional health is as important to you as your physical health, shopping here might well represent a net loss.

I love the space, and I’ve bought many herbs and spices that were of good quality from them, but holy mother of pearl DO NOT BUY THEIR BULK HENNA OR INDIGO.
The henna was gritty and poorly sifted, and never reached any kind of smooth consistency. Once mixed up, I waited for 6 hours and checked for dye release. Nothing. 12 hours: nothing. 24 hours: nothing. On the second day, I tossed it and counted my losses. The indigo at least produced a pale blue-​gray dye, but I noted that the powder was an extremely anemic pale green compared to greener powders I’ve bought in the past that produced strong blue hues.
The moral of the story here is probably to stick with buying bulk herbs that have a high turn over rate.

Once again folks :)
I have loved coming here for over 7 years:
–When I’m ill
–Need herbs and advice or books or all of the above
–Knowledgeable Staff
–Amazing Quality and a vast range of products and herbs
Brilliant!!!

This review covers only the «cooking spice» aspect of Lhasa Karnak. I’m always reluctant to post a «meh» review, as most folks seem to love this place. Oh well, it’s only an opinion so take it with a grain of salt… er, Spanish paprika.
We stopped in on a Saturday evening. The «other» nearby spice store had closed at 5pm, so after putting on our Unilocal goggles, we were led to Lhasa Karnak.
Hoping to talk to some real spice/​herb freaks, I was nonplussed by the passivity of the staff. A half-​dozen dangling spice conversation threads later, it was apparent that an attempt to discuss anything more exotic than Mrs. Dash — or sugar & spice — was not gonna happen.
After picking out the cooking spices I’d been eyeing and asking about containers, they rummaged around for a bottle and came up with a decent herb bottle for $ 1.50. Prices seemed OK.
In looking around, I could see that the selection of healing herbs, oils, barks and other homeopathic type offerings certainly looked extensive.
Pluses:
Located on Berkeley’s colorful Telegraph Ave, about 4 blocks from the campus.
Open til 7pm on Saturdays.
Decent selection of herbs and spices for many ethnic dishes.
Lots of holistic oils, herbs, creams, etc.
On the other hand:
Neither of the two staff waiting on me cared to discuss much about their products.
The owner, who buys all the products for the store, works there only intermittently (according to the staff).
Parking? Are ya kidding me?
Hint: Try parking a block or two away on Dwight and walking around the corner to the shop.