Star Grocery

Walking into Star Grocery is like a walk back in time: older linoleum on the floors, cool neon sign above the awning, super neighborhoody. Nick Pappas, the second generation owner, is often there puttering around, greeting customers, working the register, sweeping the floor – you know, what you would do if you owned the place! When you go, read the plaque outside about how Nick’s dad fed the community on credit during the depression – inspiring, amazing story of caring for the community.
They have a lovely wine section with reviews to help you make your selection. Sandra does the buying and has been incredibly helpful when we bought in bulk. The beer department is super diverse with wonderful microbrews, local and foreign, again with great reviews to help. The produce is super-​fresh, beautiful, and varied. The cheese selection is to die for, and lastly, they have an entire chocolate department (you read that right!). Who needs dinner: wine, cheese, baguette, chocolate!
It is truly high-​end full-​service grocery store, so if you’re looking to buy a small package of diapers, there’s no bargain there, but they do have an incredible arrays of specialty foods that would rival Market Hall and Andronico’s (two kinds of imported elderflower syrup?) without the bigger store hassle. Free, mostly abundant street parking.
Also, Star Meats, a full-​service butcher, is in the back – fantastic sandwiches and meats+++. Totally awesome. See my other review!

Clearly an incredible marketplace but certainly not for the Everyman. Many luxuriously priced items that are hard to come by – but is «real freedom» the choice between 50 expensive, artisan pastas that are difficult to rank, or 3 – 5 pastas at variable price ranges?
One thing: killer booze selection. I imagine many of the rich folks in those yonder hills have well-​stocked bars for their holiday get-​togethers.

I continue to love Star Grocery for it’s generally great selection, helpful staff, quick in and out ability. My favorite recent finds is Double 8 Gelato, made from water buffalo milk. The hazelnut is crazy good. I haven’t seen it anywhere else, tho I’m sure it’s put there
Stay away from Cake Box products however, which Star Grocery stocks regularly. I’ve always thought Cake Box buns/​rolls etc are no better than Wonder Bread at 4 times the price. This Lafayette bakery has had several failed inspections from the FDA and a warning letter from Dec 2011 describes unsanitary practices gross enough to make my hair curl:

Star is as good as it gets – locally grown vegetables, a great bread and cheese selection, great range of snacks and wines, as well as oils, vinegars, and honeys and jams. A lovely shopping experience! The fruits and vegetables are sourced from great farms, and make this a slightly more expensive farmers’ market type quality of food.

Star IS my #1 go to for very very good food. It’s gourmet and simple at the same time. Zero snobbery. They know their customer and you can find many unusual things not found at the big stores. Fruit and Veggies always fresh and FLAVORFUL. For me they have it ALL and I can manage getting in and out of the store in 15 minutes. That is unless I am deliberating over their olive oil and vinegar department.
Love Star Meats too!!! (in the back)
Homemade Sausages, Bacon, Meatballs,
Great quality plus fantastic sandwiches (11−2pm strict rules)
Enjoy!!!

Super convenient place to pick up groceries, closest place to where I live. I haven’t tried a sandwich yet, but I always see people sitting outside munching down on them midday. I enjoy their selection and their prices are fair. The staff is very courteous and the shelves are well stocked. I enjoy the unique products they carry, like an old timey neighborhood grocer.

Star Grocery feels like that neighborhood store you always want to visit, where the owner greets you by name and the cashier asks about your family. While they don’t have the variety you’d find at a behemoth like Safeway, the products they carry are high quality, carefully vetted and selected. There’s a huge array of organic items — fruits and veggies, cereal, yogurt, meat, milk, even organic ice cream. They sell museli, oats, rice, and snacks (malt balls, chocolate covered almonds, yum!) in bulk. The deli in the back is the special secret. It takes up half the store, and you can order a cut of meat or a giant deli sandwich. Try the Brian Allen (turkey, cheddar, arugula, tomato, chipotle mayo) or the Petit Sara (portobello mushroom, eggplant, roasted peppers, mozzarella, balsamic vinegar & olive oil) specialty sandwiches, they’re great.
If you’re lucky, you’ll find a freshly baked apricot pie for half off as you head to the register (score!!). Don’t forget to give a warm hello to the folks who work here on your way out the door.

This review is primary for the deli, as I have not shopped the market extensively.
Bottom line: I’m a sandwich guy, and these are killer! Really top-​flight. The meat quality is high-​second tier, which is perfectly acceptable, and the condiment combination is perfect.

Great to have this local resource. They carry a good variety of items, a lot of gourmetish stuff, a decent amount of the more health food oriented stuff I like, and prices are ok. I drove by it for a year or two before I stopped in and wish I’d tried it earlier. Much easier to park than Trader Joe’s when in a pinch. (I’m not a Safeway person)

Can’t complain. They had the specialized beer I was looking for, so a plus on that! I’m sure if I lived in the neighborhood I’d be way happier, because they offer a lot of things that I like. But I was just searching for the beer.

Love this place for the convenience and fantastic selection. Great wine and meat counter. I would say that my only complaint are the limited hours. Closing at 7 means i can’t go there and night after work even though it’s close to my house. Same story on weekends.. If you’re not paying attention and think you’ll just pop over and grab something, they’re closed. I wouldn’t consider myself a plan ahead shopper though.

Went there because they supposedly had Boyajian citrus oils (according to
that listed their local distributors) Store never heard of it. Nice selection of other oils and condiments. I like this sort of independent market, far better than any «corner» store with nothing but sugar and alcohol selections. Sort of like the smaller Farmer Joes in the Laurel district of Oakland. If I lived in this neighborhood, I would probably shop there from time to time, tho prices for odd items that I checked were premium.
Tried two sandwiches, «classic» and a roast beef. Similar to upstate NY style submarine sandwiches, tho the slices of cheese on both were paper thin. They were both good, and tho a bit pricey, they were large, good for 2 meals.
Read another review re truffle-​fig sausages. Very pricey, but bought 3, enormous, but pretty bland. Out of propane to grill, so I cooked in an iron skillet, low-​ish flame… at first they swelled like they had been ‘fluffed’ then they burst, continued on very low flame in order to prevent all of that sweet fig juice from burning, tho they did come mighty close, before being cooked thru. They were meh. They had just a pleasant enough pork flavor, with no hints of any other flavor.
I probably should have asked the butcher for cooking recommendations for these, or serving recommendations… I ended up adding a little hot and sweet mustard to perk them up.
I wouldn’t dis them, but for the price, they weren’t all that special… about $ 5 – 6 each. Maybe someone out there has a good suggestion for spotlighting these with a meal.

I love Star Grocery. I feel like I’m transported back to the 1950’s there, a real neighborhood grocery store. The quality is very high, but the prices are reasonable. Such a sweet place.

My son had a ‘cowboy rib eye’ steak last year from Star and I heard he ate all by himself. I decided to try one, but with 3 family members helping & devoured it. Wonderful quality, flavor and texture. One of the best steaks had ever. Great meat. Price was right. Love the history of the place.

I think of Star Grocery as a mini Berkeley Bowl. They have pretty much everything, but on a much smaller scale. In the vegan, organic, locally grown world of Berkeley, it’s not uncommon to see stores like this. However, I came to try their famous Italian mafia themed sandwiches.
$ 9 for a huge sandwich that can easily last you for two lunches. I got the Goodfella, which consists of Genoa salami, hot coppa, fresh mozzarella, arugula, sun dried tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and a touch of mayo. The meat was very fresh and went perfectly with the mozzarella. The sun dried tomatoes are a great touch as well. I’m usually not a big fan of going out for sandwiches, but this is worth it if you’re heading up to Tilden Park for a picnic.
Staff isn’t the friendliest, but they get the job done…

Made a special trip to try their supposedly fabulous sandwiches. Passed a beautiful rack of fresh bread and rolls on the way into the back where the deli and meat counter are. There is a bakery (semifreddi’s) 2 doors away as well.
Got to the counter, three people were just standing behind the counter and told me that they were not making sandwiches because they had no bread. I said, «well I can just grab a roll up front, no problem!!»
Their response? NO … «Well if we do that for you we would have to do it for everybody!»
My question is: are you in business to make sandwiches, try to please your customers or not? I think the answer is NOT.
I will not be back, am appalled at their unfriendly customer practices in the deli…
Now, the market itself rocks, one of my favorites…

This place is perfect for what it is trying to be. It is a neighborhood grocery store serving its local community. It is independent, staffed mostly by students and young adults, and it is stocked with things that the people who live within walking distance want and need.

My son wanted to drop off a present to his BBF. Turns out our stop was at the famous Star Market, home of infamous deli sandwiches. Back in the day, I worked at Ultra Luca, which is now known as A.J. Ferrari, so I consider myself a «deli expert.» I’ve had Star Market bookmarked for awhile and thought it was a lucky omen.
It is 10:30AM. Sandwich orders are from 11:00AM ton2:00PM!?! Sad face.
Undaunted, i returned the next dat at 11:10AM and was met by a line of eight folks ahead of me. Oh, boy, this is going to be good! The choices all have a «wise guy» theme: Soprano, Godfather, Raging Bull, My Cousin Vinnie… I ordered the Goodfella, a mix of salumi, sun dried tomatoes, Bufsa mozzarella (I think) and arugula greens. All sandwiches are carry out. $ 8, a fair price.
Salivating with excitement, I open up my present in the car. The sandwich looks like a photoshopped version of what you see in Bön Appetit! Beautiful! My first bite into the marvelous crusty bread was… OK. As they say on the Food Network «Chopped,» a lot of flavors going on, yet over powered by the sun dried tomatoes. The bread, which I have to find out the bakery, was the best I’d ever tasted. It does blow away most other Berkeley leftist sandwiches; Betty’s, Saul’s, yes, A.J. Ferrari, and Andronico’s. Maybe not Fred’s! Just the serving times aren’t convenient for me.
Star Market does get 4 stars. They have a great selection of spirits and wine! French rosé, my true love, is there in several lots. For neighborhood market, they have most everything you might need at tha last moment, produce, cheeses, etc. Open M-​Sat, 8 – 7! And plenty of street parking.
FYI. I parked in front of an occult store. Hummm. Not a lucky omen after all.

STAR MARKET VOTED BEST PLACE TO SHOP IN YOUR BEDCLOTHES!
Yes, that’s me in my slippers. I see you are wearing your housecoat.
I’m picking up some Clover organic H&H and the Sunday NYT. Come on over for coffee and a little snizzle!

When I was growing up in small town Iowa, our neighbourhood had a family-​owned grocery store called Bringles. The space was funky, the butcher was the best in town, credit was extended in need, and everybody knew your name (and often your business). I would often walk here from home with Mom’s grocery list, sign for it, and head back.
Star Grocery is the «Big City» version of my beloved corner store. And it’s much better. I’ve enjoyed delicious deli sandwiches here, spent too much trying to choose among their extensive beer collection, and «worshiped» at their butcher counter and produce section. It’s all contained in a rambling and sometimes worn community-​friendly space where you’re never quite sure what you’ll discover next. They truly don’t make places like this any more.