Whole Foods Market

I absolutely hate grocery shopping. Hate it. The reason I hate it is because I rarely plan meals in advance and I hate the pressure of trying to figure out what to cook/​eat throughout the week. If it were up to me, I’d stop in a grocery store on an as need basis 2−3x per week for items for that day/​meal instead.
Anyway I love Whole Foods because it doesn’t feel like a «normal» grocery store. It’s pleasant, smells good, and has interesting finds and the best looking produce. I love how they are hardly ever out of anything and the people who work here seem to love their jobs and the company they work for. I also like how WF corporate allows the employees to be themselves, blue hair and tattoos and all. It’s definitely a more progressive grocery store chain and I like that because it is the year 2016 after all and someone with tattoos isn’t a lesser person and really shouldn’t have to cover them up IMO.
The seafood counter alone is where I always seem to gravitate to. The crab cakes and lobster cakes are so good, and the selection of crab legs, shrimp, and fish is always great. I usually pick out salmon for the week and it keeps in the fridge a few days after purchasing just fine. The guys and gals who work at this counter are also very knowledgeable and suggest recipes as well– thank you because I am not the best cook and this helps a lot!
The parking lot can be crazy so just be patient at peak times when trying to park. If you can’t find anything there is a large parking garage here as well. I love WF’s — this one is a major upgrade from the one I shopped at in Chicago and I will continue to frequent this store.

Very disappointed in the service I received today. Normally I have a great experience. Cashier was rude, didn’t great me threw my stuff in a bag. Didn’t seem like he was even awake. Couldn’t be bothered to tell me the total for my purchase today.
The food was great but because of service I am giving it only one star.

This is specifically a review for Allergo the café within this Whole Foods Market.
The barista’s here have serious attitude. I have never felt more embarrased for not knowing differences in chai tea types than at this café.

I have a love-​hate relationship with Whole Foods (or maybe it’s more of a like-​dislike). I like when I go in and they have great looking produce. I dislike going in when they have no broccoli or green beans (really??). I really disliked the $ 30/​pound scallops I bought a month or so ago that weren’t fresh. I like all the varieties of smoked fish they have. I generally like their salad bar (the hot food one, not so much). Most of the pasta and couscous salads I’ve tried from their ‘chef-​prepared’ area are just awful (why does a Mediterranean salad not have herbs in it??) and need a lot more vinegar/​lemon juice than they’re using (all I taste is oil).
I like that they have a nice selection of cheeses and olives (although I wish fewer of the olive varieties were pitted). Sushi selection is OK. Pizza isn’t bad.
Frankly, I would do more of my shopping here if I could do more of my shopping here (if that makes sense). When there are certain produce items that I need, I’ve found that I can’t rely on this Whole Foods to have them. And if they do have what I’m looking for, sometimes it’s not fresh. And sometimes when I ask someone working in the produce area if they have any more ‘x’ in the back, I’ve had one person roll his eyes before heading back there. I had another one head back and not return. Curiously, I’ve never had this happen at the Safeway down the road (or at least if they do roll their eyes, they do it when I can’t see them).
This store is nice and clean and generally the staff are friendly and helpful.

Colorado has a TON of Whole Food Markets, all not too far away from each other. Seems like my husband and I have passed by so many and we have only been in Denver for 3 days now.
Anyways, this Whole Foods location is located close by the Cherry Creek Shopping Center with it’s own parking lot. When we came a little after 9 pm (store currently closes at 10 pm), we had no trouble parking.
We looked around to see if there were any special food promotions going on in the seafood department because the Whole Foods back at home have $ 1 oyster specials on Fridays. The current special we saw was $ 4.99 per pound for mussels and decided to get them to cook back at our place (when on vacation, if you can afford to, stay in a room with a kitchenette). The employee who was helping us in the seafood section was friendly. We enjoyed the small talk we made with him while he was bagging up our mussels. We also ended up getting a few other items.
When we were at the register to pay for our items, the 2 employees we interacted with were very friendly.
Although this Whole Foods Market seems to be a smaller location than the ones we have shopped at back at home in Southern California, we still experienced the same level of friendly customer service.

Today I got the spicy tuna roll and it was pretty good! I never thought that their sushi was actually good. Definitely worth a try for those of you who like to buy sushi from a grocery store! My friend told me once that she saw a review of Japanese chefs in Japan trying sushi from a grocery store in the U.S. And the best one they liked was from whole foods. So i decided to give it a try today!
I usually just get a salad from the salad bar and I love it! The only down fall is that it’s kinda pricy. Sushi I got it for $ 8.45 (I guess it’s average) but salad is usually around $ 10-​$ 13.

You can buy all the fresh baked bread in half loaves instead of a whole one for about $ 2.99, which a great for a single person who can’t eat the whole loaf before it goes stale! I loved the cranberry walnut bread! Also, when there’s a sale on supplements they’re often cheaper than the deals you find online!

This is the Mecca of Whole Foods in the Denver proper area. (Though the one in Belmar is phenomenal if you live over that way.)
The only thing not to love about Whole Foods is the price. But, if you’re shopping there, you probably find it worth the price. You know where your food is coming from and exactly which ingredients are present in what you’re eating. I try to stick to a no gluten/​no dairy lifestyle, and Whole Foods makes that more feasible for me.
This location is beautiful. There is a huge selection of hot food items that you pay for by the pound. You can have sushi, a burrito, sandwich, or noodles (among other options) made to order. The pastries and desserts are exquisite, and I usually find myself ogling a case and spending far too much time debating over what I would hypothetically buy. Now, the cookie case and I… we’re great friends.
Even better is the staff who work here. They smile, they chat with you, and I don’t feel guilty asking them a question. I always ask the butcher what they’d recommend for meat cuts and then what to pair with it. Their suggestions are awesome, and every now and then, I walk away with some new inspiration.
The only downside is the parking. Cherry Creek is always busy, and this parking lot is no different. If you go at a busy or peak time, prepared to be stressed out by the parking lot. If you can bike or walk, do it.

I love Whole Foods. The Cherry Creek store in Denver is kind of a mecca for health nuts in Denver. As someone who values fresh produce, organic food, and high quality ingredients I end up here quite often. Yes, it’s expensive, but I really don’t care. Healthy food is the best kind of preventative medicine. :)
The service at this location is usually pretty friendly, and the store is spacious with tons and tons of options. Make sure you chat with staff members if you’ve never tried a new product there– they will slap a sample sticker on it and you can take it home! For such a busy spot, the check out lines also move quickly. I love the butcher section at this location– very friendly and they give great advice if I’m picking out a meat I’m not used to cooking with.
The only things holding me back from giving this location a 5 star rating:
1.) The parking lot is a MESS! Whole Foods has worked on this issue by validating parking in the parking garage next door (enter from 2^nd Ave.) However, the lot is still a disaster. I think part of the issue is that it’s Cherry Creek, and drivers seem pushy and aggressive. It borders on unsafe. I have seen so many near accidents– cars hitting cars and cars hitting pedestrians. It raises my blood pressure just witnessing all the chaos!
2.) The website communication. I’ve been hearing about classes at this location, and have seen a sign outside of the store a few times advertising classes. However, the website includes absolutely no class information (if it’s there, it’s hard to find.) Would love to figure out how I can sign up and attend some of their nutrition and cooking classes!

This Whole Foods provided a quick meal en route to Third Eye Blind. The phenomenal show that these old geezers put on redeems this rather discouraging visit to America’s (white America, that is) favorite way to spend money on food.
I find it hard to give a health-​oriented grocery store (namely, one that certainly seeks profit, yet maintains a desire to promote health) a poor rating.
Why the low (yes, 3 denotes low for a Whole Foods) rating?
The hot food/​salad bar offerings were abysmally low quality. The brisket-​like piece of steak needed to be eaten with hands, as plastic knives could not cut this rock of cow. Guacamole in any other form has never made my mouth pucker as much as the smushed avocados on this recent occasion – excess of lime, steeping in the concoction. Rotisserie chicken lacked any hint of moisture. Overall theme: old food, low-​turnover, and discouraging variety.
Redemption came in the shape of blueberry and nectarine crumble. Sweet, warm, moist, and buttery… This item solely held the experience on its shoulders.

Grocery options in Denver consist of: King Soopers (which is owned by Kroger, not sure why they just don’t call it Kroger), Safeway, Sprouts, Trader Joes, Target, Whole Foods, and any other mom and pop Farmers Markets or groceries. Usually, I stick to Whole foods and Target. I think they are the Yin and Yang around– and for what I cannot find at one, I will find at the other.
There is also a Whole foods on 11^th which is about a mile closer, but it seemed to compact for me and my shopping needs. Until the purported location @ 17^th and Wewatta (which will literally be across the street!) opens up, this will be my go to Whole Foods.
I like the neighborhood it is in, and the drive in from Downtown. All the houses and such. It is close enough to be close to downtown, but kind of out of the hustle and bustle– even being across the street from a mall.
There is parking out front, and even at the busiest of times, I always seem to find a spot. IF the lot is full, they have a paid garage. But as I said, I even went today, during the early afternoon of the 4^th of July. The aisles in this store seem somewhat intimate, but not too terrible. Don’t be surprised if a cougar tries to rub up on you in the spice aisle (true story, but I will not go into detail).
When you first walk in (entrance on left) — the entry hallway is usually filled with fresh produce or sale items. Then you approach more produce, followed by the seafood. You will notice the perimeter of the store is backed by seafood, dairy, meat, more dairy, then deli stuff, then the bakery.
The aisles have your typical «Whole Foods» product throughout. There is one row of freezer product (always hit that up last) and the entire right 30% of the store is the self serve and specialty food area. For me, it can get dangerous.
Speaking of dangerous, I wouldn’t advise going to the chocolate/​candy bar (yes they do have one) area when you have the munchies. The exotic bars can cost upwards up to $ 12. They add up when you are not paying attention. Just some words of wisdom.
If you like to people watch or look for a new girlfriend or wife, I would definitely have to say Sunday evening in the 6 – 7 o’clock hour is the best time.
One more word of advice– if you know you have more then 10 – 15 items and the express line cashier tries to lure you in– reject his offer and go to the full check out– it may backfire! That happened to me, then started to complain I had too many items. I was just following instruction… So much for that!

This place has a great lunch selection, kinda pricy but well worth it. It’s America’s healthiest grocery store.

The hot bar had a good variety, and the checkout process was quick. Unfortunately the pork I chose was a bit dry, but the peach citrus sauce on it was flavorful. The grilled vegetables were cold. After lunch they were helpful in showing me which of the five bins to place my containers in. Overall I probably would have enjoyed my lunch more if I had made a different decision given the location and price point.

Had lunch here. Mac n cheese was bland could use some gruyère cheese. Very good chicken curry! Lunch overall tasted good but was $ 19 which seems extremely expensive! For this size of meal. I did like the selection of food for lunch. They also have a pizza bar and lunch bar. The atmosphere is loud but cute.

Built a salad at the salad bar and had a couple of shrimp spring rolls from the sushi counter.
Salad items were fresh and there was a huge selection. Balsamic dressing dispenser was a little complicated to use (spilled a bunch all over the salad bar. Sorry guys).
Spring rolls seemed fresh and we’re pretty tasty.
Overall great option for a quick bite at lunch. Will be back.

What I don’t understand is all the hate for wholefoods. I get the hot and miss every so often with either dry BBQ or an occasional dated French toast sticks. The fact whole foods carries such a thing shows me the wrong clientele is shopping here.
Let’s clear the air shoppers — wholefoods is to grocery stores what apple is to technology. It’s sexy, it’s awesome.
Now for those that are still looking for the expired cart right behind the door in the back — just head on back to albertsons or king supers.
Let’s talk about what wholefoods does offer:
1. Organic produce
2. Store samples every day
3. Ginger beer
4. Organic salad bar
5. More store samples
6. Kombucha
7. Cheese, more cheese, and more cheese
8. Bulk bin section — dried mango!
9. Fever tree bitter lemon
10. Quesadillas
11. BBQ
12. Decadent Coconut milk ice cream
13. Soup
14. More samples
15. Coffee bar
16. Breakfast burritos
17. Breakfast tacos
18. Taco bar
19. Juice bar
20. Bars and bars of chocolate
People, get with it. They have the fulfillment of every desire in your belly. Come on, clap clap clap.

Had a pretty good experience at this location last Saturday (did you know you can park at the garage and get your ticket validated at Whole Foods for free?) Came in around lunch time and the place was crowded but there was still a slew of workers that were approachable and helpful when I had questions. Grabbed a guy at the food department and asked if I could buy a quiche but eat half of it here. He was probably onto some other tasks but happily stopped and helped me — wrapped the other half with the price tag on it in plastic for me to check out and asked his co-​worker at the Pizzeria to warm up the rest. Even though it didn’t come out piping hot, there was a self serve microwave station to reheat food, yay! Whole quiches were on sale for $ 9.99 this weekend; but even with a $ 4 saving, it’s not really worth it. If the Quiche Lorraine even tasted bland, I can imagine what a vegetarian one would be like. Tony’s Market has MUCH BETTER quiches.
There was a $ 2 off coupon in the book for a pound of Sweet Summer Kale Salad, perfect opportunity to try something new! I gotta say though, even at a discount, Whole Food’s fresh food offering could be more expensive than eating out. In this particular case, at $ 7.99, I could’ve had a better salad at Mad Greens. This Summer Kale Salad was really sweet, it felt like I was eating a fruit salad rather than greens.
It’s not very often that I receive outstanding services at any given Whole Foods Market, so I’ll rate this one at 3.5 stars!

One of my favorite Whole Foods locations. Recently remodeled there is ample seating at the coffee joint inside and plenty of fresh delicious pastries to choose from. A wealth of options to choose from at the deli (a personal fave is the blackened chicken salad) this store is clean, well stocked and has a friendly staff and vibe.

I should start out by saying that this Whole Foods isn’t necessarily any different from every other Whole Foods in the U.S. (with the exception of the flagship store). It’s a great grocery store, with lots of wonderful, environmentally conscious items at slightly inflated prices.
I mean, honestly, if I had the money I would probably shop there more. (But I also love TJ’s so much more… anyway…)
The thing that’s REALLY awesome about this location is their expansive salad bar and their amazing pizza selection. Like, seriously really delicious pizza.
If I lived here, I would probably eat at their salad bar every day. I’d also have to get better at knowing what 1 lb of food looks like.
One note: parking during lunchtime can be pretty ridiculous. If you can, park eleswhere and walk over. Or ride your bike!

Oh Whole Foods, we’ve got quite the sexy, dysfunctional love/​hate thing goin’ on, don’t we?
It all began back in 1999(?) when I was working for a company whose office was located across the street. The first day that ground was broken for you, I recall gazing in your (future) direction with excitement, interest, and confusion.
We all did.
The water-​cooler conversations, albeit it brief, generally went something — or exactly — like this:
«Whole Foods? What the F is a ‘Whole Foods’ and why do we need one?»
In fact, it’s likely that we found it amusing that someone had decided to plunk you just a few yards away from the strip mall that held a now-​long-​gone Alfalfa’a (201 University), Beauty Smart, and a now-​long-​gone 7-​Eleven.
(Yup, there used to be an Alfalfa’s in a Cherry Creek strip mall.)
But we watched with interest and curiosity.
Like most people with a pulse capable of being detected by modern medical tools such as two fingers, I’m no longer curious. But I am a tiny bit further away from being able to afford to stay alive after some some very nice people in a company stop letting me do stuff for money.
Whole Foods, you’re like the boyfriend who is perfect in absolutely every way except that he has six cats, or likes Lima beans, or doesn’t own a cell phone, is a Raiders fan, or lives in his mom’s basement, or doesn’t own a TV, or doesn’t take naps: I have spent the last fifteen years or so learning that I must accept certain things about you, or I’ll have to move on.
Because I will only buy my fresh shellfish from you, I must accept that I practically need to be heavily sedated to navigate your parking lot (to be fair, I’ve not tried to parking garage since it opened) and/​or locate a space.
Because there are times that I am craving a Continental Sausage Cheddar Jalapeño brat, I must accept that I will recite the Serenity prayer over and over and over in my head (or out loud, to urge people to move the hell outta my path cause I only came to you to get my sausage fix and the seventeen other things I’ll pick up on my way to check out, which usually include one, a few, or all of the following:
a quart of Lobster Chowder, fresh clams, oysters, mussels, that goddamned flan dessert — the mere existence of which definitively indicates that Satan is your primary stockholder — edamame, pappardelle and/​or tagliatelle (I’ve never really been able to determine why the grocery chains can’t just stock these — I mean, I seriously do not understand), or my beloved St. André.
Because I sometimes get a urge to see seventy-​four different kinds of olives under one roof and sitting in bins on the «buffet» table, glistening and squeaking and begging to be sampled, I must accept that you are going to display one hundred and twenty-​two thousand little tiny items such as tiny, delicious-​smelling lip balms in cute little tins, guaranteed not to have been assembled by twelve-​year-​olds in a dank warehouse a continent away, or organic, all-​natural, gluten-​free strawberry gummi pandas, or all-​natural, gluten-​free gold-​foil-​wrapped dark chocolate bars containing nuts I’ve never even heard of, on a rack next to the register, upon which one must stare while waiting to pay, in order to tempt — no, seduce me – into grabbing one of each and adding it to the pile, seemingly oblivious to the fact that I don’t even like chocolate.
Because you’re the reason I know that Deviled Horn melon, Physalis and Rambutan are actual things and one can actually eat them, I must accept that I can’t visit you nearly as often as I would like to because I enjoy having electricity in my house, gas in my tank, and a working smart phone upon which I will lay bare the sordid details of our relationship, and there are mean people out there who insist that I give THEM some of my money every month for those things.
I was faced with a choice of the Sophie variety. But alas, I found a secret decoder ring which unlocked something called «Secret Option #3» which allows me to see you sometimes, which is less than I want, but seeing you sometimes is way better than never.