Bristol Farms

I’ve been here so many times and I’m pretty sure the only thing I’ve eaten is the poke. It’s really good and fresh. I am taking off one star for the price though… it’s sooo expensive. I always get the pre made bowls of either salmon or tuna. It comes with ginger, wasabi, avocado, cucumber and rice which is pretty much what i would put in a poke bowl if I made one. The rice is actual sushi rice, and it is not hard or overly sticky. They give you a generous portion of poke which I also like.
The store itself is always super clean and organized… I mean it is a fancy pants kinda market. I’ve NEVER had to wait in line at the checkout and everyone there is super friendly and courteous.
There is a lot of seating inside and outside and free wifi, so this is a fave spot for me to go and have a quiet lunch.
My one gripe about this place is the parking, if you go during peak lunch hours be prepared to circle around for parking or park in the underground lot and walk. I would say I’ve had a hard time finding parking about half the times I’ve been here. This could be potentially bad, especially if you have only an hour for lunch like I do.

It is a high end, upscale grocer with an extensive cheese section, bakery, deli, coffee, soups, fresh produce, cookware etcI like that it is super convenient for me to just be able to walk there get get stuff. However, I find it more expensive than TJ, Barons, Whole Foods even… Got myself some yummy queso dip with salt less tortilla. The guac seemed mighty overpriced at almost 9 bucks for a small container :(, bananas $ 0.89/pound compared to .59 in most other stores) and avocados were 2 for $ 5.would not go here for regular produce if there was a TJ next to it. they do have killer monster cookies n pecan walnut squares n French brioche.

Holy crap on a cracker, this place is the most expensive grocery and halfway decent-​looking attempts at baking I’ve ever seen. I’m so confused how many people love it. Why? Do they recycle? Hope are they do special?
I don’t understand. It doesn’t seem to be at all worth it.

We love coming here only for their restaurant for breakfast. It’s a great deal and the food is always good. We usually get the big breakfast to split (2). I’ve also tried the egg white breakfast wrap, it’s soo yummy especially with their salsa. We come eat breakfast here almost every Sunday.

Unilocal, you confuse me. Sometimes reviews are spot on, sometimes they are… Well, like this one.
THIS is a 5 star grocer. I’ve traveled all over the country… In fact, all over the world, and there are very few times I’ve been delighted with selection, service and atmosphere in a grocery store.
Here is what I believe to be the pinnacle of selection and sourcing in a first world economy.
Do they have EVERYTHING? No. Of course not.
Do they have a huge and varied selection of healthy, delicious options? YUP.
I love this fabulous, clean display of abundance.
Thanks for being so awesome in a world that seems to be exhausted with trying.

Unfortunately, this store has been steadily on the decline for the past several months. Perhaps there has been a poor management transition? For example, the salad bar lacks consistency. It’s a mystery whether staple ingredients like tomatoes will be present. Today ALL of the many meat items were out with no employee anywhere within view (Deli/​cheese counter, panini counter, etc.) to assist. This sort of thing has become common over the last 3 or so months. It’s a real bummer.

Customer service is always on point! Mike at sushi always makes me a sushi bowl if it’s not there. Leslie at the cheese section is so sweet and answers all my dumb questions about cheese without making me feel stupid. The girls at Peets coffee are also über nice. Everyone there is awesome!
Prices are kind of steep but I mean it’s a specialty grocery store you go there for the good stuff!

Always a pleasure to eat here! I loooove the poke, sushi and salad bar. Michael B and Michael from the sushi bar are so nice and hospitable. They acknowledged my birthday too.

Bristol Farms just added this new homemade small batch warm cookie section and these are the best cookies I’ve ever had! Bigger than my palm, crunchy but soft, full of chocolate, and HUGE! I feel my addiction growing…

Oh my, the new cookie bar is so delicious. This giant Belgian chocolate treat is called «The Cookie.» They are warm & gooey — seriously one of the best cookies I’ve ever had all for $ 2.99. This is a great addition to the bakery section!

5 stars for their amazing poké. Build your own and choose from a variety of different toppings. I usually go with brown rice, seaweed and their spicy ahi tuna. I keep it simple as I liked growing up. I’ve tried many places in San Diego who serves poké and I have to say Bristol farms has the best one hands down. Chunks are perfect and it’s well mixed into their seasoning.

The store knows it’s clientele, and by clientele it’s not exactly the students over at ucsd but the inhabitants of la jolla and the surrounding cities. Prices are steep but if you can afford the goods to shop here then this place is worth a visit. For me? A simple stroll around the place to gawk at their selection will suffice.
Their selection of specialty items is only dwarfed by their presentation of their products. It is like shopping in a whole foods but only realizing that this place out competes whole foods in the bougie category by quite a stretch. I mean, a dry aging room? A poke bar? And an olive and cheese section that would rival anything I’ve ever seen? I almost reccomend coming in here just to see what human decadence can look like. Will I ever buy goods from here for myself, probably not. Will I come back just to kill some time and appreciate what they got going on here? Yes

I bought a loaf of cranberry walnut bread to cut into it and find out it was plain wheat bread. I dont go here a lot so its pretty disappointing that when I do they come up short.

Great cookies!!! Fast and easy service. This was our first time there and we would go back.

From what I hear, Bristol Farms will be adding one of their stores in
Encinitas. Great. Now we will have more of a choice of where we will buy organic food. I just hope that they won’t be more expensive than Jimbo’s, Whole Foods or Sprouts. If they are, I will STILL be buying my organic produce from Ralphs. Let’s hope for the best…

Hmmmm. Is it a grocery store or a market? Psh!
«Bristol Farms is considered an ‘Extraordinary Food Store’ «, she replies with an upturned nose.
OK. Excuse me. This ‘Extraordinary Food Store’ is extraordinary, I must admit.
We are Regulars here. On almost a weekly basis, we spend $ 100-​$ 200 on their scrumptious cookies for a recurring office meeting. Buffy usually handles our cookie order and has always been nice and accommodating. She knows exactly the combination of cookies our employees like and sometimes mixes it up a little. Our cookies are already boxed and ready to go, when we come by to pick them up too. The bakery also offers natural pies, pastries, cakes, cupcakes and muffins. When we’re waiting for our bill to bring it to the cashier, sometimes I can’t resist eyeing their cupcakes. My favorite is the Salted Caramel Cupcake.
There’s a Peet’s Coffee & Tea inside the store, from which we pay for our cookies and order our coffee for the trip back to the office. Candy, the gal that usually serves us, is as sweet as her name. Can you guess my favorite coffee? If you guessed Salted Caramel Latte, you guessed right! Oh, and they display some decadent gourmet chocolates at the Peet’s counter. I love the LadybuG Truffles and their designed-​for-​the-​season/​holiday chocolates (i.e Frankenstein and pumpkin chocolates for the Halloween season). Why do they do this to me?!!
Moving on now, Bristol Farms has so many other quality foods to offer:
— Brick Oven Pizza: The dough is handmade daily and topped with the freshest ingredients.
— Deli: Where they have a rotisserie, handmade sandwiches made fresh, salads, sides, soups, and some Grab & Go items displayed.
— ‘My Chef Serve-​Yourself’ area: Where you can select from a variety prepared dishes for $ 8.99/lb.
— Cheese: «SAY CHEESE!» The never-​ending assortment of imported and domestic cheeses makes me smile. I tend to sway more towards their goat milk cheeses and those odoriferous.
— Meat and Seafood: Premium, choice-​cut meats and fresh seafood.
–Sushi: Yes, they have an actual sushi section with quality sashimi/​sushi platters. Their freshness is evident just by looking at their color! I love their Poke Bar, where I can create my own bowl and pack it with my favorite Spicy Tuna or Aloha Tuna Poke, Seaweed Salad, Kimchi, and Brown rice.
At one of the doors is their Florist. I’ve never seen anyone working the area, when we’re there, but they offer some beautiful arrangements and some unique bouquets. — Fugi Mums, 5-​Stem White Calas, Coffee Bean, Green Balls, Matsumoto Asters, Large Cymbidium Orchid Stems, etc.
I do enjoy coming here almost every week and will probably continue my visits. My only complaints and only reasons I docked a star is that this place is pricey (I certainly couldn’t be a Regular, if I were doing all the buying all of the time) and the great customer service is not consistent in every department. If you come here, you will know what areas I am referring to.

Ok I get it, there are $$$ listed on Unilocal,so it’s not a surprise that this store is on the pricier side of the spectrum, but it’s because you are paying for quality (and the expensive rent they pay to do business in University City). The store gets their produce from local farms, and they get really great products in! The staff have such a great attitude and are very accommodating. There is a café that can serve up sandwiches, paninis, pizzas, and really delicious food at the steam table, such as meatloaf (my FAV), lasagna, orange chicken and more. They also have fresh poke and a great selection of cheeses. They have lots of specialty foods you would find at a Whole Foods, like Kombucha. What I love most about Bristol Farms is that they have PEETS COFFEE! And the coffee sits right next to the baked goods. You have to take a look at their chocolates and pastries; they are to die for! If you’re in the area, take a quick trip inside, it’s a neat store!

I came here a few times while I was a student at UCSD. It’s like Whole Foods (organic specialty items, hot bar), but even more expensive (and that was with the student discount). The store was pretty empty, which does not create a great first impression for a grocery store, at least for me.
I browsed around and was impressed by the selection of cheese and meat, but the hot bar (mac and cheese especially) looked like they hadn’t been touched and were left there all day. Maybe this was because I usually came in the evening after my classes, but I still wish the food were fresher. I did like that they sold a few plants though, and I got a small fern as a housewarming gift for a friend of mine. The lady who helped me was pretty knowledgeable.
Overall though, not a great place for fresh or affordable food. For contrast, the whole foods hot and cold bars are usually in high demand so the dishes are always fresh, and you often see employees filling it up with fresh food. Most of the employees seemed to just stand behind the counter here.

Dude, their poke based stuff is pretty good. It is pricey but I have yet to try the build your own since I did come at like 8PM on a weekday. I did buy a poke bowl for like $ 9.99 and the rice wasn’t all hard and gross. It was actually flavored like sushi rice! I also got two spicy salmon handrolls. Pretty good! Restaurant style quality and they had like sashimi for sale as well of what was not pillaged. I would come here if I am craving quality sushi/​fish but don’t want to deal with a restaurant.

Just an Excellent store its a bit pricey but they have very high quality good. Its not exactly healthy food but its good! Ordered the turkey dinner from there for thanks giving it was actually really good. Staff is helpful and generally nice.

this store is sort of attempting to be whole foods (specialty high end items, local produce and convenient prepared meals), but on a much smaller, less advertised scale but with more generic grocery store items added to the mix.
pros
–good selection of unique, higher end, natural and specialty items (especially in the «perimeter» of the store. cheese/​meat (humboltd fog cheese and breseola dry beef!), service deli, hot bakery, produce, meat/​seafood. there is also a small selection of specialty and hard to find grocery items including gluten free, unique brands like Halo seaweed chips
–items are constantly changing with the seasons; you can always find a new food or gift item
–there’s a nice sitting area where they do wine tastings too i believe
–fresh, seasonal, local and somewhat unique produce
–good selection and (usually) tasty prepared foods in the service deli: hot food bar, cold salad bar, deli salads (especially the roasted beets and roasted root vegetables) fresh sandwich and pizza station, soup, seafood (poke, sushi), turkey and bbq carving station (the roasted turkey and free range chicken legs are especially delicious)
–the bakery is small, but has a good selection of freshly made desserts (ding dongs, fudge thumbprint and chewy flourless cookies are the best), cookies, cakes (decorated nicely and seasonally too) etc some of which are much better than you find in most bakeries (the petit fours are unique and good)
–a small selection of imported chocolates, especially from the UK/​Britain and Canada (unique aero flavours, mars, violet crumble, oh henry!)
–a very small selection of flowers, but they are pretty and last forever; the orchids are always nice
–small gift section with pretty greeting cards including specialty Papyrus cards, fancy cooking devices and kitchen gadgets/​tools, aprons, etc
–some bulk foods including nuts, oats, trail mixes, dried fruit
–bulk weight soaps that smell divine, aeromatherapy and specialty body supplies
–moonstruck chocolates and Peet’s coffee
–easy, free lot parking
–convenient location in Costa Verde center
–its practically never busy, especially in relation to Whole Foods which can get chaotic certain times of the day
–it looks nice, has nice dim calm lighting
–the service is great; most of the employees go out of their way to help you and will cater to pretty much your every whim (tonight, the young man at the turkey carving station was so friendly and went out of his way to get me the perfect cut of turkey!)
UPDATE: I emailed corporate office telling them about the young man and the store manager emailed me the next morning thanking me for my comments and stating he would pass them on to Nathan! its nice to know that corporate/​management pays attention to customer’s viewpoints and comments!
UPDATE 2: Corporate saw my Unilocal review and messaged me back thanking me for my opinions, stating they’re always looking for feedback, both positive and negative. Really nice to know they’re paying attention and care! That’s why I’m a Unilocaler!
–sign up for their emails and get a coupon for a free item a couple times a month (sometimes with any purchase, sometimes with certain purchases); they always honour it without an issue and have the item in stock
–ucsd students get a discount and there can be good sales… check the flyer or coupons that get sent out every so often
cons
–its small, so the selection is too
–the hot food bar can be hit or miss as the items seem to be based on kind of themes, so you’ll probably like most of it or not much of it; some of the food tends to be greasy and the oversauced
–some of the baked goods aren’t great (the cake pops and macarons)
–on the pricey side, since you’re paying for higher end, better quality products
–overpriced for «generic» grocery store items; its not a store you can do your «regular» grocery shopping in because of the small selection of the «grocery and general merchandise» section
–sometimes it can be hard to find staff; since its so slow, there’s not always someone around
Overall, I come here for a few specialty items and seasonal produce, the deli/​hot food if I want to treat myself to a good dinner (without the hustle and bustle of Whole Foods), hard to find imported chocolates, Halo Seaweed chips and to check out the new seasonal gifts. The staff is always nice and helpful and its calm and relaxing). Definitely worth all that, but I’ll never use it as a general grocery store.

This is the closest grocery store to me but yet I don’t shop here often. Why? Because it’s pricey. I understand that it’s pricey so I only go in for their prepared foods and meals. I specifically come here for their poke. They have poki bowls (as they spell it) as well as a poki bar where you can scoop it right up and fill up your container. They charge by pounds. They have a good selection of cheeses and a cute little bakery. I have yet to eat at their diner/​café. It’s definitely no Whole Foods but it’s close enough.

If one is going to pay premium prices thus expect excellent service. Some grocery stores have inventory and location but fail in service!
Great locations offer: service (this brings patrons back), products, ambiance, clean!
The pop chip lady needs some more demos to build up her confidence so give more demos! As her energy good!
Stephanie in the eatery excellent as is Nancy V. Good assortment premium Buffett !!!
Stephanie R., was cashier today, and I as a newer patron to Bristol Farms, she provided reason I shall return. As she greeted me, took time to answer my questions, and properly thanked me!
Perfect cashier is Stephanie R!
No I not related, connected to Stephanie as that would be conflict of interest and not objective to review.
Thus it seems employees like Stephanie R., bring customers back who spend money, she makes Bristol Farms money so please reward her!
God bless her and Bristol Farms

The café inside bristol farms offers a pay per pound buffet, carving station sandwiches, and a full sandwich menu.
Quality is exactly what you’d expect from Bristol Farms (better than Vons, not quite Whole Foods). I’ve been here many times, but they finally got their own Unilocal Page.
B.L.A.T (Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado, and Tomato)
This Sandwich also came with one side, I chose the salad. The first think I noticed was that there was a lot of good crispy bacon included. Avocado was fresh and so was the lettuce. Sourdough bread was lightly toasted (Thank you, that saved the roof of my mouth from «toast shredding». A good solid Sandwich (About $ 10.25 when all is said and done with taxes).
The side salad was just okay.
Tip —
Sandwiches can take a log time to make, and good luck finding someone to hand carve you a special meat sandwich. If you’re in a hurry, get the 8.99 p/​pound buffet.

Bread with FUNGAL growth!!! Last night I purchased Italian wheat bread from Bristol Farms (UTC) and it did not have expiry date on it. When I asked the guy at the bakery section he mentioned that the bread was fresh and though they don’t have expiry date on them, it should be good at-​least 5 days in room temperature. I purchased the bread and packed some to my parents who are traveling for next 23 hours.
When I used the bread for breakfast this morning, I realized it had fungal growth in so many slices. Unfortunately, my husband and myself ate couple of slices before realizing it was bad :(:(and I really hope my mom realizes that the bread is not good before eating them– they are in flight now and I cant reach them :(
I wish Unilocal had an option for «no stars». I hate giving even one star after having such experience!!!

Great ambiance and convenient location. I like the produce and the seafood/​meat department. However, the pizza, prepared salads and foods do not tempt me at all to even try a free sample because they don’t look good at all. It’s a pity because the place has so much potential and used to be much better. I guess Bristol Farms is better in other cities than it is in San Diego.

« Unilocal 2015 100 Review Challenge — 12»
I visited this location for the last time today. I went in on my lunch with a craving for some tuna. I know the quality of their sushi grade items is pretty good, so it’s the whole reason I went in. I approached the counter with some questions about their Ahi Poke and was «helped» by Mike, a gentleman with a long braid. I put the quotations because he did anything BUT help me.
First, I stood there for a few minutes before he acknowledged me. When he did, he seemed bothered by the fact I was there and needed assistance. No matter what I asked the guy, he met me with an attitude or a short, annoyed remark. Honestly, I wanted to reach across the counter and smack him.
After finally getting the few questions I had answered I ordered a tuna roll and served myself a small cup of poke. I stood there for another decent period of time while he got my roll ready. When I thanked him, the response I received was «yup». Really?
I went about my business, walked around the store for a moment and headed back to work. When I got to work, I sat down excited to eat my bounty of Tuna I had been craving. Only, I immediate lost my appetite when I opened up my poke and found a long black hair cooked up inside!
I threw the roll away. I threw the poke away.
Not only was the service horrendous, I wasted my time, my money and ultimately did not have lunch that day.
I give this location 2 stars for the cleanliness and the fact the other employees were courteous and seemed to genuinely care. If it wasn’t for this, it would be 1 star.

Anyway, like I was sayin’, Hatch Chiles are the fruit of the soil. You can put them in mac & cheese, put them in a cookie, put it in ice cream, put it in a meatball, put it on a chicken, in a sausage, in a crab cake, in cheddar cheese, in corn bread, and in a fiesta roll, that’s about it. Bristol Farms sells everything I’ve mentioned above plus holds an annual chile roasting event once a year (August 22 this year). Obviously I’m a big fan of these Southwestern peppers.
Bristol Farms is also a cool place to shop for a number of reasons. First, it’s not as bland and boring as Sprouts. Secondly it like gives you much of what Whole Foods offers without all the haughty eyes. Recommended to check out.
On the reduced to sell rack…
— The Deli Counter is always slow. Sandwiches are mediocre at best.
— The cheese department is empty around 5PM.
— The Hatch chile is a fruit… and they grow in soil.
— My special Hatch recipe is to take the roasted chiles (making sure you take all the burn skin off first) and stuff them with hominy and Monterey Jack cheese. Put them in a glass pan and top with a green enchilada sauce (make sure you use a mild sauce). Cook till done.

I’m just going to start this review out by saying that this place is VERY overpriced. I understand that they are near La Jolla and are going for a higher end feel, but I just can’t justify paying 30% more for items than I would at any other grocery store. With that being said, they offer samples a lot which is very nice. They also have delicious hot bar and prepared food (crazy expensive, but still delicious). Basically, it’s a place you go to if you have to pick up 1 or 2 things or are in need of lunch, but not some place to do a full week’s worth of groceries.

Love their samples! I’m a sucker for trying something good and ending up buying it!
Great quality food and merchandise… oh and if you’re a UCSD student or staff, just show your ID/​Badge and get a 10% discount… Senior Citizens get a 10% discount on Tuesdays too!
Good warm food pack it yourself area and great Ahi Poke Bowls. Love going here to just walk around and grab a couple things (cookies and snacks)!

I was on the hunt for some good ahi poke after yoga. It’s hard to find a place as good as they make it in Hawaii! So after some Unilocaling, I found this place.
I really like the concept of this place. They offer more off-​the-​wall items like gourmet macaron ice cream sandwiches, or the aforementioned poke. However, I am a little sad to say that I was underwhelmed once I finally got to go. We got about 1.5 lbs of the poke as well as some other items at the café.
The poke was fresh, but lacked real flavor. I think they just use sea salt, sesame oil and seaweed. Honestly, I could only eat so much of it before I had to take the rest home and make it into my own spicy mayo version. Definitely not as good as Hawaii.
As for the café food, we tried a little bit of the kung pao shrimp, mashed potatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, turkey stew and mac & cheese. It tasted kind of like school/​college cafeteria food… my favorite item was probably the kung pao shrimp, but even that was just okay.
As for the macaron ice cream sandwiches… we got the hazelnut and the salted caramel. By far, the salted caramel was way better, if I had to choose. But alas, not worth the $ 6.99 each (they were even on sale). I think MJ’s Yogurt down south carries better flavors.
One thing I didn’t get to try was their cheese. They have a huge cheese section, next to the olive bar and meats. It looks like you could make a pretty darn good charcuterie board from some of that stuff.
So again, cool concept for Bristol Farms. But not cool prices for what you get. Workers were nice though.

Ever since I discovered the amazing meat and cheeses selection here, that is all I come here for. Granted there is more to this place than that!
Note: Students and seniors get a 10% discount here.
Meat and cheeses: Their selection is wonderful! The people there, such as Robert are ridiculously friendly and helpful. If you want to try any meats and cheeses, they are more than willing to help you figure out what would be perfect for you (or attempt their best at it). My favorites include: proscuitto de parma, black forest salami, and the truffle mousse pâté. I love getting the mozzarella balls to go with the proscuitto, truffled goat cheese to just munch on, truffled aged cheddar to just eat, brie to enjoy with the pâté… the opportunities are endless!
Crackers: So many crackers! I tend to stick to the plain water crackers, but the others are tasty as well.
Food court: Tasty food that looks good and comes out hot.
Beer and whisk (e)y collection: Nice collection of whisk (e)y and craft beer. I like rummaging through the shelves to find anything new.
Meat and seafood selection: Really friendly people with cuts I normally don’t expect. Every time I’ve come here, they look fresh and amazing!
Overall, this is pricier than your average grocery store, but I still love coming here once in a while.

If you’re looking for a specialty item, you’ll go to Bristol Farms. Items that you cannot find at Trader Joes or Whole Foods, you’ll find it at Bristol Farms.
My bf (who is actually the true foodie) swears by this market. Certain items like bariani olive oil, imported bufala mozzarella from italy, chorizo, heirloom tomatoes (flavor is 10 times a regular tomato), artisanal root beer bottles, Pau pineapple vodka… the options are limitless.
I’m a fan… esp when my bf is cooking and needs to get specialty ingredients!