Penzey’s Spices

Great place and excelent collection of spices. Very friendly.

I stopped in here to pick up some spices that have been impossible for me to find anywhere else. While here, I also picked up a few staples and my 9 y/​o drew a picture :)
What’s great about Penzey’s is their vast array of choices. There are so many choices that you can get lost in the little shop browsing away. There’s a little table where your little one can draw a picture as well.
There’s so much to like about this shop. The only downside is that it closes rather early. It’s not a stop at on the way home from work kindof store.

If you’re a cook, I guarantee you will drop more then expected on your first visit here. This place has it all as well as spice blends you never expected and will need.

Penzey’s is a food lovers dream. They have American, Italian, Persian, Turkish, Indian to name a few specialty spices. The shop smells wonderful for the moment you walk in. The curry and dried jalapenos were what made me start stocking the basket and after spending more than a bag of food from WholeFoods we left with a very lovely smelling hot chocolate mix. I can not WAIT to cook with the curry and jalapenos spices.
Bring tissues, smelling the spices will cause sneezing! The attendant suggested we open the jars and wave the sent to us, not put our noses over the jar. (Newbies!!!)
They also have lovely spice boxes that would make fabulous gifts for those who like to cook.
The only thing I really wanted was for them to have more organic spices. The basil, thyme and other common spices are comparable in price to WholeFoods and wanting to support local businesses its a great place to frequent!
Enjoy!

Wow! Penzey’s is heaven if you enjoy smelling top-​quality spices of all types. They have many hard-​to-​find spices and mixes, some gourmet hot chocolate mixes and cocoa powders for baking, as well as great descriptions of all their different varieties of spices. I had to restrain myself from wanting to buy too many things, since it’s slightly pricey, but it’s not too bad for a specialty spice shop.
The cinnamon hot chocolate is delicious in whole milk in the winter! Mulling spices make wine that much better. Smoked paprika and fresh peppercorn are tasty on just about anything.
I like that they sell spices in bags, so that I can take them home to put in my jars. They do also offer reusable jars in the store.
I’ll be back, just not super often since it is pricey! Great place to have close by in case I need something specific.

After searching for a specific Spice (Allspice Berries) at MANY grocery stores INCLUDING Whole Foods, I decided to try to find it here. Besides me finding it at Penzey’s, I found a Very helpful staff, and MANY other spices. Place is AWESOME!!! I’ll be coming back for ALL my spices/​Herbs ETC.

A great little shop that is a treasure trove of spices. My newest find: dried jalapenos and berbere seasoning (yeah I really like spicy food.). The staff is super sweet, and I really appreciate the little recipe and idea cards laying around the store.
Be careful, though, cause you can easily drop $ 100 on a small bag of spices. I think for spices that you use a ton of (turmeric, cumin, etc) an Indian store is probably better bang for your buck, Penzey’s is a great place for unique, hard to find stuff.

Folks are right, Penzey’s is high quality and wonderful. It’s such a treat to go into a store like this and focus on something. There’s not a lot of extra BS, no big sales or gimmicks. Just damn good spices.
Prices are fair.
Quality is high.
Service is great.
It’s a rare American shopping experience. If you can find your way to this charming little shop in Arlington, you won’t be disappointed.
Note they do not take American Express cards.

Whenever I walk in here I just want to start cooking. They have pretty much any kind of spice you can think of … really. I live in Watertown with all the Armenian markets so I don’t really have an issue about finding spices. This place, though, appeals to my OCD nature with its neat bottles all lined up and in their special area of the store.
While I think you pay more than you should for this stuff, I think some of it is worth it. The sales people are also really nice about using expired coupons.

Great stock, set up, and customer service! I only wish the salt selection was larger, and bulk purchases were possible (just a personal preference — I hate having to buy prepackaged herbs and spices as I already own containers — it feels wasteful).
That said, I love this place!

Before I go to Penzey’s, I always call my mother-​in-​law to see what she needs there. She usually orders from the catalog, and they do have an excellent catalog and shipping service. But when I want a new bottle of the peppercorns that I like, I want them right away.
Penzeys takes their spices as seriously as the enthusiastic amateur cook does. The options, the blends, the mixes are all worth the hassle of driving to the western end of Arlington. Truthfully, the smell in there is probably worth it all on it’s own.

Still love this place! Left with a bag of favorites and some new to me to try.

If you aren’t yet familiar with Penzey’s Spices and want more proof of how good they are, go to just about any issue of «Cook’s Illustrated» magazine and look for spice reviews. Theirs are almost always one of the top rated.
This particular store has a parking lot, which makes it very convenient to visit. I think it’s a smaller store than most of the others I’ve visited, so the layout is slightly cramped. But if I’ve ever had a problem finding something, the staff have been glad to help — oh, and they’re incredibly friendly folk too.
One piece of info — if you want saffron, you need to ask for it; they keep it behind the counter.

Have you ever read a recipe and it called for some spice that you don’t have, don’t know what it is, can’t find in your grocery store and don’t know what to replace it with? Then you need to go to Penzey’s. If they don’t have it, they can probably find a better substitute than what’s being called for. I was there for over an hour and left with a bag of 17 different spices of which 5 don’t even fit in my spice rack and cabinet now as I’ve reached maximum capacity. I have enjoyed experimenting with most of them and will get to the others soon. Wish it was closer but don’t mind making the trek out every so often as the staff was nice and friendly and the selection impeccable.

You read the catalog, you wonder how it can be that one place can have so much stuff that you want to order, including unique spice mixes, exotic varieties of items (want smoked Spanish paprika or sweet Hungarian paprika?) and bulk packaging for high-​end staples.
You go to the store in Arlington… and they pretty much have everything in the catalogs.
The place is oriented towards the upper middle-​class/​middle-​aged home cook, like Williams-​Sonoma. There’s space on the shelves for many more items than they carry in stock and things frequently sell out, especially around the holidays.
I doubt many pros shop here, but for the home cook, Penzey’s is a revelation.

This place is worth the schlepp out to Arlington for the well-​edited range of spices that are a lot fresher and of a greater variety than you’ll find in your local supermarket, and for the most part cheaper.
It’s also nice that there are not 18 different kind of most spices (though there ARE alot of pepper. Aleppo, chili, etc etc etc) So you are not confronted with a ridiculous amount of choices, but just enough.
It’s also great that there are sample jars of each spice — when was the last time you could SMELL your spices before buying and it was really helpful when choosing between types of say cardamom or curry.
The gift sets are great for birthday and Christmas and especially housewarming gifts.

This place is trouble.
Once you step in, you are transported back in time by the various flavors, sights and aromas.
What’s inside is a special and rare treat. Penzey’s spices aren’t anything like those ones you get in the little jars from the grocery store. The first time you smell and taste, you will understand the difference between high quality, hand selected spices from exotic locales and the stuff that gets passed around in chain supermarkets.
The cinnamon, cardamom and paprika are out of this world, and that’s only the beginning. Everything here is on offer for sampling, so feel free to take your time and take it all in.
These spices aren’t just for those interested in cooking, baking or in finer things– these are the kinds of spices that make up memories that will last a lifetime.

This shop is bad (in the good way) for 2 reasons.
1. While the descriptions on the spices were really helpful as i would otherwise have no idea how to use the shaved root of the Umba Choomba plant, it read like a J. Petermann catalog. I couldn’t stop giggling to myself (yes, i actually giggled) as I read some of them.
2. This is the kind of place that spells trouble for me because it empowers me to think that I actually can use the shaved root of the Umba Choomba plant in my every day cooking. While this is really good for their sales, it’s bad for me because my boyfriend and I left the store with over $ 60 in spices, many of which I haven’t the faintest idea of how to use…
While I absolutely loved this place and will be back in a second I have a few minor quibbles.
1. Food samples would be awesome! Nervous about buying one of the crazy spice concoctions? Try it on this piece of bread!
2. There should be containers of coffee beans available to cleanse the palatte. By the time I left, I had a massive headache from all the varieties of things to smell. By the end, it all kind of blended together.
3. Please do a better job of keeping your shelves stocked! I think as a product of empowering your customers, a good majority of the spices I wanted were sold out of the smallest-​sized bottles. I understand why… but still get them restocked!
Seriously, if you enjoy cooking… go here. you won’t regret it.

There is not a lot that can be said about Penzey’s that hasn’t been said by other reviewers, but I have had nothing but quintessential 5-​star experiences in their Arlington store AND on their online portal.
Their customer service is polite and responsive. The selection of fresh, fresh, fresh spices in unbelievable. They will tailor a gift basket for you. They will point you in the direction of a spice blend for a particular dish. They sell hard-​to-​find, little-​used and enormously flavorful spices from around the world. The quality is top-​notch. I’m a cook. I don’t cook with anything but Penzey’s if I can possibly help it.
Arlington is a haul for most anyone, except perhaps the residents of Arlignton — seriously, it’s one of those twisty, pain in the ass towns. But I don’t think twice about it, when I run out of dried bouquet garni or their Fines Herbs blend, or even (FSM help me) their authentic Moroccan saffron, I just head over as soon as I can.
If you’re serious about cooking, and serious about flavor, skip the «baking needs» aisle at Stop & Shop and stock up at Penzey’s. You won’t regret it.

I have loved Christina’s in Inman Square for a while but waited until I visited Penzey’s to make my reviews, just to compare. I’ve decided that I love them both!
Penzey’s is great. They have so much variety in the spice department. They have all various sizes in differing prices. I like those kind of options. They have samples of everything out so you can smell and decided. After sniffing literally every single jar I am on spice overload but I regret nothing.
Penzey’s feels a little bit more high end than Christina’s. Definitely a place you could go to for a nice gift for someone. It’s a bit pricer but the quality is outstanding.