Whole Foods Market

I love the selection of healthy foods but it is a but pricy. The chese selection is nice and they’ll cut slivers off the wedges so you can take home a variety.

The manager and some of the nasty lowlife women cashiers there at the fast check out lane are the most RUDE, INCONSIDERATE and UNHELPFUL service staff I have encountered but I see from some other reviews this isn’t an uncommon view and I would have to agree! This so called manager did not help me at all instead he just made all kinds of lame excuses for their behavior when I complained about the rude cashiers instead he is apparently ok if they yell at you if you complain! They are extremely rude, disrespectful and shout at you if you complain some (not all) made mistakes at ringing things up then telling me the wrong full amount estimated then they say a different amount after you give the change so if there is a mistake with what they said they pretend like you gave them the wrong change to make themselves look like they didn’t make a mistake very bad service!!! Instead of apologizing for any mistake they just shout at you, give you ugly glares and are just plain nasty and lazy they hate putting baskets away for you even though its their JOB they are so RUDE and when I complained the so called manager never apologized or anything even though I was a regular customer there for years he doesn’t give a sh-​t if he loses a customer what a real DIRTBAG UNGRATEFUL DISGUSTING PLACE. Also why waste my money there when the service is so bad and the same items are so much cheaper in other stores! There was also one time there was a dead spider in one of the prepared entrees I had to get a refund for sure you can eat that if you want and I have noticed also there was a fly/​fruit fly before in the croissant section their muffins etc are f-​cking disgusting. I wouldn’t be surprised if during the summer or whenever some other flying insect could easily land on top of their cookies which are displayed openly on racks with NO cover. That does NOT seem very sanitary in my opinion also people sneeze and cough during winter but I guess they don’t feel the need to keep these cookies covered! I’d rather eat cookies that have been packaged and sold at an appropriate price and tastes better from a different store than their disgusting cookies. Not to mention I will also never eat their supposedly humanely raised turkey again I doubt that yeah right. The last straw was when some crazy rude woman would not stop at the crosswalk in her car apparently this nasty ‘woman’ /​b-​tch could care less about the state law if you are at a crosswalk before going into the store and sped off in her car and the managers attitude was disgusting very disconnected and extremely cold and uncaring I don’t think him or most of their employees have any real trace of humanity inside of them they are just dead and rotten inside. If someone complains they should take the criticism and at least try to make the place better instead these people are arrogant, selfish, stuck up for nothing and rude they only care about themselves. NEVER AGAIN!

I absolutely love this Whole Foods because it’s huge and always has everything that I’m looking for.
The staff is super helpful; every time I ask for help finding something, a staff member drops everything to physically walk with me to where said item is and show me my options. I once asked the person behind the counter at the fresh meat section where I could find some duck, and he gave me a rundown of all of the options (frozen, whole, filleted, cut up and seasoned, etc) with detailed instructions on where to find each. I love the dedication
This Whole Foods is in a convenient location off of Alewife Brook Parkway and they have ample parking, but if you are there at a high traffic time, it might take you a while to get out of the lot and back onto the street.

great burrito bar
helpful staff

This Whole Foods has terrible produce. I bought kale — it lasted 24 hrs before wilting. Lemons were bone dry. Many many repeat shopping experiences yielded the same results — $ 50 of produce and half if it went bad within 2 – 3 days. This not a result of anything that I might be doing like leaving groceries in the car for a long time. My husband has experienced this too. Sad to say it, but my local Star Market organic produce section, although the selection is not as good, is at least fresh.
The other things at this Whole foods is more up to par with what one would expect for the prices that you pay. Avoid the produce.

The selection, cleanliness and location of this Whole Foods are good, but only 2 stars overall because the staff are inattentive bordering on rude (employees here routinely chat with each other while ignoring customers) and the store layout is extremely cramped. Tonight’s visit both the cashier and bagger kept scratching their scalps for some reason, which was kind of off-​putting. I kept track where I said hi, thank you three times, and have a good night — the bagger ignored me the whole time like I didn’t exist.

First off, I want to say that I never go to WF for anything other than High Lawn grassfed milk which doesn’t seem to be sold anywhere else, some 32oz generic organic hair conditioner once or twice a year, and their hot food bar at least once a week because I’m too lazy to cook and not stupid enough to let myself be butt-​raped by all the mediocre yet overpriced eateries in the area. (Oh, and also not stupid enough to buy 95% of my weekly groceries here, due to the same aversion against being anally violated on a regular basis, especially when there’s an awesome Market Basket not far away.)
This has become my favorite Whole Foods in the whole Somerville-​Cambridge area, after discovering that they’ve gotten rid of the awful square-​cut «artisan pizza» sold by the pound which the River Street location clings to even though almost nobody buys it (and why would anyone pay more for not just smaller QUANTITIES but also much lower QUALITY of pizza?). Instead, they now have a wonderful self-​service pizza counter where you can pick your own slice and put it into a cardboard box yourself! Not only that, but on weekends they have a Tomato Pesto pizza that is absolutely TO DIE FOR! Destroys the most pretentious and overpriced pizzerias in the vicinity without breaking a sweat.
Also, they have a massive food bar with (gasp!) other varieties of meat than the usual tasteless, dried-​out chicken and turkey that all the other nearby Whole Foods inflict on us, no doubt trying to pander to the nutritionally retarded (still stuck in 1980s «fat is bad for you» corporate food lobby propaganda) and hopelessly bland white-​bread palate. YES, they actually do have (gasp!) BEEF and (double gasp!) even some PORK and even more shockingly, it’s actually NOT overcooked to hell and back!!!
As you can tell, I am rather excited about this place. The rest of the store is huge and well-​stocked, patrons and employees are quite bearable, and there is a generously large number of tables where you can sit and munch away. (Though they lack the free filtered water machines that many other WFs have, but this isn’t a big deal given that you can buy a 1.5L bottle of WF brand spring water for 79 cents.)

Bakery and floral departments at the Alewife Brook Parkway Whole Foods are strong. HOT food bar is insufficiently provisioned at a regular frequency, and many food items have exceeded their useful (edible) life. Hot entrée trays on the HOT food bar are frequently empty, and when one is empty it seems that many are empty (it also seems that there is either a shortage of staff to keep up with reprovisioning the HOT food bar, or a shortage of back-​up, fresh HOT food). Conversely, the salad bar is well provisioned and cold items seem fresh.

This store has a giant selection of prepared foods, which are fairly priced given the quality. I love the 365 brand too — there’s a lot of bargains to be had if you are comparing it to like items at other stores. Though, some stuff is the same exact item is considerably pricier, so you have to know your prices; though, this is offset by the fact that it is the healthiest grocer in the US.

This is a giant, stellar Whole Foods, with the best selection of prepared meals I’ve ever seen. All over the store there are different pre-​made dishes from a variety of cuisines, from a single entrée of salmon with corn/​bean salsa, to gigantic Catholic-​family-​sized pans of lasagna, in addition to the standard packaged lunch items (salads, sushi, sandwiches). And then there are the containers of fresh diced onions, sliced bell peppers, etc., for the truly lazy. Their shampoo/​personal care section is overwhelmingly large. Really big bulk section, baked goods, antipasto bar, hot bar, salad bar… this place has everything. They have about a dozen different types of barbecue sauce!
Depending on where you’re coming from, getting to the parking lot via the rotary can be rather harrowing at certain times of day. I like to go here late at night to avoid the crowds.

Disgusting. Unhygienic. Disturbing. Off putting. I just saw an employee stocking the top shelves in the cold foods section and instead of using a foot stool to get to gain access to the top shelf, he was standing on the edge of the lower shelf with his sneakers on top of the food display. Common sense and an innate sense of basic hygiene was lacking. I told a store manager who addressed the problem and I saw them both laughing it off. Not at all amusing. Come on Whole Foods. I’m sure you are capable of better. We certainly pay enough

I have only been to one other Whole Foods in Boston down in the South End, and this one pales in comparison to it. The whole atmosphere of the store does not feel like a whole foods and feels more like a stop n shop.

Whole Foods did both my wedding flowers and cake. It was a pleasure working with the floral and bakery departments — they made everything so easy! I actually started working with the Prospect St store, but after some unresponsiveness switched to the Fresh Pond store.
Using Whole Foods as a wedding vendor was not only cost effective, but the quality was amazing. The one minor slip-​up on my wedding day was that the bouquets almost went to the reception instead of the hotel for the ceremony, but this was quickly resolved.
I would recommend this store for wedding flowers and cake! Everything came out beautifully and working with them was a breeze.

Biggest whole foods I’ve been to. It’s always a mad house– in the store and in the parking lot. But they always have what I need and have a ton of choices; both in goods and the premade food. Staff are always helpful and friendly.

The folks are nice that work here.
The prices are high.
The hot bar always lures me in with great smells and steamed glass.
Unfortunately I always get ice cold food. I’m not sure how, but every meal something is cold and kills my appetite and enjoyment.
I really wish they would fix this.

This place is sensory overload with every possible food treat imaginable. I love the organic produce, natural cosmetics and the gourmet food selection. It’s pricey but totally worth it!

This WF is always in order and the shelves boom with products. The produce section is always vibrant and perfectly sculpted, it looks like it could have been painted by an impressionist painter. Totally flawless and the beauty section is not too shabby.
They’ve been extending their options lately and the seafood section now has take home meals (this started a few months ago). They’ve also extended the bakery and added a candy & cookie (by weight) stand just over a year ago.
Everything is perfect. The butcher’s (meat selection is best in town), cheese selection (guilt of that extra sample dissipates when you realize how big the store is and how much speed walking needs to be done to get back over to the produce bcz you forgot ginger root), breads, desserts, and deli. I’m iffy about the salad bar and if you’re in the mood for something from the hot food bar you’d better get there early when things come out bcz later it’ll look dried out later. The menu is usually ok, but nothing to write home about. A selection of proteins, starches, veggies, and something for your cheat days.
Getting out with only what you came for is difficult so I suggest making a list, leaving the debit/​credit card in the car, and only bringing cash bcz you WILL go over budget and walk out with an extra bag and BIGGER bill if you’re not careful.

I love buying the shrimp here because its all deveined and oh so fresh. The haddock can’t be beat. Come here just for the seafood and the prepared hot foods bar if nothing else.

I’ve been here a few times. It’s a pretty decent Whole Foods. I go to Whole Foods when I want to spend way more money on organic and «healthy» food than I should — or would at Trader Joe’s. Also if I want to see the latest crazes in what types of yoga pants the crunchy mom’s are buying these days.
So I don’t like Whole Foods. It’s so pretentious. But this one has a pretty good set of buffets, which I really like. And you can recycle there right after you eat. I like that a lot too. And unlike Trader Joe’s, I feel the employees are less pretentious and more helpful. And they have samples!
So it’s not the worst place ever, but I feel like I’m being taken advantage of here and know it before arriving, so I don’t like it.

I can’t in good conscience knock a second star off this place for their prices, but I can give them a pretty thorough review.
They have amazing selections of pretty much everything. Product is enormously fresh, and this place has one of the widest selections of any place you could possibly find. Their meat and fish counters have actual people working at them who can answer questions and cut custom portions for you. The cheese section in particular is fantastically varied. They have a good selection of premade foods, including a humongous salad bar.
Of course, this is Whole Foods, so their prices are higher. Expect to pay 20 – 40 dollars more per grocery load, depending on how much and of what sort of thing you buy. But if you can afford to eat healthier, you should do it here.