New Seasons Market – Woodstock

I was so happy when I heard Woodstock was getting their own New Season. The closest one to me previously was the one in Sellwood and I occasionally have to go to the one in Happy Valley cause they had more items.
When this location opened I was surprise by how big and full their store was. Definitely have been stopping by here and saving gas on a regular basis. Friendly retail workers they asked if you need help if they see you wondering. Love that my kids get to eat more healthier and organic foods.

Wow! Best New Seasons market ever. Theres a large varieties of produces and many local food. This place also have a bar on top with a balcony seating area. Super nice! Love it here!

My family was SO HAPPY when New Seasons opened on Woodstock! We live just a couple blocks away. Yes, there is a New Seasons close by in Sellwood, but I love having this one right here in the neighborhood. Safeway must be sh*&#@g bricks haha! Besides the awesome produce section, beyond awesome meat counter, locally produced dairy, super rad weekly specials, the employees are actually «the friendliest in town». I have 2 examples to share:
1) I forgot that I was parked across the street and down the block and bought too many groceries. I had 4 bags plus a bag of potatoes and a bag of oranges. It (of course) began to suddenly POUR rain. Awesome. I asked a fella sweeping the area between the inner and outer doors if he would just keep an eye on a couple of my bags so I could make 2 trips. He asked where I was parked, and picked up my other bags and said he’d carry them. He was in a T-​shirt and it was pouring! I tried to tell him no, but he yelled «Let’s do this!» and ran after me, all the way to my car. He was soaked, but waved goodbye and told me to have a goodnight.
2) Dec 23^rd: I’ve got everything to make my Xmas Eve dinner for 12. I’m about to start my prep cooking when I realize with horror — I forgot the meat! By now, it’s almost Christmas, I’ve spent almost all my money. I rush over to New Seasons, completely sure they are going to be out of everything, thinking I’m going to have to go to Safeway and buy some hormone-​riddled Butterball turkey. The fella at the meat counter found me a turkey and a ham, spend a while figuring out how much I would need to serve 12 people and checking prices for my broke ass, meanwhile there are a bazillion people behind me at the meat counter and he NEVER ONCE acted irritated or annoyed with me. He saved me, he saved my Christmas.
I can’t believe I didn’t ask these 2 fellas their names, they deserve recognition for going above and beyond!

I love New Seasons. For years I frequented the 33^rd and Killingsworth location when I lived just a few blocks away. Having transplanted to SE, I was excited when the Woodstock location finally opened.
For the most part, it’s pretty standard NS. I do however have a couple gripes:
1) I have to wait for the order taking people to fill out my sandwich/​stir-​fry/​whatever card instead of filling it out myself. As someone who has previously had a tendency to rely on NS for dinner on a near nightly basis, I have no time to stand behind a group of people asking what each sauce is or what this is or that is. Just let me fill my card out and jump in front of these folks.
2) The ficelle sandwiches lack any crunch to their crust and crumb. This is a huge sadness for me. I could live off the ham, brie and dijon ficelle sandwich, but I’ve purchased three times now and each time I groan at how chewy the ficelle is.
So, fix those and you get five stars :)

Yet another ¾ scale store. Honey, I shrunk the Grocery Shopping Experience.
I will say they don’t seem to be lacking any of their usual amenities.
It’s always a good choice if you want to ‘spiff up’ your meal or you have no clue what to have during your mid-​week menu blank spot lull.
NS has been my savior on more than one occasion. I thank you.
I just wish they would have made Bi Mart an offer they couldn’t refuse.

Like all New Seasons, this store’s hot deli has the absolute worst biscuits in the known universe. They aren’t biscuits, they’re hardtack, and since I’m not a 17^th-​century sailor, that doesn’t do it for me. Any number of recipes for buttermilk biscuits would be far better.
That said, the rest of the store is typical New Seasons. Others can defend the narrow aisles all they want, but they’re too narrow. They don’t «keep things moving,» they clog things up.

I’m a big fan of New Seasons and since I rarely buy packaged food, the fresh produce and meat prices balance out quite well for me.
I live in South Tabor, so my main NS has always been the Hawthorne location, which is approximately the same size and aisle width. Now that the new store hype has died down a little, it often has a similar coziness to the Hawthorne location that I love. Go to ANY smaller New Seasons and you’ll discover smaller aisles. I personally appreciate them because it keeps people moving and not just loafing in my way.
I’m currently pregnant and have no issues maneuvering in this store. If you want a drafty overly large box store to protect your personal bubble, walk across the street to Safeway.
The awesome differences with this location are the vaulted ceilings, logical layout (all hot/​to-​go foods wrapping around one area), and of course the rooftop wine and beer bar. I have already enjoyed sitting up there a few times with a coffee and a book before I go shop. (I always love getting a quality coffee from any NS, but I usually would shop with it, not here though, it’s nice to hang out a little!)
I was absolutely delighted to discover they decided to include a ramen bar and burrito bar – offerings usually reserved for their bigger stores. I haven’t heard of any businesses being negatively impacted at other NS locations due to the hot bar or coffee offerings. If the product is good at those businesses, the increased foot traffic can only help.
All in all, A+, New Seasons.
PS: Head upstairs near the bathrooms to read the comment cards from fussy patrons while you sip your beer.

I LOVE NEW SEASONS. This new seasons has a friggen’ rooftop bar. I was here last night and every SINGLE staff member that interacted with was super friendly, helpful, and funny. (I interacted with five). Lynn was AWESOME and so, so funny.
The rooftop bar is AMAZING– they have a fire pit that they turn on when it’s not raining.
I don’t normally use this many caps but I really need to emphasize how much I LOVE NEW SEASONS and how much I enjoyed this new location.

From the aisles to the parking lot, everything about this store is small, save for the prices. At one point I was physically trapped in by other customers in an area of the deli. If it wasn’t for a $ 10 coupon, I would’ve aborted this shopping mission and headed over to Safeway. Perhaps when the «cool grocery store buzz» dies down, it will serve well for a few specialty items. And the deck does look cool… that’s nice and roomy, at least.

I felt claustrophobic whilst shopping. The aisles are VERY narrow, kinda like their parking lots, thus making it difficult to shop. If there is one other person in the aisle with you and they have a shopping cart, forget about it. The store had everything I was looking for, but I had the feeling it didn’t carry as much as other NSMs carry — like the 7 corners location.
I anticipate I will be shopping here because this location is closest to my house, and I am looking forward to checking out the roof, but I think I prefer the 7 corners location better.

The design of this store declares that people don’t matter. Why bother selling fruit and vegetables if an average-​sized human carrying a basket can’t maneuver through the produce section and reach items for purchase? The width of the aisles appears to have been calculated by the people who set the width of economy seats on budget airlines. At the very least, this store should get rid of full-​sized shopping carts. I was so excited to check out a new New Seasons, and I ended up with a sad, demoralizing experience. What happened to the friendliest store in town? It got sold.

This is only their third day of business at this new location, and I’ve been here twice. Everything you would expect from a New Seasons, but with some cool options like a wine/​coffee bar upstairs (and with outdoor/​indoor seating), wok and burrito bars, and of course exceptional deli and specialty items. So far so good!

Shiny & New beautiful New Seasons in my hood!!! Very thankful for this grand opening! Smaller than most new seasons I’ve been in, with slightly more narrow aisles as well.
Overall I’d give this one an A+

I love New Seasons, and I hit the opening day for this Woodstock location! What a great addition to a thriving hood. The design is amazing, esp. the rooftop bar with yes, beer, wine bar and they allow kids. It has fire pits, heated lamps, a children’s play area, and comfy seating, as well as numerous tables to overlook the hood. You can carry your ready to order food up or take the elevator. The other advantage is they have a great parking structure.
My only star ding, is I hope they respect the established neighborhood businesses. They had a burrito bar last night when their neighbor, El Gallo Taqueria, is two doors down. I am not sure if this was a one time dealio, although the employee mentioned Taco Tuesdays or just for opening day, but please don’t compete with the likes of some of the local businesses like el gallo. I get you sell coffee and there is a coffee shop across the street and Grand Central next door, but a burrito bar, really?!!

As a long-​time New Seasons shopper and Woodstocker, I’ve been waiting for the opening of a store close to home for a long time. This store doesn’t disappoint — the mural they re-​created on the side of their store to make up for the one they covered up when building, the treetop bar and patio on the roof complete with patio heaters and a variety of seating options, and the bike parking in the garage! Oh, yes, we’re talking about a grocery store… they also have all that I have grown to love about New Seasons — local and organic produce, a kick-​ass bulk foods section, great health and beauty products, beautiful flowers, and the friendliest staff in town. Finally!

Beautiful new store! Lots of helpful friendly staff. Gorgeous upstairs eating area with a bar and 8 taps. One hard cider on tap always! Underground parking too.

When you think about it, really how important is it to go to a grocery store opening, and perhaps the better question is why do so many get so excited about going to a New Seasons opening day? Really it is just about a grocery store (albeit a pretty bright and shiny one) or is something else going on here? I remember in childhood that Fred Meyer and Safeway openings were a pretty big deal, with pony rides, carnival atmospheres, and appearances by local TV celebrities (mostly the hosts of local children’s afternoon cartoon shows). I guess it has to do with large grocery stores being brand new at the time and not the norm.
The first time I remember any store like New Seasons in Portland was its precursor, Wild Oats. Some time in the late 1980s or very early 1990s, a friend and I were in a Wild Oats at the fish case. When I mentioned to my friend that I needed a hand-​held lemon juicer, the young man helping me with the fish almost jumped over the fish case to show me where the lemon juicers were located. I was a little taken aback, but also very pleased, and within that vignette is the reason people come to New Seasons — because New Seasons and its employees know how to create community and why people love them and their store openings.
I guess I should admit to have gone to opening day at the New Seasons in Northwest Portland in August, which had been planned for awhile, and the visit last night to the new store in the Woodstock neighborhood was more spontaneous as I only learned about it just a couple of days before and am working close by, so I could get right off the bus and walk in the front door there. It made for a fun little quick trip and something to look forward to as the work day went on.
The new store is smaller than many of the others in the chain and the aisles are narrower. Of course, the place was jam packed last night, and I suspect sooner than not in the future the city is going to have to place another crosswalk there. There is parking under the store, but since this is a smaller store, I wonder about amount of and ease of parking. Tri-​Met bus 9 runs through there pretty frequently, so I imagine that may ultimately be the best bet. Surface street parking is not particularly ample, and I suspect the Safeway across the street is not going to welcome those shopping at New Seasons parking in their lot.
The grocery store proper has all the usual New Season items. They have a lot prepared food options (burrito bar, etc.) and I had a gorgeous and scrumptious barbacoa burrito bowl. I liked that I could have paid at the cashiers downstairs, but also had the the option of paying up at the rooftop bar cashier. You heard right, yes, that there’s a bar and dining area (beer, wine, hard cider) that looks out over a patio with pretty decent seating and some fire pits. This is the only New Seasons with an in-​house bar. I didn’t have any libations there, but did buy some hard cider to take home for Friday night relaxation time.
I enjoyed all my interactions with the various employees who helped me. Their customer service is some of the best in the business, and they seemed genuinely glad to be there (and I even heard someone say that to another customer), and that kind of warmth and genuineness is I think the thing that customers respond to and causes such loyalty and customer retention and most importantly community. They must be doing something right, huh, because it keeps me coming in anywhere I’m near one of their stores. Now all I have to do is figure out when they’re opening their store over on Lombard in North Portland and put that on my calendar.