The West is the best in terms of geographical beauty, laidback lifestyles, and legendary music. From the rainy city of Seattle and the redwood-lined Oregon coast down to scenic palm tree-dotted Southern California, you can enjoy world-class views, unmatched culture, and fresh, tasty food. And whether you're a West Coast local or visiting long-term, you'll arguably find the latter mostly in grocery stores rather than restaurants.
Regarding the West Coast's rich terrain and the grocery stores that sell its harvests, food shopping may seem great at first glance. That is, until you notice the produce is rotting, the lines are long, the staff is grumpy, or your receipt hits one digit too many. Luckily, we've created a list of some iconic West Coast-based grocery stores you'll find up and down the coastline, ranking them from worst to best to help you navigate the supermarket aisles like a true West Coast native.
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This discount food chain in Northern California and the Central Valley is essentially the dollar store of grocery outlets. The supermarket franchise owns 20 grocery stores in California, mainly concentrated in the San Joaquin Valley but also reaching up to Sacramento and the Bay Area. It prides itself on its healthy items and to-go options, all at low prices. Like many other grocery store chains, Foods Co. is owned by Kroger.
Economical prices are great when you're looking to save on your daily or weekly grocery run. Foods Co. amplifies this by not only featuring low prices but also offering additions like coupons, digital deals, and cash back on your card. Another key way to save is through membership or via fuel points to collect on groceries when you're at the gas station.
Where it gets a little haywire is the health and nutrition aspect of the brand. The stores feature their own registered dietitians who help clients incorporate more nutritious regimens into their lifestyles. While that's undoubtedly honorable, we question if Foods Co. is the place to do that, because patrons frequently complain not only about the customer service but also the quality of the store's produce and processed foods. If you must visit a Foods Co., maximize your trip by avoiding the worst time to shop for produce at the supermarket and instead stopping by in the morning or at night.
It's easy to shop at economical prices without sacrificing quality at Southern California's Super King Markets. Peruse the produce section and you'll find ripe, locally-grown fruits and veggies, but you might be left disappointed by the bakery selection. The supermarket offers international products from Latin America, the Middle East, and Europe, so don't expect to find your average American snacks here.
Super King's food is a steal, and everyone knows it. That's why the popular SoCal food chain is often crammed with long checkout lines and chaotic parking lots, meaning you'll need extra time and patience on your visit to the store. Unfortunately, one of its eight locations was lost to the Eaton Fire, so its remaining locations may be busier than the norm. All in all, Super King is a decent store to visit if you want to cut some dollars off your receipt, but note that you'll be paying with your time rather than your wallet.
Vallarta is a budget-friendly grocery store sprinkled across Southern California, the Central Valley, and the Central Coast. It puts the "super" in supermarket with its massive modern interior filled with aisles of imported products from Mexico, South America, the Caribbean, and even Asia. With a tagline "Si es de allá, lo tenemos aquí," meaning "If it's from back home, we have it here," Vallarta is a reliable go-to international stop.
The Latino-oriented shop features all the standard sections of a grocery store. Perhaps its greatest selling point, however, is the food bar, which features savory meats and fresh salsa (among other mouthwatering options). Shoppers can order a customized dish or grab a pre-prepared meal if they're on the go, and make a stop at the juice bar, La Isla, to wash it all down while they're at it.
Overall, the store is cheap and clean, offering customers better prices on produce than grocery stores like Ralphs and Pavilions. Despite its conveniences, however, it remains a specialty store with international items, meaning you most likely won't complete your grocery list in one stop. Plus, some locations are inconsistent in their service and quality. For these reasons, we've given Vallarta a lower ranking.
Owned by umbrella company Albertsons, Pavilions is a somewhat upscale grocery store offering all the essentials and boasting a bakery that will easily satisfy your sweet tooth. Supermarket giant Krogers was originally set to purchase the chain of grocery stores from Albertsons but was ultimately stopped, thanks to a lawsuit from the Federal Trade Commission claiming that with virtually no competition in the Los Angeles area, prices would skyrocket. Kroger planned as of July 2024 to sell a handful of Pavilions locations to C&S Wholesale Grocers to allow for the merger to proceed.
Pavilions tends to be overpriced for the products it's selling, which is one of the reasons why we've ranked it lower on the list. It does, however, feature great deals on alcohol (something to keep in mind if you're throwing a party or like to indulge in a more-than-occasional glass of wine). Overall, shoppers and employees tend to have a positive experience at Pavilions. Still, it's no Trader Joe's, in the sense that the staff won't always have peachy levels of enthusiasm.
Ralphs is one of the many supermarkets owned by Kroger and features 182 store locations, all concentrated in Southern California. The no-frills grocery store is as standard as it gets, being comparable to ShopRite in the Northeast and Hy-Vee in the Midwest. At first glance, Ralphs may not seem to stand out from a sea of other supermarkets. However, it is actually a historical LA icon, having first opened in 1873 in an opulent Spanish Revival structure that has since been demolished.
Ralphs is your run-of-the-mill supermarket and pharmacy combo, and you can usually count on its fish, meat, and dairy to be in good shape. When it comes to produce, though, your shopping experience can be a toss-up, and whether you'll find fresh fruits and vegetables can largely depend on your location. The atmosphere is also uncertain, as some stores are contemporary while others are more run-down. A stop at this SoCal shop does get the job done, though, as you'll be sure to find everything you're looking for at average market prices.
With fresh food and a clean atmosphere, shopping at Gelson's is comparable to Whole Foods. The now-popular food chain opened by brothers Bernard and Eugene Gelson after World War II came from humble origins, starting as a small store in Tujunga and later in North Hollywood before officially opening as an upscale market in Burbank in 1951. Today, there are 26 Gelson's stores in operation, from San Diego's Pacific Beach up to Santa Barbara.
Gelson's may be a West Coast favorite, but it also lands among America's most popular grocery store delis. The Southern California chain delivers traditional, mouthwatering cuts of meat, but if you're not in the mood for a sandwich you have plenty of other ready-made meal selections like sushi and kale salads. You can even order dinner for two or request catering for your next get-together. There's no denying the quality and convenience of Gelson's, but when considering a grocery store ranking we must also factor in the customer experience as a whole. Unfortunately, on more than a few occasions, the Gelson's staff was careless at best and impolite at worst, which is why it lands in the middle of the pack.
If you find yourself craving healthy, wholesome groceries sold by a family-owned supermarket chain in Portland that holds its standards high, you'll hit the jackpot with Zupan's Markets. The specialty market has been serving the region with delicious locally sourced foods for 50 years, expanding to three locations across Portland since opening in 1975. Just don't expect your average name brands here -- everything Zupan's sells is made by its own company or other local small businesses.
Not only does Zupan's feature a serving station with gourmet food akin to Whole Foods (price-wise too), but you can keep caffeinated throughout your visit with a quick stop at Zupan's Cafe. Zupan's is more than a grocery store full of chic premium products, though. Its exclusive Cellar Z features private dining rooms under each of three of its store locations, for clients to reserve for family celebrations or corporate events with Zupan's fine wine collection.
All this is great if you have a wallet full of cash and more than 24 hours to fill up on local Portland fare. This market is a far cry from Portland's stereotypical hipster atmosphere, so you can expect ritzy customers and high prices. But considering the quality and experience, and that even employees are compensated well and therefore naturally more cheery, we think Zupan's deserves sixth place.
Japanese grocery store Uwajimaya has blessed the Pacific Northwest with delectable Asian fare for nearly a century. Since its humble beginnings in 1928, the family-owned store has grown into a regional powerhouse, operating four stores in Portland and Seattle that not only provide the community with standard Asian groceries but also inform them of Japanese traditions and recipes. Uwajimaya's lucky shoppers don't even need to wait to get home to taste the flavors of East Asia, because at the store's food court, they can dig right into sushi, bento boxes, roast duck, and much more.
Uwajimaya is a far cry from America's largest grocery store chain, Wal-Mart, which features wide aisles filled with glorified junk food and apathetic employees. This family-owned and operated Japanese store stays committed to quality food, along with above-average customer and community service. There's not much to dislike about Uwajimaya, aside from the fact that your grocery trip will be limited to Asian cuisine, so you'll probably need to supermarket-hop to check off your entire grocery list.
We can't make a list of West Coast supermarkets without including the Bay Area, which is where Bi-Rite Markets comes in. This trio of grocery stores (plus a creamery and catering kitchen) is a San Francisco legend in its own right. The first location, 18th Street Market, features a charming Art Deco storefront in the heart of the Mission District. Though the store was opened in 1940, it didn't officially become Bi-Rite until 1964, and it took another 30+ years to become the Bi-Rite Market we know today.
The ripe, tasty produce sold in this grocery chain comes directly from California's abundant agriculture, which grows about half of the vegetables and fruits sold in the United States. In fact, Bi-Rite has proudly grown its organic crops on a private farm in Sonoma since 2008. While they're now on the hunt for new farmland due to environmental changes, Bi-Rite still retains rooftop gardens and an orchard in Placerville. With such commitment to integrity and passion to serve the community with home-grown nutritious food, you can imagine the quality of Bi-Rite's products.
Bi-Rite stores tend to be tiny as they only sell their own brand. Still, you can find almost everything you need. Bi-Rite Markets might seem like they have it all, but the one thing they don't offer is reasonable prices on their inventory of groceries.
Seattle, Washington's Metropolitan Market has the city in its culinary thrall with its combination of delectable food items and clean, modern interiors that aren't huge but still sell all the locally cultivated products you'd need.
Metropolitan Market never lets Seattle locals down with its healthy and tasty grocery options. Of course, this upscale supermarket boasts nothing but the best produce, but the overachievers out there are sure to grab the freshest produce by reaching for the items in the back. If you don't feel up for a quest to the supermarket, you can conveniently order Metropolitan Market's groceries on Amazon and its prepared foods on DoorDash.
Like most other premium grocery stores, Metropolitan Market will rack up quite a bill when you shop there. The compromise is a pleasant shopping experience, fresh food, and convenience. Considering the trade-offs, we award it third place.
Perhaps LA's most infamous and intriguing grocery store is none other than Erewhon. Notorious for its $22 smoothies, this chain often pops up on social media feeds for its absurd prices and star-studded clientele. But Erewhon wasn't always a TikTok Sensation. Its origins are rooted in 1960s Boston, when a Japanese couple launched an innovative shop dedicated to the then-revolutionary natural foods movement. They named the store after their favorite book, Erewhon. Since then, the posh health food chain relocated to LA, where it has become a legend not just for its healthy food but for its scandalous prices.
Shopping at Erewhon is an adventure in and of itself, and each different location offers its own unique experience. For example, visit the Beverly Hills location and you'll find Pilates wine moms with designer purses that may or may not have a tiny dog inside. Meanwhile, at the Silver Lake location, you'll most likely encounter edgy yet wealthy folks who don't seem to go to work. Whichever Erewhon you end up at, two things are certain: you'll bump shoulders with stereotypical LA clientele and pay outrageous prices for the sake of "healthiness" (like this $21 gallon of grass-fed raw whole milk). The costs are inflated, but the food is good and the experience is unmatched.
Bristol Farms first opened in 1982 in Rolling Hills, California with a mission to merge exceptional customer service with the best butchers, bakers, and grocers. It has since launched 13 stores across Southern California, from Santa Barbara to Newport Beach to all the way east in Palm Desert. The company also owns and operates six other stores, called Lazy Acres Markets, also situated in the SoCal region.
Its fresh selection of meat and fish, along with ready-to-go sandwiches, sushi, and hot meals, rival those of Whole Foods. Locals know never to make a Bristol Farms stop without grabbing one of their legendary gooey cookies. While they closely guard the recipe for their chocolate chip cookie, they offer a variety of other sweet treats you can make at home.
This upscale store is consistent in both quality and high prices. But hey, you get what you pay for. And at Bristol Farms, you pay well for unmatched options in terms of healthy, wholesome, and flavorful groceries. Some would argue the price tags are worth it. Others wouldn't. We'll argue that it deserves the top spot on our list.
It wasn't easy ranking this collection of strictly West Coast grocery store chains. For the most part, they all had both positive and negative aspects to them. We considered customer reviews, cost-to-quality ratio, convenience, ambiance, and product variety. While this list is not exhaustive, we hope it will help guide you on your grocery run, whether you live on the West Coast or will be visiting soon.