Whole Foods Market South Street

Look Whole Foods is a known quantity. It has a lot of good things, a few bad things, and isn't breaking new ground. But its prepared foods are never cloying like Wegmans for example, its produce is extremely fresh, and of course it has a groovy selection. Delivery has declined since they started charging a fee (the inverse of what I expected), I have basically given up. Their delivery people are by and large very good, but the shoppers are either given a weird algorithm or there is something wrong with them, I get only a fraction of what I order, with improbable omissions. This branch is almost never crowded, unlike the chaotic Pennsylvania Av branch, and there is very little traffic, again the opposite of its bigger brother. Staff are nice, I have never been treated gruffly at this store, and the clientele is a pleasant mix. This isn't Di Bruno's or one of the NYC specialty markets like Fairway. But it is a relaxed and easy place to do a big shopping trip. Quirks? Their chicken salad is like crack, it is that good. And they don't have unpackaged smoked salmon and their packaged smoke salmon is of variable quality (I have tried them all). Which highlights the worst property of Whole Foods, that they only sell their own brands. I know they are supposed to be expensive, I only notice that they push more expensive things (like organic produce), rather than their being more expensive for precisely the same items. Produce is a good place to see this. Packaged items are harder to compare, because they are pushing their own or exotic brands.

I encountered the rudest man at the Meat counter. I needed Schmaltz to make Matzoh ball soup. I get nope SomI asked oh, do you have it frozen? Nope walks always. I 'll just drive to Wegmanns from now on

I have been shopping solely at Whole Foods since Covid. But, now I am so disappointed. They continue to discontinue the items that distinguish them from being a regular grocery store. A month ago they discontinued No Salt Turkey in their prepared foods section. According to the store, this was a best seller over all other turkeys. But the corporate team decided to discontinue it and replaced it with turkey that is brined with salt and sugar (to keep moist). This is not great for customers who shop there and are trying to cut salt and sugar out of their diets. Another reason to stop shopping at Whole Foods. I can get brined turkey for less money anywhere else. So unfortunate. They used to be health conscious. Not anymore.

I have not made a Yelp post in years! However, today I logged on to comment about my experience at this Whole Foods. I have lived in the Washington Square West neighborhood for almost six years. This Whole Foods is my main grocery store. I visit the grocery store often during the week because I work from home. If I do not feel like making lunch or dinner, I visit their salad or hot bar stations. Also, it is a way to get me out of the house. Last week I was followed around the store SEVERAL times. I have never run into security in such a small store so often in such a short time. Once I almost hit her with my cart. I was so confused about this visit that I spoke to several friends and family members about it, and they agreed I was being followed and possibly racially profiled. On this day, security was an African American/Black woman with long curly hair. I am also Black. To test out my theory, I visited the store several times, and though I was not followed as closely as I was that day, each time that I visited the store, I was scrutinized before I guess they made a decision and decided I was not a threat and walked away. I did not see such behavior exhibited toward other customers. I am unsure what occurred at this location for the behavior of the store workers to change, but also, perhaps it has always been this way at this location, but I never noticed. Again this is my neighborhood grocery store, which is unfortunate. The next time this occurs, I will speak to the security guard and the manager.

This Whole Foods Market is located nearby Philadelphia's Magic Garden, in which I had just finished visiting and highly recommend checking it out if you haven't done so before. It is well worth the affordable admission price $10 for adults and $8 for students with ID). My husband and I decided to come in here this afternoon to take a break from the heat, grab something to eat and relax a bit before heading out to another adventure of Philadelphia. I really love shopping at Whole Foods and thought this was probably the smallest location that I have been to. But anyway, I really love Whole Food's dessert section, cookie bar, hot and cold food bar and also their in store bar. On this visit, we ended up picking up a few different desserts, which I thought was interesting to pick and place in a to go container myself, as opposed to having to order at a display case in which that is how I have always done it at other Whole Foods locations). I ended up getting a cheesecake, a pistachio tart, a cannoli my husband really wanted that) and a fruit tart. I love the consistency of these $2 desserts from one location to another. After we paid for our items, we headed to the small eating area, which is next to their little bar. My husband ended up ordering a beer, Blueblood, $7. This hard cider has guava and passion fruit, making it a little sour. I thought it wasn't bad and my husband liked it. If I lived in this area, I would definitely try to take advantage of the happy hour where you save $1 on a 16 oz beer or wine by the glass, Monday- Thursday, 4-6 pm. Service with both cashiers were nice and friendly. Have no complains.Just thought this location was on the small side. Please note that there are 2 restrooms by the store room, in the back of the store. You will need a code to use it, so be sure to ask the employee I think the code that I used today is 245 but cannot fully recall if that it is for sure).