Whole Foods Market
“And the way it operated I always liked – seemed to spill over into the other Whole Foods – the prototype of the stores in manhattan.”
“The checkout line can get pretty hectic here but just follow the colors and arrows and you'll be fine.”
“The Chelsea Whole Foods has it all – the freshest of produce, fantastic meats and seafood, and an amazing selection of everything else.”
Whole Foods Market
Take-out: Yes
Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
Accepts Apple Pay: Yes
Bike Parking: Yes
Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
PokéStop Nearby: Yes
Price range.
$$$ Price range Pricey
8 reviews
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I'm sad to downgrade this whole foods from 5 stars to one star. I used to love love love all whole foods but either the pressure of profits, rapid expansion, or nearby traders joes and other competition has just made the experience not all that. Add in the prices and I'm just a meh.
For some time, I've felt the Chelsea whole foods suffers from understaffing particularly at the checkout counter. One Saturday morning I waited about 10 minutes not because of the length of the line but because there were only 3 checkout counters open. Last weekend the entire refrigeration area was stacked with boxes waiting to be unpacked. It's a tight store so any loss of aisle makes the place completely claustrophobic.
Today was my final straw. I went and got one of those dragging hand baskets and while I was in line I noticed the carrying "handle" vs the dragging handle wasn't on there. And I said to the checkout guy (Alex) "this basket is broken. No handle"
Checkout: "You need to go to customer service to tell them"
Me: "I need to???"
Checkout: "Yes customers' job"
Then the Basket collector guy comes by. I point it out. He says "ok."
Me "are you going to just put it back for the next person to grab it"
"Yes. They won't pay for anymore of these"
The quality of the produce remains great. But any chance I get I'll go to trader joes or Eataly at this point. Service has gone super downhill. Bummer.
It's hard to remember just how exciting it was when Whole Foods moved into Chelsea, but then again there aren't many folks still living there who recall just how down-at-the-heels Chelsea was even into the 1980's. This Whole Foods led the way for NYC, but always had a funky layout, curving around spaces used for other purposes on the ground floor of an older building and like Whole Food locations that followed, often featuring very long check-out lines. Nonetheless, being at ground level makes this store, although not large by suburban standards, much more accessible than those that require shoppers to go down and up from one floor to another. Of course it isn't cheap, and we never did bulk shopping here, but the produce is nice (especially when something's on sale!) and they do carry some specialty items in the meat section and elsewhere that you won't find at most places.
I see the lines even on a weekday afternoon are as bad as they were years ago. What I don't understand is why in the advertisement online this store lists sale prices that are not the actual sale price in the store? Take this week for example, the organic swiss chard – supposed to be 2 for $4.00 but the sign said 2 for $5. The greek yogurt advertised for $1.00 each was not $1.00. Also, an awful Miracle Whip type tasting mayo was used in their sushi rolls on sample..made me not buy it. Looked at the ridiculous line and walked out. On the bright side, the workers are very nice here!
Came here last Friday looking for lunch. With the famously exoborant prices such as $4/orange, $1.50/cookie, $10/blueberries, and a lame preapared food section with basically just run-of-the-mill sandwiches for $9 without justification apparent in the marketing for such high prices, I walked back out. The only thing going for it is the location which conveniently the overspending locals who famously keep the lines busy at 4-10 minutes' wait even at 2pm. I wonder who works in this neighborhood. The high prices aren't matched by the quality selection and artwork as the Bowery, Tribeca, and Gowanus locations have.
Look, if you aren't willing to pay $18 for a carrot or two, why are you even living in New York? I personally refuse to eat any apple that doesn't cost at least $10, because what am I supposed to do, eat fruit that just ANYONE can buy? And I was considering buying a pet cow for my apartment, but instead I just bought some ground beef at the meat counter for the same price. Worth it!
Whole Foods shenanigans aside, I come here a lot because apparently organic food is magical and I am willing to keep my girlfriend company. I also occasionally buy WF (pronounced "dubs-H" for those not in the know) brand pretzels here, which are the single best deal in the store. And make sure to keep your eye out for some awesome specials, which they'll mark with bright yellow stickers informing you that the price of a six-pack of beer is no longer $13.99, now it's just $13.99! (Not a typo).
If you want Whole Foods organic produce, I suppose you can make your way to this store and have at it. If you aren't that worried about it, though, and there's a Trader Joe's down the block…
I am a Whole Foods lover but this location is not my favorite in comparison to the other locations I have been to. It is a definitely a go-to place for fresh fruits and vegetables, cool items like puddings, frozen fruits, etc.
This is one of the most hectic locations.
No dining area at this location.
But no bathrooms either?! That's just bananas.
I know and understand all the critiques of Whole Foods, it's still a great reliable resource for alternative and specialty foods, especially when you have particular nutritional and health needs.
I go to this Whole Foods quite a bit as it is on my way home from work. It's not my favorite WF though, mostly because of the size. It's cramped and the lines during peak hours are crazy.
That being said, the staff goes out of its way to be helpful and, like I said its convenient.
I guess it really depends on what your comparable is when judging whole foods. I gave it a four star, relative to the three star I gave to food emp, which is the place I do my daily grocery shopping.
Whole foods did have everything I would love to get, with more choices. Since I usually focus only on the healthy side of food – yogurt, fruits and dry nuts, I found whole foods to be very convenient in a sense that it has a self-weigh section, so that I do not need to worry about the huge portion size which I probably will never be able to finish. Some people would complain about price level, I found it acceptable, given the healthiness and freshness it brought.
I wish we could have one whole foods opening in my neighborhood!