Whole Foods Market

Whole Foods MarketWhole Foods Market
Whole Foods MarketWhole Foods Market
Store

8825 Villa La Jolla Dr.
La Jolla, California, 92037
United States

(858) 642-6700 | map
wholefoods.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.98
Reviews:
12
Ratings:
19
pDev:
13.32%
View: Place Reviews
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Ratings by harsley:
Photo of harsley
Reviewed by harsley from Massachusetts

4.15/5  rDev +4.3%
I recently was in La Jolla and wanted to bring back some Pliny (or other RR), so with a little research I found this could be the place. After searching a while the beer guy came by and asked if I needed anything, before I could even ask, he said "lookin' for pliny? I got 3 cases in the back that came in today." So I got my wish....super fresh.

A great selection besides that as well...lots and lots of familiar CA brews and a good selection of Belgians and other imports too. Prices seemed pretty much in line with what I'm used to. Pliny was $4.69 which I thought was a pretty good price. Most bombers were $5 range with some at $7.50 for special ones. All in all, I'll go back.
Feb 09, 2011
More User Ratings:
Photo of mrcraft
Reviewed by mrcraft from California

4/5  rDev +0.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4
Whole Foods is high-end supermarket. As with most other Whole Foods they carry a good selection of craft beers. I try to visit a Whole Foods when one is near where I'm staying. They carried beers from your local breweries, German, Belgians, and other imports. The prices were about average.

I bought some snacks and a bottle of Bruery sour. I didn't find any gems, but for a supermarket, Whole Foods, including this location, is solid.
Oct 13, 2018
 
Rated: 4.29 by dwoolley1 from New York

Jun 24, 2016
Photo of kport82
Rated by kport82 from California

5/5  rDev +25.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 5
good service good selection for a grocery store knowledgeable staff decent prices
Mar 06, 2015
 
Rated: 4.5 by HopHead84 from California

Nov 26, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by Afroman from Arizona

Oct 17, 2014
 
Rated: 5 by JayN from California

Sep 20, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by tally from California

Sep 13, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by MickeyHops from California

Jul 19, 2014
Photo of ThreeWiseMen
Reviewed by ThreeWiseMen from California

3.94/5  rDev -1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4
I stop in here pretty regularly as I live only ~300 yards away.

What are you hoping to find here? That's the question. If the answer is Alpine, I'm sorry - try elsewhere. If the answer includes anything from AleSmith, Great Divide, Port, Ballast Point, or Coronado, you're in luck. This Whole Foods offers a wide variety of high-quality craft brews from nearly every brewery out west and many others from Belgium, Germany, Norway, the UK, and the rest of the US. You'll find multiple versions of Yeti, a few sours and Blind Pig from Russian River, and occasionally special Firestone releases here - those are the rarest beers I've spotted anyway.

Everything is kept cool and the workers are surprisingly beer-savvy (much more so than any other Whole Foods Ive been to). The prices are reasonable, though I find their digital price tags, which malfunction often, quite annoying.

This might be the best place to buy beer in La Jolla, but it doesn't come close to the upper echelon beer stores in the San Diego metropolitan area.
Oct 24, 2011
Photo of LittleDon
Reviewed by LittleDon from Texas

3.9/5  rDev -2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5
What can be said about Whole Foods that hasn't already been said somewhere else? In a way, it's much like Starbucks in that it offers quality products to an affluent clientele at premium prices. In an earlier beerfly review I asked the question, "When does a growing and successful state or regional chain become a detriment to the discerning consumer's ability to find quality and variety?".

For this store, and most Whole Foods, a balance can be found between what is offered and what you need to go (or should go) elsewhere to find. The selection and prices are good, not great. I am glad they are close to where I typically stay since there isn't a good bottle shop close. If I had a car, I'd likely go somewhere else, where the selection is broader and service much better. On that note, my 3 rating for service is overly generous. In fact, there is no beer service at Whole Foods. Perhaps if you track someone down, and maybe if they are involved with the beer purchasing, you can get some feedback on what to buy, freshness, what is new, what to expect in the next few weeks, etc. But again, this is not Whole Food's niche. If you want this, you'll need to seek out a quality local establishment.

All in all, while we may hate WF for what it is or who shops there, for a decent beer selection, it's a good bet.

NB: As food goes, I've found WF to have decent variety of well prepared and tasty meals. Most have a good sized prepared food section and the La Jolla store is no exception, albeit a bit smaller than the larger stores and larger than the smallest stores.
Mar 10, 2011
Photo of nomomentwasted
Reviewed by nomomentwasted from Oregon

3.85/5  rDev -3.3%
Quickly, due to my location in northern San Diego, this is becoming my go-to spot to pick up some good beer for relatively cheap. Sure, Keg and Bottle is much better in selection (unparalleled, really) but Whole Foods has a pretty awesome half-aisle selection of all types of brew.

There is very limited amounts of domestics like Coors, Bud, and Miller, while there are many nicer, higher-end microbrews and Trappists. They have Alesmith, Lost Abbey, Stone, Russian River, and other California heavy hitters, as well as many internationals as well. Also of note is the wide selection of Belgian styles with the Rochefort selection, a wide Lost Abbey selection (even a few bottles of Angel's Share, and say what you will, your average beer store does not), as well as many other tough-to-find beers.

For me, it's just nice to find a place that has Pliny the Elder, Ruination, Rochefort 10, and other great beers for relatively cheap and often in stock. The staff are not entirely clueless about beer either if you get the right guy, and are more than willing to check and see if there is anything new coming in soon or if their stock is about to be replenished, which I appreciated. Definitely not BA frequenters I wouldn't imagine, but still a good effort if you ask me. All in all, there is a nice variety, reasonable pricing, and decent stocking, which makes for a pretty good store.
Jun 28, 2009
Photo of HalfFull
Reviewed by HalfFull from California

3.35/5  rDev -15.8%
Probably about 50 beers by the 6 pack and another 150 as individual sales. Lots of local brews and the basic Belgian, German and English styles are covered. Nothing unique here, seems pretty corporate on the options. Beer cooler was freshly stocked and was being restocked while I was there. Cold, and the shelves next to the cooler were pretty cool as well.

No deals to be found however, and I walked out empty handed. Everything was a dollar or two more than elsewhere, Bev Mo for example. Really don't see a need to go back here given the pricing and lack of good finds. It's proximity to the 5 makes it a good option for someone passing through the area however.
Jan 05, 2009
Photo of Silenus89
Reviewed by Silenus89 from California

3.7/5  rDev -7%
My friend and i heard about this place and decided to go check it out. Being in La Jolla this is an expensive place but the brew wasnt to over priced. They have a good selections of 6 packs i got fullers esb from here, they have dogfish head 60min 90min and midus touch. they have been known to get Older Viscosity which ive been dying to try. They have a nice selection of bombers like Alesmith and Lost Abby. They have a section of Belgian beers and German. Over all a nice place I will go back soon
Sep 12, 2008
Photo of kleffman
Reviewed by kleffman from California

3.7/5  rDev -7%
If you're in La Jolla and looking for some craft brew this isn't a bad stop. They have a whole rack of Belgian selections, carry quite a bit of the Lost Abbey line up, and have a large selection of six packs to choose from. The prices may be a little high, but not by much. They've even been known to get in some of the rarer stuff in the past like Older Viscosity from Port. Definitely worth a stop to grab some Alesmith, Stone, Green Flash or something local. Or if you want some fine Belgian Ales from Westmalle, Chimay etc. Although for Chimay I recommend Trader Joes across the street.
Feb 07, 2008
Photo of dbalsock
Reviewed by dbalsock from Vermont

3.5/5  rDev -12.1%
I came into whole foods for the first time in months during a lunch break at work and was delighted to see some fantastic belgian imports. I don't have a car, so this is the best beer store I have found on public transportation that won't waste my entire day getting to. The selection has improved greatly since I was in here 6 months ago, and I especially enjoyed the extra bottles of Cantillon they had around (and that they lowered their prices). I was also excited to see more styles on display in the belgian section, like some wild ales, and a more indepth selection from unibroue and allagash that I haven't seen since I lived in boston. Like before, I have yet to find an employee who could give me any indepth information on the beer, but they know a little bit. As for the six packs and american bombers, the guy with the review before this one hit it on the nose... pretty uninteresting and nothing rare.
Jun 24, 2007
Photo of mithrascruor
Reviewed by mithrascruor from California

3.2/5  rDev -19.6%
Possibly the most pretentious chain store you'll find, this Whole Foods is located 2 blocks from the UCSD campus. As usual, my contact with the employees is minimal, so I didn't discuss beer with them, but they're friendly enough. Next to the deli area they have a chilled section of beer, both 6-packs and bottles. (There's also a small section to the left of the cooler, mostly of Belgian and Belgian-style beers, but it's usually all stuff that you can find in the cooler.) I haven't had any freshness problems shopping here, and they seem to stock generally good beers. The six-packs seem to mostly be domestic beers, but with a few imports. I usually go for the individual bottles. Some local beers (AleSmith, Lost Abbey), a good selection of Californian and other US beers, a handful of Central/South American and Japanese beers, and approx. 8-12 from each Germany, the UK, and Belgium. No amazing finds, as most everything is relatively common. It's good, yet also a bit small. The beers are a little bit on the pricey side considering what I've seen elsewhere, but not too bad. (Actually, they're some of the more reasonably priced items in the store, sadly!) Their selection does seem to vary with time; doesn't seem to be a seasonal thing, however. I'll stop by again, and I'd certainly recommend it to people in the area, but otherwise it's not worth making a trek just to visit.
Apr 18, 2007
Photo of OStrungT
Reviewed by OStrungT from California

3/5  rDev -24.6%
This place is located in a snooty little shopping center in La Jolla. The beer selection was a little better than what I expected, but I have seen better selections at many closer places. They did, however, have a pretty decent selection of Belgiums. They had a whole shelf packed with various Belgiums. They had about 5 coolers with other beers. They had a decent selection of bombers and 6 packs. I mostly saw California beers. I did see some organic beers. They were a little pricey, in my opinoin, but everything in the store is slightly expensive . I doubt that I will ever come back to this place again. I have seen most of the beers they had at other more convienent places. If you are in the area, give them a shot, but otherwise, dont make a special trip. I probably should say that as far as grocery stores go, this place is impressive. I doubt I have seen a better selection of beer at a grocery store.
Sep 16, 2005
Photo of oggg
Reviewed by oggg from California

4.35/5  rDev +9.3%
Wow this place is a big surprise. There's a great selection in the fridge section. They've got Aventinus and Schneider Weiss, an assortment of British and German beers, and a lots of craft brews. They have alot of organically produced beer too, including an oatmeal stout I noticed today. They've got Rogue and Stone. Around the corner there's a big shelf of room temp beers. They've have a ton of Belgians including Orval and Duvel, Petrus, Liefmans, Unibroue, Cantillon and others that I'm dying to try. No Westy or Rochefort. Of note, a 750ml Maudite was like $5.99. 750ml of St. Bernardus 12 was like 8.99 or so. They had a ton of the 2004 SN Bigfoot too. They have 12s, 22s, sixpacks, and 750s so you can always get what you need. Today I saw some dude talking to an employee (might be the beer manager/buyer) about ordering a special beer, and the employee said he was going to get it. Don't know what beer they were talking about though.
Apr 03, 2004
Whole Foods Market in La Jolla, CA
Place rating: 3.98 out of 5 with 19 ratings