Whole Foods Market - Chelsea

Whole Foods Market - ChelseaWhole Foods Market - Chelsea
Whole Foods Market - ChelseaWhole Foods Market - Chelsea
Store

250 7th Ave
New York, New York, 10001-7303
United States

(212) 924-5969 | map
wholefoodsmarket.com
PLACE STATS
Average:
4.02
Reviews:
21
Ratings:
30
pDev:
8.46%
View: Place Reviews
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Ratings by markgugs:
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Rated by markgugs from New Jersey

3.75/5  rDev -6.7%

Jun 10, 2014
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.79 by mltobin from Connecticut

May 13, 2018
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Reviewed by RutgersBeerGuy from New Jersey

4.2/5  rDev +4.5%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.25
Very well-curated selection for a store with a small overall inventory. It is always nice to pop in and grab a few things that do not see NJ distribution, like Prairie, Half Acre, and Grimm.
Feb 01, 2018
 
Rated: 4.11 by bgold86 from New York

Jan 25, 2016
 
Rated: 4 by SkiBum22 from New York

Nov 21, 2015
 
Rated: 3.93 by EnthusedAboutBeer from New Jersey

Jul 21, 2015
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Reviewed by Zonk from New Jersey

3.82/5  rDev -5%
vibe: 3 | quality: 4.25 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4
Pretty good selection, however, it doesn't really compare with most of the other Whole Foods in the city. they definitely see their share of limited distribution stuff and they have an excellent local representation.
Jul 20, 2015
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Reviewed by papat444 from Canada (QC)

4.36/5  rDev +8.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.25 | selection: 4.25
Typical Whole Foods, lots of action. Beer is in the back (it always is!). Very tight selection, a few Cascades and saw Pizza Boy, something i hadn't seen anywhere else. Prices are quite reasonable.
Jul 20, 2015
 
Rated: 3.75 by Eman17 from Illinois

Oct 07, 2014
 
Rated: 4.25 by SimcoeKid from California

Jul 13, 2014
 
Rated: 4 by BoSean_Rodriguez from New Jersey

Jul 07, 2014
 
Rated: 4.5 by ELECTRONICAnonymous from Massachusetts

Feb 24, 2014
Photo of BethanyB
Reviewed by BethanyB from New York

3.76/5  rDev -6.5%
vibe: 3.75 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.75
Impressive upon the first visit, but it gets old after awhile. But maybe that's because I'm there so often. I work right by the place, and try and swing by to scope out beers I haven't tried before about once a week. Visits are always hit or miss. Like a thrift shop, you might find a real jewel after digging through the single bottles one day. On another day, you might feel like you've seen, and tried it all before. That said, I do feel the selection is wider than many other places, including the Whole Foods by Union Square. Also, I've never bought a "bad bottle" here.

While the variety of breweries is good, but the variety of styles is less so. It's easy to find a Russian imperial stout, an IPA, or almost any German style out there, but brown ales and porters are rare, for some reason. Single bottles are mostly imports and bombers, so everything is pretty pricey. If you're looking for a 12 oz. domestic bottle, it can be difficult to find something decent. Most of the time, you're going to find leftovers from a single haul, meaning most everything is the same. And it'll stay that way for weeks.

The service leaves you alone, which is fine by me. Everyone is friendly at checkout. None of the cashiers look at you funny for buying a random assortment of single beers at a supermarket, not even when you're a lone young female with a ingénue look to her. It does feel a bit awkward to spend twenty minutes staring at the beer section while everyone around you is squeezing past you with their carts to pick up eggs and cereal.

Checkout is fast in comparison to the Union Square store. I think it helps that the main beer section (yes, there are two, so you need to look out for both) is right by the express checkout line.
Aug 15, 2013
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Reviewed by tobelerone from New Jersey

3.85/5  rDev -4.2%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3 | food: 4
I work right next to the whole foods in tribeca which really puts this one to shame in terms of selection. The variety here is pretty limited, although as others have said, the bottles are well chosen. This neighborhood seems pretty bereft of bottle shops so this might be your best bet as you go north of 14th street for a while. Prices are pretty high too...just did some shoppping at new beer distributors the other day and they had Whole Foods beat by a wide margin on nearly everything.

I picked up a bottle of Ballast Point Imperial Porter (Victory at Sea) and the total was over 10 bucks with tax and deposit. They had a fair amount of Rogue, Pretty Things, Dogfish, Cigar City, etc....nice bottles. Again, the one down on Greenwich really has this one beat by miles. But any beer geek will find something to drink here easily.

The beer guy was really friendly and chatty even if he wasn't exactly super well-informed. The guy downtown really knows his shit!

Overall I hate Whole Foods, its obnoxious and expensive and crowded. But it works in a pinch if you need some craft and can't make a trip to greener pastures.
Jun 29, 2011
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Reviewed by DoubleSimcoe from Pennsylvania

4.35/5  rDev +8.2%
Of the many Whole Foods of New York City, this is the one I know better and frequent the most. It is pretty close to my house, and while I was attending culinary school, it was only one block from the school so I would often go back home with a bunch of craft beers.

Granted, the selection is small. Probably the smallest of all Whole Foods in Manhattan. But still, very focused and very good. There is basically one medium-size cooler and a shelf with room-temp beers across from the cooler. That's it. But worry not!

The cooler's got your classic craft beers... Brooklyn, Smuttynose, Lagunitas, Green Flash, Dogfish and many others.

The shelf will have rarities, lots of Belgians, aged beers, Imperial Stouts, boxed treasures and the occasional oddity, like Goose Island Rare Bourbon County for $39.99!!! Yes, I got one. Yes, it is outrageously expensive. Yes, it is extremely delicious and worth trying at least once.

Service is not really there, unless you ask, and then the official "Beer Guy" will come and talk to you. Nice dude, knows his shit.

Oh, there is another cooler by the cheese department and near the registers, with a good amount of bombers (Stone, Sierra, Hebrew, Avery).

Check it out if you live nearby, or if you're visiting. The location can't be beat, near Madison Square Garden/Penn Station/Midtown/all the best beer bars in Manhattan.
Jan 22, 2011
Photo of david18
Reviewed by david18 from New York

3.5/5  rDev -12.9%
This is not the best whole foods but pretty good in general. Whole Foods has been great about offering a wide selection of international and popular micros.

My biggest problem with them is that they refuse to sell many of their beers by the bottle. Particularly their 12 ounce bottles, and cans, have to be purchased in six packs which is never good at a store that has such a wide selection as well as for selling beers that I've never tried.

The 22 ounce bottles are, of course, available individually and the staff is very knowledgable about beer.
Jul 20, 2009
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Reviewed by RblWthACoz from Pennsylvania

4.35/5  rDev +8.2%
I remember visiting here a year or two ago for the first time and being impressed. This place is still bringing serious heat. All of the De Dolle except the Reserva, Defiant Tripel, Pennichuck, trappist ales, Canis Major variety pack, Nugget Nectar, and on and on. Plenty of stuff here worth trying. And if you are visiting in town and are in the area and can't get away to anywhere else, plenty of stuff worth picking up. Even though there are no growlers, and none of the hardcore rarities that the Bowery location has, this is just as good IMO.

Keep in mind if visiting that the larger selection of beer is all the way back and to the right. Don't think the stuff you see near the bread area is all there is.

The only drawback here is that it's Whole Foods and man those long lines really look like a pain in the ass.
Apr 26, 2009
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Reviewed by indiapaleale from Maine

3.85/5  rDev -4.2%
As far as buying good beer to drink at your leisure goes in Manhattan, I think this might be the hotspot. But I am no expert...

The beer is divided into two sections, one section is in the back where you can find cold six packs as well as warm bottles of imported stuff and some random micros.

Stuff available on 3/31/09 that I was impressed by:

*Stone IRS - Spring 2009 Bombers
*Nugget Nectar Bombers
*Lagunitas Hop Stoopid Bombers
*Two Brothers Cane and Ebel 4-packs
*Two Brothers Red Eye Coffee Porter Bombers
*SN Torpedo 6-packs for $9.99

Prices are decent, not overboard and pretty comparable to places outside the city.

The other section is up front and has lots of American Micro Bombers as well as a section of mostly Italian beers.

Overall, its a decent selection, not crazy but lots of good stuff and its reliable.
Apr 01, 2009
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Reviewed by CAMRAhardliner from Canada (ON)

4.5/5  rDev +11.9%
I visited this Whole Foods in Chelsea after looking at its reviews on Beerfly.

The beer is located in two locations, a large selection of American bombers is located in coolers at the front of the store and European and international beers and 6 packs are located in the back. All the bases are covered in the selection, tonnes of American breweries, and a good selection of German and Belgian brands. One thing that was conspicuously missing was traditional lambic. All I saw was Lindemans.

Most beer were in a cooler and freshness seems to not be an issue based on the beers I bought. The major drawback is the price. a 120 minute IPA cost me 10.99 and a De Proef Tomme Arthur collaboration ale cost 17.99. I regret not waiting to buy them, but still the trip to Chelsea was worth it.

When I first got to the store I didnt realise there was a back section until a store clerk walked up to me and told me, I may have never found it otherwise. The staff wass all very pleasant though I dont know if they have a clue about beer. The cashiers thought there was a mistake when the four beers I bought cost 40 bucks.

Worth a visit, espcially if you're in Chelsea. Good selection of bombers especially.
Dec 02, 2008
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Reviewed by NeroFiddled from Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev -0.5%
Typical Whole Foods. Well, not exactly, as I've been to some that have a larger and better selection (Madison, Wisconsin for one), but let's say typical eastern Whole Foods. Hmmm... even better than that. Good selection. It's not a gold mine but you'll hardly walk away shaking your head. You should easily be able to find at least 5 beers you'd like, and probably 9 or 10 that will certainly suffice. And, of course, they have a great cheese selection and so on. Which brings me to note that this store does a little more cross-promotion than some of the others, and I've found beers in the cheese area that aren't in the regular beer area; as well as displays that are seperate from the rest of the beers, and contains beers that are also not available in the beer coolers. So look around at the back a bit, don't just assume that everything's in one spot. Also, there's one other competitor in the area that will go unamed, but there's really no need to mention them as Whole Foods beats them hands down. Reasonable prices for Manhattan. Last trip I took away a bottle of Boulder Cold Hop, two beers from Schonram (Germany), the most recent He'Brew RewJewVenation, and a Brooklyn Local 2 ( 'cause I like it so much!).
Oct 22, 2008
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Reviewed by ommegangpbr from New York

3.06/5  rDev -23.9%
vibe: 2 | quality: 4 | service: 2.5 | selection: 3
When in this particular part of town I don't happen to know of any other places to pick up some craft brew to take home so it may win some points in that regard.
Service wise? it's a grocery store and a busy one at that. I've never been offered any assistance in the beer section and workers are often quite busy as it is.
Selection wise, the number of offerings is small but tight and well chosen. At any given time most of what I've seen has been very local or very international with few things between. Seasonal Brooklyn and Southern Tier brews have always been there as well as some more of their staple offerings. Belgian wise, there have been some things I've never seen before and don't quite know how to spell. Specifics as to what I have seen on the shelves include Southern Tier Uber Sun, Lagunitas Kill Ugly Radio, Ommegang Chocolate Indulgence, Great Divide Titan IPA in sixers, Brooklyn Monster, various 750mL bottles of Slyfox brew...
Seeing as how the beer section is on the small side, and the volume of customers is so high I'd say the turnover is probably very good. Everything I've gotten has been quite fresh and tasty. Prices are a smidge higher than average but they're not offputting. The Union Square Whole Foods has a better selection and some more staff for assistance but that store gets even crazier with foot traffic.
Worth stopping by if you're in the area and you might even find a rare gem or two.
Jan 18, 2008
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Reviewed by burrholes from New York

4/5  rDev -0.5%
Gave Whloe Foods market a shot based on the reviews i read here at the Beer Advocate. Overall i will return based on my experience. There is definitely room for improvement, but in Manhattan the isn't much choice.

Q- nice store, beer in the back, line was a little long but moved fast.

Serv.- very nice guy restocking, recommend beer based on what i had in my basket. even checked in the back for a specific beer. didn't have it but at least he looked.

Sel.- Average Manhattan bar selection. Nothing special

V- reasonable for Manhattan,
Jul 21, 2007
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Reviewed by goochpunch from Texas

4.15/5  rDev +3.2%
Place is like a typical Whole Foods, except a little bit more labyrinthine than I'm used to. I really don't know what to put for service since I was kind of in and out of the place, but I can assume it would have been at least decent. Selection blew me away, but then again, we don't get all that Stone, Weyebacher, Goose Island, etc. here in Texas. There was more stuff on the shelves that I can't get here than what I can get, if that makes any sense. For the location, I didn't find the prices to be any different than what'd I'd find here in Texas. Good stuff.
Jan 13, 2007
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Reviewed by Xadoor from Texas

4.7/5  rDev +16.9%
I accompanied my wife on a recent business trip to New York and I was happy to find this location about a block away from our hotel. The beer selection is not large, but that's only because the store isn't very large. The manager of the beer department noticed me drooling over the rack of bombers and asked if I was looking for anything in particular and said he did have more in the back because it can't all fit out front. Most of the beer on their shelf is not available in Texas, so I was like a kid in a candy store. We chatted about beer and BA for a while and he made some excellent recommendations for me to try. He then disappeared into the back and came out with his last bottle of Stone 10th Anniversary which he said he had been saving for someone that would obviously appreciate it. Thanks Thom, it was one of the highlights of my trip.
Jan 04, 2007
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Reviewed by akahn from Massachusetts

3.5/5  rDev -12.9%
I was meeting a friend in Chelsea and I needed some beer for the house so I stopped in here. A single open cooler of six-packs and singles, opposite a shelved rack of unrefrigerated singles. When I was there things looked pretty picked over. The selection of American micro six-packs was unimpressive, but they had Brooklyn, Victory, Smuttynose, and Oskar Blues. Perhaps the emphasis here is more on the 22s and 750s, because these they had a pretty good selection of Belgians, including the usual saisons, some good lambics, Mardesous and others. A couple from Avery on the lower shelves and two vintage barleywines. I ended up with Dale's Pale Ale, Old Chub Scottish Ale($8.99 each), a single of Perkuno's Hammer and a 750 of Ommegang Three Philosophers.

All in all, a good selection of beer but somehow it didn't seem like as much care was put into it here as it was in the Union Square Location.
Oct 08, 2006
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Reviewed by pbr85 from New York

4.2/5  rDev +4.5%
Make sure you go to the 24th and 7th entrance. The one on 25th street is for Whole Foods Health only. After you get to the real one, you will see scattered towers of beer around the store, mostly the big name imports like Guinness (probably because of St. Patrick's day). Once you find the far corner of the store you will see the beer. A nice selection, set up similar to the Whole Foods in DC. Nice warm bottle collection of Belgians: Roch 8 and 10, Chimay, Duvel, Orval, Saison Dupont, Delirium, St Bernardus 12, 8, and Tripel, Westmalle, etc. Had a pretty good selection of Rogue bombers, Stone's 9th Anniversary, lots of Dogfish Head, Brooklyn (obviously), a fair amount of Avery. They also had 2 vintages of JW Lee's (1998 and 2000 i think). This one differs from the ones in DC because they have a large selection of singles. Prices are good for the city. I picked up a bottle of DFH Burton Baton, a Fuller's London Pride, and a 6 pack of HopDevil.
Mar 13, 2006
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Reviewed by mirdreams from New York

4.5/5  rDev +11.9%
They didn't have a huge variety, but what they had was top notch, including Stone's Runiation IPA for $4.99, Lagunitas' Maximus IPA for $3.99, Old Engine Oil for $2.99, and something I'd never seen before: Imperial Extra Double Sout, which was $5.49 so I hope the boyfriend likes it! The boyfriend's response to the Runiation was "YOU ONLY BOUGHT ONE??" Now I'm hoping the Whole Foods slated for Union Square has beer, unlike the Columbus Circle one (though you can get wine there on Sundays).
Sep 08, 2004
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Reviewed by Starchild from New Jersey

4/5  rDev -0.5%
Whole Foods Chelsea impressed me with their diverse selection of beer. East Coast’s Brooklyn, Dogfish Head, Boston Beer, meets Westcoast’s Stone SN, Stone, Avery, and Rockies Brewing. Belgium and Canada (unibroue) were also present.

I was surprised to see the Blue Point Barleywine. It was also the first time I’ve seen Avery in NY.

Every week they seem to have some sort of sale. This week was a buck off the Rockies brewing six packs and last week was a dollar off Stone 22s. Not a bad deal. One of the nicest grocery stores in the city hands down and great beer to boot.
Jul 12, 2004
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Reviewed by Billolick from New York

4/5  rDev -0.5%
Chelsea location, (Columbus circle store has NO beer, only wine) Nice large and very well stocked health food store. The brew is in the back. Large cooler houses most of the selections, close by is a large shelving unit with a mess of belgians, germans, canadians and British imports. Nice variety, more then a handful of selections you wont find in every well stocked bodega in town. had that nice Sticke alt beer. Also they stick a bunch of cases of micros all over the store, so you never know when you'll bump into 10 cases of Brooklyn IPA, when youre really looking for japaneese soba noodles. Worth a visit.
May 22, 2004
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Reviewed by twilight from Germany

4/5  rDev -0.5%
I keep telling myself not to pass by the beer section anymore, but it's on the way to the soy milk, so I can't avoid it. The reason being that every time I come here I pick up at least a bottle of something.

The cooler has a wide selection of micros, but because they are limited by space (this is NYC after all) the cold stuff is focused on regional beers. I saw sixers of Victory, Geary's and lots of Brooklyn all the time. They also have some bombers, but their Stone and Rogue selection is very limited.

Turning around, there is one huge shelf devoted to strong ales. A limited but quality selection of mainstream belgians (Duvel, Chimay, Lindemans, Delirum) as well as a whole shelf (and a half) devoted to Unibroue's. I did, however, get my bottle of Rochefort 10 here.

A smart move is putting cases and cases of beer by the checkout and other conspicuous places (by the butcher section, near the cheeses, &c.). I saw cases upon cases of Celebration, Old Post Pumpkin, and Brooklyn's Chocolate Stout. Great place to pick up sixers, bombers or 750's at reasonable prices. Plus there's all that food as well!
Jan 11, 2004
Whole Foods Market - Chelsea in New York, NY
Place rating: 4.02 out of 5 with 30 ratings