I’ve seen some great supermarkets, but the new Whole Foods in Pasadena is AMAZING!! According to the bagger we spoke to, it’s 77,000 sq. ft, and employs 450 people, of whom just over 200 are on the premises at one time. It’s a two-story building, and uses a cart escalator like the Target in Eagle Rock. It has at least three levels of underground parking.
I felt like the Country Mouse visiting the city for the first time. Here are just a few of the amazing things we saw:
- A pretzel bar. Get a sample of the grilled cheese pretzel. Whoa.
- A pudding bar (see picture below)
- Of course (!) a chocolate and gelato bar, complete with a chocolate fountain
- A wine and tapas bar (see picture below)
- A roasted nut bar
- Exquisite pastries, including cannoli
- A butter bar, with flavored herb butters
- Soap by the pound
Two out of the four of us are looking forward to our chipotle salmon burgers tonight. One doesn’t know about them, and the other refuses to eat fish, so he’s having something else.
This is definitely Pasadena’s newest tourist destination.
I’m sure that if the executives at Whole Foods could post on blogs, they’d agree with all I say here. Too bad they can’t.
Now to get a Whole Foods in La Canada so I don’t need to travel to Pasadena each time I need figs and berries. I know ours would never be this big, but I’d love it anyway!!!
The one in NYC on Columbus Circle was great too. I was lucky to have one nearby for most of our years in Houston and we have a good one here in Santa Fe. My Dad bemoans the fact that Oklahoma City doesn’t have one. The highlight of his visit, no kidding, is going to Whole Foods whenever he comes to visit. Enjoy.
It looks amazing! I’m going to check it out myself as soon as I can manage.
I am envious! I live just north of Santa Barbara and the closest Whole Foods is in Thousand Oaks. Sounds and looks like the Utopia of Natural Foods markets!