A New Leaf

My review for this place is a bit of a mixed bag. The store is very, very crowded with shelves overflowing with products. In the back is where they make the juice, but you can’t see them make it. The juice is pretty good and you get good value for money compared to the other juice bar in town, but the green juice has so much pineapple in it that all I could taste was sugar, defeating the purpose of drinking juice! I’ve been there several times and every time I see the owner he seems indifferent to providing exceptional juice or service.

Went here for the first time last week on Columbus Day. Place was empty and despite that the staff, an old woman and the man who makes the juice, appeared to be annoyed when asked about their juice menu for me, my parents, and my two children. Literally 3 questions and trust me, our questions were straightforward and should have been met with common courtesy. Their responses were either one word answers or just plain unhelpful. Example 1: my elderly mother asked if she could use the restroom, the woman coldly hesitated and then begrudgingly said, «this way.» Example 2: asked the woman what would be a good drink for my kids. She provided a hurried answer. I took her advice and ordered the banana chocolate drink. The guy who made the drinks for us then later told me «these drinks aren’t for kids, they’re not sweet.» I mentioned that the woman had recommended these fort kids and he just stared blankly at me and gave me the bill to pay. Sure enough both kids hated their drinks (dark bitter chocolate) and I still had to suck up the bill. I would avoid this place unless you know exactly what you want and don’t care about supporting a business run by generally offensive and inattentive people. Go to Stacy’s JuiceBar in Needham, 100% better staff with equally good juice/​smoothies and you’ll actually leave Stacy’s with a good taste in your mouth rather than feeling «organically» mugged.

They use a bag of their carrots to prop open their back door on a daily basis. They keep produce out back under a carport with cars.

Come for the juice and get healthy goodies. Amazon won’t give you advice or yummy juice.
Pro: The owner and employees know their stuff. The shakes and juices are better than other local juice bars. The selection contains «best of breed» products.
Con: None of the employees are smoking hot (food tastes better when served by attractive people: FACT). Some of the unpopular items are looking old even if they have a 50 year shelf life. The space is crowded and doesn’t have an open air healthy feel to it.

What a gem in Needham center! Found all the usual gluten-​free brands, some local brands, and stuff I’ve never heard of. Pricey, of course, but can’t wait for this place to expand across the street into a bigger space and serve sandwiches/​lunch! Owners are very helpful.

EXCELLENT juice blends. A little pricey, but you get what you pay for and support a small local business NOT a mega corp. Staff is super friendly.

This place is so great. If you’re looking for somewhere to buy healthy foods, go here. They are so nice and knowledgeable and have everything from smoothies to gluten-​free foods to vitamins. They even have paleo-​friendly food!

This place is AMAZING. I absolutely love their selection of frozen and snack foods and of course their juices and smoothies! They deliver to my work and I’ve gotten quite a few people there hooked on their juice. They use the freshest, highest quality ingredients in the juices/​smoothies and they are SUPER healthy!
To top it all off, they are around $ 6 for a huge serving! This thing must hold more than 20 oz. When I make juice, I see how much kale/​ginger/​lemon/​etc. goes into these juices and it’s well over $ 6 worth of ingredients.
My favorite juices are the C-​Green and Siena, all with extra ginger and pineapple! They are very in tune with what ingredients are cleansing and detoxifying. I have been putting parsley, lemon and ginger in my drinks for years because of their anti-​inflammatory and cleansing benefits.
As you can tell, I love this place. They are friendly, have a free juice with their punch card system and offer local delivery. They have tons of vitamins which I have yet to try. Also, I can’t complete this review without mentioning their snacks and frozen foods. They have a lot of foods that are healthy and for those that have allergies or sensitivities, but it’s actually good! Not gross «health» food. They have awesome desserts and hands down my favorite veggie burgers – Hilary’s! w

Love the smoothies! If you’re looking for healthy healthy healthy, here’s where you wanna be

Great little health food store in Needham center. Selection of lots of tasty organic and allergy sensitive foods and ingredients and natural vitamins and amenities. Best part is easily the super high quality smoothies. Great flavors and great great price for top quality ingredients. I have gone back many times!

I used to have a regular go-​to health food store where I used to live, so upon moving to Boston and working not to far from Needham, I was happy to see that there was a similar-​sounding store.
A New Leaf has a very, very nice selection of vegan, gluten-​free, and other specialty food items that can be hard to come by in the big chain stores. The prices are pretty average for small stores like this, but holy hell… this place is cluttered! I wouldn’t be surprised if this place was a fire hazard because of how high the shelves are and how narrow the aisles are (forget about it if you are in a wheelchair or have a stroller!).
Overall, it’s not too shabby and is a good option if you are looking for some kombucha and kale chips.

Just learned about this store yesterday, and made a trip today. Some of our family have removed wheat, dairy and egg. Found many items that aren’t so easily available even at Whole Foods. Although I went to two Whole Foods stores today, one was out of and the other didn’t carry Udi’s Whole Grain Bagels and neither carried their pre-​made crusts. Was able to stock up here. The owner was very helpful in suggesting some additional items. I bought Italian corn pasta («used by a number of Italian restaurants» and black bean pasta (an Asian offering) to try. I also indulged in a few baking mixes as baking is not my preferred time sink (picking Anna’s Black Bean Brownie Mix and a gluten-​free pizza crust mix. Also trying Coconut Aminos (a possible substitute for soy sauce, which contains wheat). Small store crammed with stuff and with helpful staff. I plan to go back. Appreciate that they are open seven days a week.

This small store with a large selection caters to people with food allergies and people interested in nutrition. Their selection includes a lot of gluten-​free grains and vitamin supplements and skin care items.
I don’t have any food allergies so I have gone for hard to find grains for cooking. Things I have found there include teff flour, teff grains, chickpea flour, arrowroot, and a lot of other things that aren’t available at the local supermarket, even the larger well stocked ones.
The people who work there are always friendly and I am glad to have a place like this so close to my house.

I stumbled upon this tiny yet well-​stocked store upon arrival in Needham Center by train. The owner is helpful and seems to know a lot about the different brands and products, which is critical when you or someone you know has allergies. I heard him explaining to someone that a particular product was dairy-​free but not made on dedicated equipment; few stores are so well prepared with that kind of info. Lots and lots of gluten-​free items.
I was disappointed in the almost complete lack of vegan items. One would expect a natural food store to cater to all common dietary restrictions in order to maximize their market. However, I spent much longer than I should have, just trying to find some kind of snack food I could eat, and wasn’t satisfied with what I ended up with.

Challenge… how to walk in and out of this place with only buying Udi’s amazing whole grain gluten free bread (one of the few places around Boston that carries it), and not buying every other fantastic gluten free product in this store! I couldn’t do it! Came home with some great real tasting GF granola and some GF soups this time too.
It’s a small place, but so overwhelmingly and impressively stocked from the shelves to the freezers with gluten free cupcakes, cookies, cakes, snacks, granolas, flours, mixes, pastas, prepared foods, you name it! All just calling out to me saying, «you can actually eat me»! lol!
So I guess I can have my gluten free cake (or brownies or donuts) and eat them too! :)

I stumbled into this store on a walk down Great Plain in Needham — just wanted to check it out. I’m sure if I had food alergies (gluten, etc), this place would be great. It’s compact, but stuffed with goodies. I ended up getting a fresh juice — the «Complexion Cocktail», made from cucumber, pineapple and apple. Delicious. Very refreshing. I’ll return just for the juice/​smoothie bar. Good find.

i love this place! they have all the hard to find items that i need (Total Body Research Colostrum, Adrenergize, etc.) and when they don’t they handle special orders promptly. Their staff are knowledgeable and friendly. Their selection can’t be beat, one of the best health food/​supplement stores on the east coast.

this is a really small store. i get overwhelmed when i go in there simply because there is SUCH a huge variety packed into a miniscule space. they have pretty much every gluten free flour you’d want, and if you’re feeling a little more inclined toward convenience, they have a multitude of interesting mixes. they carry big name gf brands such as pamela’s and bob’s red mill, but they also have more local, specialty mixes, including imported italian pastas and fresh baked goods from New England. they sell my FAVORITE pan spice bar (even though it turns out like cake) mix and i nearly cried. no more paying for amazon shipping!
the freezer section always intimidates me because stuff is just kind of thrown in and there isn’t really much organization… but i take this less as a failing on their part and more as an indicator of HOW much stuff they stock and how many options they offer.

I have multiple food allergies, and the folks at this store are well-​equipped to help those with dietary restrictions. This store is particularly good for those with celiac disease or another gluten sensitivity… off-​the-​shelf and frozen gluten-​free options abound!