Benessere Olive Oils & Vinegars

We stopped in to get a Christmas gift for my parents. They have the widest selection of olive oils and vinegars that we’ve seen in any such stores. There are informational cards in front of each of the flavors of olive oil and vinegar that give recommended pairings and you can taste as many of the olive oils and vinegars that you’d like. In the end, we left with a gift we were happy with.
The reason I docked a star is that the customer service was nonexistent when we went in. It was a younger girl working in there alone and it was pretty clear she wasn’t too excited to be there. For every other place like this we’ve been to, we’ve been greeted by the owner who usually is excited to walk you through tastings. This teaches you how to taste olive oil and vinegars, which is different than other types of tastings, but they also can recommend pairings. Also, they’re usually more than happy to fill bottles for you with whatever items you decide to go with. The gal working in the store today didn’t initiate interacting with us once. We first talked to her when we walked in the store and I was asking her about pairing recommendations, but I had said that my folks like a lemon-​peach pairing and that t didn’t look like they had those flavors o we were looking for something else. She had a couple suggestions that we tried, but then we saw that they actually did have the lemon and peach items. The second time we interacted with her was to ask if she is the one to fill the bottles or if we could do it ourselves. She filled one bottle, rang someone up, then filled the other bottle, but didn’t tell us she’d filled them until we went to ask her later if she’d finished yet. I understand that she’s probably bummed to be working this week or maybe she has a shyer personality, but it was just such a night-​and-​day different experience than all of the other oil and vinegar stores that we’ve been to before.
As with other such stores, you can take the bottles back to the same store and have them refilled for a couple bucks off. If my parents like their gift, I’m hoping that they’ll go back and pick out a different combination of flavors for themselves.

My first time at Benessere. I walked in, and mentioned it was my first time. The gentleman behind the counter, was friendly and informative. I sampled many balsamic vinegar’s and found my favorites. I bought the coconut balsamic, grapefruit, champagne and the lavender. I’ve tried adding some of the sweet vinegar to sparkling water and it is refreshing. I’ll probably try creating some cocktails as well. Possibilities are endless.
For a vinaigrette: Virgin olive oil, dijon mustard and your favorite vinegar.

Friendly shop with many options of high quality but reasonably priced olive oils and vinegars. I went for a quality dipping oil that also happens to make my salad dressings taste much fresher. I’ll have to replenish more often, but it’s a healthy indulgence.

Great small shop with knowledgeable employees. Their traditional aged balsamic is addictive and well-​priced. Great flavored oils and vinegars as well, but I’m a traditionalist and this place’s is delicious!

A nice location with great customer service. I stopped in after seeing this place and wondering about it. It has a large selections of olive oil, vinegars but also carries some chocolate and salts as well.
The woman working there was very helpful and explained to me about the different olive oils, their shelve life, and then invited me to try anything in the store. I didn’t feel hustled or treated with any pretentiousness (as you do in some places that sample). The oils were great, the vinegars were tasty (though some were too sweet for me). My favorites were the fig balsamic, any of the high end olive oils, the truffle oil and the aged balsamic.
Great place to stop and get gifts for friends and family.