Barons Market, Rancho Bernardo

Barons has been my go to store for the last 3 years since it is near my home, near a gas station and right off of the rancho bernardo exit on I 15 on the way back home… excellent location! But thats just part of the charm… I love the polite cashiers who are so welcoming to regulars and make chit chat, fresh local produce, reasonably priced, small enough to just hop in and hop out for a quick grocery errand… Love their lentil soup and extensive salad bar, ever changing new assortment of snacks and yesterday I saw their new addition: olive oil sampling, so interesting… with all kinds of delicate flavors like basil infused olive oil (yummy on pasta), citrus-​jalapeño, garlic etc and an equally extensive showcase of vinegars!(see pic) they also have nuts, sweets by the pound, dairy, soft drinks, ice creams, eco friendly home cleaning goods, bath products and some cookware! I grew an entire kitchen garden from the plants they sell like basil, cilantro, peppers, eggplant, dill etc

I know many reviews here are positive, but I almost always find bad produce/​rotten food at this place. That is why I have tried to avoid shopping at Barons even though I live really close. Today, I was in the same shopping mall for something else so I stepped into Barons for some snacks. I only bought some chocolate snack and avoided produce so that I thought I won’t be disappointed, but the lady (I think her name is Erin) at the cashier was rude (basically she didn’t say a single word to me) so I told myself I would never shop here again. I don’t know why it is so hard for some people to just say «hi» or thank you”.

Lots to choose from but wow, so ridiculous. My father got some soup and grabbed a couple bags of oyster crackers, I made a medley of salad stuff, my son made a decaf which is funny because he is 10 and had no intentions of drinking it, he thought it was free LOL. I did like that they have tasters out and new things to try. But they cashier tried to charge us for each pack of crackers which we thought was ridiculous. Ok for a stop but I wouldn’t do any major shopping here. We were in the center and popped in to grab a quick snack.

Barons Market is like Sprouts but a little more expensive on the fruits and veggies and there is a smaller meat section.
I like that they have the VitaCoco coconut water for $ 0.50 less than at Von’s so I like to come here and get my coconut water.
The staff is friendly and there’s a really delicious salad bar for $ 5.99 a pound.
They also have an olive bar!
Parking is ample in this plaza.

I literally come here everyday. Probably one of the most refreshing feelings whenever I walk into the store. It’s a lot like sprouts, just smaller and they carry more «not so well known» brands.

I’m such a big fan of Baron’s. I work in the area so I eat lunch here quite a bit. (along with getting groceries on the way home.
It’s a locally owned small market. They have a decent variety of almost anything you’d want at the grocery store.
The big pull for me is the salad bar, olive bar, and soup bar. They have a large variety of soups that are made fresh each day. The salad bar is very priced very well. I can get a large everything type salad for less than $ 5.
The staff there is always friendly and willing to help you find things. They open up more lanes when it’s busy.
All in all this is a great neighborhood market.

First time I’d ever been to/​heard of this chain.
It was late and I’m lazy so happened upon this place looking for a ready made grab and go meal. Found nothing that would pass for ready made save for soup and salad so I made do. The store is smaller like a Trader Joe’s but has specialty items you’d find at a Whole Foods or a Gelson’s. A good place for picnic-​y items like olive assortments, salamis and fresh (ish) hummus.
The salad bar is amazing. Great variety of items that you typically don’t get in your run-​of-​the-​mill Ralph’s salad bar. Artichokes, blue cheese chunks, sliced chicken, baby corn… that sort of thing. Higher end selection but only $ 6 pound. Even though they were going to close in a half-​hour, the lettuce still looked fresh and the salad bar was well stocked and clean. However, the White Chicken Chili wasn’t all that great, but they did have about 6 – 7 others to choose from.
If there was a Barons in my area I’d probably do my grocery shopping there. Located in the New Mercado Shopping Center.

The staff is sooo sweet, and after going almost every day for lunch, for just a week they know me by face and say hi like I’m coming home for lunch. I LOVE the salad bar… and they have kale! I literally have been going for about 6 months almost every day. They have lots of other premade stuff fresh that you can grab and go, and then the market has done of fresh produce and healthy organic brands of all kind. Check it out!

Barons Market reminds me of a smaller whole foods or Jimbo’s. I like that they have healthy options but I wish the selection was larger especially the meat. The deli meat section is fairly extensive but I would like a larger selection of steaks/​chicken/​seafood. The salad bar is pretty amazing ($ 5.99 per pound) and they do have a small selection of freshly prepared salads.
If you want to grab some off the wall fancy cheese I would suggest coming into Barons. I’ve been in a few times when they are sampling some of their items. Barons is also a great place to grab gluten free, low sodium, kosher items, or any other dietary specific items.
My staff interaction has always been minimal so it’s hard to say if they are friendly or not. I usually pop in during lunch time (11am –1pm) and it has never been busy.
One thing that I really like is that they offer locally grown and organic produce. I like to support local farmers and sometimes it’s hard to make it to the local farmers market.
If you don’t want to wait in a long line to grab a quick heathy lunch then check out Barons.

good selection and plenty of parking. staff are very helpful as well. I think their prices are higher compare to whole foods however.

Friendly employees, good prices, surprisingly good selection.
Although the salad bar isn’t organic, it’s good and priced at $ 5.99/ lb.
Nice big parking spaces

Mike is back!!! Hurray!!! We missed you, Mike.
We enjoy the ease of Barons Market — great produce, great cheese selection, amazing wine selection. Nice salad and soup bar too.

Salad bar and olive bar are incredible. Love the quality, selections and how immaculate they keep them. Pretty reasonable for what you’re getting. Actually the whole place is impressive. Looks like it’s going to be more expensive than what it is. Gonna be making a lot of excuses to stop in after work and grab some new beer to sample and some olives, cheeses and meats.
Perfect place to shop if you like to make charcuterie boards at home. Big fan of their large assortment of nuts and grains sold by the pound. You should check out Barons if you’ve never been. One of the more impressive health food markets in So Cal.

Holy moly… if your looking for a fantastic salad/​olive bar you have arrived. Me and partner came here on our lunch break to grab a bite to eat midday and hit the jackpot. They have a full salad bar with multiple choices of lettuce (kale/​spinach/​mixed) and a couple choices of protein (ham/​chicken/​bacon/​hard boiled eggs) and a PLETHORA of veggies. They also had some seeds/​nuts and some antipasta. The dressing choices were also very vast and tasty. The olive bar was so beautiful. There were multiple types of olives and seasoned olives followed by a Mediterranean style of veggies. Overall it was pretty pricey but worth it in the taste department. Definitely would spend all my money here. Mmm

This is like whole foods combined with your local market, sprouts, and toss in a really nice, eclectic farmer’s market. Other reviewer’s are correct in that it is not a one-​stop-​shop because they don’t have a lot of meat or fish, but they do have a lot of great alternative stuff.
Not the greatest produce, but great everything else — if you have alternative food tastes, this is your place. A LOT of Kosher stuff in here, lots of cool soda and beer/​wine to choose from. A fair amount of cheese, great soup and salad bar, and they carry Bread & Cie bread all the time.
My favorite thing about Baron’s is the awesome customer service and super friendly atmosphere. It’s like Whole Foods, but less pretentious with neater stuff. They also have an awesome bulk grain/​nut section.
I’d think of this as a novelty grocery store — don’t come in here for typical ground beef or house brand milk. Head in here for some cheese you haven’t tried, a new beer, and a spice you’ve been looking for.
Oh, by the way. Julian Pies at the front, as well as Orchids.

Solid enough little health food market in Rancho Bernardo. Tons of reasonably priced craft beer, health food, cheese, meats and produce.
There really isn’t much I can complain about based on my experience.
What I did love though is their excellent selection of craft beer, tons of the regular stuff and some stuff I don’t see anywhere. They even had some Pliny the Elder, tons of local brews like Coronado, Stone, Green Flash, etc., and some others that I haven’t seen before like Garage Brewing Company out of Temecula.
Aside from the main attraction of craft beer, their layout is pretty well organized, it’s like they have cheese and deli meats for days and plenty of produce.
I wasn’t a big fan of seeing Greenpeace soliciting outside at the time of my visit but… hey, man… it’s a free country.
I already regret not picking a few items up when I was there so I’ll definitely be back next time that I’m in the area after hiking Woodson and hitting the nearby gym… which should be pretty soon.
Baron’s Market is definitely good in my book.

Barons is a fantastic grocery store, but unfortunately isn’t really a one stop shop. If you shop at Jimbos, think of Barons as a mini Jimbos.
My biggest and only major dislike for Barons is the lack of a great fish, meat, and cheese section. They really don’t have much unused space in the store, so not sure how they would fix this.
Customer service is great at this store, I’ve been in many times while they seem to be short staffed, yet the employees take time to help me and show me where things are. They also always seem happy.
The selection of beers and soda is amazing way better than most grocery outlets.
Pricing is a little bit higher than Vons, Ralph’s, and Albertsons. But I feel is mostly worth.
They have a good selection or organic options.
They also sell $ 4.99 rotisserie chicken! I assume that’s a loss leader item, but it certainly gets me in.
If Barons could just copy the meat department of Major Market and co op with Venissimo Cheeses, they would be solid 5 stars all day long!

Note that I only go here for beer and produce.
As far as beer goes, they have a great selection. Any type of craft beer that bottles will be at Barons. Great variety, and fair prices.
The produce is also top notch! Better than any local retail store. Fresh, local, and great prices.

I hate to do this, but after purchasing some avocados from this place, I was looking forward to trying some the next day, because of what the employee showed me and guaranteed me that they were very good, but when I opened them, they had about 40 percent of the meat, brown, un edible, and rotten (
) To make it worst, the avocados were not of good quality and were very watery.
I usually do not buy avocados from Mexico for the reason above (
), but after the employees in the produce section assured me they were good, I went against my own better judgement and bought them. Lesson learned, and I will stick to my local and Californian grown avocados.
I was only out a few dollars, because they ended up in the trash, but it’s the boldness of selling of bad avocados to the general public that gets under my skin. What a bummer…

Barons, to me, is an offspring of Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s. Nice, clean and well organized store.
I stopped in here by chance and I absolutely loved this store. We don’t have a Barons in Sacramento. It’s like a smaller Whole Foods with Trader Joe prices. Lots of specialty items, nice inventory of wine and beer. Loved the hot and cold foods section. There was a nice variety of different and delicious hot soups available. The salad bar was well stocked and fresh, even though I visited in the latter part of the day. They have this cute little antipasto bar with different olives, peppers and anything else you could think of in a creative antipasto plate. The prices were very affordable. Staff was very friendly and helpful. Came here twice and both times I was greeted by some really friendly, helpful staff!