Ocean Beach People’s Organic Food Market

LOVE LOVE LOVE People’s! I have been shopping their store/​s for perhaps 30 years. This is a fairly small store but has such a wonderful selection of organic food. Whenever I’m in Pt Loma I need to pick up their fake BLT… it’s so yummy. Great selection of organic fruits & veggies and everything else you would expect. Everyone is always so friendly too.

We visit from CT and I’ve been all over the country going to health food stores, and this place is exceptional. Very healthy foods, I especially like that the non-​organic produce has its own small section… the rest are organic. No meat is sold here, eggs and cheese are. Fantastic restaurant upstairs, pretty basic but very healthy.

A beautiful, clean, reasonably-​priced, welcoming shop! The deli is an easy alternative to cooking, and the grocery is much more expansive and less costly than I would have imagined from an organic market. Definitely worth stopping in! $ 15/​year for a membership

This is my favorite spot to shop in San Diego. They always have salad and hot food available upstairs. Great prices for organic food! They even cater… we used their food at some of our wedding events. :)

It’s nice having an amazing Organic Food Market just down the hill! The produce selection is always super fresh and the upstairs eatery delivers on my cravings for a great salad and always amazing soups. The prices are a little high, but it’s quality you can count on from a local Coop!

Delish salads in the deli. Try their winning kale! It’s the bomb! Plus so much more about the store and the deli that I love.

People’s is basically my kitchen! I live a block away and as soon as I wake up in the morning I walk on down to People’s and go up to the deli and get the organic, guiltless vegetarian biscuits and gravy and tofu scramble. In the deli upstairs they have their daily soups, salad bar, hot foods and cold foods and also have a build your own sandwich card for you to give to them to prepare (though take note the sandwiches take awhile). Even better, they have cookies muffins, pies and goddess bars (which are granola bars) that are out of this world delicious!
Downstairs is the market with all fresh, local fruit, veggies, a peanut butter and honey tanks you pour for yourself. Nuts and granola in bulk galor.
To add, the deli and market isn’t all it has to offer. They have natural, harm free, recycled home appliances, herbs, oils, you name it.
I love this place!!! I couldn’t live without it. Undoubtfulably two thumbs up

I absolutely love peoples. The vibes are great. Love everyone who works here. Quality of produce is amazing. Great beauty products. Obsessed with the deli upstairs. I come here 5 days out of the week and it never gets old.

Super cute place. The food is good at the time… But the salad should’ve been called «colon cleanser». I think that’s the last time I’ll be eating vegan, soy-​bacon anything.

At register I was told I’d be charged 10% more than posted prices if I didn’t give them $ 15 to become a «member». Since my purchase was $ 38, this amounted to a choice between paying an addition $ 4 and an additional $ 15. Since their prices are already 20% to 40% higher than the same organic products elsewhere, it’s a no-​brainer – I’ll shop elsewhere next time.
I was told $ 15 gives me a right to vote and serve on the board. We all know what democracy means in this kind of set up. Peoples started as a coop. I feel that Trader Joe’s is honestly communal. I know they employ local people because I see them around and they are loyal to employees and they don’t boost prices 10% if you choose not to be a «member».
The stuff they sell seems good enough but they must be doing something wrong if to stay in business, they’re charging 20% to 40% more for products and extorting a $ 15 fee, as well.

Woohoo !!! Veghead heaven !!! 100% vegetarian, non-​gmo, and locally organic !!!
Now that alone is a healthnut’s dream come true !!!
What else hasn’t been said about this place ???
— Private parking lot, but a little cramped. Parking is a hit or miss.
— Very open market and plenty of items to browse through.
— Great selection of fresh organic produce.
— Cool deli/​buffet upstairs ! Lots of vegan options ! Yum !
— Offers wheat grass shots ! $ 1/​ounce
— Nice, open, and plenty of seating
— Casual and quick place to grab a bite to eat
— Chocolate chip cookies were kind of dry and stale (maybe sitting in the case for too long).
— Oatmeal cookies were decent
— Customer service was just okay. Nothing special.
— Upstairs buffet: Pay for food first then order. Interesting concept and confusing at the same time for noobs like me.
— This place can get busy !! Great lunch spot !
We need more businesses like this throughout San Diego. Heck. please have one close to home in the North County area. Pretty please with a cherry on top ! :)
Overall, it was worth the drive ! I need to go back !!!

Love love love this place. Only spot in OB I feel I can go shopping. Love the upstairs eatery area, the friendly and knowledgable staff, and warm hearted patrons that shop there. Feels like home. Much love People of People’s

Love People’s – wish there was another location closer to our place in Mid-​City. My brother has worked there for years and it’s a great spot. Hard to get to OB as often as we would like but I’m happy to be a member and support the co-​op when I can. Love the deli food too:)

I think I’m done shopping here. Every time I come here there is no carob powder, chips, bars etc. What the heck… This is supposed to be a well stocked, hippie alternative store. ARG. Carob is the alternative to chocolate. When I asked the surly clerk when they might have some in again she acted like I was disturbing her intense study of a stack of canned foods & gave me some flippant answer that was basically a brush off.
There is also no veggie alternative to Chicken soup … What am I supposed to buy for my sick, vegetarian housemate? Again, enter a surly & self righteous clerk; I was informed that this is a VEEEEGAN coop. No chicken soup. Ugh, apparently there’s no veeeeegan alternative either.
I also get a ridiculous hoity toity attitude when I shop here… Perhaps it’s because I don’t walk & speak in slow motion, I don’t smell like patchouli & body odor, and I’m not wearing any hemp or socks with my sandals
Beware unhippie shopper; you are not welcome here

Great concept! Great selection of food! Love love love the upstairs with freshly baked items to choose from. What I don’t like is how expensive everything is. Why charge for baked goods by the pound? It really makes no sense to me I really think they should charge just a flat rate for example a muffin.

Since becoming a member of this co-​op I have really paid more attention to the food I eat and where it comes from. This place is huge and has so many different healthy products. The produce section is a good size with all sorts of freshness. There are also alot of food dispensers with a huge variety of foods to choose from like rice, nuts, mixes, etc. The deli upstairs always smells delicious. Everytime I shop here I always find new foods I want to try. The prices aren’t the cheapest but all the food and produce is of the highest quality. My only major drawback is that they don’t sell any meat or anything meat related. I understand why they choose not to sell meat products but I am not a vegetarian so I can’t give them a 5.

I love this place primarily for the fresh produce. I really like the management and employees though sometimes they can be a little bit introverted which is fine. The staff has been carefully chosen for their character and for the most part well trained to do their jobs. The managers Rick and Nancy are amazing and represent the co-​op concept to perfection. This very sophisticated organization located in the laid back bohemian community Ocean Beach clearly attempts to blend the lifestyle of the city with the integrity of holistic medicine in the form of high quality organic and largely local food. Whether they succeed at this or not is really a subjective call.
The delicatessen and supplement departments rock n roll with some of the most wonderful people around conscious/​aware recipes and wide selection of no nonsense supplements. They filter out a lot of the low quality supplements and have quality suppliers. The employees that work in the supplement department have a fairly good working knowledge of the product lines but they could do a lot better in terms of training and product knowledge. This in my opinion is the weakest link in the store.
Occasionally like in any organization with a young laidback crew you run into employees who don’t particularly know their product line or are not particularly good with people. But they’re genuinely sweet and nice people that work at the store and we can certainly cut them a break. However in the future I would expect the management to hire better trained more knowledgeable people with far better education and people skills than the current staff.
My only other criticisms of this organisation are the number of processed foods that are sold and the very high price of certain items that they are unable to buy in bulk to be able to sell them at affordable prices. This is common throughout the store and can really add up. This is not unusual for organisations of this size, so we really cannot hold it against them. Sometimes I think that they watch their bottom line profits more than what is in the best interest of the customers. Of course without a closer inspection of the real numbers this could be completely incorrect, but it is a feeling, call it an intuition I get that I simply cannot ignore.
All in all this cooperative gets 5 stars. Considering all the plusses against all the minuses this place truly rocks. However there is a great deal of room for improvement.

The best part of this place is the diner upstairs. everything in the diner is reasonably priced, fresh and usually flavorful.
Parking can be difficult at this organic grocery store. Prices can also be more than you’d pay elsewhere.
Tip: If you believe you’ll return within the year… splurge the $ 15 for a membership. This will save you money on the groceries as well as on the diner. People residing in your same household get to use your membership discount as well.

There are definitely a few things to be said about this place. Some good, some bad but for the most part it’s pretty good.
OB People’s Organic Food Market:
Once you find a place to park in the somewhat cramped parking lot with the hippie/“free spirit” couple that’s making out in the trunk space of their SUV. Then get beyond some of the people that make Kurt Cobain & Layne Staley look like clean cut, poster children for a Yuppie America and you shake off that feeling of swimming around the crowd at a Phish concert, then this place is actually pretty nice.
They offer a lot of healthy food options just like you’ll find at your typical «Farmer’s Market» style grocers, but they seem to offer a lot of truly unique items and brands that I haven’t seen carried elsewhere and wider selection as well. For example, it’s the only place locally that I’ve found that actually carries Pistachio Butter ($ 17.99 for a small jar though), they also have several different flavors of Polenta and they even have Bionaturae Whole Wheat pasta which I’ve been trying to find locally.
They have tons of Gluten Free options for those who suffer from Celiac disease and they even a deli upstairs which I regret not checking out. All this, at least for a lot of items, at very fair pricing.
There is a catch, however. Although an annual ($ 15) membership isn’t required to shop here, it is required to get the shelf price, otherwise you’re going to have to pay an additional 10% (excluding first-​time shoppers). If you live in the area and are a frequent shopper though, I can see this being not much of an issue.
Aside from that, the staff that I encountered was very friendly and helpful which made me feel welcomed.
Anyway, overall, this place is a pretty good grocer to grab some healthy provisions considering their unique selection of goods and produce. I don’t know whether or not I could become a regular here just due to the fact that it’s not within close proximity of me but I would say that this place would be pretty solid for locals.

I’ve been a member here for years and love shopping at People’s. The deli located upstairs has great food too and I feel good after eating there knowing it’s all organic good quality produce. The staff is friendly and helpful.
My only complaint is that there isn’t always parking, but I noticed they added a few parking spaces in the back alley – yaay!!!

Warm welcome, excellent food, reasonable price.