Jem’s Natural Living

So happy to have wandered into this land in my travels. We stopped in for a quick bite, which obviously turned into a long bite and a long time cruising the connected health store.
For lunch, I got a veggie sandwich on a gluten free wrap. It was fine, nothing too exciting that put me over the edge with happiness. Naturally though, I HAD to get a smoothie. I had already made a smoothie that day, but I often can’t say no to delicious smoothies at cool lands with delicious ingredients. I got the «Peter cottontail» with no honey. It was SO fabulous and full of scrum things– strawberry, mango, raspberry, turmeric, carrot, and coconut creamer. Excellent, drank it in probably .2 seconds like I usually do with smoothies. Anyways, my sister in law had a sandwich also that she really enjoyed and even my brother liked his healthy food. They also had samples of all of their yummie infused waters! The soup and salad bar looked good too.
Onward to the store side. I love health food stores! Wahoo! And new ones that I have not ventured to. I didn’t technically «need» anything, but that didn’t stop me. I got some pantry essentials, protein powders, and a really cool diffuser. When I went to check out, they said I was $ 3 away from getting EVERYTHING for 30% off. AND the diffuser was already 20% off. Score!!! It was the first time I walked out of a store like this and didn’t look at the receipt saying «oh my god what did I do?» It seemed to me they may have sales like that often. The store was really great and had everything you’d expect from a place like this and more. Also, super friendly peeps working!

Everyone was friendly and very helpful. A young man from the café side made sure he greeted me as well as the last in the front. (Sorry I didn’t get their names but a special thank you to them for making me feel human.) The lady at the front offered samples of certain products. She also offered to order a product she didn’t have. While in the store, I walked to the café side to see what they had to offer and they have a good variety. I look forward to coming back for a smoothie and I hope they stay friendly.

Came upon this place when I was doing errands. Had the Mediterranean wrap with gluten free pasta and a peanut butter smoothie. Delicious! Food was reasonably priced and very tasty. Wish I lived closer. Will definitely try to make it back when I am in Tampa.

Like most ‘health’ oriented stores, I went here expecting to walk into a serene environment, place my order easily at the counter, and then get my food relatively quickly to go.
Not exactly how it happened. The Café Jem order area is very confusing — do you place it at the register, which is where the menu is, or do you place it next to the wall of pictures of sandwiches that says ‘place order’ but there is no counter? And everybody says ‘hi’ but who do you actually give the order to? I went for easy and just placed it with the first person I saw.
There weren’t many people in there — definitely more staff than customers, but the whole atmosphere seemed pretty frenetic to me, and I’m not sure why they were acting that way. Food seemed to come out in a random order — my to-​go was ready after two people who came in after me.
My sandwich was just okay. I got the Medi-​Peace — a spinach wrap with chicken, tabouli, hummus, romaine, tomato, red onion, banana peppers, and cucumbers. With all those ingredients, you would expect it to be a robust wrap. But, it wasn’t, it was almost flat, with not much flavor. Ingredients were clumped together instead of spread out evenly, and I have my doubts that all those items were actually included in it.
It came with a small pasta salad which was decent, and a little dessert brownie, which tasted like a healthy-​no-​fatty-​ingredients-​allowed brownie. Oh well, it’s the thought that counts.
The store itself makes for some good wandering while you’re waiting for your food to be ready. They seem to have a small selection of a lot of items. Lots of packaged nuts to choose from, and interesting sodas and teas.
I’ll definitely give them another shot because I see potential there, but maybe I just need to order better — and in advance.

Nothing is very organized and it is more of a «mom and pop» operation than an actual business. I wandered up and down aisles for ten minutes and no one even asked if I needed help finding anything. When I finally found their essential oils section, it was a hodge-​podge of a few different items, as though they were given the leftovers from other store’s ordering. I’m sure the people are nice, and I didn’t try the café, but the lack of organization was far too overwhelming.

The market has some great sales though there isn’t much variety. The café is yummy with very friendly service. I will definitely return for more of their chicken salad and bean salad. Try the lemonade– sweetened with honey :)

Healthy food /​Juice bars is what I’m about. I do it at home and on the road. Where Jem’s falls short in my eyes, is in the following categories: Consistency, Customer Service, and Pricing. I have tried many juices from the café and can honestly say I have yet to be blown away by any of them, that’s real talk. I tend to go because it’s in my area and I believe in trying something more than once especially local businesses.
Let’s start with the consistency factor. This is based mainly on the juice bar. The drinks are never the same. Not sure what it is, but it’s either the ratio of ingredients is wrong, or maybe it’s the lack of certain ingredients. When you can make a much better juice in your Vitamix at home, there is something seriously wrong.
Customer Service has also been a factor for me. Don’t feel that the staff is passionate about their craft, I’m basing this on my experience at other health food stores, and I’ve been to many of them. there is a culture and a certain pedigree that is simply missing here. I recall walking in one time shortly after the café had closed (without me knowing). A staff member was standing behind the counter, gave no acknowledgment to as I walked in (red flag). I’m browsing the menu for a few minutes right in front of the counter, as I attempt to make my order, all I got was «we’re closed». smh…
Pricing is another factor, this is mainly based on the actual store side… you will get charged a premium for the juices, this is common… if only they tasted better. When it comes to all other health food items the prices are just too high. health food stores are not cheap, I get that part. Still you expect the pricing to be within a certain ballpark in comparison to other health food stores. Look around and see for yourself.
On a positive note, I will say the .99 cent cup of Joe is one of the better choices.

I love Jem“s! I have a lot of allergies including many food allergies!!! They have all different types of flours for baking, delicious cookie and cake mixes. They have all types of supplements and even local honey. The Café is amazing! They have all different types of smoothies, wraps, lemonades and soups. Two years ago In the winter I was looking for Gluten Free Graham Crackers to have S’mores that I had eaten up north. They didn’t have them, but they were happy to order them for me. They ordered them and called me when they came in. To this day they still have them in the store :) Their employees are very helpful and knowledgeable! I visit this store a lot and tell people about it all the time because they have what you need and are happy to see you and help you if needed. They have fabulous sales and even have cards that they stamp and after 10 stamps you earn $ 10.00! How nice is that!

I have visited Jems a couple of times, and can definitely recommend this small health food store and café. The store has a good selection, and the staff is very knowledgable. I found several things on sale that I needed. I have also eaten items from the café. The café serves lemonade made with local honey as the sweetener. It’s not really sweet like commercial lemonade, but that’s what makes it refreshing. I really like to get a glass while I am in the store and it’s a bargain for $ 1. There is a small salad bar, sandwiches, smoothies, and soups. There is a nice, calming area to sit and eat your meal. The prices are reasonable and the food is high-​quality, not commercially processed. Vegetarian and gluten-​free items are available. The people working behind the counter in the café are very pleasant and knowledgable. I will definitely drop in each time I am in the Westchase area of Tampa.

I patron Jems because it’s conveniently located in my neighborhood. It’s a smaller sized health store, so I can get some items here, but not all.
Hubby was looking for a certain product that we normally get elsewhere so, the friendly manager called a vendor to get it in, but we never got a call from her stating the item came in so he needed up buying at a competitor the next week.
I drop by once in a while to check it out, and to see what’s on sale.

I love Jems! Great staff and love the products.

Jem’s is what a neighborhood market used to be… Friendly, inviting, accommodating,… I could go on and on with positive adjectives. Jem’s makes you feel like they TRULY want your loyal patronage. When, on occasion, they’ve NOT had in stock, what I needed, they’ve quickly ordered it, and, then, I received a phone call, saying it was in the store, being held for me, in less time than if I’d ordered it online with priority shipping! AND, with comparable to «online» pricing! And when I say they show that they really WANT your business, I mean they offer so many specials and GREAT sales to keep you coming back week after week. I look forward to Monday mornings email just to see what awesome sale they’re offering THIS week! Seriously! And they get creative, like no one else, with these sales! They have a little bit of everything and are always adding new items and they really do welcome your suggestions and recommendations, and they really LISTEN to their clientele. They even offered special concession to me and my husband when he was going through some very serious medical treatments. I was VERY moved by this… once again, showing that they TRULY CARE about their customers… it seems NOBODY does that anymore! In fact, I used to shop at two other natural food stores in the Northdale, area, but after a few purchases and orders from Jem’s, and also, after I realized that I’ve never even been acknowledged as a return customer by the owner of one of the aforementioned ND area stores, after over 10 years and many hundreds of my hard earned $$$s spent there… I’ve decided that I am a loyal Jem’s customer for life. And YOU will be too, if you give them a chance to show you that YOU’ll get the same treatment as I.
JEM’s is a model of what all retail businesses should be, but especially a small neighborhood business, that really depends on locals, to maintain and grow.
Get on their email list and you’ll be gla ypu did… you’ll be checking YOUR email every Monday for what’s new, and what AWESOME sale they’re running THIS WEEK!!!

Finding this place really was finding a gem. And when I moved out of the area, it’s one of the few places I really really missed.
What makes this place so great?
–Knowledgeable staff that will do anything they can to answer your questions.
–You can order a lot of products not carried in the store.
–AMAZING deals almost every week. One recurring sale they do is 40% off any one item in the store. This goes on every week so you can go as often as you want. It’s really fantastic cuz a lot of supplements and natural foods and body products can be pricey. Jem’s makes it affordable for any budget.
While the store is quite small, they do cram a lot of good stuff in there. And again if there’s something you can’t find, they may be able to order it for you. Great selection of snack bars, raw and roasted nuts, protein powders and other supplements, natural organic body care, essential oils, pet foods and so much more. I can’t recommend this place enough!

This little wellness and health food store is a treasure of a find! My sister and I absolutely love this place. They sell everything from natural and organic products including food, vitamins & supplements, skin care, bath & body products, clothing, baby items, and even pet food.
Some Good Notes About Jem’s: This store has amazing sales and deals, I don’t even know where to begin on this — they will send you their week sale too via mailing list or you can view it on their website. Last week I got hooked on their buy 3 get 3 free. I loaded up on protein bars, vitamins and supplements. I saved so much money I felt like I robbed them. They also frequently have a 40% off one item sale. Their staff are knowledgeable about the products too — I work in a call center where my co-​workers are constantly sick and they recommended to me what type of supplements I should take (their liquid ACF is great but they can’t seem to keep that product in their store, it’s always sold out) and I haven’t been sick since. One great thing they do for their customers is if they are out of a product, you can put it on their to call you list and they will actually call you when it comes in. They have a huge variety of vitamins and supplements and protein bars & whey protein powder which is primarily what I purchase from here. They don’t have produce but they do sell food, teas, fresh honey, snacks, etc. They also offer a frequent buyer card. Every time you spend $ 10 or more in their store they will put a stamp on the card and after about 10 or 12 you get $ 10 off your purchase.
Some Not So Good Notes: I haven’t found one yet.
Bottom line: Best wellness and healthfood store in Tampa. I like them much better then Abby’s Health & Nutrition on North Dale Mabry even though this store doesn’t sell produce.