Erewhon — Attraction in Los Angeles

The store location was a little confusing as it was my first time driving. The parking was okay but I actually drove straight past the entrance and needed to double back.

The store in not huge but it has most of the things I was looking for. I was trying to compare some items to Wholefoods and it's definitely on the more expensive side.

There are some products I haven't seen before, for example they have a lot more nut butters with some brands that a new to me. Also, another thing I noticed is they have even more products that are in glass versus canned or plastic compared to wholefoods. This probably accounts for some products also being noticeably more expensive than at Wholefoods or even Sprouts for that comparison.

One of the best things about the Erewhon store I quickly discovered was the smoothies. I'm going to say it's not overrated as on the IG. They are fully of variety and you can even custom your smoothie if you like. I had to try the Hailey Bieber's Strawberry Glaze Skin Smoothie. It was so good and filling it was just like eating a meal but drinking it. The only downside was it was almost $22 dollars! Yes, what you just read was correct. For a smoothie it does seem like an expensive luxury. Would I have one everyday, no. For the occasional out on a weekend splurge, yes. Just wanted to warn you before you charge into the store.

By the way, there was quite a long line of people waiting for these smoothies so be prepared. But I'll leave it up to you to judge for yourself if the wait was worth it or not.

One thing is obvious about the store is it's so clean. All where the food is and even the areas to order food and drinks I noticed the place is just spotless.

I'm not sure I would describe the staff as friendly, but more helpful. I asked where the cashew butter was and they were certainly helpful. When I go to Sprouts in comparison, if I can't find something the store assistant usually walks me right over to the shelf the product is on and then continues to check if I need anymore assistance. This didn't really happen at Erewhon as soon as the store assistant answered the question, boom, they were dust! Lol. No where to be seen.

Something I wanted to try and picked a slice to go was the Coconut cake. It was a generous size and loaded with flavor. I recommend it if you love coconut. I'm not sure it was ultra healthy as it was very sweet but hey it was the weekend so I thought it was a great treat.

For dinner I grabbed the Salmon detox bowl. Instead of getting take out it was a healthier option and very light. I usually find Salmon can taste a bit bland when I eat it out but this was flavorful and fresh as a salad bowl. It's not something I would want to eat everyday but now and again as it did feel light.

Come to think of it the food from Erewhon was the only food I'd eaten all day. I looked at it as a healthy indulging day of self-care. Yes it's a bit pricey but I didn't have to cook so that was a great way for me to relax and not be locked in the kitchen all day measuring ingredients and obsessing over cooking the salmon.

Next time I go back to Erewhon I want to taste their coffee. I keep hearing how it's so good and I want to try it with an exotic dairy free milk, like coconut or...

In a perfect world, I would never have to come here. 🤣 I personally don't give a crap about "being seen" or overpaying for all of my groceries for clout, or whatever. lol

HOWEVER. I do come here occasionally, & it's more often than I would like. Because Erewhon does something that nobody else does: they carry specialty diet products & smaller brands that aren't widely distributed. & I appreciate that. They also appear to have slightly stricter quality/ingredient standards than a lot of the other health-focused chains now.

I used to come here for Fermenting Fairy kefir & sauerkraut before she moved to Florida. Then it was a different brand of sauerkraut - Wild West Ferments, I think. Now it's mainly for Beelers bacon, the Brown Butter Baking Co cupcakes, their in-house made chili crunch, the occasional in-house keto brownie or caramel peanut butter bombs, or Koko Kai coconut yogurt.

This was the first place I could buy Sauz, & thanks to Erewhon, they were able to expand into Whole Foods & their prices eventually went down. I think Toodaloo didn't survive, but Clusterbucks did. Better Sours used to only be here as well, & now they carry them at Ralph's. Lots of success stories because this place was willing to stock & take a chance on a small, new, local brand & give them a fighting chance to build a fanbase. That gives them the leverage to eventually make their way into a larger chain, paving the way for nationwide distribution if they desire.

I don't agree with everything Erewhon does, & some of their products are absolutely overpriced solely because they know their clientele will pay it anyway - but as long as they keep offering special things relevant to my diet/lifestyle that I can't get elsewhere, I will keep showing up for them. Reluctantly, but that doesn't really...

Originally posted this to yelp, but repeating it here: I come here regularly for lunch or an early smoothie and have a good experience with service, today was the complete opposite. As I was approaching the cash register, employee Samira not only shot me a dirty look but rolled her eyes at me. Furthermore, she didn't even bother to ask if I found everything okay or if l even had a membership (I do), and then proceeded to yawn directly in my face without covering her mouth. Now I know everyone has a bad day, as someone who has worked in customer service, it gets rough, but the least she could ve done was had a more polite tone in her voice. I don't want to spark theories or anything but prior to checking out my order she was all smiles and laughs with an older white gentleman that went before me. I very clearly am indigenous and didn't look my best today given it's my first day off in a while from working as a legal assistant. I genuinely feel disrespected and appalled that this is the kind of behavior being exhibited by an employee and no one around seemed to even notice. The young woman who gave me my pick up order however was very kind and polite and I thanked her for being more professional than her coworker. My smoothie and food on the other hand were great! And apparently others have experienced similar behavior with upper management so it seems micro aggressions are becoming a new trend at this particular Erewhon location. And given what’s been said about management, it's no surprise their regular employees are now following the leader with their racist behavior. Hopefully the company...