Jimbo's - Escondido — Restaurant in Escondido

It has taken me a few years to write this review. The reason I say this is because I have been holding out hope that Jimbo's and their produce policies would change. Over the years I shopped at the Del Mar, 4S Ranch and Escondido stores and I see a repeating pattern of low quality produce. To charge customers a premium to get 100% organic and non-GMO is one thing but that is no excuse to sell sub-par quality at those extreme prices.

So, this morning I went to Jimbo's to do our weekly shopping trip and of course, I see exactly the same old (bad) cucumbers sitting in the cooler that I saw a week ago (see picture). This is just the beginning. Last week, I went to grab green beans out of the cooler and ended up grabbing a handful of slimy beans. You see, they don't rotate their stock as they should. The fresher stuff was on top of the old and slimy stuff at the bottom. They obviously don't employ basic food rotation practice at their stores: first in, first out. It goes on. I shouldn't have to spend 10 minutes examining all of the berries in a container because you've been burned so many times. This is unacceptable.

The practice extends to the deli area as well. I can't tell you how many times I've seen mold on the falafels. I bought some from the 4S Ranch store, brought them home and then was super disappointed. From that point on, whenever I wanted falafels, I would check them first. Every time I did, they were moldy.

I've witnessed these practices and sub-par produce at all three of the stores I've mentioned. Since it is a pattern, I will extrapolate that this is due to top-down management decisions in order to maximize profits from already inflated prices. I think Mr. Jimbo should be embarrassed if he wasn't embarrassed enough by the rat infestation in his Del Mar store a few month back. If you don't believe me, contact the San Diego County Department of Environmental Health.

If only Whole Foods was closer to my home, I would be shopping there...

Pro-Tip: Some of the items at jimbo’s are also for sale at Sprout’s (1 stop light away!) at about $0.50-2.00 cheaper overall.

They do stock frog hollow farm, which grows the most amazing stone fruit and is 100% worth a splurge. There’s also some good niche products, like Zuma Valley Coconut Cream.

However, the average shopper here is SO ENTITLED, it’s jarring - and I moved here from one of the most expensive cities in the world, where we’re all entitled. On a regular basis, the other shoppers here make it a miserable experience for me and the employees. I can tell the employees are miserable and dislike most the clients. It’s a bummer! I find that the Middle Aged women shopping here should be avoided at all costs! (I’m sorry, 2022 hates me for saying that, but it’s my experience!) They will insult you and literally follow you to your car to continue their diatribe because you got in line before them…?

Today one of the other shoppers CALLED THE POLICE on me! And FILED A FAKE REPORT saying I left a 2 foot scratch on their car when the empty, miniature cart slowly drifted into their 8 year old Jetta (license plate ends with 666). Luckily, Jimbo’s employees were kind to me while this psycho was harassing me. Also, luckily the police found of this person was lying (and SCRATCHED THEIR OWN CAR) because I recorded a 360° of their car.

Basically, love Jimbo’s, hate...

More and more disappointed by the recent visits! I used to go there for lunch almost every weekday before 2019. They had so many options back then. All the hot food and soup tasted delicious. Now their food are so boring. And they didn’t follow their soup schedule. It says on the schedule that they would have beef and barley soup for Thursday. I went there for the soup on Thursday and they didn’t have it. Their staff used to be all very nice and helpful. Not the same anymore. I purchased lunch there today. And they normally have Ground Cayenne Pepper on the seasoning table for customers who purchased cooked food from them. They don’t have it today. I asked the staff at the juice bar next to the seating table. She told me to ask the staff at deli. I don’t want to leave my purchased food out there. Then I asked another staff who’s working with the carts next to me. He told me I should have asked the staff at the juice bar and she would get it for me. I told him that staff didn’t help and asked me to go to deli department. He looked confused and went to get the chilly for me. It was nice of him. But the first staff who’s supposed to help didn’t. Also their cashier used to be nice and greed to the customers. Now they just chat...