Whole Foods Market Opens in Novato
Novato has gone through something of a supermarket renaissance in the past couple years, which have seen the opening of the big new Safeway near Hamilton as well as the upscale Paradise Foods in the Pacheco Plaza shopping center just across the freeway. The newest kid on the grocery store block is the long-awaited Whole Foods Market, which opened last Thursday at the Millworks on Grant Avenue in Novato's Old Town. If our recent experience there is any indication, Whole Foods is definitely poised to give its fellow markets a run for their money.
The 40,000-square-foot store is much bigger than its sister stores in Mill Valley and San Rafael, and far more pleasant to shop at, too. We've been there a few times since it opened, and have so far experienced no parking challenges or long lines, which was certainly not the case when the new Safeway opened in the summer of 2008. As one has come to expect from Whole Foods, the store features lots of organic produce, a bakery (try the pretzel bread!), full service meat and seafood counters, a deli, a Straus Creamery frozen yogurt bar, a coffee bar, a burrito counter, a sushi stand, a salad bar, plenty of prepared foods, and more. Many of the foods in stock come from local farmers and producers, and there's a board outside the main entrance that tells you where things come from.
If you pick up some food there, you can take it up to a mezzanine dining area that overlooks the store. There's also a pleasant outdoor area with picnic tables and umbrellas. For those of us shopping with kids in tow, they have plenty of those little "customer in training" mini shopping carts, as well as those ride-in plastic truck carts. Children ages 2–8 can also sign up for the Whole Foods Kid's Club, where they can get a membership card that's good for a free treat on each visit. There's also a monthly story time presented by the Novato Library that takes place at 11 am on the first Tuesday of each month. There are tons of free samples around the store, and counter staff are happy to offer up a taste of their wares—sometimes it almost seems like they're forcing it on you!
It's popular to sarcastically refer to Whole Foods as "Whole Paycheck", and while it's entirely possible to spend loads of money there, we found that many of the items in stock were comparably priced to those in other stores in town, especially with their "365" house brand. As with most things in life, you have to pay attention to what you're buying. In short, it's clean, big, bright, and well organized, so it's well worth checking out for your next shopping trip.
Novato's Whole Foods Market is located at 790 De Long Avenue. Parking is in the 199-spot garage in the Millworks building, with entrances off De Long and Scott Court (just off Grant Avenue). Look for the guys athletically twirlwing their Whole Foods signs on the corner—they'll show you where to go. The store is open daily from 8 am to 9 pm. For more info, call them at (415) 878-0455; you can also visit wholefoodsmarket.com/stores/novato or www.facebook.com/WFMNovato.
