Whole Foods Market - Woodland Hills

This is one of the best Whole Foods I've visited. They offer a great selection of vegan options in both the salad and hot bars. And get ready for this—they have Coolhaus vegan ice cream sandwiches! I've seen the non-vegan versions at other Whole Foods, but never the vegan ones.

The packaged vegan food section in this store, located just past the produce area, has an unpleasant smell reminiscent of bad fish. I often find myself driving to another store just to avoid that odor. It's unfortunate, especially considering the high-quality vegan snacks available in that section. I refuse to pay premium prices for packaged raw vegan foods that carry such an unpleasant smell. I wasn’t always a vegetarian, but even when I wasn't, I would never have chosen food from a fish counter that smelled like that. I’m not aware of any other Whole Foods locations facing this problem. I felt it was important to mention because it might matter to fellow HappyCow users, and it certainly matters to me. I hope this feedback is helpful. The Whole Foods stores in Porter Ranch, Thousand Oaks, and Tarzana offer a much better experience. Additionally, Cupertino's Whole Foods in Northern California is quite nice, proving that improvements can be made! Updated from previous review on March 31, 2014.

I've visited this place several times before, and I can say it's quite akin to the many other Whole Foods Markets I've shopped in. You can expect all the familiar offerings: quality food, reputable brands, and higher prices. It's definitely not inexpensive, but the quality is notably better than what you'll find in conventional stores.

Since I was in the area, I decided to check out this location. It's a mid size store with easy parking and friendly staff as everyone seemed to smile at me. It has the usual vegan items in stock and the deli area had a separate vegan area where they had salads and other items. I got the garlic rosemary Gardein cutlet and a hazelnut crusted seitan cutlet. Yum! Since it was a Wednesday, their regular salad bar/hot bar area was $5.99/lb, so rather than get salad from the vegan deli area (vegan chicken salad, curry chicken salad, etc), I went for the bar. I got a spectacular jasmine rice and barley salad. Overall, it was a nice experience, but my problem with all Whole Foods is all the meat, dairy and eggs they sell. I dream of a vegan Whole Foods.

This is one of the better Whole Foods locations I've visited. They offer a great selection of vegan options in the salad and hot bar. Additionally, they carry Coolhaus vegan ice cream sandwiches, which is a nice touch. I've noticed non-vegans at other Whole Foods stores, but it's rare to see vegans represented in the same way here.