365 by Whole Foods Review

Fro-yo girl here. The first smaller, more affordable 365 by Whole Foods (the new concept store from Whole Foods) opened in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles at the end of May. 365 replaces Ralph’s. There’s less variety at 365 compared to Whole Foods and the interior looks like a warehouse with huge floor freezers and some high tech touches such as kiosks to order made to order tacos, bowls, pizzas and brewed tea. The food court that one typically finds at Whole Foods is gone but there is an Allegro coffee kiosk, an in-store, casual, counter-serve vegan restaurant called by Chloe and a dining area. There are no butchers or bakers on site and the flowers are limited to a small selection of bouquets (with no floral department staff). It felt like there was a lot more security personnel.

Prices are lower than Whole Foods. 365 still has ample organic produce, the hot bar/salad bar where items are priced by container size rather than weight (it reminds me of how some self-serve froyo shops have adopted weightless pricing, charging by cup size rather than weight) and grab and go baked goods and prepared foods.

I went to check out the yogurt and frozen yogurt selection. First, the selection is smaller than the typical Whole Foods in the area. For frozen yogurt the only product they had was the 365 Greek yogurt popsicles. They didn’t have Julie’s Organic frozen yogurt, Yasso bars, Lifeway frozen kefir, etc. They did have a lot of ice cream and gelato though. Also, a smaller selection doesn’t mean a different selection. The yogurt selection was pretty good (Fage, Siggi’s, Whole Foods) but they didn’t carry Smari, Tarte, Blue Hill or Stonyfield’s Oh My Yog like the typical Whole Foods.

They’ve attracted a younger clientele but I didn’t see many of them using the high tech features. I did enjoy the food at by Chloe. Her face looked familiar…I’ve seen her on Cupcake Wars. I need to try her Cupcake Wars winning vegan cupcakes.

You know you love me. X0 X0, fro-yo girl.

* 365 BY WHOLE FOODS: 2520 Glendale Blvd, Los Angeles (Silver Lake), CA 90039

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