With plenty of organic food stores and organic restaurants San Diego is a true Mecca for health conscious people. In this post I’ll cover where to locate the best organic food stores as well as some of the best organic restaurants San Diego has to offer.

Best organic food stores and organic restaurants San Diego.

Organic food stores & Farmers’ Markets.

Besides everyday sunshine, tall dazzling palm-trees and a beautiful ocean coast, San Diego hosts several organic food stores and cafes as well as local farmers’ markets selling local and fresh organic produce. Below you’ll find a description of some of the organic food stores and organic restaurants San Diego is known for.

Two times a week you can find organic fresh produces at local farmers markets, a fun and different experience than shopping in the organic food stores. I believe The Hillcrest Farmers’ Market is the best and the biggest. It takes place every Sunday from 9am – 2pm in Hillcrest and has about 125 stands, many of them selling organic or pesticide free produce. It’s a good place to get good deals on organic fruits and veggies and often you’ll find prices cheaper than in the organic food stores. It’s also a good place to mingle with locals, meet the local farmers and to enjoy free samples of different fruits and vegetables. Besides fresh organic fruits and veggies you can also find all kind of other foods like raw humus and garlic spread, organic fresh made juices, some very yummy organic raw cakes at the Raw Vegan Cake stand, and tasty raw food snacks from the stand belonging to the organic raw cafe Peace Pies which are one of the best organic restaurants San Diego has to offer. Aside from food, the market also hosts stands selling arts and craft, live music and talks on different subjects.

Every Wednesday you can find another local farmers’ market in Ocean Beach – the Ocean Beach farmers market which takes place in the afternoon, from 4-8pm during the summer and 4-7pm during the winter. It’s located on the 4900 block of Newport Ave. between Cable and Bacon Streets in Ocean Beach. Here you can also fill you shopping bags with local organic and pesticide free produces, raw food meals or cakes at the Peace Pies stand, as well as find different kind of arts and craft stands and free music. When you’re done shopping you can get a taste of some fresh ocean wind while enjoying warm sand under your feet at the beach which is located just a few blocks from the market.

The Whole foods markets is a chain of organic food stores that can be found all around the US and calls itself America’s healthiest grocery store. Here you can find one of the largest selections of organic produce, a large selection of supplements, body care products, organic clothing, wine and drinks and much more. These big green stores offer pretty much the same as any other food store – just healthier products. They are also an alternative for some of the organic restaurants San Diego is hometown to, as they offer a big organic salad bar, a hot deli, raw cakes, snacks, fresh made juices & smoothies, chocolate and much more. The Whole Foods can be found in Hillcrest, La Jolla, Del Mar and Encinitas. See their locations here.

The Ocean Beach Co-Op is another organic food store, and this has been one of my favorite places to go shop, both because it has pretty much everything a health aficionado like me desires, offers good prices, but also because of the beautiful concept this store is build on. Compared to Whole Foods which are a big chain of organic food stores, the Co-Op is a member owned vegetarian store, run by a board of members without any stock holders. This means that it is the members who are deciding what products and prices you’ll find in the store. Every customer can, for a small annual fee, become a member and hereby gain influence on what food the Co-Op will sell. It’s goal is to serve the customers and local farmers and not any stock holders or money orientated bosses at the top. Besides offering a big selection of organic veggies and fruits, raw food and vegan snacks, drinks, supplements, and organic clothing, the store also has a raw and vegan cafe located on top of the store. This is one of my favorite organic restaurants San Diego because of its big selection of both raw and cooked vegan organic foods including a fresh organic salad bar, to enjoy at their tables or to take with you. The Ocean Beach Co-Op also offers free lectures on different kind of health topics as well as different social activities. Location: 4765 Voltaire Street, San Diego, CA 92107 (619) 224-1387

The Vons are not completely organic food stores, but this food store chain still offers a smaller selection of organic fruits and veggies, as well as raw and organic juices & smoothies on bottles. I used to go there and shop many of my organic foods when living in the college area of San Diego. If you buy their members card you can take advantage of special members sales. You can find Vons stores in most parts of San Diego and other cities in CA.

Organic Restaurants San Diego.

Besides from the mentioned organic restaurants San Diego also has the ‘Lean and Green Cafe‘ serving: “..wholesome natural organic and healthy gourmet foods for breakfast and lunch“. ( leanandgreencafe.com), a raw and vegan cafe which is located in beautiful La Jolla (pronounced: La Hoja). Another of the organic restaurants San Diego is known for is Evolution fast Food, located in Hillcrest close to Balboura Park.

Summing it up. With it’s big selection of organic food stores and organic restaurants San Diego leaves no room for empty stomachs. Some of the best organic restaurants San Diego is known for includes the Peace Pies, The Green and Lean Cafe, and Evolution Fast Food. If you’re looking for organic food stores, the Ocean Beach Co-Op and Whole Foods Markets are the places to go.

Thanks for reading along- and have a wonderful day!

– DitteChristina.