Gelson's - Los Angeles

The newest Gelson's is located on Bundy and Olympic in the West Edge building, a mixed residential and retail space. There is an underground parking lot. The entrance sign says "West Edge".

Inside the parking lot, there was no clear signage, that I could find, saying where the market is located. There is no Gelson's entrance underground (you have to go up an escalator or elevator to get to the market). Thus, I was not sure where to park or where to go after parking to access the market.

While Gelson's does validate, it is only for 90 minutes which was not enough time for me to do a big shopping trip between February rain storms while trying to find items in a new market I've never been to before. All the other markets I've gone to that validate have at least two hours minimum with validation which is usually sufficient.

I went a few minutes over 90 minutes ($3). I paid at the machine outside of the Gelson's elevators. However, when I went to exit, the exit machine tried to charge me again. I had to get the attendant and explain that I already paid in order to be let out. After much back and fourth, he finally opened up the gate It was a rattling experience that should not have happened.

Truth be told, the parking lot was the only negative about this place. The market is big and beautiful. The staff is eager to please and were also very friendly and chatty. It felt like a neighborhood market.

They have a lot of ready made food options including a large deli, pizza by the slice, sandwich making, bowl assembly, and lots of good looking grab and go food. There's a hot food section, a poke bar, and a salad bar. Everything looked very fresh and delicious. They even have a juicing department which I thought was cool and super unique.

I also really admired their floral department. There were lots of options to choose from including some potted cacti which is a rare but extremely awesome offering.

Aisles were clean, well-stocked, and well-organized. Lots of great, high quality merchandise to choose from down every aisle.

Loved their cheese section in the back and it is appropriately placed next to the wine. Another distinctive feature of this particular Gelson's is the oil and vinegar tasting section. A noteworthy addition!

Lastly, they have a Victor Benes Bakery here with lots of beautiful cakes and cookies. They had free samples of lemon cake to try. Delicious.

Checkout was super easy. I used some of my Gelson's coupons and I also used the app to get points for my purchase. Gelson's is pricey so it was nice to save.

I did call the market after my visit and spoke to the manager, Pablo, about the parking situation. He was so sweet and understanding and really, really lovely. The customer service here is so awesome! He said he'd address my concerns about the parking and promised to generously make it up to me when I return. Though I have not yet returned, I really appreciated his customer service and problem solving skills.

I decided to only subtract one star for my experience in the parking lot. It definitely put a damper on my experience at this Gelson's so it has to be acknowledged as part of the review. However, after speaking to Pablo, I realized that the parking is something the market needs to address with the property and not necessarily something Gelson's has total control over.

I really do hope they are able to improve the parking experience to make it more inviting for the general public to visit this Gelson's location. The market itself is absolutely lovely.

This is a follow up to my review from December of 2023. A few points to consider before reading my review:

- I have been to the store around 12 to 15 times since the original review
- I am not an influencer
- I do not have a relationship with anyone affiliated with Gelson's, either at the West L.A. store, any other store, or at corporate.

The service that I have received since preparing a review 3 months ago is similarly outstanding. The cleanliness of the store is impeccable and the layout of the stores creates a pleasurable and efficient shopping experience.
In terms of personnel:
- Pablo, the store manager, remains upbeat, personable, and helpful as always, as do his assistants (Note: Vanessa is the one name that I recall)
- Juan, the bakery manager, continues to be super friendly, always present with a smile and, if my timing is good, a tasty sample.
- Hudson, who manages the floral section, continues to create beautiful bouquets and arrangements at cost-effective prices.
- Check is always quick, there are no long lines, and the staff are friendly.

Some new experiences:
- Because my office is close by, I've been walking to lunch on wednesdays. The sandwiches and the to go sushi are fresh, the portions are solid, and the prices are reasonable.
- I've tried the wine bar on 1 occasion. The service was good and the wines were reasonably priced. On 1 occasion, the regional wine manager (Note: I believe his name was Tyler), was kind enough to educate me about Gelson's line of wine and offered me some samples. One wine was a blend and the other, if memory serves, was a Bordeaux style wine. Both were very good and reasonably priced.

Interestingly, I noticed some negative reviews. Typically, I am hesitant to comment on other reviews because each individual can have a different experience; however, given that I have been to this store so many times, I must say that I am skeptical.
To date, each employee with whom I have interfaced has been friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable, particularly the store managers. My interactions have only been positive. When my employees have picked up groceries or food at the store, they have been similarly impressed.

In summary, and from my perspective, Shopping at this Gelson's has been an absolute pleasure. While I am skeptical of the negative reviews, I would encourage readers of this review to shop at the store a few times and form their own perception of the store. I believe that they will be happy that they did so.

Had such high hopes for this place when it opened, I live in the building next door. I thought how great having a grocery store in your back yard.
The food in the wine bar is very inconsistent and poor quality. The wine by the glass is always old because I don't think they rotate it properly.
The cashiers are by far the rudest unfriend cashiers I ever seen.
The tall grey headed guy in the wine bar is the laziest employee in the place, try pulling him away from the TV for a drink and he will bit your head off. The director of the store walks around with a big frown on his face like he is so miserable with his job. The main reason I stopped going in the store is the pricing is alway wrong, it says a price on the item put is rang up at a higher price, when you bring it to the attention of the staff they do nothing about it. One day I had a salad from Wolfgang, the chic had mold on it, I brought it to a staff member and he did not even remove or even look at the other salads in the case.... GROSS!!!

Beautiful store! Gelson's is always clean and super nice but this one tops them all! Spacious and bright with natural lighting, great variety of groceries and products, clean deli and self serve food areas, all of these made this store a SUPER supermarket!

It is located at the bottom floor of a new mix use (commercial and residential) building at the corner of Olympic and Bundy. Parking is underground - spacious, clean, and easy. And they validate.

We love their fresh produce- found more salad packages than most other markets. The cheese counter is pretty impressive too. Staff were friendly and efficient. Overall a very pleasant shopping experience!

The only reason I didn't give them a 5-star was the price level. Many items are twice the price you'd find in other stores. Even at sale prices, they were still a bit high. That said, I think their quality is very good. And they have brands and varieties other stores don't have. I'll definitely come back and shop here.... But hope to see better values here in the future.

Not surprisingly, Gelson's which recently opened in West LA is quite spectacular. It is the best of the best of the best-but at a cost. From the Pizza by the slice counter to the liquor and wine section to the tantalizing bakery everything is as you'd expect at Los Angeles premier grocery. The adjacent Wine Bar cafe is beautiful with a great menu. Everyone I encountered was polite and professional. The crowd is interesting as it's next door to Riot Games headquarters and Icon Fitness to name a few. Finally, the outdoor seating is artsy and inviting. I enjoyed my visit and for sure will be a regular.

I love Gelson's and I love this new location too! 

Because:

- Easy parking
- Good options for prepared food such as Salad, Great Poke, Hot Food etc.
- Great Produce including tropical fruits such as Dragon Fruit, Lambutan, Lychee etc.
- Super helpful friendly staff. At least 5 people said hi to me white I was there for 15 minutes.
- Clean and spacious
- Wine bar at the entrance for before, during or after shopping

Things I wish:
- More organic options

Not sure if they're just busy but I asked to be transferred to Wolfgang Puck to order for pick up and while on hold they picked up the call a few times... and the last time they pressed a button and hung up.

Service no bueno.

I was pleasantly surprised by this new gelsons location. I have been a loyal customer at the palisades location for many years but this location is closer to me. The store is spacious and seems to have a wider selection of pantry and frozen foods. The only downside was that the pre package deli meat was basically empty of selection at 7pm and it's a bit difficult to access the parking lot during rush hour.

I love this grocery store. I just stopped by for the first time this past weekend and I was truly amazed. I love grocery store shopping in my free time -- there's something so peaceful about it. First of all, the parking was super easy, and with validation after I was in there for about an hour, it was free. I would say that everything is quite reasonably priced, especially as a specialty food store in Los Angeles. I managed to snag a couple of things off of the day old baked goods shelf and they're still lasting and of very high quality. Some of the highlights were spotting a new Chobani yogurt that was new to market, a variety of Seattle-based grocery goods (where I'm from), and the balsamic and olive oil on tap -- usually you have to go to an oil and vinegar store for that! Loved this grocery store and I'm already planning my next trip.

Listen, this is an upscale grocery store with higher pricing .. so come here expecting that. I don't buy all my groceries here but do think it's worth it to get some staples. It's clean, convenient, and the employees are very polite and helpful! What I really wanted to mention is their poke bar. Let me just say .. WOW. The fish is fresh, topping choices are ample, and it's priced by weight (meaning you have full autonomy of creating your poke bowl). I really see no point in going to a poke restaurant when Gelson's gets the job done right!!!