Best gold nugget of a find around! Owners are very kind and employees are always very friendly. LOVE this local, family operated store!

Don't let the modest exterior of this pleasant little grocery store fool you! They have a small but wonderful selection of fresh produce, cheeses, pre-packaged deli meats, even guanciale! plus beer, wine, and very fresh Acme bread. In fact, it's the only grocery store where I've found Whole Wheat Acme bread. Their pasta selection is just amazing. I've found shapes of pasta there that I've never seen anywhere else. I have to drive a bit to shop at Giovanni's but it's a perfect shopping destination to combine with a trip to PetVet.

One of the things I unearthed in the freezer was a pound of beef liver from El Cerrito Natural Grocery. I put it in the refrigerator to defrost and today I decided to make chopped liver. I hard boiled two eggs, but needed to buy onions to cook in chicken schmaltz and grind up w/ the liver and the eggs, using my mother's old cast iron hand grinder. I decided to drive north to Giovanni's rather than to my other choices, parking right in front. A woman was leaving as I walked in and we chatted briefly. The nice man working there gave me her shopping cart to use, which I appreciated. Of course I left w/ more than onions, including a package of 4 vegetarian tamales, a bottle of Côtes du Rhone that sounded tasty from the description on the card, and a pint of organic sun gold tomatoes. The chopped liver is made and chilling in the refrigerator. I have offered some to Nina, who loves it. I enjoy wandering around Giovanni's and seeing what interesting products they have, and they have a wide range. It's an old school independent market. They had bottles of a $2 or $3 wine that was described as cooking wine. I loved that.

Giovanni's is the hidden gem of El Cerrito. I much prefer shopping in and supporting small local businesses and Giovanni's is well worth it. I truly appreciate how far they've come over the last few years. They carry many of our favorite brands, including Strauss, Rustic Bakery, homemade chips, Hope hummus, Newman's own, they have organic produce and sometimes pasture-raised eggs. They have a great beer selection too. It's nearly a one stop shop for us. I do wish they had a better bread and coffee selection, but maybe everyone else loves it. Can't win them all, but I do appreciate this place so much and support them as much as possible!

Best grocery store to pick up items quickly and fresh vegetables.I would recommend it to anyone.

This is a great local grocery store with better produce than Safeway and much more convenient. The staff is friendly and helpful and they don't need multiple security guards and gates at the exit. They also carry great local products that are better than national brands. This is my go to for day-to-day groceries.

Love these folks; the owner, Peter, is a stalwart of the El Cerrito community, and this grocery -- family-owned -- is a go-to place. It used to be nearly a shopper's Paradise when Rick's Meats occupied a chunk of the store space, and Rick was in the same mold: a community guy. Alas, the City of El Cerrito put the screws on the store owner, requiring all manner of changes to the infrastructure, and the meat counter had to go. There are still good options in cured meats, but not quite the same -- one-star markdown. The produce is straight from the Oakland Produce Market, the staff is reliable and has answers to any good questions, and I've enjoyed shopping here for something like 30 years, give or take a few.

Fresh especially meritorious as it's a relatively small neighborhood grocery Good service who'll readily answer questions.

Our family's source for fresh produce and Clover dairy for many years. Head and shoulders better than the Big Box Supermarket. Great selection and great quality.

I was a little over whelmed! the fresh pastas frozen pastas packaged and boxed pastas! The sauces the colorful veg! The friendly staff! Whaaaat vvvvrrpp! I backed up passing the pasta sauces, Butternut squash??? Hmmmm sounds interesting. Spied pitted fresh dates, I knew we had sage and walnuts. What pasta tho??? I spied like 4 varieties of farfedelle. I chose the Italian one. On to veggies. What to accompany? Well even tho it's the first day of spring, I was intrigued by the rainbow bundles of Swiss chard, and mammoth leeks and oh so fresh basil bunch. I can hook that up fo sho. I had sweet peppers, garlic sautéed in buttah then simmered in chicken stock. A rather autumn like meal on the first day of spring. But as I write this... it was among the best meals I've ever made.