My friend and I were walking around the area. We saw Herb & Spice Shop. I'm always game checking…read moreout a grocery store that is new to me. It was also hot outside. To stop sweating buckets (more me), we headed inside to cool off. This store is small and quaint. It does cater to folks who have specific dietary needs, such as dairy-free or gluten-free products. It felt like a high-end health food store. I do mean high-end. Did you want a small carton of oat creamer for $10? You can find it here. Frankly, I loved looking at the varieties of dairy-free salad dressing. If I knew that a specific salad dressing flavour was my go-to, I'd splurge and get it here. However, I can't justify getting my usual grocery items, like fresh produce, for inflated prices when I could hit a Food Basics for much cheaper prices. I like that locals can walk to it. I just watched a news story about an area in Scarborough that saw two major supermarkets close within weeks. Locals have to take two buses and thirty minutes to get to a supermarket, which is sad. So, although pricey, you can still get your produce by walking over here. We didn't buy anything. It's the downside to being on vacation. I can't store everything that I want in a grocery store in a dinky mini fridge in my hotel room. It was fun checking out this store. If I hit the jackpot, I'd shop here every week. (284)

Herb & Spice is a small grocery store that leans to the "Health Food Store" side. I find the prices…read morereally expensive, from my assessment about 20-50% higher than at regular/chain grocery stores (like Loblaws, Metro, Food Basics, FreshCo, etc.) Even higher than other Health Food Stores that I usually go to (like Kardish and Natural Food Pantry and much higher than Healthy Planet). I personally have not found any products here that I can only get here. I think this store is good for people who live nearby and want to walk not too far to get something and can afford the higher prices. I'm all for supporting small businesses, but I'm also all for staying within my own budget. This store is in my neighbourhood, but it's actually farther from me than major grocery stores or Health Food stores, so it does not appeal to me, but it definitely serves a purpose and I can see how it appeals to other people. Street parking only.

Biggest and best selection of authentic imported hot sauces and seasonings I've ever seen. The…read morestaff are very helpful sorting it all out, so don't be shy - go and ask for recommendations and have some samples. The prices are higher than what you would pay if you imported them yourself (eg: from Mexico) but it's worth it for the convenience and ability to try before you buy.

We ordered spices online and ee unfortunately had issues with our order, we paid for expedited…read moredelivery to get the spices on time for a dinner tonight however Canada Post marked the item as delivered without ever delivering the product. This tale of woe however has a very happy ending however thanks to a spectacular employee at your company named Curtis. We called the store yesterday and told them of the delivery mishap and in this age of Amazon, Ebay, Etsy etc... we were not really expecting much of a response.... we were wrong and pleasantly surprised to say the least. We spoke to Curtis and he was professional, caring, attentive, empathetic and above all else committed to client service. He explored several options with us to ensure our dinner went well and in the end he vowed that if our package was not delivered in time today he would bring the spices to our home personally... a promise he just fulfilled 15 minutes ago. I have worked in client service for over 20 years, I began frontline like everyone else, working my way up and now have the pleasure to manage a team of hard working professionals. Every person I have I ever hired I have told the exact same thing, I can teach anyone to do this job but I can't teach them to care, that is something that comes from within and it makes all the difference in our field. Curtis is a credit to your company, an asset to your business and an all around wonderful young man. I would be honoured to have someone of his caliber with his professionalism, dedication and empathy on my team as I am sure you are to have him on yours. All too often people are quick to complain when something goes wrong, we should be quicker to compliment when they go right. This went very right. Thanks to Curtis you have gained customers for life. Best wishes and sincere thanks for the wonderful service

Just had the most educational, informative and delicious eye opening time at this lovely hidden…read moregem! It is owned by a lovely married couple and let me tell you they sure know their stuff when it comes to oils and balsamics !! Go in, ask questions, smell and taste the delicious unique things they have to offer, everything and anything from citrus, grassy and herbs! I personally left with a delicious 18 year aged balsamic dressing and an absolutely amazing mushroom and herb infused extra virgin olive oil. Amazing experience, (with parking) and i will be back very soon! Also reasonably priced 14$ for a 200 ml bottle of delicious actually health beneficial oil I am/ WAS the kind of person who avoided oil like the plague and only cooked with water & spices & i also always HATED balsamic vinegars but today really opened up my eyes and my pallet so if you actually like oil & balsamic you MUST go here! 5 stars

The Unrefined Olive is an Olive Oil and Vinegar merchant. Sounds a bit boring right? It isn't!…read more When you walk in, you notice the cleanliness and orderliness of the store. High tables neatly stacked with round stainless steel containers - holding either olive oil or vinegar. What's fun about this is - you can taste test! The staff is knowledgeable. They explain how the store works, what the general groupings are - and if you ask, will also give recommendations. We ended up with a while balsamic vinegar infused with pear - which, we are told, is wonderful on salad even without an oil. There are many many choices. Go check it out. This is (to me) a bit of a gourmet heaven - so go in with the right mindset for prices. (What I'm telling you: It's not inexpensive - but I think based on the product and service that it's not out of the realm of reality either.) Besides the Olive Oil and Vinegar, they have a small selection of other high quality cooking oils. Might be good to go in with a bit of a plan - for example - know that you are looking for an oil for dipping bread... or for salad... or for cooking - otherwise you may have a hard time making a choice. Would I return: Yes Would I recommend: Yes

Rainbow Foods is now officially Natural Food Pantry. They were bought out and the signage has now…read morechanged. Fortunately, from what I can see, nothing else has really changed. The points system is still in place, the store looks the same, they have the same deals and markdowns and staff appear to be the same. I realize that it is early in the acquisition, so I guess time will tell. I loved Rainbow Foods, so I am hoping that nothing will change with this store and it's just the name. Anyway, my previous review from 2 years ago still stands, except for the ownership part. Oh and they stopped carrying Allegro cheese, but that happened long before Natural Food Pantry took over. If anyone in Ottawa knows where I can find Allegro cheese, please message me. Thanks! They still have the most awesome collection of fresh gluten-free breads around!

I haven't been to Rainbow Foods in a long time (since 2012), and decided that I HAD to stop by…read moresince I was in the neighborhood. The store is still tiny like I remembered it being. So a handful of people in the store, can make it appear overly crowded. That being said, they pack a lot of products in this store! I love the fact that they carry full lines of products. I hate it when grocery stores only carry two or three things from a line, so I was in vegan heaven when I hit up their freezer and fridge section. They have the biggest variety of vegan meats here, like Gusta, Gardein, Nutburg, and so on. Their snack aisle is always super intriguing. They have a large selection of chips, chocolates, and snack mixes here. It can get dangerous, pretty quickly. They have a small selection of vegan jerky from the brand Primal Strips, and they make awesome jerky! I do wish they increased their vegan jerky selection, since there is a huge market for that right now. Their produce section is meh. It's small, and the produce does not look that appealing, but I appreciate that they sell local, organic produce. I'd skip the produce here, and just hit up Farmboy next door. They also have a large selection of teas, but they were heavily overpriced compared to other retailers. That being said, know your prices. A lot of the items here are shelved at a 30-40% markup, compared to other retailers. Sometimes, they have sales that will bring items down to a more appealing price, but you really have to shop smart here. I'm still a fan of this place, and always enjoy my visits here and love checking out new products that they carry. I might have to make more trips out here in the future since they really do carry a lot of interesting vegan meats.

I'm happy to see another natural foods store open up! This store is quite larger than Kardish, the…read moreother natural foods store in Barrhaven. The store isn't totally natural, though. They have a lot of processed foods like vegan cheeses and spreads. I'm glad that they do because the regular grocery stores often have a limited selection of these items. They have frozen meals, vegan & non vegan foods, natural cleaners, low-waste products, vitamins and supplements, skincare products, and lots more. They have a pretty small bulk foods section so I've stuck with bulk barn for when I need to stock up. Their fruit and vegetable selection isn't great. You'll definitely need to make a separate trip to a grocery store for those items. I've found that a lot of their items on sale are expired. I realized this when I bought a package of oats to try and threw them out once I tasted them and realized that they were stale - and a full week past the best before date. I'm all for selling products that are about to expire but it's a risky thing to sell food past that date. Their tea selection is great! So much choice and variety. They also have mixes like turmeric lattes or beet lattes sometimes. Recently, they stopped selling my favourite tea brand which was upsetting as I now have to order it online. The store is great but not a one-stop kind of place. You'll most likely have to stop elsewhere for fruits and veggies. I'd definitely recommend checking this place out because they have so many brands and items you won't see at your regular grocery store.

I never thought I would ever shop in a store like this. But, my wife and I have noticed how dry the…read moreweather is here and our skin has become very sensitive to the dyes and scent chemicals in the cleaning products we use. Also, my wife watches the food channel all the time and now wants to cook with only natural and organic foods. We found Natural Food Pantry in Billings Bridge Mall, which makes it totally handy in the sense that we can shop there while doing other shopping. It sells everything - cleaning products, dried foods (in a great bulk area), frozen foods and produce. They even have helpful books as well. The prices vary depending on what you are buying. The natural soaps are cheap, but the cleaning products are about double what the regular brands sell for.

Omg! The name of the store (La Chingadera) means "that f***in' thing!" Lol. The name of the store…read morehas the F-word in it o_O. I don't know if that would fly in a country where Spanish is the official language (or one of the official languages), but we're in Canada, so here we are. I actually find it kinda funny, but for the rest of my review I'll just refer to it as "the store" because I don't want any abuelas upset with me, lol. So the store is a Mexican grocery store. They sell mostly shelf-stable goods, but have a few refrigerated items. They have a good selection of Mexican candies, including 3 different flavours of Pulparindo! They didn't have Extra Hot though :( I love the sweet, sour and spicy flavours of Mexican candies! The candies I looked at all had their "best before" dates in the future, which I liked, and means they have good turnover of merchandise. I find that many international grocery stores have products past their "best before" dates, but I didn't see that at this store. There's a sign in the window that advertises they also sell prepared foods, but no prices. They had lots of dried peppers, and they also had tortillas. Oh and lots of sauces. There are not a lot of Latin American grocery stores in Ottawa, so I'm happy to see this store open up. The store opened in 2021. The owner of the store also owns 2 restaurants nearby: Margarita, and Mona's Taqueria. Staff were friendly and courteous. Street parking only.

I was walking down Bank St and noticed dried chilies in the window which immediately caught my…read moreattention! Turns out there is a new Mexican market on Bank St beside Feleena's. There's a selection of dried chilies in the front and a large selection of various items for the pantry. From beans, chilies, spices, coconut milk, hot sauces, etc There's also a bunch of snacks that I've probably never tried. There's a freezer with some nice frozen goods. I walked out with a few tamales to try. Check it out if you're in the area!