Dean's is my favorite market in the area! They have a huge variety of fresh produce, organic options, bulk snacks, pastas and flours, seasonal specials, and European foods too. Their prices are a great value - far better than Trag's or Draeger's. I come here about once per week to stock up. It feels like a trip to the farmer's market, and a great excuse to try whatever's in season or test out a new recipe. They also have very convenient hours - open til 8pm every day so it's easy to squeeze in a trip after work. Finally, it's very clean and well-organized. Don't forget to bring your reusable bags! Highlights: - Great prices on all produce - Golden beats, fresh corn, large boxes of spinach, citrus, cheap bananas - Bulk quantities of nuts and dried fruits - Frequent sales on berries and seasonal items - Helpful staff - European treats including chocolates and biscuits Credit cards accepted over $5. read more

I really like that this is a great alternative to the major chains and farmers market when I can't make it on a Saturday. However, their nut section is a bit dicey. This is the second time now that I have tasted an odd chemical taste on their nut products. I bought cashews this morning, popped a few in my mouth and immediately spit them out. There is a chlorine like chemical flavor that is simply, gross. Otherwise, they do have fresh produce and other products that are priced well. Just kind of wondering about the nut incident, as one bad product tends to reflect overall quality of everything else. read more

I stopped in here after work and was not disappointed. They had a rich variety of produce and the prices -- given the high quality -- are really reasonable. It's great to find something like this so conveniently located and that has such a variety of organic produce. Check Dean's out -- you will be really happy you did. read more

The best thing to come to downtown San Mateo since sliced bread! Awesome selection of produce as well as a nice assortment of "European" goods. And, they're open all the time! I have a strong feeling that my visits to the farmers market & grocery stores downtown will soon wane. read more

I used to shop at Safeways for my produce but no longer. This place has fresh fruits and veggies at a better price and wider selection than what I used to see at Safeway. I juice a few times a week and I am sold that Dean's Produce is my best choice around where I live. read more

Dean's always has the best prices and the freshest veggies. You wlll also find specialty foods that you didn't even know you needed! Love this place!!! read more

Really fresh produce... as good as going to a farmers' market, except you can pay with your credit card! Very reasonable prices, and they offer a variety of snacks from Europe and the like. read more

Dean's produce is the BEST!!!! We go shopping there every time. They have in season fruits and vegetables as well as perfect snacks!! I strongly recommend produce shopping at this store. read more

I think Dean's is the greatest store on earth. It's the store that Trader Joe's tries to be and the store Whole Foods pretends to. Deans is the best. read more

Wow, just checked this place out. Great produce at good prices. Lots of Greek and Middle East specialities. Love it.

best produce, freshest, lowest pricing... and most importantly they offer the pickles my grandmother used to make back in the U.S.S.R.... malasolnye so happy they've opened up the store in San Mateo keep up the good work!! read more

This place is Amazing, they have amazing produce, amazing other products, their prices are really good highly recommend you stop by!

The store has a good selection of produce and European goods. I was so excited to find out that they sell purple yams here. I went yesterday and bought more than 2.5 lbs. I decided to roast them today and upon cutting them, I found that some of them had started rotting on the ends and some were soft in the center. I ended up with only 1/2 of what I bought that were salvageable. Quite disappointing. read more

Excellent. Lots of all natural and organic produce and other foods. Great people, just a great place to do business... highly recommended.

Been buying groceries off and on since they opened. I can get German pickles (aka gurken), European chocolates, Turkish delights (memories of Istanbul), Russian piroshki, imported cheeses, pita bread, pepper dips from turkey, middle eastern spices, organic fruits and vegetables for my new juicing binge, teas from India, etc. etc. please keep your prices low, and don't match Whole Foods. Think Sigona prices but in San Mateo...and I'll shop several times a week after the gym. Some Asian groceries would be good but hard to compete with Ranch99. To get another star you need a bigger fruit selection and Asian vegetables read more

Amazing selection of imported jams, pastas and Greek olive oil ~ so glad they are in neighborhood. Special pricing when fresh produce near overripe - like $1.50 for strawberry! Yay read more

In downtown San Mateo, we already have Traggs, Draegers, Suriyuki Japanese market, a Mexican market on B st, and a produce market on San Mateo Drive, an Asian market on 1st avenue. Apparently, it seems redundant to add yet another produce in an oversaturated market already, but I do think having another market sure beats another restaurant! Dean's is differentiated enough in that they offer both organic and regular produce at competitive prices. It reminds me a little bit of the 22nd Avenue and Irving produce market in San Francisco, albeit a cleaner version. They also sell pastas, golden boy foccacia, lots of different kinds of fresh cheeses, dried fruits and nuts, honey, bottled olives, olive oil, spices, jams, and canned items (soups, fruit, etc.). read more

I love Dean's Produce. Need to kill some time before going to the airport, they have a branch in Millbrae too, on the 400 block of Broadway. Aside from great fresh and exotic produce, they have lots of Greek and Russian supplies. All sorts of salted meats and fish. Affordable saffron. Rusks. And very friendly service. read more

Great place!!! the filipino lady that worked here (I don't know if she still works here) came to my work (the time I was working in San Mateo) and we became instant friends. I guess when filipinos meet other filipinos, they become instant friends lol. read more

Dean's is awesome! I am in there at least once or twice a week - great produce, and great prices! Their Lindt and Scharffenberger chocolates are so much cheaper than other stores. And they have a lot of great Mediterranean specialty foods. Keep it up, Dean's!!!! read more

Love, love, LOVE coming here! My husband and I shop here all the time, often several times a week. *The staff is always friendly and knowledgeable *The produce is fresh, seasonal, and many times local. Lots of organic options, too. *They have an amazing selection of spices - fairly large quantity containers for a very good price *The prices are fantastically reasonable! I'm usually shocked at how little I spend on a trip here when I think about how much the equivalent would have cost at a big store. They do have a little bit of everything in terms of canned goods, condiments, etc. and we've found that they are usually far less expensive here than at the bigger grocery stores. What's really interesting is the specialty items you don't find many places: Aged chunks of feta in a barrel, lots of Mediterranean fare, fresh grape leaves, lychee fruit, prickly pear, mangosteen, and on and on. There are also interesting spreads and preserves, specialty honey, imported chocolates, and yummy breads. We're so happy this store is here! read more

Mediterranean/Middle eastern grocery store. Awesome selection of organic produce.

This does as well as the original location in Millbrae. They have quite a mind boggling selection of produce & other groceries, including: American & international sweets, smoked m eats, cheeses, & so forth. We ended up buying some amereto waffle cookies which are to die for. I definitely intend to come back & try other items. The service is friendly, prices reasonable, & atmosphere bare bones but clean. So, for excellent produce & groceries at reasonable prices with friendly service in a bare bones but clean atmosphere, Dean's cannot be beat. Keep up the good work guys. read more

My husband and I are so happy this is open in our neighborhood. They have all of our favorite foods. Great produce, great selection of European and Mediterranean goodies. This is our new staple store! Welcome to the neighborhood! read more

Always get my fruit n veg here, the place always has a great selection of both. It also stocks some unique meats and cheeses sourced both locally and internationally. The women on the tills are always friendly and polite. read more

I love deans produce,. There have such good quality fruit etc and they even have stuff I've never even heard before..it's hard to find good fruit these days for me and my son to eat.. given I was sad when Blockbuster closed down but putting this shop here was the best thing, I go quite often and the have my fav tea that I can't find anywhere else read more

Great ethnic grocery store! Smaller place but great selection of European, Middle Eastern and other ethnic foods. Has big selection of fruits and vegetables. Street metered parking. Staff is helpful but could be more courteous. Blasting Greek and international music including punk sometimes. :) read more

Customer service is very bad. They won't replace a bad produce item be warned. The guy at the cashier couldn't give a F***.

I love this market. They have beautiful produce, fun variety, and great atmosphere. I was also super impressed bc I called ahead and asked if they had pre made fruit salad. I was told they did. When I got there (with two little boys) and was told they did not have what I wanted, I was a bit put out (to put it nicely). They offered to let me pick out the fruit I wanted and then they'd cut it up for me. Though I opted to just buy the fruit and cut later, I was appeased by their generous offer. Because of that experience, I continue to shop there. I highly recommend checking out their wide selection of fun fruit nectar drinks, delicious chocolates, and (oh yeah) fresh veggies and fruit! read more

I was all excited to turn my boyfriend on to this Dean's since it is local and prices are decent. Unfortunately, I seriously doubt that he was impressed. I purchased six medium size avocados. NOT a single one of these was any good. I discarded two without getting even one decent bite. So disappointing, not to mention a waste of money. read more

This is such a unique grocery store in the downtown area. I will make that trip and pay for parking just to shop here. Fresh produce, lovely international goods leaning much towards Middle Eastern items (and I get a lot of good spices for cheap). I can get the exotic fruits here and they don't look sad and desiccated, which sometimes happens at the more expensive, regular grocery stores. You have to come here regularly to see what they have in stock, but it's always fun. I usually shop places like this, or the Asian markets, for most of my stuff, and the nicer grocery stores for meats. read more

Awesome place with great produce and good prices. No longer need the farmers market!

Great produce and great prices! I also visit TJs because they dont have many meat options but they have a great selection of fresh fruits and vegetables, plus you usually cant beat the sale prices! read more

A year later and so happy to say this is our go to place. My wife and I always get produce, eggs (Judy's Family Farm), milk, bread (Sacramento sourdough/ Euro pumpernickel) and all sorts of other things. Fruit and vegetables are great, we love there fresh peeled garlic clove bags. Highly recommend it to everyone, check it out! read more

excellent produce! I buy flats of berries, tomatoes, apples to preserve in bulk as well as regular weekly produce shopping. Their prices are well below Safeway and the quality is far better. I love to give a shop like this my business - they are very service oriented and knowledgeable about everything they carry! read more

Great quality fresh produce & grocery items and hard to find ethnic foods & rare varieties of produce, too. Reasonable prices. Visit Dean's!

TERRIBLE CUSTOMER TREATMENT at Millbrae location. Bad enough to take up my valuable time to create a Yelp account and write a review. I was a regular at Dean's despite limited selection (obviously, because it is a small store, so it was not the only store I frequented), and fluctuating prices (up and down, day-by-day, so I always had to keep an eye on prices so sometimes a good deal, and sometimes it is better to buy that item elsewhere, so I did). Also, I frequently found packaged food on their shelves past the expiration date. However, this was enough to keep me away for good...No return on rancid food, even though it was purchased two days before and cut open the following day to reveal its spoilage. I am bothered that the food was putrid (waste of time because I had to rush out to an open market to replace the ingredient), disappointed with their return policy (loss of a money and faith in reliability), but extremely disturbed by their lack of manners and dismal treatment of customers. The entire store observed it, so I may not be their only stunned buyer that day. I used to shop there two or more times a week, but will never set foot in their either of their stores again. I am sharing my experience with friends, so Dean's is losing more than one regular patron (probably enough for their loss to be quite noticeable). I hope this review prevents anyone reading it from become a replacement to those losses. read more