If you've never been to High Hand, what are you even doing with your life?!? So this place overall is just amazing. Not only is there a lovely nursery (High Hand Nursery) with gorgeous plants, there is also a cafe (High Hand Cafe), a market place area with different shops, a brewery and this awesome High Hand Olive Oil Company. Located in the market place building, is this wonderful little shop where olive oil tasting is encouraged! There are sooo many flavors of olive oil such as garlic, lemon, orange, rosemary.... The list goes on and on! They also have a huge selection of balsamics as well. Again, every flavor you can possibly think of! Since I came here right before Christmas, the oils and balsamics made perfect gifts for the cooks I know in my life. Fun place to hang out for a couple of hours for sure! Highly recommend checking this place out! read more

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This place is great!!!! Staff very knowledgeable about the olive oil and balsamic vinegars. I had never seen or tried white balsamic vinegar before, and they had about every flavor of it and dark balsamic vinegar I could think of!!! And you can sample!!! Very clean and appealing, not loud like the rest of the building beyond its walls. I'm making a shopping and Christmas gift list for the next time I visit! read more

I received a bottle of 25 Star Dark Balsamic Vinegar as a gift. When I opened it, I found two problems: 1) The cork was almost entirely pushed out of the bottle (held in place only by the foil wrap) and thick, goopy balsamic was also being pushed out. A few people I spoke with about this, including friends who do a lot of cooking, someone at my favorite olive oil/vinegar store and an executive chef, agreed with my suspicion that some sort of chemical reaction had been taking place and that it was likely not safe to consume. 2) When I attempted to pour some out to further explore the goopy consistency, it took a while for the vinegar to actually make its way out of the bottle. As it finally poured at the speed of molasses, I noticed it had the consistency of catsup. It was not a thick syrup. I called the store and spoke to a woman who gaslit me. She ignored my comments about the pushed out cork as well as the catsup consistency, and asserted that the vinegar is supposed to be thick like syrup. Um, yeah -- it wasn't, which is one of the reasons I was concerned about it. I had to mention the cork issue a few times before she finally told me to bring it into the store and she'd replace it. I live a half hour away from Loomis, but made the trip to potentially make an exchange. This company is huge, with lots of different areas for different things. I asked a clerk where the olive oil store was. Seeing that I had a bottle in my hands (yes, the one I was attempting to return) she said, "You just came from there." Seriously? If I had just come from there I'd know where it was...and even if I had been there, gotten turned around, and needed to go back for some reason, is that a professional, "good" customer service response? Got to the shop and spoke with the same gas-lighting woman I talked with by phone and we had the same conversation a few times with her ignoring the issue of the cork and the consistency and insisting the vinegar was supposed to be syrupy (UGH! It was NOT syrupy!) She said vinegar that is aged a long time has a thick consistency (I've witness the pour of and have tasted 80-year old vinegar that didn't pour like catsup). I asked her how long the vinegar had been aged and she said she didn't know. I was shocked that she didn't know her product. I asked her to estimate, and she said 12 - 15 years (later in an internet search I discovered that the "25" in the name of the vinegar means that it's aged 25 years. Maybe that should have been obvious to me -- but why didn't she know this? She offered to exchange it for another bottle of the same product, and I had her open a brand new one first so I could observe the consistency: catsup. I left with a different vinegar. And I'll never go back. read more

Went to High Hand nursey restaurant for a lunch birthday gathering of 7. The food was delicious, no problem there. The restaurant is in a high ceiling solarium, but it was a cold and over cast day. One should bring a warm coat. There is heat there, but it takes a long while to get warm. You can sit undercover outside with heat lamps, which may have felt warmer. One of the gals called the restaurant ahead to see if she could bring A birthday cake. The person on the phone said of course. She FAILED to say that there would be a fee of $2 pp plus tax and tip to serve the cake. We even had our own paper plates and knife, but it did not matter. We were charged, even if we served it to ourselves. The cake cost $17, and to serve it was over $14. We easily could have had it after in one of our homes. It was annoying. During the ordering a few of us inquired if we could get a cup of the soup instead of the salad side. The server said absolutely, but she FAILED to say it would cost $3 extra. It is not pleasant to be surprised by unexpected costs on your bill after eating, no matter how small, it's principle. Please inform your customers upfront. read more

I never knew how much one could do with oils and vinegar! This was a super neat little shop within a shop. Having read the prior reviews, I knew to use the little cups to taste, and when I asked a question, the girl working was very pleasant and had no problem answering questions. To the contrary, she actually showed me where the breads were so I could taste the oils on them. I bought the 25 star white balsamic, and the mango white balsamic. Usually, I am bored at the thought of a salad, but I have been using these as dressings and it makes eating salad actually ENJOYABLE! My husband and I ate in the cafe for lunch afterward, and enjoyed great customer service as well as a portobello burger. read more

I use to be a very loyal customer. I would drive all the way from Midtown to buy some oils and pick up some plants at the Nursery -- but the younger woman who recently helped me was so rude and ill-informed I may not return. The young woman working tried to tell me their shop never carried a bottle of oil that, when I went home, was sitting on our counter almost empty with their label on it. Instead of saying "We have never carried that oil" and walking away I would suggest the young woman say something along the lines of "I'm not familiar with having carried that oil in the past but if you want to give me your contact information I can do some digging and get back to you." Instead of buying the two oils I had picked out, I returned them to the shelves. I might give this place one more go but I also might just hold out an buy my oils at a place I like in Murphy, CA with better customer service. read more

A nice local business that sells many different types of flavored cooking/food oils. They also have many different types vinegars. They offer free tastings of the oils and vinegars. I'm glad this business is surviving all the Covid/Flu/Rsv that is going around, and hope it sticks around. We buy most of our oils and vinegars from this business. read more

Very rude young woman in store on 7/27/19 around 11am and unprofessional to the point that make me would never want return again unless staff changes. read more

Ok, this is my review of both the BASALMIC vinegar and the staff. I love the BASALMIC! I have visited the store twice. This last time I walked out without any purchase due to the staff. Sorry but very rude and unfriendly. I gave her a break the first time when she was chatting with a friend almost the whole time, but this time just very unfriendly and kinda embarrassed me about using the sample bottle! It's really kinda sad basic business practice. read more

Cute little shop with so so many different flavors of olive oil and balsamic vinegars! Try all the flavors then have a hard time picking which one(s) you want to take home!! I purchased the rosemary olive oil and peach balsamic vinegar. Yummy!! I love it for cooking, dipping bread, and for making my own salad dressing. read more

The olive oils and balsamic vinegars from this company are delightful and add so much flavor to any dish they grace. I'm never able to quite decide which are my favorites and neither are the friends that I've shared them with. Blackberry or pear vinegar on fruit salads of any sort might be a good place to start. read more

It's always a shame to walk into a place that has such historical value and decor only to be treated like you don't belong. You would think that with such low volume traffic you would get 5 star treatment. No one said hi to my daughter & I when we walked in. After about 10 minutes and about 5 samples in the brunette says, "I hope you're not using the spouts." I looked at her confused. Then she said, "Make sure you're using the sample bottles...ONLY!" Seriously?! We finally found something we wanted to buy but the size was too big. So I asked the older woman & she didn't even bother to stop what she was doing to answer my question. I guess she figured we didn't have money. It was only after I asked another question & starting touching other breakable bottles that she came around the corner. The brunette disappeared all smiles to what seemed like her boyfriend in another part of High Hand. We spent our money at the cafe instead. Maybe the older woman told us to go there as a joke. BIG MISTAKE. HUGE! read more

I really enjoyed visiting the shop. Like in wine tasting, I curtailed tasting too many oils - there are SO MANY! I ended up buying the Tuscan flavor and have enjoyed several dishes with it. I didn't taste plain EVOO and can't vouch for the quality of the oil. I want to return and taste more. read more

This is the only place I buy my olive oil and especially balsamic. Hallie is always so helpful and accommodating. I bring all out of town guests here and they love the experience and all of the products and Hallie!! read more

We drove to that place for olive oil tasting. Fun experience. The bonus to visit is the beautiful nursery next door. Cafe right next to nursery is a must try. Overall, the oil & balsamic vinegar tasting is great & best place to go compared to other places I have visited. read more

Ever since discovering this place we can no longer drive past Loomis on our way home from Tahoe! The oils and balsamic vinegars are delicious! Even my children fight over the last drop in the bottle. So many wonderful flavors in this charming little tasting room and the staff are very friendly and help with pairing. My only advice would be to buy more than one bottle because your going to want more! Thank you High Hand for another pleasant visit! read more

Love this place!! The strawberry white balsamic is amazing! I love to cook with the pomegranate balsamic is great to cook with, the Tuscan olive oil is amazing, everything is great! There are so many oils and vinegars to try. I've bought several of these as gifts and it's always a hit! read more