The WORST place I have ever shopped at. I went to their original location without the knowledge that their location moved. So after I took my toddler, purse, & baby bag, I had to stuff everything back into my car & search for their new location. The building had no sign indicating they were closed or where they had moved to. At least they were nearby but there was no sign indicating to turn left to get to Natural Pantry, so I missed my turn. After making a long drive around the block, I finally made it to their parking lot. There were no designated shopping cart stalls outside so I found the only cart outside & placed all my stuff into a tiny shopping cart and carried my toddler in one hand while pushing the cart in the other. Not really fun at all. When I got inside I took all my stuff out of my cart and placed it into a cart with a baby seat. I walked through the checkout to see each line was busy so I made no attempt to even try to ask a cashier for help since each one was busy so I decided to adventure around for a bit. Not a single employee greeted me or even asked if I needed help finding anything. When I finally found what I was looking for, it was in a locked case :( I saw someone nearby that worked here, or at least she looked like she worked here: she was wearing an apron but had no name tag. I tried to make eye contact with her but she kept leaving the area. So I thought maybe she didn't work there so I looked around for someone who might. I kept circling the area and saw her again. She kept helping other customers then would walk off. So I finally discovered she in fact does work there. I decided to wait in the aisle but no one showed. A customer behind me looked like he needed the case opened too so I tried circling the aisle one more time. She FINALLY appeared & offered to help the man in the aisle. I WAS HERE FIRST AND IVE BEEN NEEDING HELP FOR 10 MINUTES! The man didn't even mention that I was there first. I just let it go and waited for her to come back. When she does come back, she doesn't even greet me! I THEN realized that this person had been ignoring me. I had to call out from across the counter to get her attention. As I was checking out, the cashier next to me offered to help the customer in line BEHIND ME. My overall experience: It is literally the WORST grocery store I have ever shopped at. EVEN RED APPLE IS BETTER. Unfriendly atmosphere, rude service, unorganized, hard to find, and worst of all; their prices are extremely high. I would not recommend anyone to shop here. read more

Anchorage has a dearth of natural food groceries, and Natural Pantry fills that void. They carry the large inventory of groceries, sundries, cookware, clothing and gifts items I expect. They have a good size fresh deli with hot and cold food, and a seating area where local business folks drop by for mid-week lunch. read more

I am glad I have an option nearby of some items that I can't find anywhere else but I was very irritated today to find that they closed at 7 instead of 9 which is what was posted in google as their hours. We stopped fishing early just to make sure we got grocery shopping done today and showed up to locked doors. And The fact that they close on a Sunday when most people do their grocery shopping is beyond me and an extremely poor decision as a store owner. Additionally, they sell some of the exact same products that say Walmart's has, for 30% markup. It makes me feel cheated. read more

This market is amazing, The selection is impressive, and the prices are great (for AK) and the quality, I'm speaking more than anything about the produce. All of which was very fresh. The little coffee/cafe is also comfortable with a nice big fireplace and lots of food you can either buy at the prepared food counter in the store itself or some of the snacks and baked items at the coffee bar. This store is big with a great selection and had all of those things you have difficulty finding in AK. read more

This is my second favorite place to shop, because they have a lot of the gluten free stuff you can get. Nice staff, clean, and friendly.

Has a great variety of many wonderful organic natural products! I enjoy going here for those unique things I can't find anywhere else.

So, I remember coming to this shop when it used to be in the strip mall on 36th that is now an oriental market. It was cramped and haphazardly organized even back then. Then, it had two locations, one on Dimond and one at the University Center. Both were good and then they consolidated into one main location at UC. This new location made me really annoyed because of the same disorganized, haphazard, half-stocked store but in a greater degree due to bigger space; I think I needed it to get through it's growing pains for me to appreciate it. I still don't think much of the hot food/salad bar, but I do think this store has the best options available for good clean food. Freds has a decent selection, but this place caters to specific diets and needs and has more variety. I just need to close my eyes to the price sometimes and just appreciate the many options available. Now, I'm going to go enjoy a slice of the vegan key lime pie I just bought. read more

They hire the rudest checkers in town. One day shopping there the checker did not even comb her hair, she stunk and was wearing clothes that only a hooker would wear. She had just rolled out of bed, that was obvious . She was rude to the customer ahead of me and she was rude to me. Not sure I am ever going to shop there again. Oh, and their shelves were a mess and empty. This was not my first negative experience at this store. read more

Not sure why the bad reviews... Almost didn't come here because of them, but I'm glad we did. Just passing through Anchorage and hoping for a Whole Foods-type salad bar to get a healthy meal. This place was perfect for that. Salad bar was more than reasonably priced, lots of vegetables, pre-cooked foods were yummy, including slow-cooked meats. read more

Every time I come to this store the staff is nothing but rude, acting as if my shopping has interrupted their day. I only come to this store to buy Lily's chocolate as I have not found it anywhere else in town. I have a feeling there is mandatory training for the employees so they can be their rudest best selves!! read more

This review is for the Hydration Station: Both juices that I ordered had significant amounts of pulp in them and seemed to be primarily Apple juice vs the rest of advertised ingredients. When alerted to this, the women behind the counter said "the filter had just been changed." After running it through again--- same problem. I was then told that "pulp is ok"--- which it is not when you are paying $7 for a juice. I am not sure if this is operator error or the way that their machine is set up. Either way, totally unacceptable. Choices are extremely limited given that it is a cavernous space that seems to scream for more. Almond milk being out and standard for a coffee addition is a great touch and appreciated. Definitely some kinks to be worked out. Such potential! read more

We are here for work but usually try and scope out a Wholefoods or healthy grocery store wherever we are. I found this place on yelp and checked it out despite some of the reviews. It's actually huge with a great selection of things from foods to vitamins etc. I was really surprised actually. It's a little on the expensive side honestly, but the quality of everything is great. Will definitely be shopping here during my stay and recommend it to others. read more

I want to like this store, I really do. It's locally owned, family ran, all the things that usually scream 5-star but...I can only seem to have a love/hate relationship with NP. First the good: new building/location is sweet. Parking is decent. A place to put carts away in the parking lot would have been nice. A handicap accessible (and grocery cart accessible) pedestrian walk down the parking lot would have been nice. Anyone on wheels or pushing something on wheels has to route through the parked cars. Not a very well-designed parking lot. But I digress, this was supposed to be the good paragraph. It's more clean and a bit more organized than the old location. They have a great dairy/non-dairy selection and good frozen fruits. Tasty cheeses and big bulk foods section. Where they really suck is in putting things away and of course, prices. Every day, without fail, they have cart after cart full of shit. Why build a new building with more room if you keep storing all your new inventory in carts piled high down the middle of the aisles? I love buying the big 50lb bags of flour and rice, but I can hardly ever get to them and they never put prices on them. Put your shit away people! Now the prices. I get we live in AK. I've lived here my whole life. I know not to expect Internet prices. But today I went there to buy a #10 can of Thrive brand freeze-dried chicken for backpacking. It sells for $50 online. Natural Pantry is charging $80 for the exact same item. That just isn't right. Many other items are hugely overpriced in the same manner. If someone there could explain that to me, I would be grateful... read more

This store is going downhill. They stopped giving out plastic bags, which is fine, but they would scan your purchases, pile them up and then expect you to bag everything in your own bag. The also sell paper bags for 10 cents, which they will only tell you about if you ask. These bags do not even have handles. Seriously? If you care about environment by getting rid of plastic bags and then decide to charge for a paper bag - at least make sure these paper bags have handles! I used to love this store, but now have no desire of coming back. read more

I love this place, it is like Whole Foods on steroids and the selection(s) of vegetarian options are outstanding. Besides, there are but 5 grocery stores to shop at in Anchorage for vegetarians, this is but one and this is the best one. read more

Forget this place. I cringe before every regrettable visit including today's (made to escape freezing rain at a nearby park). I'm embarrassed to be seen here and embarrassed to see so many other locals who are obviously bad at math. Yes, Anchoragites are used to "paying more" but NP outright gouges their customers. I tried leaving with a snack, but can't justify $5.59 for 8oz of hummus and $3.59 for a prepackaged cookie that sells for $2.19 elsewhere. Plus the bozos are closed on Sunday, which is like half of the available marketing time for worker-bees. 1 star for being "locally owned." read more

I really want to like this place but I feel like management needs to take a firm grip on the reins here. The only things I like about this place are limited to the products. Unfortunately the service, prices, layout and atmosphere just make this an unpleasant place to shop. The products they have here are actually pretty good, as a fitness enthusiast I think the variety of items they have are great...this is the only reason I didn't give them a one star review. The layout of this place is just way too haphazard, there's just no logical placement of anything in the store. I feel like I'm walking around at a large garage sale picking through endless rows of random stuff. I don't know if this layout was intentional but they should really revamp it. Even the employees have a hard time pointing me in the right direction for specific items. Most of the employees can be found wandering the store but I never actually see them doing anything. It's usually just a group of three or four standing in a circle and chatting. I don't have a problem with people talking to their co-workers but not when there's obvious things that need to be done. I've never seen more than two people working the registers at any one time regardless of how long the lines get. I've literally spent more time waiting in line than actually shopping in the store (despite how difficult it is to find what I'm looking for in the first place.) Then there's the prices, I don't want to call it price gouging but...yeah. While it's true they have great products, I can find the same items around town. I've done price checking and NP seems to charge an average of 15 percent more than their competitors for the same items. They may sell all organic produce but the produce section isn't even that much larger than the organic section at Fred Meyer's. The Epic brand protein bars I like are cheaper at REI which is crazy because REI isn't exactly known for offering competitive prices either. The most frustrating thing is that all of these issues could easily be resolved by better management and oversight. It wouldn't even take that much oversight, just provide a little training to the staff and walk the floor every once in a while. I never like to give negative reviews, especially to local businesses but when the problem can easily be avoided I think they could use the constructive criticism. read more

I was very skeptical of this store when I read the reviews but tried it because it appeared to be the best choice for healthy, natural food for a family of vegetarians visiting Anchorage. True, it did look as if they hadn't finished unpacking. Most of the bulk food containers were empty with lots of boxes sitting in the aisle. They didn't have any bags available for the bulk food so we used plastic gloves instead. ;) But their produce was fantastic and very fresh. They had a nice selection of organic fruits such as grapes, strawberries and blueberries which tasted as good as they looked. We got sandwiches from the deli and were pleasantly surprised by their vegan options and the variety of sandwich "fixins". The sriracha aioli (a mix of veganaise and sriracha) was tasty on my sandwich. The staff was friendly and no excessively long check out waits. read more

I have gone into the natural pantry many times and now have decided never to go again. I am tired of going there and only finding half of what I am looking for. I am not talking about exotic items but everyday items like gallon plastic bags. Then I have to go elsewhere to finnish my shopping. I pay more there for the same items I can get elsewhere but I have put up with that until now. But no more. read more

I have to say that contrary to some of the scathing reviews, I had good experiences here both times I shopped during our vacation in Anchorage. The people were very friendly and helpful, and I thought the variety of products was nothing short of amazing in a place I wouldn't have thought would be very veg-friendly. Prices were high but we expected that. We were very happy to find them and look forward to coming back on our next trip! read more

I dock three stars, and give two. Here's why. I give one star for all the selection of organic/natural/specialty items and doc two stars because they jack the prices up SOOOO MUCH, it's almost insane. I bought a detox there once, I thought I was getting something amazing and worth the price. It was almost $100. A month later I saw the same kit at Fred Meyer's for normally only $49.99 AND it was on sale for less than 20.00. I bet you can find 99.9% of the products there for up to half, if not 75% cheaper almost anywhere else. I give another star because they offer the salad/food bar, which is a nice on the go meal. It also lists major allergy concerns. I doc another start though because while the salad/food bar ALWAYS SMELLLLS SOOOO AMAZING, it doesn't always taste as amazing as it smells. I've never been satisfied when eating the food. Though, I've always wanted to try the Lemon soup but every time I try, it's out. Maybe if I ever get to try it and it's as good as I hear, then maybe I'll add a star! read more

It's not for me. It's just too expensive for my tastes. If you have a unique dietary need, this may be the place for that, but otherwise, I was not impressed. read more

I don't know why it's so hard to do it to go order at natural pantry. It takes forever if you stand in line and if you want to get something quick and want to be proactive and even offered to pay by phone they still won't take your order. Very frustrating. read more

I, like everyone else, really want to like this place....but...BUT....good lord the sh*t is expensive in there! I swung in today after a quick mail run for some lunch & snacks to leave at my kid's daycare. Let me start off by saying that it's been almost ONE year since their grand re-opening & the deli food section is a complete disaster. And by complete disaster, I mean EMPTY. The salad bar has more empty trays than full, there's in the deli section, & I only noticed two (yes, 2) sandwiches in the cooler sections & they were both ham sandwiches. Seriously. One year. So, I went into the frozen section for lunch....I ended up purchasing 5 items & suddenly I was 30 bucks lighter. Not kidding, 30 dollars (granted I did buy an 8 dollar sippy cup for my son...IMPULSE). Anyways, that's my rant. Probably won't go back unless someone else is paying (slim chance) or I hit the millionaire club (chances even slimmer). read more

Natural Pantry - My $30 lunch & kid's snack bill. - Health Markets Near Me - Anchorage, Alaska

Found this place while I was exploring Anchorage and it was a nice discovery. The all organic selection and the natural food selection this place has was pretty nice. I would think of this place as a smaller Whole Foods back in California. There was tons of nutritious foods and drinks with a good selection of organic items such as fruits, and meats. Though this place is pricey, compared to other organic / natural supermarkets the prices are fairly inline. read more

So, the new store is big, clean and smells better than the old natural pantry. The salad bar is delicious for fresh veg for lunch and fairly priced for Alaska. Again, for Alaska it's not too bad, but anywhere else it'd be a 2-3 star for me. I don't buy groceries here, except when they have some heirloom tomatoes or stuff I can't get elsewhere. It's simply too expensive. I don't like to cut up all the fixins at home for salad, so this is a great option when I'm trying to eat healthy. read more

Lots of fresh produce. Wide array of foods that I can't find anywhere else. Vegan options galore in the protein powder aisle

I've occasionally shopped here since they were in their first location on 36th. I became a regular when they were in the old Safeway at the University Center. Today, I became a former customer. First, the earlier reviews by Rachael and Michelle N. below mirrored my experiences here. There is an abundance of employees; it's not clear what they're doing. They're not putting stuff away, because this brand new store looks like it's overdue for a two part episode of Hoarders. At the customer service counter up front (which I've never seen actually staffed) there are stacks of newspapers, boxes scattered about, carts full of stuff that theoretically belongs on a shelf somewhere, etc. One end of the store is non-navigable with a shopping cart, because it's just stacks of bags of grains. In the remote possibility that the owners of this store read these reviews and actually care: Your store is so messy it's almost impossible that it's not infested with rodents, and worse - it seems like it would be infested with rodents. I'm going to venture a guess that most employees' primary objective is to avoid manning the check out lines. There are almost never enough lines open, regardless of how many people are in the store. Meanwhile, employees wander aimlessly around, pulling pallets of things that won't be put away, or staring into space, ignoring customers. One other thing: the owners of this place need to know that their employees are giving advice about the numerous supplements they sell. Why people are seeking the advice of grocery store employees who are hiding out in the vitamin aisle to avoid cashiering is one of life's mysteries, but they are, and management seems to have forgotten to tell them not to give such advice. It's unfortunate. Like many others, I really wanted to like (or continue to like) Natural Pantry. But it's a hot mess. read more

Well, as anyone would or should visit an business and then take time to write a review on their experience and especially a somewhat negative one I think it's more than fair (ethical?) to revisit and take another look. I can only suggest this because I've spent the majority of my adult life in the restaurant business or food service related enterprises. I've been brought down a notch or two in my career and if it were legal I would have been tarred and feathered. Some I deserved and some I didn't but I would much rather hear the negatives than the positives. In a recent article I read there's a number of chefs have actually refused a Michelin Star because of the stress not to achieve that status but how to hold on to it. My first visit to The Natural Pantry was anything but stellar. There were some blaring errors not in just the over-all lack of care of a beautifully appointed building with state of the art equipment (I had a complete tour before anything was stocked) but carts scattered about the place with unstocked items and high expense departments not even opened. I'm not going to go back over those overly mentioned issues; I'm going to dwell on the positives. I didn't have to look far! Just recently, my wife was diagnosed with diabetes. Well, I'm always looking for a project so we spent some time researching "diets" and how to count calories, carbs, etc. and we had our shopping list in hand. I suggested The Natural Pantry. Surely they would have all that's needed to keep within the dietary essentials without having to sell your soul for a burrito. They hit it out of the park! There's more in the news on gluten-free than anything else. For those of you that indeed can't digest gluten there's plenty of choices. I didn't say good choices but the most common items. Same with diabetic diets. I had a list gleaned from the internet that I felt would be impossible to buy locally but I found everything on my list in addition I found items that inspired me to get into the laboratory (my kitchen) and experiment. Last night I knocked out a great brownie that was low carb, sugar free, and tasted great! I even had a sugar free chocolate sauce. Ganache for you foodies. To cut to the chase, Natural Pantry was neat and organized, friendly staff as well as helpful and their prices were well lower than one would expect from a specialty store. The bulk buns were stocked as well as their bulk herbs and spices. They carry an array of supplements for everyday health and essential oils and natural flavorings. I and my wife spent awhile cruising the store and added to my already stuffed cart. When we checked out instead of sticker shock I was pleasantly surprised at the value we received. If you have had a negative experience I suggest to give them another chance. Everyone deserves that. I'm not saying they're perfect thus the 3 stars but evidently they're reading the reviews! I'll be a regular and I hope they keep moving forward. read more

Although they have a good selection of organic, gluten free and vegan foods they are just too expensive. I used to do most of my shopping there until I realized how much I was spending. $8.99 for a large container of organic spinach, which had either already expired or was about to in the next couple days, I now pay $4.99 at Fred Meyer and it's good for a week or two. A quart of organic strawberries are usually $8.99 at NP, just paid $3.99 at FM! My cat food I get for 1/4th the price by Amazon. It's just not worth it. I do get a few things there still like yogurt and fancy chocolate but it just doesn't make sense to do all my shopping there as it is way more expensive than other stores in town who are actually providing fresher organic produce. read more

The only good thing is the wide selection of products that you can't really find in Anchorage on as large a scale. The prices are awful, and besides some cashiers, the service is consistently rude and apathetic. I always feel like I'm doing them a disservice by coming in at all... And don't even get me started on the people who work the cafe. read more

Not the greatest selection. Expensive. The produce is awful and full price. The breads are frostbitten and full price. But they do have some cool non food items. And they have free better nutrition magazines. No loyalty program. Store is clean and nice looking. Free WiFi and a coffee bar that my allergies ensure I can't try out. read more

The only reason I am giving this business a 4 star is because it takes forever at check-out. Other than that, it deserves a 5 star. Great products, huge amounts of inventory for sensitive individuals. The owners are super nice. This is a store everyone should shop at, not just heathly-minded individuals. Everything here is so tasty. read more

Lots of variety in organic produce & foods. Pricey but can often find specific items here I can't find elsewhere.

Overpriced and rude owners. I visited this establishment and was shocked at the prices and frustrated with how disorganized it was- took so long to find things. I ended up having to leave suddenly to catch a flight so i put my soaps and tofu back on the nearest shelf. Apparently this is a crime at Natural Pantry. Jared Solberg, the owners son, from Lost Control followed me and stopped me as I was trying to leave asking me to take him to where I put the soap. He was so shockingly rude- I have never experienced anything like it. Everyone around us thought I was stealing which of course I wasnt. It was a real surprise to me. Frankly the place is awful and overpriced anyways. I can get the same items on Amazon for much cheaper. read more

At lunch time when you have 10 or more people at the three cash registers you have open you might want to open a couple more lanes.

Customer service at the hydration station is POOR!!!

I've been away from Anchorage for a while and was excited to see the new expanded location. I had been hoping to find a cleaner and more organized store. They carry millions of products it seems and have Alaska-style square footage, but inadequate staff for customer service and the staff I did encounter were not knowledgeable about the products. Too many products, too few staff. Better to carry what you can support and keep clean and organized. More is not always better. The only show in town needs competition or greater commitment to excellence in knowledge and service. read more

I like this store, in fact the first time I went inside I felt almost overstimulated at the wealth of items they carry. With that being said, I also feel frustrated that this is really the only option around for one stop organic shopping. I love that they are a bit more specialized but in my opinion, they are ridiculously expensive and overpriced. Organic lunch meat that is already expensive at Fred Meyers ($5.99) for like 8 slices, is like $8.99-$10.99 at Natural Pantry. Many of the items they sell you can get locally at other stores for much cheaper. I would love to just go to one place and get all my shopping done, however, paying $2.00-$3.00 more per item adds up fast, so I find I only frequent them for the things I truly can't buy elsewhere or order online for less. The store itself is huge, and I love all the variety, just not the price I have to pay for it. It seems like they're recouping the new store costs but tacking it on to the grocery prices. They have always been spendy I think, but now some of their stuff is just ridiculously expensive for what you get. read more

I only step foot in this store for my mineral bath salts. I can get a huge tub for 27.99. I agree with the reviews some have on here that the customer service is POOR, POOR, POOR. They are self absorbed people who think too highly of themselves and think it is beneath them to serve customers. It truly is a bad reflection in the store management that should promote good and polite customer service. I only put up with it to grab my bath salts because I can't get those anywhere else in this town. The customer service alone would turn away some to never want to come back again. read more