Although it was a great find my budget could not go far here. This local gem just popped up as I was driving around Boulder. I shopped at Whole Foods market (very pricy) but worth the stop as I was In need of a snack. The parking is free for 2 hours but only if you are shopping in the small market area.

I didnt know I needed an appointment and the wait was about 1 hour. Luckily a very helpful person from the county suggested that I might be able to use a self service machine. It worked great. Good luck to you.

Great market with lots of organic foods, food bar, desserts, and great people. Love all the Colorado grown produce and fruits, too!

It’s ok but I don’t know why they don’t sell local food like Boulder Sausage and Munson Farms corn. Their idea of local corn is from Montrose. What’s wrong with supporting local farms and companies?

Friendly neighborhood grocery. Excellent bakery and delicious sandwiches 😋

Super chill vibe. Great selection of anything and everything you could eat.

Now owned by Whole Foods, for better or worse. Generally high quality food and its a very convenient, semi-neighborhood store.

No restrooms there, very un-American.

A standard Whole Foods very conveniently situated in the Community Plaza. Aisles are too narrow and it can get very crazy on Friday afternoons. Nonetheless, a life saver for residents of Old North Boulder, especially after the King Soopers Table Mesa closure.

Great produce at high prices. Everything fresh and good. perhaps the only downside other then price is that they dont stock Coke-zero.

Just moved to town and this place is within walking distance. I love it! Great for picking up a few things without going into a larger store. Staff is ridiculously friendly and willing to help you find what you need.

I love Ideal or used to love Ideal, but gosh, today was the worst customer behavior Ive seen in any store in a year. By now, people should know the mask goes over your nose... And yelling at other customers doesnt make for a good shopping experience. I wont ever return.

Wowza, this place is priceyyy. There must be a Boulder law that doesnt allow any other grocery stores because this place has a monopoly compared to how other Boulder grocery stores are spaced. Anyway, Cilantro was good, Chicken was good, ...

Love this little grocery store! It is pricey but the staff is very friendly and enthusiastic, plus everything is pretty good quality here. The soups are our favorite!

A mini Whole Foods in Boulder. It’s great!

Cost is a bummer. But do have good products

Nice to see theyve kept some of their small-market appeal and character despite being part of a larger operation. Good quality, fresh foods.

Better known as Ideal Market by locals (whole foods owns them though). Its essentially a mini whole foods and does get very crowded. Prices are also pretty high but thats standard for this chain. Their lunch food, however, is fantastic! They have great pizza and their salad/hot bars go half off every once in a while.

Whole Foods is dependable when it comes to quality produce that is fresh and organic. I wish there was a lot more local options for fruit and veggies, however, it does depend on what is in season. The fish market is good quality, as well as the meat market. It is the only place that I have found good quality organic or grass fed meats.

This is not a review of the entire store, which is small and just is what it is. However, this week I picked up a rotisserie chicken. What a disappointment. It was so overcooked that the extremities were crunchy and the breast meat totally dry. Very poor value for my $8. EDIT: Whole Foods responded to my review and asked ME to get back in touch with them. I did this yesterday and they proposed refunding my $8.70. At their request, I provided the date and time of purchase, the exact amount of the transaction and my credit card info. This lousy chicken was the only thing on the transaction. However, because I cant produce the receipt, they now refuse any refund. Way to go Whole Foods. Eight dollars wont change my standard of living, but it certainly changed my outlook on your corporation, Congrats. I remember when Ideal Market was Ideal Market. Now it is just another irrelevant data point.

Its a whole foods but smaller and for the neighborhood. Im digging the local grocery store trend this fulfills

Such a pretentious place to deal with just to buy groceries. I’ll continue to drive further to avoid this spot - even the people working there are painful to be around.

Ideal Market (WF) is our local neighborhood market. We go here for groceries for the full week, to grab a gallon of milk, or for a coffee or dessert. It is great having Ideal Market so close to home.

Visiting a friend and stopped here. I enjoyed the small store experience personally. Would return for sure, as everyone was super friendly.

Its the most stereotypical boulder grocery store you can imagine. Health nuts everywhere, organic everything. Lucky to find a coke product lol

Good place

My gf works there and she hit me... With her car.

That’s funny... My review from last week was taken down - that’s okay you can find the original on yelp.I’ve ran into an issue with a staff member that they employ that works the front who has horrendous customer service. This has been pretty consistent. She’s bossy, snarky and just downright belittling. You’d think you’d want the face of your store to be more pleasant. Guess not. You’re making a bad image of yourself Ideal Market.

Good vibes

Interesting place. Dont look for a Whole Foods sign out front. The store is still the old historic name (sorry, I forgot the name) but owned by W.F. And dont expect to buy beer or wine here. There is a liquor store across the street. This is a tiny little store packed to the brim of everything you would expect from W.F.

Great whole foods branch. The parking lot is a bit of a challenge. Selection is smaller given the footprint of course.

Good small grocery health food store

Super meat dept. Knowledgeable and efficient.

Love this little market because it has a lot of great local options, a cute cafe and awesome salad bar. Great option for when I need to grab something quick and on the go.

This is owned by whole foods.

Stay away from Ideal. Total remodel confusion..tight isles.stuff everywhere..hard to find anything. As if its not difficult enough. Boo

Very busy this time Of day and hard to park

Just had an unsatisfactory experience at this store. After waiting for ten minutes while a VERY SLOW cashier waited on two customers in front of us, chatting way more than necessary, when we got to the front of the line we told the new cashier that wed been waiting a long time. She said it gave us a chance to practice patience. I would prefer not to have to practice patience when I have raw chicken on the conveyor belt, or be given a moral lesson by a cashier. A more satisfactory response would have been, Sorry youve had to wait so long, lets get you checked out as soon as possible. Would you like a bag of ice to keep your chicken cold?

Yummy food :3 Lots of organic stuff :3

Smaller than most whole foods, but thats what I like the most about it. When Ideal was a standalone store it had a charm that it still retains today even though its part of a chain. I go for a quick breakfast, smoothie or to pick up a few things on my way home. Its not as busy and overwhelming as the other whole foods.

At least there was no shooter.

Terrible customer service, you will be made to feel like a hindrance here, not a customer.

My boyfriend and I frequent here, but more frequently comment on how sad the hot bar food is. Would much prefer fresh green veggie, healthy meat, hearty soup options to not very fresh mashed potatoes, sad chicken wings, and slices of pizza.

The tiniest Whole Foods Market Ive been too. Its close to my work so its a nice spot to pick up a few items or grab something from their sandwich bar of one of the prepared lunches. Its very cute, but not a substitute for grabbing all of your groceries.

The Owner of the shopping center who owns a white bmw is RUDE. Go back to NYC leave boulder in Peace.

Good local spot for produce

This is the last time I will ever go to Ideal Market. I went to the store at a later time to avoid the busy lines at earlier hours, but the workers there seemed annoyed that I was in the store a half hour before close and I have never seen someone so annoyed with me at checkout. Dont worry, I wont be back in! If people arent going to be nice checkers, or dont really want to check you out, then install automatic check outs so people can just scan and go without rude human interaction. Peace out!

This is the smallest Whole Foods that Ive been in, mainly because this location used to be a small town grocery store called Ideal Market. This isnt the place that you want to do your large grocery shopping since the small aisles limits the amount of product that can be displayed on the shelves, so if youre used to the bigger locations, its best to go the nearby Pearl Street location. If you are just coming in to buy a few small items or looking for a delicious and healthy hot meal, this is the spot to hit in north Boulder.

For the third time in three months, I have received a product at Whole Foods that was far below any reasonable standard. This time it was some of their 365 brand tomatoes. After making a sauce I realized something was not right. I cooked it a little more, adjusted seasoning to realize that nothing was going to save it. I eventually tried some of the product out of the can. Bitter, metallic, just awful. An entire meal (with dinner company waiting) was ruined. This unfortunately isnt an isolated incident as I have had a kale bean soup from their soup bar that was not just not great, but terrible, and a piece of meat that was like leather. They are willing to refund the cost of the dinner, but obviously there isnt anything that can pay me back for the dinner party embarrassment. I was always willing to pay the ridiculous prices they charged if the quality was top shelf, but the quality at there markets has gone down, way down.

Its local. They serve great stuff. They are friendly. Its still Ideal Market to me. Gee, people can be picky. Hey - enjoy life! You live in Boulder!

This doesnt really qualify as the typical Whole Foods experience. As a visitor following Google maps I was surprised to see Ideal as the name, but a smaller version of Whole foods inside. Smaller as in little to no baked goods. No beer. OK for a quick stop, but when I see Whole Foods on the maps I expect something else.

One of the bigger flagship WFM stores Ive been to. The offering are endless and their local warm food offering station is outstanding. Id give this place 5 stars, but sadly, the parking lot is small for the size of the town and the store and the place is so so busy at times it is hard to get around the isle.

3.9Prefer Alfalfas and sprouts. Likewise, Safeway and King Soopers. Oh well, oh I do like Whole Foods Superior!

Whole Foods has gotten really major corporate and of course always full-on snobby and they have been caught here and there misrepresenting their product so my faith and Whole Foods and their mission statement is a little tainted but its hard to find as much of the stuff that you really want unless you go to Whole Foods or I should say whole paycheck. Although the quality is good arguably some of the best available they absolutely gouge anybody walks in the door. Its laughably overpriced but this is no news to anybody who shops at Whole Foods. All this aside if you put all the Whole Foods together this is one of the good ones

Stopped by for food and drinks. Service was amazing and very vlean.

Perfect little grocery store. It is Whole Foods so expect to pay Whole Foods prices. I prefer smaller grocery stores so this one is ideal. The fruits, veggies, and products from the butcher have all been great and the staff is friendly.

This was a really cool concept for a store. Its like a miniature Whole Foods. I wish they put one near my house in Denver.

Ideal has a great selection of items and the staff is super friendly, but theres definitely a luxury tax associated with shopping here. The positive is that you can get all the things on your list. I often leave feeling like I couldve just saved $20 by shopping elsewhere. If you live in the neighborhood, it just comes down to how much youre wiling to pay for convenience.

If you really look you can find great deals and love the fresh homemade breads

All of North Boulder shops here. The employees are great

Local, small market packed with most of what you need. Great place to pick up quick yet healthy food for any meal. Love the neighborhood convenience of this store!

Friendly staff with a great selection of healthy food!

Friendly staff and relatively clean store

Small version of Whole Foods that kept historic (to Boulder) Ideal Mart name. Very friendly staff and quick service. Avoid checkout rush at lunch and dinner times if you are in a hurry as those can be challenging with very large local people volumes...

Checkout was slow enough that my “hot food” was no longer hot. Good for produce. I wouldn’t recommend going here if you’re looking for anything else.

This is a very good grocery store available to a local, urban neighborhood. The selection is excellent for being a small store. You can find virtually everything you need. The one drawback is that it is rather pricey. Being that they are owned by Whole Foods, that isnt a big surprise.

This team is working so hard to keep us safe!! Thank you!!

Smaller store not the largest selection but always friendly and convenient for the area. Will also cover 2 hours parking on the near by garage.

Great fresh bread selection, cheeses, deli, produce and prepared foods.

Great product with low then before pricing. Busy but easy to navigate the lot and the store.

Friendly service. Good selection for a small store. Soup is always delicious.

I liked using my prime app. Produce selection was decent.

Local place for central boulderites. Good shops very pricey.

Specialty store all around! Great hot buffet foods. Great seating with view of Flatirons!

Ive been going to this store for years, but Jenna has been making me feel uncomfortable when I go in - I feel she goes out of her way to be rude to me. She decided to sweep an aisle I was browsing and made me shove up against the shelves instead of politely moving the broom sideways to create more space for just a very short distance. There was no apparent reason to sweep or tell me to get out of the way either. Then I go to checkout at express and she demands I empty my basket for her. I have never had any other employee except her (at any store anywhere) ask me to do this. Especially at the express check out where there is barely space to fulfill her request (basket alone takes almost all the space). Why cant she just take items out of basket instead of making me do extra work? Everything was neatly sitting there....Instead of dealing with that, I waited in line for another checker that happily emptied my basket. I hope Jenna improves her customer service skills .

Good selection for small store, and very nice employees. Run of the mill Whole Foods. Fairly expensive, but good selection.

Huge selection of organic, vegetarian and vegan options. The deli is great as is their soup & hot bar. A little overpriced but the quality is always good.

Its a. Very nice place to shop ..little pricey fast check out..and always fresh meat and vegetables ..i would reckamend whole foods...

Its a small neighborhood Whole Foods with narrow aisles that can be a challenge to negotiate when the store is busy. Produce can be understocked at times when they cant keep up with the demand. But it has the WF basics. It doesnt carry all the specialty items the big WF does, but it doesnt have the parking nightmare either.

The organic products are very nice and of great quality.

Small local store w/Whole Foods prices on some items. But love the people and good ingredients for cooking.

Friendly staff, easy to stop by for the healthy foods we love. Fresh everything always!!!

Small whole foods store, great selection, can get in and out quickly

Good little wfs that is great and convenient to get to and park at. Never super busy as far as I can tell its a good option for a quick grocery store needs.

Fun fact, there is an underground and you should definitely try it with parking usually a hot mess.

Convenient. Quality

Horrible, just horrible

One of the best whole foods, lots sitting space and outlet, WIFI is ok speed and not as unstable as other location

Produce double the cost of King Soopers produce section. This store has high prices compared to even whole foods Denver. Maybe Boulder folks can afford it?

Love this whole foods. Mostly all Organic products. Small, very clean.

Pretty good for whole paycheck. Although small they often have most things you would need.

This is a perfect local market just a bit pricey

Was way better before the switch from Ideal but still a nice place to find good eats

The store is quaint and has a great selection of organic products

High prices however nice clerks and clean store.

Small but has a lot of the basics I need. Nice to not have to run into a huge grocery store every time I need something.

Tiny Whole Foods, a lot mellower vibe than the shop on Pearl. Friendly folks, always giving out samples.

Used to be better. They still carry some special stuff, but what they make is no longer what it used to be.

Great hot bar for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and pretty cheap to boot!

Everything is nice about this place out side of the price. If someone makes under 24k a year I would not shop here.