I love the variety of stuff they have. I go to the one on Hollywood and Vermont. It’s fun to shop from Russian to Armenian to Hispanic foods. They have 12 different kinds of pita fer chrisakes. And a whole section of various smoked fish. And smoked sausages and salamis, big selection of cheeses, and my favorite is a cooler as you walk in, with freshly made deli items like hummos, baba ghanoosh, tabouli, various pickled vegetables, and my favorite the stuffed cabbage. It comes in a package of 6 and I bring ‘em home, steam ‘em up, and YUM.
In the meat department is a lot of hard to find stuff. Like smoked pig ears and stuff like that. And while the produce isn’t Whole Foods quality, the variety is amazing and the prices are a fraction of Whole Foods. In fact the whole store is so much cheaper than other markets. It’s not fancy, feels like it could use some upgrades, but the food is good and I’ve been going more often recently.
I agree. For those of us who smoke brisket you can sometimes find point cut briskets there. Everyone else, except Gelson’s (expensive and they trim too much fat off) and Cambridge Farms (kosher) grinds the point into hamburger. What a waste!!! Plus Jon’s has incredible bacon, as lilmikey mentioned under the smoked meats category.
On the down side the parking lot (in the valley at Laurel Canyon and Magnolia) is usually a full contact death match and it is usually a trial to have a pleasant interaction with the cashiers.
Jon’s has a flagship store with a deli on Sherman Way. I have only been once, but it was awesome. Armenian pizza!!!
Jon’s is my regular haunt, too. I’m fortunate to live near the Sepulveda and Sherman Way location which is very pleasantly done out. Produce pricing is great, and virtually everything is in an open bin so you can just buy what you actually want.
Their deli is as good as can be and I also like the meat department with their friendly butchers. Highly recommended!
I try to hit that place up on one out of every four grocery trips. Love the Eureka brand bacon, Bobak’s sausages, more types of Armenian string cheese than you can count, fantastic whole wheat and “finger” bread from Stone Bakery and bulk spices. A few years back, they had the most incredible deal on bone-in ribeyes that were cut thick - like 2.5 inches or more - beautifully marbled and under $5/pound! Pretty much everything else I’ve had from the butcher section has been meh. Fantastic prices and produce selection - I hit them up when I’m looking for dandelion greens and similar stuff but don’t feel like a dedicated farmers market trip. Finally, their liquor aisle ain’t too bad, either. I’ve never seen more types of vodka in my life, plus their price for Russian Standard is probably the lowest in the city.
That’s a great place to shop. Given the similarity in logos, I’m always marveling why the lawyers for Vons haven’t yet sent a “cease and desist” letter to Jons.
I’ve been reading about Jon’s for years but have never been. For a total newbie, any categories or brands I should try first as a “gateway?” (aside from what’s already been listed in the thread)
Also, Jon’s easily has the best selection of hot dogs I’ve seen in the city. All beef, veal, beef/pork, etc. Various brands.
(EDIT) All this talk made me hungry, so I headed over there. Picked up some bread - sliced wheat (my favorite I’ve found in the city), sandwich bread which is crusty with a nice, light crumb - Eureka veal hot dogs, polish bacon and some other odds and sods. Love that place!
They have good prices on spices and, joy of joys, they recently had whole poppyseed for $3 a pound. That is KILLER price and as a gal who bakes, reason for a joyful dance.
Their lox trimmings are very well priced and they have very good sales on two pound bags of frozen shrimp.
It really is fantastic. Using it for meatball subs for today’s NFL games.
FYI - they’ve got two bread aisles. The mass market stuff is closer to the produce while armenian, russian and other ethnic bread can be found closer to the meat/deli area.
I need to check this location out—the selections sounds amazing. The Jon’s by me on 3rd/K-town is very small and the selection there isn’t that diverse—which is strange considering the actual diversity of the neighborhood. I just googled them and it seems like they have two different types of markets: Jon’s Marketplace and Jon’s International marketplace. It appears that the “International” stores are the ones with the larger, more diverse products.
I’m not a big fan of Jon’s (only have been to the Van Nuys store), but right across the street from the Valley Village store is Odessa Grocery, which has an amazing selection of smoked fish. The smoked salmon is excellent and, iirc, $7.99/lb. There also is an Odessa Grocery in West Hollywood.
