buying food in the bay area
one woman's opinion
Farmer's Markets
On the whole, I really like going to farmer's markets more than anything else. They have real food there, and not shelves and shelves of nonsense. But they do vary in quality. The best one I've been to is the San Jose Japantown market, which has very reasonable prices (Giant Bunches of Basil for $1) and some organic and non-pesticide produce. The people there are mostly nice too. I also like Menlo Park (downtown, Chestnut and Menlo, close and decent) and Mountain View (very good). The Redwood City Farmer's Market is pretty useless. I went once to the Oakland one by the docks. They had some nice products, and a good selection of regular stuff but not much organic.
Trader Joe's
They have great cottage cheese, good cheap bread, tasty whole-wheat tortillas, some good cereal (Ginger Almond Cashew granola -- yum), and a wide selection of soymilk for good prices. Generally you get some good deals there. But the quality of fresh stuff is kind of so-so sometimes, and not as well priced as farmer's market. I'm never happy with their tomatoes and the bananas are either green or overripe. Their selection of meatless frozen food is also lackluster, and I hate the Menlo Park store layout because I have to walk right by the meat to buy soymilk. They have good bagels and stock Tofutti cream cheese. Their herbs are pretty reasonable, though rarely as fresh as I'd like.
Draeger's
San Mateo at 4th and B, Menlo Park at University and Menlo, and Los Altos. Draeger's is always really good but you really have to watch the prices here. If the price happens to be good, or it's a basic item, you're usually okay. Otherwise you pay through the nose. Don't buy any of their imported British stuff, because it's consistently stale. Go there if you need nice cheese or really fresh, good produce on a non-farmer's market day. They have nice herbs too. I buy wild rice (for salad) there because the price is no more outlandish than anywhere else.
Whole Foods
Their 365 Organic Soymilk is the best ever. They have reasonably-priced bulk foods as well. Never buy produce there without checking the price, but if they have a sale, it can be very good. I got some nice strawberries there for my birthday at a good price. They stock Tofutti cream cheese and sour cream. They also stock Quorn, my favorite veggie meat substitute (unfortunately not vegan).
Rainbow Grocery
Folsom between 13th and 14th in SF. Rainbow is hands-down my favorite place to shop. They have a HUGE bulk foods section with crazy stuff that you can't find anywhere else easily, like Teff flour for Ethiopian bread and black lentils. They usually have nice produce at good prices. I love their maple pecan granola and they keep having sales on it! NEVER buy refrigerated soymilk there, though. It's SO expensive! I think the regular non-refrigerated containers are probably not as bad. Also, they have some Alvarado St. bakery bread which I'm pretty sure is the same kind as Trader Joe's, so TJ's has the better deal on it. Rainbow also stocks Quorn, but I always end up buying so much there that I don't want to waste space on frozen processed stuff.
Mexican Markets
There's one of these in Menlo Park on Willow near 101, called Mi Rancho. In general they tend to be great places to buy avocados, chiles, mango, spring onions, cilantro, and other Mexican cooking ingredients. Three bunches of spring onions for a dollar once, where at TJ's you get one bunch for that much. There's also one in San Jose on Julian and 6th that has lots of dried chiles in packets. I haven't seen whether Mi Rancho has that, but they probably do.
Vietnamese and Thai Markets
Logically enough, these usually are good places to get ingredients for these cuisines. The market at 2nd and Santa Clara in San Jose has San Jose tofu (two kinds) in stock. The prices are very reasonable, and they'll have things like lemongrass, galangal, and kaffir lime leaves that aren't overpriced. Lots of soy and chile sauces, rice and rice noodles, and other good stuff. There are some in Menlo Park according to GoCee.com, but I haven't seen them or been to them, so they may not be there anymore.