East End Food Co-Op
Restaurant, Coffee/Tea/Juice, Grocery/Bakery/Deli
Profile
$$ - average
Organic produce and natural food
The East End Food Co-Op is your standard natural food co-op, where you can find organic produce, a large bulk section, vegan packaged foods, and cruelty-free cosmetics/supplements that are harder to find at the supermarket.
You do not have to be a member to shop at the co-op, although members do get a 10% discout off the shelf price, and get a vote in all co-op elections. Memberships are $100 per household, and can be sold back to the co-op if you leave the city.
Members can volunteer at the co-op and earn discounts on purchases based on the number of hours worked.
You can also order food by the case at the co-op and receive a discount.
Inside the co-op, besides groceries, there is a small vegetarian cafe and juice bar, as well as a hot and cold food bar. There is usually a weekend brunch, as well, which serves more substantial food.
The EEFC is located on Meade Street, just north of Braddock Ave.
The 71C, 67A, 67F, and 67J busses will all drop you off just a few blocks away, at the corner of Penn Ave. and Lexington or Penn and Braddock.
If you're driving along Penn Ave, just north of Braddock Ave you'll see a small plaza with Gymkhana gymnastics and Gatto Cycle Shop. You can park in that lot, the co-op is on the opposite side of the plaza, on Meade St.
- (Mostly) Organic
- Brunch
Added by Kelly Holmes on May 29 04 (updated Sep 14 06)
Reviews
The EEFC is a good place to find vegan packaged food, cleaning products, cosmetics and other stuff that Giant Eagle won't carry.
It's neither more expensive nor cheaper than Whole Foods, I've found. Some items are cheaper, some are more expensive. Some you can only find here, some you can only find at Whole Foods. I do try to support the co-op as much as I can though, since it's a local deal.
What's also nice here is you can order things by the case - usually even things they don't normally stock - and save some money that way. I often buy soymilk by the case here. It's never taken more than 5 days for an order to arrive, for me at least.
The bulk section is also good here - especially the huge selection of spices. You'll also find pastas, rices, nuts, dry beans, nutritional yeast, different kinds of flour, sugar, peanut/cashew/almond butters, tahini, coffee, oils, soy sauce, maple syrup, dried fruits, raisins, oats, some premade foodstuffs like soup mix, granola, etc. and even bulk dish soap and liquid soap. You can bring your own reusable container - for things like dish soap and such - and have them tare the weight of the container before you fill it up. The bulk section is one area where the co-op is clearly superior to Whole Foods.
The EEFC is the only Co-op in Pgh. The salad bar has lots of fresh, organic ingredients, with wonderful vegan dressings. There is also a smoothie bar, and all of the home made soups are vegan. My favorite bakery item is the vegan ginger chocolate chip cookie.
The CO-OP itself is just a great place for vegans and vegetarians alike. My husband and I have been members now for about 6-7 years. Their cafe has a great salad bar and weekend brunch. I LOVE the wheat-free pancakes! As far as their daily entrees go, some I have loved, some I thought were so-so.