Erewhon Review - Worth Your Life's Savings?
If you live in LA, you know that there are an abundance of stores where you can buy your groceries. Some are more expensive than others, some have more locations than others, and some only draw in the richest of the rich, those who have three vacation houses on top of their mansion in Beverly Hills. That’s right, it’s time for an honest review of the trendiest (and most expensive) grocery store in LA–Erewhon.
If you’re familiar with Erewhon, you know that their locations are sparse. In fact, Erewhon is exclusively a SoCal thing, with only 10 locations spread around the heart of Los Angeles. For this review, I visited the Beverly Hills Erewhon, located on Beverly Drive in the Golden Triangle, and ordered a few items, each one from a different part of the store.
First, I tried Erewhon’s Malibu Mango Smoothie, from their Tonic Bar.
This smoothie is often raved about and is one of their top-selling items. Starting at a pricey $20, this 20-oz smoothie was an amazing blend of mango, pineapple, and banana along with some vanilla collagen, coconut cream, and lion’s mane mushroom for “cognitive support.” This smoothie was very tasty and passed the Worth It test that I’ve created for this article. The criteria for this test entailed a taste test, along with an ingredients review and an assessment of whether or not the advertising for the item matches the taste; then I weighed the results of those assessments with the price to figure out if it was worth it or not.
Next, I tried an item from the Hot Bar, the Old School Mac & Cheese.
The Old School Mac & Cheese was an incredible dish that made my wallet cry. This container of goodness runs you $20 per pound and is filled with delicious, creamy al dente pasta. Erewhon adds slight spices, including a sprinkle of sea salt, black pepper, and parsley, which enhances the taste of the pasta. The food was reasonably warm when I scooped it, thanks to the heat lamps placed over the array of food in the hot bar. In terms of the Worth It test, the Old School Mac & Cheese is worth it if you get a small portion. For larger servings, the high price is hard to justify.
Finally, I purchased an item from the store’s Pantry section.
The Tea Tree Mint Toothpicks were my favorite item from my Erewhon shopping spree. These toothpicks are mint flavored and infused with tea tree oil, mint, and other natural extracts. There are around 100 toothpicks per container, with the whole thing costing $5, instantly passing the Worth It test. The toothpicks last a long time, and the more you chew, the more flavor gets drawn from the pick. For just $5, these toothpicks are a great product to keep your mouth occupied.
I’ll put it bluntly: Erewhon is not for the weak of wallets. Yes, their products taste great and are sourced naturally. Yes, their stores and restaurants are exceptionally well designed and kept clean (except for the Santa Monica location, where issues with cockroaches were reported earlier this year). And finally, YES, Erewhon is overpriced. Overall, Erewhon is great as a once-a-month thing or somewhere to shop on occasion, or maybe just on a good day. If you’re a REALLY high roller, Erewhon has two subscriptions which unlock a points system where for every $10 spent, you get $1 back: the Cafe Membership offers savings on the cafe and tonic bar and costs $10/month or $100/year; meanwhile, the Membership Plus plan, for the serious Erewhon shoppers, costs $20/month or $200/year. The latter offers member-exclusive monthly discounts, free delivery, and the ability to add a secondary user to your account, for your envious friends.