I love this market but the reason I’m giving it three stars is because they are excluding people who have SNAP cards. You can’t use your access EBT food stamps there for the last like seven months and they keep saying it’s temporarily out of service and haven’t gotten it fixed. This is illegal and it’s really annoying because people who need to get healthy special diet food cannot unless they have a whole bunch of money

Wonderful macrobiotic hot bar. Great heathfoods store. They also have bulk spices.

They are so rude. Not even a thank you. That young girl does not belong in customer service. She needs to be in an environment that she is not around people. Certainly Not the first time that i why I am so frustratedWHO IS THE CUSTOMER.Ignorant and rudeGoid thing I need more than they need me. FOR NOW!!!!How about the grateful??????

I love going here when I come home. Awesome selection of items.

This store seriously need major upgrade. Also the worker with tattoo making me uncomfortable shopping here.

My favorite holistic grocery store in Philadelphia.. opened in 1969.. totally worth the trip!! I buy my raw cow milk there, fresh from Lancaster County, PA.

This café has a clear food bar where the food is regularly checked to make sure it is your to tempature. Most places just let their food sit out all day.They have a large selection of natural herbal products and supplements, which I love.And they carry a variety of great brands you cannot find elsewhere.

Essence market needs a serious upgrade. There bathroom is absolutely gross and the totally ambiance just looks like a patch job.Its about time the invested in there image and give back to there customers in and out of the community who supported them for many years.I would suggest a ambiance similar to Penn herbs which is really nice. I have been shopping here occasionally for 20 years but I just stop going.

A much bigger corner store that has everything you need. Prices are a bit more expensive but as expected based on proximity and organic, natural products

Great little market with tons of vegan options!!!

Love love love it!!

Cute local grocery with all you need plus healthy snacks and fresh produce. I am always impressed with their ready-to-go food too. Love it here.

Great place if your a health nut. They have a vitamin section as well as a steam room for picking food ready to eat. Bigger than it looks and fair prices.

Essence has everything I’ve ever been looking for when cooking macrobiotically. They also have a wonderful section devoted to cooking/eating tools. I bought a knife at Essence over twenty years ago and I still use it every day. It’s my go to knife and I use it for everything, chopping, slicing, dicing, etc......

Great store - occasionally a little hard to find some ordinary staples of grocery shopping, and things are generally pretty expensive (to be expected for an organics / vegetarian oriented store). Ordinarily there is a BANGING hot bar in the back, highly recommend.

I was visiting Philadelphia for the day, and in typical fashion I try to find local coffee and a local grocery when I’m in a new city. I ended up at Essene and it exceeded expectations. Everyone was really nice, which I take rather seriously, for a young person, when I go somewhere with the intentions of spending money. The variety of products, supplements, and ready to eat food was amazing too. I highly recommend swinging through for just about whatever, but particularly if you’re health conscious/like to support cool companies with cool ethics.Also, don’t know which manager it was, (he had a great beard.) But this guy was super friendly and funny and made my day. Cheers

This is a gem in queen village,the staff is friendly and the food is healthy.i like to support small independent businesss and consider this market to be good value.

So glad Essene exists! Not only do they sell fresh organic produce, prepared foods, and special diet-friendly goods, they also sell vitamins and other health-conscious items. Think Whole Foods but around 1/4 the size and independently owned. I also like that they have a good selection of cold bottled drinks (lightly sweetened Honest iced teas) that I can stop in and buy if Im in the neighborhood and craving something slightly healthier than a Monster Energy drink. Keep doing what youre doing, Essene, because all the Queen Village organic lovers are onto it!

There is absolutely no reason to shop here. Every single item is grossly overpriced. If youre one of those people (like me) for whom Whole Foods or Trader Joes is a luxury you budget for because you cant live without, you will laugh your way out the door at this place.Ive walked past numerous times and today I decided to finally go in. Its a beautiful store! As I walked through, I was utterly agog at their audacity in pricing. You know how sometimes youll be in a drugstore and see something - say, a pizza - thats priced at $8.99?...and you think to yourself What?! They have that at ACME for $5.99! That sums up Essene in a nutshell.I cannot stress enough the lack of exaggeration in my review. There is absolutely, positively nothing in this store worth paying their asking price for. Also, the description here on Yelp that this place has a hipster vibe is an understatement. If the tattooed 20-something staff exuded any more aloofness you could spread it on a whole grain organic cracker.This place makes me miss the chefs market that used to be open to the public on South Street. I used to get bundles of organic parsley there for 59 cents each. At Essene theyre $1.99. I think that says it all.

Love the natural food selection. Their buffet style foods are really delicious too. Their bakery also has a great selection both for vegans and non-vegans.

Best selection of organic produce. Yummy healthy foods. Love it!Been to great lectures here as well.

Excellent organic food selection. I was immediately drawn to the coffee beans. Nice honey selection.

One of the best secrets of Philly. Amazing Korean food at the food bar! Perfect on a quiet weekday.

They have an excellent selection of organic and non-GMO products! Really cool place wish I had one near me.

Nice store, VERY expensive in my opinion. Always has been, for many many years.

Essene is a convenient health food market .I have been shopping here for at least 10 years. I do feel as though they need a upgrade in there appearance of the store.

Local co-op store with a very clean environment and a large selection of locally grown produce. Highly recommended for those who enjoy eating healthy.

Such a great little market. They often have hard to find items like vegan chocolate chip cookies, but then once in a while it is hard to find basics because theyve run out or it is hard to navigate the store. The price comparison to larger chain stores often varies, some items are more expensive in this store, while others are cheaper. Regardless it is a great resource if you are searching for less mainstream/processed foods.

They have a lot of random items here. More than half of the time Ive gone in looking for something simple, they dont have it. The employees stent very helpful either.

Good selection of organic foods. Nice service from the staff.

Good vegan/vegatarian selections, many different items to choose from. Helpful staff! Quite expensive, though.

Excellent quality of goods and selection. Prepared goods are to die for. The original health food store and still the citys best.

In love with this place. Good prices and a wide variety of food to supplements. Exactly what I was looking for as a vegan.

Good selection of organic foods. Nice cafeteria serving organic vegetarian food

Essence Food bar is clean, picturesque, and yummy. Its a full service vegetarian GMO-free food bar. Customers dont double dip. You have a choice to dine on real China/or use eco-friendly take-out containers. Theres a variety of baked, raw, sautéd, and lightly fried healthy foods, soups/breads /desserts. They also carry grain/soy free foods. When done you can grocery shop or get a massage ($1/minute). Dont forget your dairy-free frozen dessert for $3.

Gourmet grocery place that has some unique herbs, vegetables and other food food items including dairy. Overpriced & sometimes the produce section is quite bare. Not better than Whole Foods.

Like a Whole Foods but better! Only place I found raw goat milk

They have a wonderful staff and great selection. Buffet is best in the city for clean vegetarian food.

Love to go on a vegan and vegetarian tour in this store plus you can eat in the back, go to the bathroom, and look over their book selection.

The place to go for all your super healthy needs.

Everything here is crazy overpriced but it has the necessities in a pinch. The produce is always beautiful and there are some unique vegetarian and vegan items.

I love this place. Although I live on the other side of town, I go to Essene at least once a week. The vegetarian buffet is amazing. I used to love Whole Foods´s buffet, but it pales in comparison to Essene´s. The ingredients Essene uses are much healthier than Whole Foods. The staff is very helpful and friendly. The café area is very nice; again, much nicer than Whole Foods. Not to diss Whole Foods (I like Whole Foods a lot and do much of my shopping there). But, Essene is better, IMO; it has more character, has a lot of great products that Whole Foods doesn´t have, etc. I have only good things to say about this place. Every time I´m there I discover a new delicious something.

Fun to browse...way Overpriced though

Love this place for fresh local produce and amazing vegetarian hot food

The store offers unique, hard-to-find vegan options curated from only reliable brands not made in countries with questionable standards and practices. The aged miso is superior to whole foods. Zevs hummus is superior to any brands at Whole foods and is actually the best tasting hummus rated in philly outside of dizengoff israeli restaurant. The amazake and other drinks cannot be found at whole foods. The organic corn cakes, single-ingredient millet cereal, are not found in whole foods. The milks expiration date is typically further out into the future, than whole foods. The buffet with an interesting Korean twist (bi him bop bowls, scallion pancakes, jap chae noodles, Kimchi) but with a vegan authenticity retained. The selection is small, and none of this is to say you will never need to shop anywhere else, but there are reasons to come here, and those reasons cannot be interchanged by shopping elsewhere. Finally, they offer free lectures in the back room on healthy eating.

Consistent and welcoming for the 10 years Ive been going there

The only place in Philly I can find some macrobiotic staple ingredients (shoyu, shiso, etc). I miss the old food bar (pre-2014) though...

Amazing vegan food! Definitely worth a visit!

Best quality and walk their talk. Deeply rooted.

Odd selection and awkward layout. Not the most pleasant shopping experience.

Great place to find locally grown produce

Not cheap, but great selection of health conscious groceries

Very little selection of items worth buying.

Moderate selection, extremely expensive. Try the raw milk and the fresh coffee.

Good prepared foods bar and sandwiches.

$7 for eggs? Great selection of things, but absurdly over priced. $7 for a few slices of bacon?

My favorite new place in Philly

An absolute gem and community staple

Simple, fresh grocery store.

Love there vegan options

Im sad that its not a vegan buffet anymore.

Love this place

The juice was nutritious

Healthy organic food

Great place.

Love this place