The best and worst thing about Whole Foods is the overwhelming amount of variety and options. This guide to help you navigate the store is based on the Winter Park location.
The Produce Section[]
When you first enter the store, you will be in the produce section. There are many self-service stations including scoop your own rice and pasta, bag your own coffee, make your own nut butter, and more. At each station,
there is a placard instructing you to ask for assistance if you are unable to use the self-service stations without help, and there are usually employees walking around, so getting help should not be an issue.
At each station, use the containers provided to collect the item or items you want and place them into your cart or basket.
The Middle of the Store[]
The far back, horizontal aisle of the store is the meat and dairy section, and the middle block of vertical aisles contain all of the frozen, dried goods, and personal care products, such as ice cream, cereal, snacks, and bath and body care supplies. In the horizontal aisle dividing the block of vertical aisles, there is often a person offering product samples at a table. You should feel free to take a sample as you shop.
The Deli Section[]
The large, open, vertical aisle on the other side of the store, to the far left of the entrance is where the deli, bakery, and coffee bar are set up. There, you can help yourself to rice dishes, pastas, cooked meats, and more at the many different buffet style stations, or you can ask for custom items like sushi burritos at the stations along the wall to the left of the buffet stations. Some items, such as prepackaged sushi rolls and burritos, prepackaged meals, and the pizza slices,
are self-serve. You can grab the items and add them to your cart and pick your own pizza slices and place them into the boxes provided.
Perpendicular to the pizza and deli area, there is a coffee bar. There, you can order a drink as you would at a normal coffee shop.
Checking Out[]
All items, including coffee from the coffee bar, must be brought to the checkout lines and purchased there; there are no individual cash registers for the cafeteria-area stations. The checkout lines closest to the coffee bar are for customers who have 15 items or less. Each register has a pin pad you can use to swipe or insert your card if you are paying with one.
Enjoying Your Food []
After you checkout, if you got a meal from one of the buffet stations, you can sit and eat at the tables located along the windows directly across from the registers. There are trash and recycling bins by the door where you came in, at the end of the last table closest to the door.
A Note About Other Locations[]
Other Whole Foods are set up the same way, but some are flipped so that the produce section is on the far left when you come in and the buffet-style food stations are the first thing you see when you walk in.