When I went to Cal, I used to shop at the Berkeley Bowl (whenever I could find parking). So it's a pleasant surprise to find the quirky market featured in the Los Angeles Times.
Here's what John M. Glionna wrote about the place where nuts roam the aisles as well as sit on the shelves:
Outside, petitioners seeking signatures for ballot measures have come to blows with opinionated residents. In the tiny parking lot, nicknamed the Berkeley Brawl, frustrated motorists have been known to ram one another's cars. At the checkout, people have thrown punches and unripened avocados at suspected line-cutters.
When one shopper was told she couldn't return a bag of granola, she showily dumped its contents on the floor. Culyon Garrison, who works at the customer-service desk, recently had a loaf of bread thrown at him.
The produce emporium -- one of the nation's most renowned retailers of exotic fruits and vegetables -- creates its own bad behavior. Kamikaze shoppers crash down crowded aisles without eye contact or apology for fender-benders. So many customers weren't waiting to pay before digging in that management imposed the ultimate deterrent: Those caught sampling without buying will be banned for life -- no reprieves, no excuses. (Not even "I forgot to take my medication.")
(Photo: Randi Lynn Beach / LA Times)
Many thanks! :) I got a few days off so I'm going to be gallivanting across the city and see these markets.
And now he complains about customers sampling ? :)