Penzeys Spices

The folks who work here are knowledgable, helpful and pleasant. Pleasant retail employees? Yep, hard to believe.
Nothing here is really any more expensive than the bottled sawdust at any grocery store. And the spices here are really good.
Docked one star for the occasional political emails sent out after using their mail-​order service (which is otherwise a great service). I agree with Bill Penzey’s professed political beliefs (as much as I know about them, anyway), but I don’t think my simply being a customer should suggest that I want to be emailed social commentary.
Docked another star because (while we’re on the subject of social commentary) Penzey’s doesn’t treat its employees as well as they think they do (glassdoor…). When you talk the talk, you ought to walk the walk.

I love, love, LOVE Penzey’s! This is a mandatory stop in the Shorewood Shopping Center. Penzey’s has reliably high-​quality spices, with a dizzying selection of dried herbs, spices, and spice mixes. Many of their spices are otherwise hard-​to-​find, or would otherwise require separate stops at specialty grocery stores. Although I always cringe when I bring my haul to the checkout, I am ALWAYS pleasantly surprised by the total. Penzey’s’ staff is very friendly and helpful, and it is just a pleasure to shop here. I also enjoy poring over the Penzey’s catalog and trying out new recipes. This store is a MUST for cook-​a-​holics.

One of my favorite places to shop when I lived in Madison, WI. This store on University is huge and has a great selection of spices and herbs. The staff is always friendly and helpful. I always end up spending more then I need but one can never have too many spices.

Disclaimer: Peppercorns are the only thing that I buy here. Their authentic premium Indian Tellicherry (extra bold) is $ 20/​pound, which is an insanely great price. You can order Tellicherry online for about the same price at Amazon, but it’s never the real thing.
They also have normal Tellicherry for about $ 16/​lb, or Malabar for $ 14/​lb. All are excellent, although if I had to pick one it would be the extra bold (only 10 lbs in 2000 qualify as this extra-​large and premium quality peppercorn). The Malabar has a much different profile, and I always keep some on hand too.
You have to buy all of their spices in bags (not glass jars) of 4oz or more to get a good price, otherwise they are just as expensive as anywhere else. Just move the spices to mason jars or ziplock bags when you get home.
The main reason that I’m reviewing Penzey’s is because about a year ago when my wife’s car refused to start in their parking lot, a woman from Penzey’s came out to help and even offered to give her a ride home when her shift was over! The car started after about 30 minutes, but it was an amazing gesture.
5 stars for Penzey’s; a great local business that goes beyond their call of duty in service.

One of my favorite places to get spices in town, and though many thing they’re a fancy-​pantsed place for foodies, their prices are quite competitive with most everywhere else in town (including spices at Copps, Target, and what have you.)
The staff is incredibly attentive and helpful when asked, and it’s great that I was able to find out, with very little fuss, that EVERYTHING in the store, except for a couple of the soup bases, are made in a dedicated gluten-​free facility.
(The soup bases all come from a separate facility, and some contain gluten.)
Overall, great quality, huge selection, and friendly, knowledgeable staff. Highly recommended.

Penzey’s offers some unique spice and herb blends that you can’t find anywhere else in town (at least not that I’m aware of). Staff are very helpful and provide great recommendations and advice.
One downfall is that Penzey’s does not offer bulk spices like other spice shops. They also do not offer many, if any, rare or extra special spices or blends, such as truffle sea salt. Overall, a nice place to obtain things like curry powder and other unique blends.

Nice selection. Store is very clean. Staff is helpful. Plenty of parking and good store hours. My only complaint is that it’s rather pricey. The spices are high quality though, so we continue to go there regularly.

Walk into Penzey’s and tell me you don’t walk out with the inspiration to cook or bake something.
I will admit that I don’t go here EVERY time that I am in need of spices, but if I had unlimited funds I definitely would. Everything here is great quality and they have such a huge selection! Yes, they are generally more expensive than the spices you’d find at a grocery store, but they come in nice refillable containers and they just seem nicer and fancier to use and they have a much larger variety that I normally see at grocery stores.
Penzey’s spices make a great gift as well! they have pre-​made boxes of spices, or you can create your own, OR you can get a gift card. We got a gift card for our wedding and it was one of our favorite gifts, definitely a good motivation to get cooking!

I hate confusing Penzey’s and the Spice House, but they’re both great quality (and the same origin) with very typical friendly service. Fresh, locally owned, with great blends and some pretty good original styles. It’s pricier than McCormick’s out of the Copp’s aisle, but it’s supposed to be… you’re not buying crap.
Support (quality) local!

They had everything I needed! The staff was friendly, available and helpful.
One of my favorite parts of the store is that all the ingredients have around one paragraph of description on them, including items like the origin of the ingredient and possible uses. I’m always afraid that I’m going to buy the wrong type of chili pepper (which is ridiculous because I would never in a million years be able to tell, I eat so few), but Penzey’s descriptions helped me pick one that was appropriate for my dish (I picked an Indian pepper for my vindaloo).
I’ll be returning soon, and likely many times after that.

We spend way too much money here but we do get some great spices that are ohhh sooo fresh. Great selection and they also expanded their store too.
The staff could be nicer and more helpful.
How about a free jar of something for my 100 dollar purchase? That would be nice.

Penzey’s is a great place for high quality spices. They have some off the off the beaten path items that are hard to find, fun blends, and your everyday basics.
Note to the budget wise, it is a WAYYYY better deal to buy the bigger bags, and buy the jars separate for spices you’ll use frequently. That’s what we do, and I stash the overflow in the freezer.
Some of my faves are the bay leaves, vanilla beans, and the nutmegs.

I love walking into the store since everything smells great. Their spices are of amazing quality and I love that all around the store, they have little recipe cards stashed amongst the displays. Would highly suggest the store to any spice fan.

Their cumin and sweet curry powder are on the America’s Test Kitchen’s recommendation list so I went and I bought. I do not cook with spices a lot, but I can imagine this store must be heaven for someone who does.

Penzey’s is great. I get all my spices there when I can afford it.

Any conceivable spice you may need is probably at Penzey’s. In what could be an overwhelming experience, Penzey’s lays out its retail store in simple terms – salads, baking, soups, pepper, etc. Each spice is available in a variety of sizes, allowing you to try new items without committing to a huge jar. Descriptions and samples of each spice let you «smell before you buy» and suggested recipes are posted for taking home. Gift boxes of spices are available – I’d never considered giving spices as gifts before, but Penzey’s makes it seem… right.