Back To Roots

Out of curiosity I walked into this open store front off the street… And worth the visit! There are specialty products like black truffle honey, local tamales, spreads, spices, coffee, fresh bread… Great items for a dinner party or gifts. They’re either imported from Europe (i.e. Spain or Italy) or from local San Diego businesses (i.e. Escondido). I’m all for supporting local products so this was a nice surprise!
Their tamales are made by a local vendor: 3 for $ 8, and kinda Americanized, but large and high quality – I liked em! Supposed to be really popular. They’ve got bags of fresh looking lettuce and spinach for only $ 2.50, along with few other produce items that come recommended – I’ll have to try it sometime. I talked to John, a manager there who was very knowledgable about the products, and told me more groceries from local farms are coming soon. Wine will also be for sale as soon as they get the license.
It’s a bit pricey for some of the products, but it’s a small speciality store=special pricing. I really enjoyed the tamales, and their Peruvian chili spread (great alternative to Sriracha), and the orange Blossom honey from Spain is nice and fragrant. The coffee they sell is a decent aromatic, medium roast arabica coffee from Mexico.
I want to try some of their other items, and excited to see what else they’ll be bringing in. They’re less than a year old, so stay tuned. Their hours are bit inconvenient (10 – 6), but I’ll be back on my days off.

There is nowhere in San Diego, where you can find the finest truffle oil honey, grab an out of this world coffee and eat a traditional bocata (sandwich) on freshly made bread, in under 10 minutes… But BacktoRoots. No crowds, just the goods.
They have the most luxurious fresh and hard to find ingredients, and the best service, no pressure, very helpful.
The owner Alvaro is a no-​nonsense, Spanish guy, who knows everything about jamón ibérico de bellota, and all the delicious and wonderful artisanal products.
If we could camp there for a weekend, just eating like kings. We would. Our family takes our trips for goodies there very seriously.

I buy some veggies, bread and sauces here. Everything is imported and they have some really unique items. They also have a good selection of cheeses and have a seasonal local delivery which has soups and salads that are very tasty. In the freezer section they have different flavor tamales that I buy all the time. They are perfect for lunch or midday snack.

Back to Roots is a specialty grocery store located in the heart of Bankers Hill. I’ll admit, I would not see this place being successful anywhere else except for Little Italy because it almost makes no sense that this shop is open instead of traveling along with Farmers Markets. That being said, the product and produce sold here is exceptional and tastes much better than most well known brands. If you’re looking to impress a date with a home cooked meal, check this place out. My beef (no pun intended) with this place is obviously the pricing. But even aside that, there is limited selection to choose from and for that, I feel you would have little reason to shop here other than for a special occasion that you are planning out. Overall, Back to Roots is a very nice specialty market and if you are all for amazing authentic food, then check this place out. Otherwise, there’s no reason why you can’t find a good substitute or similar product elsewhere.

I love what this place has to offer. Even though it’s a bit on the pricy side we love going here when we are preparing for a special occasion or want to treat ourselves. Although that being said, the daily customer service is really not good. every once a while there is a friendly person ringing me up but the last time I went they charged me for a ciabatta bread and when I got home I saw it was French bread. Usually the croissants are super soft and amazing but I came in before they closed and grabbed a couple that had been sitting out all day and I didn’t realize it until I got home but they did not taste very fresh. The man should have given me a discount since it was the end of the day.

More loves: their spinach. The best texture and taste (absolutely no bitterness).
Staff is always friendly. Waves to us every time we walk by.
I really wish they opened earlier on weekends to take advantage of the pastries from French Café (I am on my post breakfast snack by the time they open at ~10-​ish).
Keep it up, local guys!

I was so excited to try this and I’m super disappointed:(. I grabbed a salad and pasta to go… the pasta isn’t very good and the salad looks gross, the lettuce is mostly wilted. I’ll post a picture.

LOVE Back to Roots! They have a great, ever expanding selection of quality local and imported goods. Everything from the farm in Alpine is delicious — I get the spinach or salad mix at least once a week. Everything is fresh and tasty!

My wife & I live across the street, and we feel so blessed that Back to Roots is in our neighborhood. The space is wonderful, the selection is great, and the produce is out of this world. Their produce is better than the produce available at Whole Foods, in many cases. I’ll be shopping here for a while & will continue to recommend it!

Love this place! I drove by and saw it, so I told myself I would stop there on my way back home. I’m glad I did. Everyone, including the owners, we’re so nice! And they have some amazing food choices. I got some raspberry honey, a fresh French baguette, and some tangerines. All amazing btw. I can’t wait to take my husband there so we can pick out some meat and cheese!

Quite nice as they are a small family owned high-​end market. They sell premium goods like serrano ham, imported cheese and truffle honey to name a few.
The good: I quite like the selection of unique products. Got to try really good serrano ham, a Peruvian aji hot sauce, some cheeses I’ve never seen before (even at Venissimo or Whole Foods), the owner is friendly and the produce is all local with most of it farmed at their own SD county farm.
The less good: I think as they are kind of new there is still a limited (but growing) selection of total items. That is understandable. What I liked a bit less is that for the cheeses and cold cuts you cannot sample or buy products by weight. When we first went you had the buy the whole wheel of cheese! Now they pre-​portion and shrink wrap some of the cheeses but the amounts they are sold in still seem high (½ pound) unless you are a more enthusiastic cheese eater or live in a household with more people. Hopefully they can get a slicer and eventually work this out.
Its great to have such a niche little market close by, really hope they can work out some kinks and stick around.

your original metro fresh market
more to come on John and Sophia
John P

Back to roots is a family owned market that offers high quality vegetables meats cheeses and other specialty items from organic sources. My first experience I went to buy some steaks and jamon Serrano. Delicious! The quality of the meat is unparalleled and the owners are really nice. Much like anything you will pay a little bit more to get a premium experience but I think it is well worth it. Plus supporting local businesses helps our economy in our local communities. As a fellow small business owner in downtown San Diego I can appreciate the attention to detail and the level of quality that comes from a business like back to roots. It’s a must try.

Everything in there is top notch. You can’t go wrong with any of their products. Do yourself a favor and shop there first and whatever you can’t find get at a regular grocery store. Your body will thank you!

Superb design in this over-​prized grocery-​boutique (well I guess everything is imported, so…). I should name it grocetique, because it is really the cutest thing, like a mini supermarket for kids, where you can find a little bit of everything (hyper delicious and mostly pork based, those jamones!) not in big quantities but pretty much anything that I foodie would love to receive as party favor gift or just for your own pleasure.
I liked everything they cater, as I am Spaniard and I know how difficult it was when living in San Diego to find real rice from Valencia for my paellas. I met this Brazilian lady who was helping the owner (from Spain) to set last details last week when I was visiting from the Bay Area, and she was diligently explaining how they operate and also you can get your home made paella from there, check out the dates in their website.
I liked the vibe a lot, although I think there is huge competition with the Whole Foods so close by. Since I like to support small commerce, I wish them success in this original adventure.

Tamales are amazing and the baked goods that get dropped off every few days by a local vendor are also amazing. Pricey but we’ve loved everything we’ve purchased from there. Great vibe and sweet staff that’s more than willing to answer your questions!

We discovered Back to Roots on a recent long weekend visit to San Diego. We passed by it a couple of time before we had an opportunity to actually stop in and check it out and we are so glad we did. This is a «farm to table» store that reminds me quite a bit of many markets that I’ve seen in Europe. They offer beautiful, rare, and unique produce, cheeses, fresh and cured meats, condiments, and snack foods. It’s a bit on the pricey side, compared to a large chain store, but the intimate level of knowledge they have about the merchandise can’t be beat and makes any extra expense well worth it. Everything we bought (we went back twice) was truly special and delicious and exactly why San Diego is emerging as a go-​to foodie town. I might just need to make another visit to San Diego sometime soon.

It’s still a ‘work in progress’ but so close to 5 stars. There is a lack of products for sure but they are brand new and I see where it’s headed and I like it. The owner or ordering manager (?) sized me up and realized I was a picky gourmet and actually asked for advice on products to stock. I REALLY like that aspect and he actually took notes. I will be interested to see if he takes my advice and stocks the items requested. I am so happy to find a new specialty store like this so it is a fine line right now.
I am one who will pay $ 50 for a quality balsamic because I know it will last me for months and it’s worth it. So hopefully they don’t over-​inflate item prices knowing they are hard to find. Right now the items i saw were the same price as the farmers market or other specialty stores so the prices seem on point.
So far the products are high quality and mostly local. I find it hard to find all my specialty items in any one store in San Diego. I actually purchase from the bay area when I go back to visit and stock up. They need more produce and meat and cheeses. There is a refrigerator case and wines coming soon. So this is like the soft opening stages. I will definitely be back in a few weeks to see what they have incorporated.
The owner is from Spain so expect a more Spanish influenced selection like that fancy expensive sliced ham and high quality machengo. I like the local chef creations for sale like balsamic glaze, pasta, and pasta sauces. They also have some local organic dried spices and chutneys, spreads, and peanut butters.
I would buy the home made tamales if I knew if they were organic and non gmo but no one seemed to know if they were or where they came from. They had a delicious looking selection of tamales.
I like the store design and open market feel of the place. This place will cater more towards serious chefs and foodies who don’t mind paying for good quality ingredients like me.
I wish them much success and look forward to them adding more products.

Truly serendipitous experience! You’ll find some items not found in other markets. They have a deli section featuring an in-​house made paella, rotating varieties at only $ 9 a portion. Other offerings might be thought to be quite pricy but considering their rarity and quality, justifiably so. Produce is organic and grown in Alpine and is priced on par with farmers markets. Imports are mostly from Spain or Italy and include meat products including Spain’s famous Serrano ham. The personnel are extremely welcoming and helpful without seeming «pushy.»

I came here because one of my colleagues brought fresh made pasta and a jar of sauce as part of our gift exchange, I ran down the street as soon as I got off of work to check them out. When I walked in the door I was greeted by a very nice gentleman named John who explained what the store was all about and showed me around telling me about where they get their food from. I really appreciate that and I know as they get busier they may not have the time but that was such a nice gesture. So yeah I bought some lovely organic ingredients, pasta, sauce and fresh spinach which I cannot wait to eat and some lovely Machengo cheese. Oh yeah, they have a lovely cheese fridge with some interesting cheeses. John told me about each cheese that they have which I really enjoyed as I am a real cheese head. Packers and I love cheese.
Okay, this place is for serious foodies, I mean you have to be willing to drop 12.00 on a jar of Heirloom Tomato sauce and spend a fair amount for some beautiful, lean cuts of grass fed beef. My husband and I don’t have kids, we aren’t putting anyone through college. We are trying to save for retirement and for that time when we will leave San Diego. Most of my «recreational money» goes on food, wine and cheese, not kidding. I work up the street from here and have been anxiously waiting for the day that they open. Well they finally did, it’s foodie paradise in here, fresh baked bread, ALL local ingredients for sale by the way and hey, I love spices, I have one entire kitchen cupboard devoted for my spices. I don’t have a spice rack, I have a spice closet. These folks have some really beautiful selections of spices. Gorgeous jars of homemade ketchup which I love and barbeque sauce!
I will be back to purchase some ingredients and food for Christmas dinner. Like I said, this is the place to go for local foods and for that once or twice a month when you want to have a lovely meal. Still cheaper than eating out… This market is the place for those of us who love to cook unique, local ingredients.
By the way, the design of this place is really charming. You feel like you are at an open air market in Italy. I love it!
I will most definitely be back soon.