Awesome spice shop- they have everything you'll need a more. My friends and I have been using their Ghost Pepper Sea Salt- drip some lime on the top of a Modelo can, then sprinkle some of sea salt on the top. It adds a Smokey mild heat that is fantastic and not as hot as you might think. I've also gone next door to Grand Lake Kitchen and sprinkled it on the top of their Salty Dog slushie and it's fantastic. Highly recommended!

Incredible! Could have spent all day there. Love the recipe cards. Such helpful staff. Will for sure go back for inspiration!

Love this place! I come here every time I visit Oakland. Fantastic place to browse and purchase spices and herbs. Great quality products. This is a perfect place for anywho loves cooking!

So cute! Felt like Harry Potter coming in here. The selection here is awesome and I found exactly what I needed, which is hard to find and your usual stores. Also staff is super nice!

Oaktown Spice Shop is AMAZING! Truly a local gem. I stopped by about 30 minutes before closing on a Thursday evening and I wished I had planned to come in sooner, just so I could spend more time browsing the store. This is a chef/cook/baker's dream store. They have every spice imaginable and some I didn't even know were available (I had no idea there were so many choices for cinnamon). They also have teas, sauces, cookbooks, and other great gifts and ingredient - many of which were created by local makers. I love that they even have some signed cookbooks by local chefs. The staff was so kind, knowledgeable, and helpful. Even though we were the very last people in the store, they never made us feel rushed. We easily found metered parking on the street right up front but on a nice day, you could definitely park farther and take a nice walk around the lake area.

Love this place! Service was super friendly. So many spice options! I especially love the chili pepper section.

Oak Town spice shop is a great place to stop by if you're having a leisurely stroll by the lake or looking to grab gifts for loved ones. They've got a great spice collection and often have new blends available. The staff are very friendly and helpful. I recently stopped by to grab some gifts for old coworkers. I grabbed them some smoked salts while grabbing some chili oil for myself. Pro tip: make sure to smell some of their items including their smoked salts! Everything smells wonderful. Will return for more hauls in the future.

This is a lovely spice store by the lake. The service is great and everyone working there is so friendly. I was pleasantly surprised to find that they had cocktail mixers/bitters and cocktail making tool. I am a novice mixologist so it's fun to see new mixes! They also have tea blends like Chai, Earl Grey, & Green tea. They have all the spices you could ever need go cook flavorful meal. Here are some I saw: -All the basics: Salt, Pepper, Garlic, Green Onion, Shallots, Chili Peppers, Chile Lemon -Persian Lime Curry Rub -Jerk Rub -Japanese Curry -Garam Masala They also have cook books and recipe recommendations. I love this place and I recommend it as a one stop shop for good quality spices!

A fun store that sells (almost) every spice you can think of - I did stump them with one I had read about and wanted to find as Christmas gifts. A little overpriced for my budget - but if you were looking for fun (and beautifully packaged) gift sets for the holidays, this would be the place to hit up. They also have a macaron person (unrelated to the store) INSIDE the store - that was the reason we came in.

My sister, who's lived in Oakland since 2010, is a big fan of local business Oaktown Spice Shop. Oaktown opened on Grand Ave, right next to Lake Merritt, in 2011. Since then, they've expanded with locations in Albany and Castro Valley. To introduce us to the brand, my sister gifted my wife and me with a bunch of different spices from Oaktown. Over the past 1.5+ years, my wife has been regularly using Oaktown spices in her cooking. We have the following spices in our cupboard (prices shown below are for 1/2 cup jars at the time of writing this review): * Better Than Everything Bagel Spice ($8.75) * Grand Lake Shake ($7.00) * Persian Lime Curry Rub ($8.75) * Thai Curry ($9.25) * Umami Sea Salt ($11.50) * Shichimi Togarashi ($8.00) * Ume-Shiso Furikake ($11.75) Each spice is great in its own way. In general, they've tasted high-quality, fresh, and delicious, adding additional depth and flavor to our dishes that sometimes, we didn't know we needed. Oaktown grinds and hand-mixes spice blends in their own shop. A lot of the spices are original creations. The Better Than Everything Bagel Spice, Persian Lime Curry Rub, Umami Sea Salt, and Shichimi Togarashi have been among the store's best-selling spices. Bagels are a regular part of our diet and so has become Oaktown's Better Than Everything Bagel Spice. It adds a pleasant herbiness to our cream cheese bagels. My wife has added the Umami Sea Salt to all sorts of dishes, from Italian pastas to American Southern entrees and sides. It's great when rubbed with oil on the outside of baked potatoes. Anytime my wife cooks ramen, the Shichimi Togarashi goes on top. It's good. The Shichimi Togarashi and the Ume-Shiso Furikake came together in the Ramen & Rice Seasoning Box ($27) which also included cinnamon sticks and bay leaves + recipe cards. We got recipe cards with the other spices as well. These spices make great gifts and ship/travel well. The packaging is nice and all materials are easily recyclable, so props to Oaktown for that. If you like cooking and are a spice enthusiast, I highly recommend checking these guys out. Visit their online store at https://oaktownspiceshop.com/.