Giant Food

CLOSED — This location is now closed due to the new Potomac Yard Giant store opening Sep. 5. Plans are underway for an Aldi.

I have no issues with this Giant. They carry pretty much anything I ever need. Great beer selection for such a small store. Cashiers are always nice. Everyone complaining about the size/​age can go battle it out at Whole Foods.

I understand people’s criticism of this little Giant on some things. It is old. It is small, hence the selection is small. They don’t always have what you need. But they have the essentials.
I guess people (rightfully) expect this to be a full service grocery, but it’s more like a neighborhood bodega in New York City, but with better prices. Since that is how I use the little Giant, I’m pretty happy with its existence. I live 3 blocks away, so it’s a convenient place to grab a couple of forgotten items. I think the service is plenty nice, and the lines are comparable to most stores, if not shorter.
I normally walk, but the parking lot is 100X easier to get in and out of than the bigger grocery stores in the area (Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, Harris Teeter, Shopper’s, etc. – 3 of those 4 require parking in a garage). Easy, close parking saves a lot of time when all you need is a lemon.
Also, they have an excellent beer selection for a grocery store. They carry beer from quite a few craft and local breweries. So if that happens to be the one item you’ve run out of, then this is definitely your best bet in the neighborhood.
And the complaints about the lack of a pharmacy and the limited med section? There is a CVS in the same parking lot, less than a 100 yards from the door. I can understand why they wouldn’t waste their limited shelf space trying to compete.

What an awful place. I feel dirty going in there. Employees aren’t friendly nor say excuse me when they attempt to run you over with their Uboats. Cashier rudely told me to take my basket off the belt and unload it myself which I think was to give him a free hand so he could continue texting on his phone. I hope the rumors are true about this location closing.

I have never hated going grocery shopping more.
I used to live in Old Town, where I had access to a Trader Joe’s, (better) Giant, etc. within walking distance. I used to get excited to plan out my meals and go shopping for ingredients. Now it’s the bane of my existence.
Because I live like right across the street from this place, it makes sense to make it my usual grocery store. I was underwhelmed (to put it mildly) the first time I went here. I went to get jalapenos, and they had four tiny ones, all of them bruised and shriveled. (Though, to be fair, I checked back a week later and they had a whole basket of pretty fresh ones… I could’ve caught them between deliveries. I’m not sure).
The aisles are tiny and make no organizational sense. Trying to find what you need in this place is a nightmare. They have an antiquated sign above that lists a few common items and what aisles to find them in, but it’s faster to go down each individual aisle trying to find what you’re looking for instead.
The selection is also quite poor. I get that it’s a tiny store, but seriously… there’s no need to stock like 10 different brands of milk. It’s an old store, and the exterior definitely shows it. However, it looks like they renovated the interior to make it more modern. The prices aren’t great, either. Not awful, but I haven’t found anything here that makes me feel like I’ve come across a great deal.
The only thing I have to disagree with the majority of reviewers on is the employees. I’ve never met anyone who was rude or inconsiderate here. Every cashier/​employee here has been extremely helpful and friendly. They always make conversation with me and smile. That’s probably the only thing saving this place from a one-​star review…
Bottom line, if you’re lucky enough to live next to a closer grocery store, seriously count your blessings. And if you absolutely must go to Giant, at least go to the one on First Street.

This is a great community grocery store. It’s small and a little cramped but they have most everything we need on a weekly basis. The manager approached me and my wife when we first moved here and said if they aren’t stocking anything that we need to let him know. I’ve never had that kind of service at a large grocery store. The manager makes this place worth shopping at.
It could use a makeover to make it look more contemporary but that’s their only real weakness. I don’t hold aesthetics against businesses when they’re clean, and this Giant is definitely clean.
If there is one thing the manager could do to improve this store it would be to add a couple cashiers during rush hour (5−6pm). The wait can be pretty long during these hours but that’s the same at any of the grocery stores in this area.

The worst grocery store in Alexandria. The employees are slow, rude and will get in your way purposely. They routinely place stocking carts in already cramped aisles.
There is absolutely no reason to shop here. Unless you like waiting in ridiculously long lines and watching cashiers take their sweet time.
Gus is the only decent employee here. If the store was full of employees like him I wouldn’t be giving this one star review.
This store is pathetic.

My sister and I stopped in on a Sunday afternoon for a couple items, and walked out wondering how this poorly run store is still in business. We found the place cramped, rundown and generally uninviting – an impression reinforced by the unfriendly and unhelpful employees. The first employee we encountered was uninterested in finding out the price of an unmarked item for us; the employee at the checkout refused to make eye contact or respond to a simple «hello.»
The only reason we stopped was the convenient location, and will avoid going again unless absolutely necessary.

Missy, thank you! I’m with you, I am seriously overwhelmed by the large grocery stores. I love Whole Foods and try to get there most weekday mornings when I’m kid-​free, but it’s not always realistic. And I’m — sadly — a frequent Peapod customer because I can’t make it to the market.
That said, I like what my husband and I call the «little Giant.» It serves its purpose. There isn’t a whole lot of anything, but there’s just enough for a short, necessary run to the grocery store. I’ve never bought anything out-​of or close to out-​of date there. I Never. And I can find basic groceries (strangely, though, they only ever have fat and sugar-​free flavored coffee creamer…). Admittedly, I’m not looking for wild salmon, either. I’m not looking for fine champagne or truffles. I go for staples: bread, milk, eggs, basic produce, pasta, ice cream (hey, I consider ice cream a staple…). Basically, my grocery list reflects my expectations of this store. Yeah, if I have caviar on my list, I’ll be disappointed when I can’t find it there. You get my drift.
And you know what? I am one of the biggest sticklers for customer service (read my other 48 reviews, you’ll see) and the employees — when I’ve been there, which is usually in the morning/​early afternoon — are so, so nice and helpful. Every single employee I’ve encountered has been helpful and conversational.
Little Giant, you might not be fancy and new and big and pretty, but you are humble, never crowded. You might not be all-​hipster gourmet, but you are practical and fill a need. I like you. And others should not be afraid of you. Thank you for helping me get milk in my fridge and peanut butter in my pantry when it is most needed!

Okay seriously, I must be the only person ever who likes small older grocery stores. I hate the congestion of new stores and the competitiveness of shopping. I go alone and in small store, it’s easier to quickly get in and out. The employees were very nice and knew a lot of the customers by name. Nothing I bought was out of date or «seemed old.» Really? None of the meat I bought was close to the expiration date, and I found my favorite items just as easily as I would in any other Giant. I bought fruit and vegetables that looked and tasted perfectly fine… I will be going back to this one now. Seems that the other reviewers here hated it — good! Less whiny people to shop around :-X
Call it old fashioned, but this is the kind of store that I looked for. If it looks scary and super small, why would you even go in? But, suit yourself.

Another small, and kinda scary, Giant. When a major chain grocery store is this tiny and this old looking, you really should just turn away. Inevitably, and not surprisingly, a lot of what we were looking for could not be found here. The produce section was tiny. The few aisles were short and filled with old looking canned goods. What you typically find at other Giant locations, you cannot find here. And forget about the fabulous Giant scan-​as-​go shopping system. This location is about three decades away from that kind of technology. So yeah, if you can get to another Giant location, do so and skip this one.

A painful grocery shopping experience with such great location. It really is a shame because Del Ray/​Old Town West really could use a great all-​purpose grocery store. Whenever I come to this Giant I find myself having to look closely to ensure expiration dates aren’t long gone and that the produce isn’t molded. Sadly, their selection isn’t anything to write home about either: standards such as shitake mushrooms and sake (hey — if you don’t think this is common, take a look at HT or Trader Joes just down the street) aren’t available at this location.
I really hope that Giant invests in a remodel of this place, or else I’ll find myself consistently picking quality over convenience.

What’s with the plastic tarp «Giant» sign? This place looks like its been here 100 years. Can’t they finally put up a more permanent ‘Giant’ sign?
Of the 3 nearby Giants around the Braddock Metro Station, this one is by far the worst, and that’s saying something because the other 2 are no gems in the Giant fleet. Once you’re inside it, the place just saps any energy you had before coming in. The produce section is a sad selection of vegetables. For seafood, you’re better off trusting the Gordan Fisherman, and if you’re looking for a soup other than chicken and rice, you best high tale it across to the CVS where I’m sure they’ll have a wider selection.
Lets please please have another quake knocking this building down so they can start over.

I needed some quick things and was in the neighborhood. I had passed this place a couple times and thought, why not? From the looks of the place, I think it was the first Giant… ever. I mean, they just covered up the old sign with a new banner. Really? Even the trash cans were from the early 70s (and I don’t think they were going for a retro look).
Inside the store, it was cramped, and the selection was poor, and I couldn’t get everything I needed (no basic OTC meds section/​no sandwiches). When checking out, the lady in front of me must have been a regular because both the checker and bagger knew her and were having a good conversation with her. I tried to be friendly with the checker, and he basically just ignored me, and the bagger left to continue his conversation with the regular customer. No problem with that, I only had a couple items.
I did have a problem with the fact they decided to have their conversation in the way of the exit. When I said a polite «excuse me», they looked at me like I was inconveniencing them! Seriously? You’re going to stand in front of the ONLY exit and expect people to find another way out? Sure, I’ll just go trip an emergency exit so you can have your chat.

Like others have said. It’s small, the foods not fresh, people have attitudes, nothing good about this.

Giant Food, AKA, The Ghetto Giant. This Giant is the worst Giant I have shopped in and I only shop there if I need a few items. I usually cannot find the items I do need when I need them. It is a very retro store, reminiscent of a 1970’s coming of age movie. It is a no frills store with barely the basics, milk, eggs, cheese, beer, lettuce, meat, a tiny salad bar, and two aisles of frozen foods. The bread aisles consists of unhealthy white bread and processed cakes. There is no deli or Pharmacy. There are only four check out lines. The clerks are relatively nice, but there are not many available. This Giant is definitely in need of an UPGRADE!

This is, by far, not the worst grocery store I’ve ever entered. However, after getting used to the newer, larger ones in Kingstowne it really does not serve the purposes which I desire in my grocery stores.
It is very small, which limits it’s ability to stock on all the brands which I am accustom. Their «Chips & Snacks» aisle was supposed to be aisle 2, but really it was on the end-​caps of aisle 2 and 3. They had no natural /​organic aisle as in most other Giants, and only about 4 – 6 check out lanes total (not necessarily active).
Again, they have to work with the size to which they’re constrained. The produced looked OK, and I won’t hesitate to walk there if I am in need of a specific ingredient or daily food item (like milk) to purchase there, but I’ll have to find another store to do my weekly shopping.