Smart & Final Extra

Horrible C.S. Takes FOREVER to checkout. Been in here a dozen times I have yet to checkout in under 15 minutes.

Whoever designed this store doesn’t care about the customer. This has to be the most crammed store ever! Some isles are only a few feet wide. It’s simply IMPOSSIBLE TO MOVE around.
Never going here again. The El Toro location is a million times better!

New Building… same bad customer service found at other Smart & Finals. Long line…1 clerk checking people out.

Perfect store for the location. Have done our weekly shopping here the past two weeks instead of Stater Bro’s and we are saving money on basically the same goods. This will be our new place for groceries.

Stopped in the night of opening and it will be my last visit. Very disappointing that this market went in at this location. Nothing unique in terms of merchandise, same prices as Ralphs and Stater Bros and a poor store layout. I was hoping for a Gelsons or some other interesting store. We’ll see how long this place lasts… I’m guessing not long.

Finally open where the fresh market was in the center off la Paz and moulton. I hope it lasts it’s in a spot where a grocery store would be perfect. Fresh market failed because everything in there was way over priced. The housewives of Laguna hills will love that this went in for sure. I wish it was a trader joes! Only problem is the business hours here are shorter and they close much earlier than the one over off of el toro. Given that they close at 10pm here… you can surely bet when you go it’s going to be busier during the evening with people resulting in longer lines and having to wait around for assistance ohhhhh and horrible/​minimal parking. *********Especially too given thanksgiving this week! Tip-​the El toro has more variety! Explain why and how is this one limited as its brand new? Suggestion– it should be a smart and final EXPRESS not EXTRA.

It’s nice to have another smart and final, it’s really busy in here, and their prices are good just in time for Thanksgiving

Stopped by today for the grand opening.
Obviously the store is a immaculate being that it is brand new. Every piece of fruit and vegetable is perfectly placed, and every aisle is stocked and faced. No idea how long that will last, but it sure looks good right now.
My only concerns with this store (after admittedly only one visit) are the following…
1) The meat department is 100% pre-​packaged meats. The seafood section is a joke (literally 3 feet wide and nothing fresh), there is no on-​site butcher that will custom cut meats for you, and there are very few ready to go seasoned meats such as kebabs, marinated tri-​tip, stuffed chicken breasts, etc.
2) There is no bakery at all. Just a small aisle of packaged bread, bagels, etc. No fresh baked breads, no fresh baked pies, no cakes, etc. Nothing fresh at all. Very basic mass produced options.
3) No deli. There is no on-​site person available to slice meats or cheeses for you. No ready to go items like other grocery stores have, where you just heat them up. Everything is pre-​packaged.
4) The aisles are ridiculously narrow. You can barely get two carts by each other, so people are constantly in each other’s way. Horrible layout. When Fresh Market was in here it felt way more spacious. Now it feels tiny.
The positives are that they have a good prices. They claim to differentiate themselves from other grocery stores by being a hybrid between a normal grocery store and a wholesale store. So they have a combination of bulk items for very cheap prices, or if you don’t want to buy large volumes they also sell smaller quantities for reasonable prices.
It may be a slight disappointment for some of of the locals who are used to full service grocery stores in the area like the old Fresh Market or Whole Foods, or even the local Stater Brothers and Sprouts that also have full service counters. So this is really the only grocery store in the area that does not offer full-​service counters, and I’m not sure that’s going to work in this neighborhood.
It’s not what I’m looking for in a grocery store, but if you care more about cheap prices rather than super fresh seafood, meats, breads, or full service counters, then it might be for you.