Safeway

Small neighborhood store. But small doesn’t mean negative.
Convenient to the area.

This review does not relate to service or selection, but safety. I parked in the upper parking ramp for 5 – 10 minutes, came out only to find my window smashed out. I called the assistant store manager and she told me at they have had a number of break-​ins, and that a number of cops shop at the store and that they had asked them to patrol the lot more often. I went back the next night to see if I could find anything. Glass was still all over he ramp. I looked and saw someone sitting on a picnic table, who looked to be homeless. The table is a permanent fixture. I went into the store and talked with the assistant store manager. In talking with him, he too said that there have been a number of break-​ins. I told him about the person hanging out at the picnic table. He did not seem surprised, and said that he would send someone up to address it. I told him where my car was parked and told him about the glass that was still there. He said that he would send someone to clean it up. My concern is safety. I no longer feel safe in my Safeway, and I don’t feel like they are doing anything to address the safety concerns. I will go to the Lucky store from now on.

I’ll come back and write my review again. I spent all this time writing it and then logged in and now it seems to be gone.

Parking lot sucks. I parked in the area marked «Vehicles parked in this stall may be subject to 30 minute delays» at 7pm thinking it was too late for deliveries. I was wrong. I was trapped in the parking lot for almost an hour. And I swear the guy unloading the truck was taking his sweet ass time and looking over at me in my car. Knowing I was waiting and literally not even unloading and just staring. Definitely only going to the Safeway off the Redwood exit from now on.

This Safeway is smaller than most but convenient to the area. Less things on the shelves so you will need to be specific if youre shopping. Entrance can be confusing and awkward. Easy going into wrong direction. Its pretty small of an entrance.

I hate this store. They have such a small selection of everything I always have to go to another store to finish my shopping. Looking for an Asian section? They don’t have one. The closest thing I got to it is Top Ramen. If it weren’t for convenience, I would never come back to this store.

small safeway, small parking lot. not a typical safeway. beer selection is so so, the usual suspects but fewer.
brew: speakeasy: india black ale (8.0%alc) 5,99, off $ 2
–very strong, smooth brew, slighty hoppy.
on draught:
–easy to miss parking lot as it just pops up in view. (roads aren’t straight).

This is my neighborhood Safeway. It’s very small but surprisingly complete.
Make sure you check the expiration dates as we have come home with jarred or canned products that are a week or two away from expiring. A few times, we’ve also found some expired items (almond butter, yogurt, etc).
The produce is not always fresh. Fruits and vegetables are sometimes wilted, wrinkly, or moldy so I try to avoid coming here when I’m looking for produce that I won’t be using the same day.
They don’t sell chicken liver or salmon here.
The staff members are friendly and helpful.

I find shopping at this Safeway to be a maddening and frustrating experience.
The store itself is too small and they have the shelves packed too closely together. With everybody trying to push around their huge shopping carts, you end up wasting a lot of time waiting in line.
The arrangements of the products in this Safeway is a bit odd. It is very hard to find anything. I can’t really describe what it is, but I only know that at other Safeways, I can quickly find what I want even if I have never been to that Safeway before, but at this Safeway I have to go up and down each aisle looking for particular items which in the end turn out tobe randomly tucked away on some shelf on which I would have neer thought to look.

This is my local Safeway, I could get there in less than a few minutes typically.
They are planning to replace it with probably more levels of parking and store in the future, now it has no bakery, pharmacy, etc. like the bigger ones do. But it’s small scale and intimacy I like plus if you know what you’re doing, expecting, you can get in and out faster. I like parking in the upper lot, I have a bad leg and use/​need the elevator which is big and fits several people and carts.
The selection is more limited than the larger store on Happy Valley or the behemoth under construction in Rockridge. It’s also older and the staff knows the local patrons and there’s always a lot of chatter and hi’s which is cool. Sorry non-​residents looking for twenty kinds of apple juice — they aren’t here — nor are there custom birthday cakes or your prescription.
What is here is an appropriately sized for the small hill-​y Montclair Village store that tries to be friendly and stock what people most need. If you want the other nineteen apple juices drive further to the dismal Lucky’s or the chaotic Broadway/​Happy Valley store (which is also going to get a mega-​makeover) or the much more expensive Whole Foods and Super-​crowded Berkeley Bowls of which there are 2 or 3 within ten to fifteen minutes away.
Being a smaller store the aisles are tight as is the parking unless you go upstairs. But I like the more intimate scale, staff who know you’re face and say hello, and are carrying more healthy and organic products.

I went here today to pick up some milk. And a lady named Patty turned my experience into a bad one.
I went to the aisle to pay for my milk, she simply just walks away and ignores me. I asked if the lane was closed and they said yes. Ok fine.
Another worker decides to open up the lane and I was second in line. The worker didn’t know the code for avocados and asked Patty for help. After several times of unsuccessful attempts, Patty throws the worker her keys/​card and says «This is unbelievable.» After the worker fixed the mishap, Patty returns to get the keys back and says, «You need more training with the numbers.» She was using a very ugly tone. Another lady and myself expressed our thoughts regarding how unbelievably unprofessional Patty was.
Patty didn’t just embarrass the other worker, but herself as well. She definitely needs disciplinary actions. Please don’t tell me she is the manager. If she is the manager, this Safeway is doomed.

i use to go in every morning and get a breakfest burrito they are really good and cant beat the price! but the 2 Asian woman that are there most mornings are awful they are more into talking to each other than taking care of customers Ive been stood there for 15 mins while one of them was chatting with a friend that stopped by. ive also been in there and heard them argue with a lady about what she ordered (as if the lady would not know her own order!) very very bad customer service now if i walk in and they are there i turn around and go somewhere else. now there is a Latina lady that works there also shes great always puts the customers first and is always in a great mood with a nice smile so if you walk into the deli and the other 2 are working take my advice and go somewhere else

This Safeway supermarket in Oakland is similar to Safeway locations in San Francisco for a handful of reasons:
1. It’s crowded.
2. Small aisles (this makes reason number 1 worse).
3. Limited parking (at least it’s better than Lucky Supermarket down the road).
Some differences:
1. Much friendlier staff.
2. Better inventory, particularly when it comes to fresh produce.
Despite the small space, they’ve managed to fit quite a lot of product on the shelves. Efficient. This store should suffice for most of your general grocery and household needs. It’s clean, well marked and organized, and well staffed.
Even though it’s in a big city, the store has a neighborhood feel. For example, staff will help push/​carry bags of groceries out for you. Friends, families, and acquaintances seem to bump into each other often or someone knows someone.

Ok so this is my local Safeway,
and it has to be the smallest one I’ve ever been to. The good bad and ugly well I dont walk for miles endlessly thru the aisles there is usually a right up front vip parking spot (im unusually lucky I guess) I can slip away for a quick stop at my local tequila joint if needed, appearently its a plus that they have alcohol! I know where everything is blind folded, everyone of the staff are friendly (except for one of the two asian delhi nazi, she is allways short with everyone and doesnt involve you in your sandwich making, so you better jump in there and tell her what you want on your sandwich because she is not asking you so dont wait for it)
I do get a lil frustrated sometimes when they dont have an item advertised in the ad. I can always ask them to carry some and they will order it but I guess they could do better job here by making sure if its on sale and in the mailier maybe they better make sure every store has a few of that item at least for the sale. I have to mention the ol guy with the glasses whos been there since the ice ages and the black chic in the meat department always go out of there way to see if they can help me find something or check the back to see if there are any back there if they appear out. they always tell me the day the item will be rectocked if they are out which IS very helpful.
Well they might not have everything but they more than the redwwod store and they are much cleaner, Oh yeah and they have booze yo!
Ill give them 5 stars if they started carrying all the sale ad items.

We were looking for a liquor store or QuikStop and came across this Safeway. The location is great! It’s a little small for a grocery store, but has everything you need.

I was visiting relatives in the neighborhood. DH suggested we buy a cake from
Safeway instead of showing up with two sets of bananas (Chinese speak — bananas are your empty hands — really rude to show up empty handed, get it?). We pull into this Safeway. Yeah this store is small but you would think they have take out bakery items. I walked the aisles twice and could not locate the bakery section — not even a single donut was on display!
I ran into a clerk and I asked her where the baked items were. She acted like she didn’t know what I was talking about. So I said, do you sell donuts, cakes cookies etc? She said, Oh, we don’t have a bakery. Not even a take out bakery ala 6^th Avenue Safeway in the City.
Either this is a very healthy Safeway or a real sad ass one. Come on! Even the 6^th Ave & FiDi Safeway found room on their compact shelves to house a refrigerator for cakes!
Thanks for nothing!

This is the smallest Safeway ever, yet surprisingly less chaotic than the Lucky’s down the street. The plus side to the small size is that you can get what you need and get out of there quickly without having to make a complete voyage to get something. They have a good selection of items, but not a wide selection of different kinds and brands of things, so this Safeway may be best if you only need a few things.
The parking is okay, though the attendent can be strict, so good luck if you want to run a few other errands before going to Safeway. There is more parking on the roof, but the roof lot is not connected to the ground parking lot, so you have to exit the ground lot on Merced Ave. and go up the street. Not too bad, just poorly designed and a little bit more inconvenient.

The sandwichs are great, but service is really difficult.
Communication between the ladies who work there and the costumers is very difficult. You NEED to repeat yourself three times (or more) sometimes.
The service just doesn’t flow sometimes… Too much confusion!
Among all the team, there are just 2 ladies who make this experience not so hard.
I work in the area, and i love those sandwiches, but every time I go there to buy my sandwich, I have to prepare myself psychologically before… :(

I like the vibe of this store… but there is hardly ever parking, and today, they didn’t have the only thing I needed (AZO for a bladdar infection). The lady at the register said ‘we’re smaller than regular store, we just don’t carry as much.’ Bummer for me.
Maybe I’m just cranky because I’m sick, but damn, safeway — why you gotta do me like that in my time of need?

And I thought that the Albany Safeway is small! This dinky version has narrow aisles and selections in places that don’t follow my usual Safeway logic.
However, there are a few notable positives. First, this Safeway is convenient for picking up a few things while I’m in the neighbourhood. Second, the store employees are very helpful and friendly. And last but not least, this Safeway has a roomy upper parking lot (and predictable Security coverage) that is useful for continuing on with a few short Montclair errands, and without worrying about the Oakland Parking Nazis.