Fresh & Easy

**UPDATE**
I was very excited to give Fresh & Easy a chance when they moved into this spot. Unfortunately, they failed on so many levels (e.g. the quality of the food, the cashiers were non-​existent for the most part, and their customer service was very poor when you did find a staff person). In fact, our family became ill from their food twice before they installed the closed door refrigerators. In any event, looking on the brighter side, let’s vote for getting a Trader Joe’s in that space, pronto.
Please go to,
, and enter the address listed above, 1489 Bird Avenue, San Jose, CA 95 125, and ask them to have their real estate department consider bringing a TJ’s to our Willow Glen Village. :)
Thank you!!!

Yep, Fresh & Easy is closing its doors… it explains why the freshness and quality of their produce, fresh items, and to-​go meals has taken a nose dive for months. It’s been nothing but miss on quality. Why write a review if they are closing? Because their «clearance/​store closing!» prices are abysmal! Signs outside proclaim up to 30−40% off… you get inside and well discounted items are picked clean. Anything left is 10% off. Water, beer, cleaning products, paper goods… Seriously, 10% off their already highly marked up prices? They just lowered their discount on snack and dry foods to 20% — BIG DEAL! Talk about a slow death! I won’t step foot back in there… I truly pray we get another full service grocery store in this location. Nearest decent grocery is a 15 minute drive away (and by decent I mean bypassing Walmart’s little grocery on Monterey Hwy). Whomever is SMART enough to jump on this location will be grateful they did. This is a Downtown Willow Glen hub store that will quickly ROI.

This location is so convenient because I live across the street. It’s also appreciated that its open until midnight every single day. It’s come in handy many times for late night, last minute grabs. For those two reasons, I would give it 4 – 5 stars. But I am settling with 3 because of their poor selection of even the most basic grocery store essentials. From bread, to fruits/​veggies, to frozen foods… Poor selection and extremely over priced. The one thing I will guaranteed purchase is the orange juice. Best price and great taste. BUT, be sure to check the date. I’ve seen a number of expired inventory at Fresh and Easy. Another thing I appreciate– easy self check out, and NEVER a line.

On this positive side, they sell more food than a 7 Eleven. Otherwise…
Mediocre prices.
Rude or invisible workers.
Limited selection.
Really the only reason to go here is if you forgot something from shopping at a real grocery store. Need bread? Forgot mustard? This is your place. Otherwise this place is painfully bad. Shop elsewhere.

It’s no Dragers but they do have quick premade foods that are conveinant when in a hurry. I’ve gone in to bring some fruit home after going to Bebos pizza 100 feet away in the same shopping center. As noted by others it blows away the Alpha Beta that was there for some time. They have selected great deals on a variety of small items like snacks and wine. I will go again for just those things in the future!

My boyfriend says this place should be call «Convenient & Easy» which I agree is spot on. Freshness seems secondary here.
Regardless, I still enjoy F&E, my only gripes would be their prices are a bit high and some of the workers are a little ghetto. It’s a good thing you don’t really have to interact with them! Self check-​out only, works for me! Great little last minute meals here. My go-​to grocery store!

I used to hate it but it has grown on me. Selection is limited, and prices aren’t great, but it is very convenient. The ready to eat meals are pretty good.

This is one of my favorite grocery store to shop at! It’s a little further from where I live, but I come here once in a while. Hmm the prices have definitely gone up, but there’s still some good deals here! Remember to go around looking at their clearances — you might just be able to find lunch or dinner for the day :) This store is small, but it’s very organized and you can probably find everything you need! However, their hummus is a must try! I love their selection of hummus! They have some good baked goods/​desserts too! I’m usually able to find something yummy here :) There’s also self-​out lanes, so I find that fun to use too!
BRING YOUR REUSEABLE BAGS!
& sign up for the friends rewards program to collect points and get coupon :)

This store is clean, organized, and has a wide selection of items at a reasonable price. The only thing that is an issue is the fact that it’s only self check out. At first it didn’t seem problematic, but after a few more times of coming here I had to wait a quite a while for assistance whenever the machine prompted it.

New guy MICHAEL is EXCEPTIONAL! He scanned and bagged ALL MY GROCERIES without my asking! Quite the gentleman :) he deserves recognition for his exemplary customer service. Kudos to u Michael and thank you for an outstanding experience!

Now officially a terrible grocery store. While it does have the basics, the level of service has gone down dramatically. This morning I went at 7 o’clock to buy milk and the door was locked. A younger employee opened the door to let us in. However, the manager came out and actually told me to leave and I could not buy anything because they were still doing inventory. There was no sign on the door explaining this or anything. The hours say they’re open from 6 AM to midnight and when I pointed this out she said well I’m sorry but were closed. I have never been to a store that I actually kicked you out and said you can’t buy anything. Unbelievable.

LOVE THIS PLACE. It is always a treat when i come here. Their baked goods is great and the aisles are easy to navigate.
I would like there to be atleast ONE real checker, not all self-​service check outs.

PARKING: big outside lot shared with an outside shopping plaza located on the corner.
INSIDE: very clean, sterile, organized. High ceilings warehouse type location. Nice flow to all their aisles and placement of registers.
PRODUCTS: Fresh & Easy reminds me of a less overwhelming Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s. Here they sell organic foods, but not a TON of options so you’re not wandering for hours looking for what you need. They offer just a couple-​few options of what you might be looking for, which sometimes is better especially for us indecisive folks.
PRICES: I’m no expert in organic food prices, but I feel like their prices aren’t more expensive than other organic food stores.
PET PRODUCTS: They sell some organic dog treats like Buddy Biscuits, that are sold cheaper than at your chainstore petstore so that was a plus.
COUPONS: You can’t use manufacture or other coupons here, unless they have Fresh & Easy coupons, but I’ve never seen any.
CHECKOUT: You’re expected to bag your own groceries as the conveyer belt pushes everything to the very end so after you pay you can bag your own items while the person behind you can start checking out already. In a way I like this because sometimes baggers don’t put things in bags the way I want to.

The location that my condo is in is between grocery stores. It’s either the Mid Town Safeway which can be somewhat seedy & always busy or the Hamilton/​Meridian Safeway. Both aren’t super close & I’m not a huge Safeway fan to begin with. Needless to say, I was beyond excited when Fresh & Easy opened up just down the street. I’d never heard of F&E until it was just about to open. So, here’s the skinny:
It’s mostly pre-​packed items like meals, veggies, baked goods, etc. Their concept is to make a quick grab literally that. What I don’t care for is the quality of items. Their meat section is terrible, veggies aren’t always fresh & go bad quickly, & they don’t carry everything a grocer does. I seem to keep coming though as it’s awfully convenient. If you do go in, I’d suggest going for a quick grab & that’s about it. Keep your expectations low.

Fresh & Easy is a great alternative to the large supermarkets like Safeway. It has a smaller footprint like Trader Joe’s but focuses on fresh and healthy foods and their prices are reasonable!
The selection of fruits and vegetables is great and everything always looks so fresh. I scored on some fresh, sweet blueberries today too!
Their meat and dairy aisles are so organized behind glass refrigerators. Unlike the North San Jose location, this store has an in-​store bakery so you can pick up fresh cookies, croissants, and perhaps a cretzel (pretzel croissant) if they’re available.
Before you leave, check out their clearance section for some great deals! Don’t forget to join their friends club for rewards and extra savings! Happy shopping!

I like the fact that they open from 6 AM to midnight.
The place is big enough to have good variety but not too big.
I never waited more then 2 min in line.
I don’t like the alcohol policy the needs to be purchased separately.

Fresh & Easy has a nice selection of organic products, a pretty good selection of vegetarian products, good snacks, $ 1.29 pizza dough, a decent selection of wine and beer, That’s enough to make me happy. Prices are okay too.
Things that do not make me happy: how much packaging everything has here… even the veggies. And now, with the new CA law about booze, the self checkout system here has gotten even more annoying: you have to have an associate ring up your booze separate from all your groceries. Which means flagging down the one or two people who are working and slowing down the whole process and the lines. Guess I’ll get my wine elsewhere from now on probably.

I am so glad my Fresh and Easy is not closing. They always have fresh produce and great heat and eat meals. Their fresh fish and meat are also well priced.
I also love the clearance section. You do have to check to make sure it is still edible, but most of the time it is simply items that are set to be sold by that date.
It is somewhat difficult now that the laws have changed about self checkout alcohol. You have to not scan any alcohol, complete your transaction and then get help for the staff to ring up alcohol under a different transaction. That is the only negative. They have great beer and wine prices though so the delay in checking out wont deter me.

I don’t think I had ever been to a Fresh and Easy before.
Draw me surprised. I’m a loyal Safeway patron and their prices are if not better they are comparable. But I think what really drew me was the choice and focus on healthy. I haven’t ever seen cucumber or fresh fruit water in a Safeway, or a Whole Foods for that matter. Usually there’s a focus on Soda’s and I hate having to pull out every bottle and read the label only to find 15 ingredients in it.
These drinks had water and cucumber. That’s it.
Yes, their selection is smaller, but what they do have they seem to excel in.
Since they’re not super close to me I’m not sure how regular I’ll be, but their brand name drinks will bring me back most likely, probably over and over again: D

I’m switching this rating to 4 stars, because I have definitely begun to find value in this grocery store and really appreciate its presence in my community.
The bagged herb salad is truly amazing. Fresh spinach, cilantro, arugula and romaine with some other herbs is super super delicious and has been a true summer salad staple in my home.
Their pizza dough you buy in the cheeses aisle, is really remarkable. Really spongy and with great texture I’ve made some of my best homemade pizzas with it recently.
I also have been thrilled with the flavored lemon ice bags, and most recently happy to discover they sell the frozen cubes of garlic that TJ’s has, and they have *ginger* which I’ve never seen before !!! too cool.
There are a few other favorites of theirs I like, but mostly its just taken some time for me to adjust to another food option and find some favorites.
ALSO — important — if you were a big fan of TJ’s seasoned rice vinegar, that they no longer sell, Fresh & Easy’s seasoned rice vinegar is exactly the same one. They saved the day for my mom and I when we were worried that we’d never get that one again.
I don’t go there for everything, and I won’t because I can get my fresh veggies and fruits other places, but for the specialty items I need in a pinch that are unique they are great.