Safeway

They simply refuse to properly staff this place. The checkout lines run deep into the aisles making it difficult to shop, creating ridiculously long wait times and putting everyone — customers and staff — in contentious moods. It’s faster if you’re driving to just go up to the Giant in Silver Spring. That store is better in all respects.

This will be the first 5, I ever dole out to a business that I still have misgivings about. But, the Safeway catering area — has saved my keister too many times to count. And those adorable people in baking and catering are friendly, accomodating, and work miracles on a small budget.
I came in here with a picture and a toy from Amazon – and they made a cake so brillant it was the talk of my daughter’s party. (Wegmans discontinued these types of cakes, in favor of a more expensive and dye filled version.)
The food the catering made was talked about months. And occassionally you get a hug. People up and down this place are really nice. So they get to keep all five stars even though – I have learned to carry a book for light reading if I come midday. I double check the expirations on the Yogurt. And I still don’t understand why they cant be more tech driven in this store.
But the food in catering especially their empanadas are too good to not gave a great rating.

This Safeway is a nightmare. After two years of coming here 2 – 3 times per week, I give up. I’d rather travel to a better grocery store than deal with this mess any more.
Firstly, the customer service is overall not good. A handful of people who work here are friendly, but most look miserable and some are downright rude.
Secondly, they just can’t get it together at the registers, which has gotten noticeably worse in the past month. Everyday the lines are ridiculous and at least 3 of the 6 self check outs are broken, every single day.
Lastly, the actual food. The produce is gross and generally inedible. They are often out of items and you have to check the expiration date on everything. They frequently have expired food on the shelves and in the cases.

I started coming to this Safeway for the Starbucks which has awesome baristas. Qa’Sean and Alexis are truly sweethearts. Although my drinks are wonderfully made, I truly dislike the fact that there isn’t a way to heat up the baked goods, so I don’t purchase any.
Another aspect of the store that I adore is the sandwiches. If I have to stay late at work, I would purchase a sandwich; unfortunately, the older gentleman is the only one who makes a truly awesome sandwich. The ladies seem to just throw the ingredients sloppily on the sandwich.
The items are cheap, so I usually trek to the Walmart down the street for grocery and household goods. The cashiers are simply ok. I’ve never had a problem but they aren’t overly friendly either
Overall, when I am at work, this is an easy walk from my job. After teaching middle school, the Starbucks is a nice welcome.

I would give this more stars than one for a few employees but everytime I’ve been in this safeway, I feel I should go somewhere else — after this experience, I will and tell anyone in my area to avoid. This is the second time I’ve encountered this deli guy. First, he is absolutely rude; he does not greet you with a smile and just acts as if you’re intruding on him. I asked for a sample for the turkey to which he responds «how much you want?» He hans me a sample in a crumpled sheet wearing no gloves. He then runs off instead of waiting to see how much I want. I ask for a half lb with the same cut. He gives me .62 lbs and the end is shredded. When I asked is that normal, knowing it is not, he grabs the bag and tosses it by the saw saying it does that if it is cut that thin. He then lets the saw go to show me it does it no matter what. The pieces I saw cut were perfect. Not wanting to deal with him, I took the cut and left. Not only is this guy horrible to the image of safeway, he is definitely breaking some health code. Management should intervene.

I had one of the worst retail experiences I have ever had at this Safeway last night. Only about one-​third of the registers open at 6:30 p.m., horribly long lines, no grocery carts, an employee whose shift apparently ended in the midst of grocery store rush hour, and an employee loudly cursing during his conversation with a fellow employee when I finally was able to check myself out. Really, the residents of Brightwood, Takoma DC, and Takoma Park deserve much better. I will NEVER go to this store again unless desperate.

After a dozen years as a home owner in this neighborhood, all I can say is that Safeway’s monopoly as the only full service grocery store can’t end too soon. It was miserable when we moved here and despite superficial facelifts (& the best efforts of some of the well meaning staff), mediocrity is firmly entrenched here. There’s no other explanation other than a corporate commitment to low standards. You would think they’d up their game as other grocers make headway in DC, but nope, not Safeway.

Worst Safeway Store for the past 35 years
I’ve lived in this neighborhood for 35 years. This location had had bad service, surly and inattentive employees, and never enough cashiers for nearly the entire time. Every shopper knows this. They stand day after day, in line, grumbling and complaining about the long lines. They even complain regularly to management. I once went to make a complaint and had to wait in line. We were a loose group of confederates joined in a singular purpose: GIVE US SERVICE, GIVE US CHANGE!
At 5 in the afternoon the other day, one cash register and the self-​service was open. Lines of shoppers flowed through the aisles waiting for a cashier or for self-​service. Go at 3pm or 1pm, change your day or your time, and the same long lines occur. The same staff ignore you or keep talking to their buddies. The same staff walk away on some quest or another. For years I did not believe what my friends said that the service was poor because this store was in a primarily black neighborhood. By about 1995 I was convinced they were right and I believe this is so even today when the neighborhood is much more diverse, but still primarily black. Check out the new/​revamped Safeway in Petworth where the population is more diverse and more white, or other NW DC stores. They have enough staff and reviewers cite their good service. Employees at the Petworth location are so helpful that I want to worship at their feet.
At one point about 15 years ago my partner started to give out cards that listed the name and phone number of higher management to encourage more reporting by customers to management. But now we have had enough and plan to shop elsewhere. But what about all those folks who depend on a «within walking distance» grocery store? They are out of luck because THIS STORE WILL NEVER IMPROVE. In my latest complaint to a manager s/​he said it was important to complain higher up the chain because corporate Safeway would not allow for the hire of more staff. Whether I believe this or not, that is a sad declaration.
(I apologize to those employees who are quite friendly and hard working in spite of the poor management that surrounds them at this store.)

This is my corner store. I wish giant or another market was closer. Under staffed and long lines. Sigh!

Overall, impressed by this Safeway’s abundant and good quality organic and meatless options. The Safeway even had our favorite pea-​based faux ground beef, which we have previously only seen at Whole Foods.
Also, we visited on a Sunday evening and only waited in line for the cash register for 15 SECONDS! A much more pleasant experience than that of the chaotic, stressful, and perpetually slow check out lines of the Rhode Island metro Giant.
Room for improvement: the produce could be fresher/​riper.

One star is more than this location deserves. As The Comic Book Guy would say, «Worst Safeway Ever». Don’t bother asking to use the bathroom, the staff will only reluctantly unlock the door for you if you can even find a staff member to do it for you.
The staff is not only rude but also incompetent and lazy. They are much more concerned with socializing and checking their phones than actually stocking products or manning checkout lanes. As a result, I would be extremely wary of purchasing anything from their deli. Don’t purchase anything from their deli cases after eight. They put out previously frozen items and allow them to thaw overnight. After working in supermarkets for years I can tell you this is a heath code violation. The staff here does this in order to save time rather than actually follow company protocol. It’s absolutely inexcusable to sell a thawed product as a fresh product and then mark it as so.
Go to the Giant that’s a few minutes away.

This review is for the online delivery service, which is dispatched from this location. I used to order groceries online from Peapod, but I was really annoyed with Peapod’s pricing (meat is outrageous) and delivery times fill up fast. I decided to try Safeway after seeing a truck in my neighborhood. The first time I ordered started out great. There were great sales online, including BoGo, as well as generally good prices that were the same or comparable to in-​store prices (aka better than Peapod). There was a promo code that gave me free delivery plus a free case of water and free pack of paper towels, which was also nice. I also liked that tips were not allowed, which cuts back on costs. I ordered my groceries in the late evening, then found out I could schedule them for a mere 8 hours later the following morning. Ecstatic, I scheduled a morning delivery. However, the next morning, there was an issue with my credit card, which was probably my fault. The manager at this location called and ran my card. She then told me I’d have to schedule delivery for another day. Okay. It was probably my fault, so no big deal. I called the 877 number and was able to schedule for that afternoon, which made me really happy. The driver showed up and he was nice. He explained all of the missing items and substitutions. However, after he left, I discovered I was missing about $ 35 worth of groceries that I had been charged for. Not only did this require another call to the 877 number to get a refund, but then I was out groceries that I desperately needed for the week (I have no car and do not live within walking distance of a grocery store). I ended up using Postmates to pick up the items from Safeway, which took them maximum of 1 hour.
I recently got a promo code for free delivery and discount on groceries, so I decided to try Safeway online delivery again. I ordered online, got some great deals, put in my promo code, and was really pleased with the ending total. I scheduled for the following morning just like I did the previous time. About 30 minutes after my one hour window had elapsed, I called the 877 number to get an ETA as I had some errands to run that afternoon and wanted to be able to plan out my day. After the customer service rep called the driver, I was informed that due to understaffing, my grocery order had been cancelled and my items were not going to be delivered that day. I didn’t receive an e-​mail or a call about this, which I find to be really unprofessional as whoever stocks the truck in the morning for deliveries would have known by 8am that my order would not be delivered. I had to reschedule for another day that did not work as well with my schedule, and I now have to figure out what to scrounge together for my next 4 meals as I really needed those groceries.
For both of the screwups, I wasn’t offered any sort of discount or coupon or free delivery or next order, which was really frustrating and bad customer service. Everyone I’ve interacted with has been polite, but the number of mess ups makes me wary to ever use them again. I will probably switch back to Peapod now.

I had a great experience here, workers were friendly and I found everything I needed! Parking was easy and no wait for checkout!

If you live in DC– this is the branch of Safeway from which dispatches their online delivery service. DON’T DO IT. I tried for my first and last time to get a delivery this weekend. They don’t call you, and attempt to show up 5 hours after your delivery time. If you have such problems you can’t even call to the store, they transfer you to the online customer service hotline where you will wait on-​hold for an hour.

Came here to go to the Starbucks to get a green tea lemonade this morning. The cashier was not attentive and was chatting with the barista while dealing with my order/​paying. Rude. I’m there for a total of one minute maximum and you can’t even give me your undivided attention? I actually asked for venti but she thought I said grande and I didn’t even bother correcting her because I didn’t want to deal with her any longer. Mind you there was no one else around us to make her not hear me… UGH!

This place has a history of receiving bad reviews so I was pretty nervous about trying it out.
But, it’s in a really convenient. It’s not as bad as the reviews suggest. The lines are slow, but the employees are great (really sociable). It feels like a sleepy local town grocery.

Giving this Safeway three stars is being INCREDIBLY generous. There are some perks to this location. 1) There’s always parking, 2) there’s a Redbox inside, 3) Big produce selection, and 4) a pretty decent beer and wine selection. There are also some interesting/​niche foods here that you wouldn’t expect a Safeway like this to have. A display with containers of dried mango selling for $ 8 a pop? Who is buying this stuff? More importantly, what Safeway employee is actually ORDERING this stuff?
I have seen mice in this store though, so I’m not sure I’d ever buy anything that’s not pre-​packaged. Harris Teeter is going to open up north of this location, and a WalMart (with groceries) will be opening up to the south. When that happens, this place will need to get their act together or they’ll be finished.

It’s like that restaurant in Woody Allen’s old joke: the food is terrible, and such small portions! At this Safeway, many of the employees are surly and unhelpful — and there are too few of them.
No one seems to be in charge. The checkout lines frequently take 30+ minutes to get through. Take last night, a Saturday at 6pm. Only half the cash registers were open. Lines snaked down every aisle of the store; customers grew increasingly angry, to the point where they seemed ready to riot. One guy announced, to nobody in particular: «Bet I’d get some damn attention if I walked outta here without paying!»
I had two things in my cart — coffee, wine — and it took me almost an hour to pay for them. And I was in the «express» lane. While I waited, an employee wandered by and mentioned that several cashiers had failed to show up for work, and that none of the store’s managers were on duty. She shrugged and said this happens all the time.
The store is dirty. Shelves are often in total disarray. It’s dark. The produce is wilted and sad. If you’re shopping and need help finding something, good luck: there’s never anybody around to help. Customers stand at the deli counter and call out to the back room: «Hello? Anyone?» No response.
I could go on. If there were other grocery stores nearby, this place would go out of business immediately. (Rumor has it that a Wegmans is coming to Georgia Avenue soon. Let’s hope.) I’ve lived in half a dozen cities and shopped at many different grocery stores. This Safeway is the worst.

This Safeway is all right.
The good:
1. It is BIG. Definitely feels bigger than the one in Adams Morgan.
2. Quiet, at lest when I was there.
3. Plenty of parking
4. Big selection of produce
The not-​so-​good
1. It isn’t that clean
2. It is kind of dark.
By Safeway standards, it is above average. By general grocery store standards, it is average at best.

Sloooooooooow. It’s not the place to shop unless you have to. It’s like stepping into the twilight zone. Everyone is operating in first gear. No sense of urgency. I will only go here to pick up one or two things. The problem is that when you get out of the store, you would’ve had another birthday… smh.