Crest Foods

Love the deli bar for both the deli meats and cheeses, and the ready-​to-​go house made salads and hot foods. Great place for a to go lunch at a decent price.

I just moved here so was forced to rebuild my list of stores. I had always thought Crest was expensive so never gave it much of a chance, but now it is my go-​to place because of the convenient location. I was surprised to find that random items are cheaper than Walmart and significantly cheaper than Buy For Less.
If you’re a Walmart shopper near this location, give this store a chance, because the Walmart Neighborhood Markets are severely lacking and the nearest Walmart Supercenter is pretty far away.

So it’s not every day that I write a review for a grocery store, but this place is more than deserving of one. Stores like this are why Walmart will never take over the world.
Imagine neatly organized shelves of products that were stacked with the skill of a pro Tetris player.
Imagine a grocery store with FRESH, clean produce always stocked (I know it’s hard to imagine a store like that in OKC but bear with me)
Imagine a grocery store that always has carts or baskets available as you walk in, and registers available when you check-​out, and a well-​lit parking lot to ensure a pleasant stroll to your vehicle.
Imagine a grocery store where the employees don’t look like they had the life sucked out of them.
But be still your heart– this dream is a reality, and can be found at the Crest on the corner of Meridian and 23^rd. I shop there for everything I can now. And in all the times I have been there, every single employee– from the cashiers to the cart dudes– have been nothing but friendly and happy to help. One time I was even in the oatmeal aisle and some older dude who was stocking the shelf struck up a conversation about life in the 50’s and how his mom used to make him homemade oatmeal and that was one of his favorite memories of her. Like, I’m a busy person, I got stuff to do, but this guy was so damn nice I spent 20 minutes just talking about oatmeal.
Every person at this store takes pride in what they do, and they care about the community. So as a community, we should all make an effort to support places like this that keep standards high.

If you’re supermarket savvy, I think you can find what you want here and get the hell out of dodge! I prefer to shop early in the morning on weekends to buy my proteins because (1) you have more of a selection (2) better deal than buying from Sprouts or Homeland (3) Closer than Uptown. Keep in mind that it also depends on what type of meats you’re buying. It can be hit or miss. We bought a package of ⁸⁵⁄₂₀ burger patties (pre-​formed) and they were a hit. On another occasion, the boo found some special bacon from Ralph’s Packing Co which saved us a trip to Stillwater! It is the little things that Crest sometimes offers that can put a smile on my face.
*TIP* Driving to this location from 23^rd sucks. They’re doing a bunch of construction on the road and so if you go when people get off work, that street is just bananas.
In conclusion– It’s really a toss up and depends on what type of shopper you are. Great for certain things like meats, maybe dairy items. Produce is hit or miss– Sprouts tends to be a little less expensive.

I have resolved not to buy at Wal-​Mart because of the wage scale and poor service at checkout. I drove 4 miles to this grocery instead of going to a local WalMart (I’m not a resident). I wanted a 2 liter bottle of soda which I found easily. I go to the checkouts (18 — I estimate) and less than half were staffed and every line was 3 – 5 people deep. I laid my soda down and walked out.
I am willing to pay a premium for better service, but this is not the place.

When I moved to OKC from Norman, I was sorely disappointed to lose my Super Target for groceries. I’ve never been a fan of grocery shopping at Wal*Mart, which appears to be the Oklahoma tradition.
Price wise, Crest is generally just as cheap as Walmart. I have done a little shopping around and found some items to be cheaper at Walmart, and others cheaper at Crest. In the end the store that won out was the one with service and feels less gross.
I’ve been to the Homeland and Buy 4 Less around the Bethany area (west OKC) and frankly felt like I was being infected by something just being in those stores. Toss in some dim awkward isles and I’m ready to be sawed in half by a masked man already. But I digress…
Since the first time I found out about Crest (friend of the family used to work there, so we all checked it out) I’ve become more and more a fan. They have a greeter who assists with getting carts if needed. They occasionally have «samples» of some items on weekends. They have a wide enough variety of foods that I can find pretty much anything I need (brand may vary if you’re really particular).
As I said, their prices are comparable to Walmart, and I’d rather shop anywhere but Walmart. Their employees are usually helpful if I need anything. I’ve never had any issues with cleanliness.
Produce is a huge selection, but as seems the curse of EVERY GROCERY STORE I ENTER: sometimes that produce just isn’t ripe.
I swear if I ever go postal, it’ll be over the serious lack of ripe tomatoes in the state of Oklahoma. Yes I’ve tried the farmers markets, and even there it’s hit or miss (or they want $ 4/​lbs).
Overall I’d recommend this store to anyone who is on a budget. No idea where I’d shop if I were rich, but I’d probably stick with Crest for the time being.

The quality of service here is continuing to improve. Managers up front are more apt to respond appropriately.

I recently moved into this area and Crest is one of the only grocery stores around. I am very supportive of Crest since it is an Oklahoma-​owned store, however, this location is not the best. It is quite small, especially compared to other Crests, and they just are lacking in the choices for things. It is good for staple items for sure and they have good prices, but I generally only come here if I need something quickly because it’s right down the street.

My three grocery shopping selections in order are as follows:
Homeland
Crest
Wal-​Mart
Crest would be #3 if it wasn’t for intense disdain I have for even being in a Wal-​Mart parking lot. The prices at Crest are really good. They’re cheaper than Wal-​Mart in many cases. As it was mentioned before, the selection seems sparse in some areas of the store, BUT they also carry items that Wal-​Mart doesn’t (that I have seen my 3 271 896 trips to Wal-​Mart, at least).
The aisles are very, very narrow so even though Crest is never particularly crowded, if you happen to need something in the same aisle that someone else is already in, you might as well wait. Unless you’re plenty fine with awkward bumping intos, butt brushing, and possibly rude people who don’t even say «Excuse me».

While Unilocaling locations and reviews of grocery stores/​Walmarts in the area, I came across this particular Crest Foods because it was closest to the way I was headed while leaving the city. Was a little apprehensive given the three star rating, but noticing this was the only grocery store chain in the area, I gave it a go.
First impressions mean a lot and the building left a bit to be desired. However, you can never judge a book by its cover. Walking inside, I was greeted by the lovely southern-​ish belle working at the grain and nut bar. What a doll. I was pleasantly surprised by the selection in this area and the prices were decent. The next section, produce, was massive. At least 15 varieties of apples and everything was fully stocked and fresh. They also had a nice selection of half gallon sized Naked juice drinks! So far, so good. The random carts with random sales were weird at first, but I actually found some things I was looking for, so that’s another plus.
All good things must come to an end, and for my Crest Food experience it was within the first 10 minutes. The aisle layout was a huge fail. I felt like I was getting Punk’d. It really just didn’t make any sense – deli meat and family planning don’t belong in the same aisle.
Finally, I was able to stumble my way through and get what I needed before heading for the checkout. Decided to use a real person instead of self checkout to see if the customer service success was a fluke or not. The cashier didn’t say a single word to me and when she couldn’t read the sticker on one of my apples, she just reached in the bag to grab it out. Now, maybe I’m overreacting, but I was absolutely disgusted. She touches money and who knows what else all day and now she is man-​handling my produce? Not cool. Also, only paper bags? Maybe they are «green» but how do you even carry paper bags full of food, how do I use them to pick up my dog’s poop from your front yard, etc etc ??
Anyway, this particular store would’ve been a solid 3 or 4 stars but the cashier’s charade ruined it for me… SELF CHECKOUT FOR LIFE.

I shop at Crest about once every other month. Mainly when I need staple items such as flour, sugar, blah blah… It’s a grocery store. It’s not my favorite, and it’s no where close to be the worst grocery store I’ve been to. On a scale of 1 – 5 I’d give it a 3.
What I like:
1. Crest is an OKlahoma based grocery store that treats their employees well.
2. Their low prices — I thnk they may be lower than Wally World
3. They have a butcher — I don’t buy much meat. But he’s there for your needs/​questions. I know I’ve asked a few and wasn’t steared wrong.
4. Paper bags. I loathe plastic shopping bags. LOATHE them.
5. Bakery department on site. I haven’t had an abundance of their baked goods, but we bought a load of cookies for my son’s class once and the baker was super nice and the cookies were a hit.
6. Their produce is pretty good.
7. I think they’ll give anyone a job or a try.
8. Writing a check when you forgot your debit card in your jean pocket, isn’t like trying to clear national security.
9. Their truck load sales or weekly sales rock my socks!
What I don’t like:
1. It seems their selection in certain departments and stock could be better.
2. I can’t say the store is dirty, it’s not. But it doesn’t seem clean either.
3. Parking sucks here for some reason. It just sucks. This could be my cluster phobia kicking in. But it just seems chaotic.
4. Not always easy finding help — or friendly help.
5. The layout of the store can sometimes trip me up. I’m not really sure how or why.
So as you can see the list of things I like is longer by almost 90%. We will continue to shop here. We like it. And here my son can get his sugar cereal to keep him well focused throughout the school day.

There are several things I like about Crest. The food prices are among the cheapest in the metro. The produce is usually pretty good quality with a large variety for Oklahoma. I can find a few of the unusual ingredients that I need for vegetarian food like vital wheat gluten and nearly every spice imaginable. I love the fact that it’s open 24 hours and that it’s not freakin’ Walmart, because seriously screw Walmart. The employees seem like they’re treated pretty well and they aren’t too surly, plus I’m offered the option of being «helped’ to my vehicle upon checkout about 70% of the time. The paper bags are compostable. Also, Crest stores are locally owned, so that is a big bonus to me.
Those things said, they never have even a fraction of the selection of vegetarian and vegan foods that Sunflower, Akin (s?), Whole Foods, and even Target offer, so I still have to go to multiple stores to get my shopping completed. The baggers frequently place my soft produce under heavier items, such as yesterday when my avocados were under my bananas which were under a five pound bag of potatoes. I had a problem (only one time) in which my debit card was charged three times for my shopping trip and the manager to whom I spoke was generally unhelpful. I eventually got it resolved, but the process was frustrating.
Overall, proximity and cheapness factor far more strongly into my willingness to continue shopping here than the few issues I have with the store.

There are not a lot of grocery store chains in Oklahoma. Most of the grocery shopping in this area is at either Homeland (overpriced with disturbingly bad produce at times) and Walmart (it’s Walmart, if you don’t know what it’s like you must not be from this country).
I drive 20 minutes to get to this Crest once a week to stock up on my groceries. They are consistently clean and very courteous. I have rarely stumped the employees when I ask for the location of an item. The checkout is always speedy and there are plenty of cashiers to ensure the lines are not long.

GOOD FOOD SHOPPING ALTERNATIVE TO WALMART
I was visiting at a hotel off I-​40 and looking to fill my fridge with some food and beverages (more beverages than food). I was told that Walmart was the closest — and in some people’s view only — choice. Hmmmm wonder why? Is it because Walmart put the «smaller guys» out of business? Never mind don’t answer because I’m only visiting for a few nights!
I was told a CVS or Walgreens was just up the street so drove in the direction. I pleasantly found this Crest Foods grocery store along the way. Is it the cleanest, nicest, most cost effective grocery store I’ve shopped at? Hardly. Did it satisfy my need of filling up my hotel fridge with food and beverages for a few nights. Yes. And looking at the map I didn’t drive much more than an extra mile more– well worth the price of not doing business with Walmart in my book. This place is a three-​star A-​OK (in OK at that) with me!

I was very disappointed with this grocery store.
I was told this place had good produce. This place had flies all over the produce. I was told this place was clean. See the flies comment. I was told this place had a good selection. No, it did not.
When I went to check out, the checker didn’t greet me. She did bang my fruit around. She did cough all over my food. She did toss the yogurt in the bag and then the fruit on top of it. She did not thank me.
I will not return. I’d rather drive 20 minutes to go to the grocery store than go here. EEP!