L W Grocery

Great neighborhood corner store with friendly staff. I love how convenient it is and they always stock the basics.

This place is great for stuff you need and the owners are super nice.

Ugh. The most unfriendly store I’ve encountered in a long time. I used to be a regular patron. No longer.

What is wrong with you people?
This is a serviceable corner store and the owners are great. Incredibly friendly, and usually know what I want before I get it (BV Pinot).
I would not recommend doing any actual shopping here, but that’s not what a corner store is for anyway. Perfect place for the lateish-​night beer run or snack attack (mmm…I’m lookin’ at you, cheez-​it).
Can’t use a credit card unless you are going to spend $ 20 or more, so keep that in mind.

Yes, they have a nice variety of ice-​cold soda when you’re dying of thirst. Lots of snacks, although check the expiration date! I bought a small bag of pretzels or Cheetos or something and good thing I checked before purchase, because they had expired over a month ago. One night I was hungry and hadn’t been to the grocery store in awhile. Le Beau down the street was closed, and LW was still open. I was checking out frozen meals and everything was expired. EVERYTHING. I think the only thing they are good for are cold drinks and lottery tickets. The couple who works there is nice, but the place needs a face lift and someone to care about what they’re selling.

Chips and snacks galore, drinks to fulfill all your soda pop dreams and even a selective wine aisle for a corner store?! No way! Not to mention all your basic vices of lottery, cigs and beer are sold here! L & W’s the baddest thing to hit the Nob since Cable Cars! The owner’s nice too btw; she feeds friendly neighborhood pugs with delicious red vines from time to time (that’s so bad)!! So don’t go to L & W’s if you’re a TOTAL bore! ‘Coz just around the corner is yet another yuppie Wholefoods-​wannabe! And that’s sooooo typical of the (S)Nob!!!

I swear I just had to write this review because you all need to watch out for this store. I would give this place zero stars if I could. I hate this fucking corner store and the fucking couple that work here. I miss the old couple that used to work here before this old couple took over. They were so much nicer and friendlier .The old couple that works here now is so fucking rude esp. to the people who live around here who are their daily customers. And on top of that, their stuff is so fucking expensive its not even funny. They sell Arizona for $ 1.99 !! WHAT A RIP OFF ! IT SAYS ON THE CAN THAT IT’S 99 CENTS ! stupid store. their fruit are expensive too and plus, all their stuff looks so ancient here like it’s been there for years. Their candy tastes expired. They’re trying to rip everybody off that lives around this area just because they have some decent money and that just pisses me off. I hate this place and I’m glad to say I am never coming back again even though its half a block away from my house. I rather just walk an extra block and go to Le Beau where they have cheaper, fresher, and a larger variety of things. Not to mention, friendlier workers too. Also, I heard that this place got caught selling alcohol to minors. hahah they deserved it !

Thank God for small favors.
It’s 80 degrees in San Francisco, my software is ticking like a Tag Heuer, and I’ve studied all the ClearCase tutorials I want for the day. What to do? How about a TWO HOUR LUNCH!
It’s a great day for a walk, so I slather on the Lancome SPF 30 and head down the Embarcadero. At the ½ hour mark I’m right at Houston’s, my normal turnaround, I’m feeling good, so I press on regardless. The sun is out, I’m seeing tank tops and shorts and skirts, and I’m walking in heaven. I blast through Fisherman’s Wharf like it isn’t even there. Out by the Hyde Street Pier I wonder, how shall I get back to the office?
I know! Follow the cable car line. Hidden agenda: If I get tired, I can flash my Fast Pass and take a ride back to work.
I look up Hyde Street … HAOLE SHIRT that Russian Hill is STEEP! I have some prior experience with hills, though, and I know that if I keep my feet moving I’ll eventually get there. But the further I get up the hill, the steeper it gets. I notice Russian Hill has a lot of shade trees, and I make it by staying in the shade as much as possible. There are lots of little alleys and private gardens here, and very old people. Heart disease is probably rare on this hill. The views are beautiful, and I hardly notice crossing the 1 hour mark at the top of Lombard Street.
Then I notice it. My fingers are stiff and tingling. The world is getting larger and further away. I need a glass of water. By the time I cross Vallejo I’m in such a daze I don’t even realize I’m walking downhill. Should I stop at Swensons? No, I just want a glass of water. I notice Broadway, but not that it is the low point between Russian Hill and Nob Hill, it all looks like one mountain by now. Past the chic neighborhood restaurants, no lunch please, I just want a glass of water. Keeping an eye out, while I begin to fantasize. I’m all alone. Will I pass out? If I do, will no one notice me? Days later will they find my blackened carcass on the sidewalk, like a stray frog, and wonder, «Who was stupid enough to go for a hike on an 80-​degree day without water?»
At Hyde and Jackson, and again at Hyde and Washington, the tracks go several directions. I wait for cable cars to pass to see which tracks are active. I find myself climbing again.
Then the L W Grocery appears. Cool as a cave inside. Filled with neighborhood survival inventory from the dark ages, like cake mix, canned spaghetti, candy, beer, wine, liquor, school supplies, cleaning supplies, frozen pizza … and water!
Water: 1.5 liters = $ 1.50.
Rehydrated, my pace improves and my head clears. I’m enjoying the walk again. I plunge down into Chinatown with the tracks, then climb my last grade to the Fairmont Hotel. I’m at the 1−½ hour mark, and right where my turnaround would be on my usual Nob Hill climb. From there, it’s an easy walk down through Union Square and back down Market Street to the comfort and safety of my desk.
2 hours
6.2 miles
2 hills
3 uphill grades
1 L W Grocery to save my life
P. S. I had to retrace this course the next day, armed with water at the beginning, to take enough notes to write the review. 12 miles in 2 days, I feel like a superman!

L W Stands for LAME & WEAK
But, this place has an ATM, so I guess that is good thing. Ive never bought any food here but since it is the closest ATM I have frequented it often.
Also they are the only nearby locale that actually has real fire wood (not that we’ve needed much this winter yet). But it’s good to know that you can get real wood if ya need it: D
One Star for the firewood and ATM!
I wouldn’t even trust the canned food here, but buy all the wood your little heart desires!