Safeway

Safeway is great! I’ve never been dissatisfied from Safeway. They’re always nice and never let you down! And they have the best prices out there in my opinion.

Consistently has the longest lines of any nearby grocery store. No self-​checkout and they are always understaffed (albeit with an incredibly friendly staff)

Satan’s butthole is friendlier than this place. There is never more than 1 lane open for checkout no matter what time of day it is. Every item in the store is over-​priced and marked up so much I don’t know how people shop there. Don’t think about shopping at a Safeway without their shoppers card unless you have your AMEX card.
The people at the checkout are almost always friendly and pleasant, I feel for all the staff there because it’s obvious that corporate under-​staffs the store to really line their pockets.
Don’t go here, at least until they install self-​checkout lanes.

I happened to stop in during a rush. ALL HANDS ON DECK. The staff (including management) were all manning the checkouts to keep up with the unexpected surge. I only had one item, and a friendly aware cashier (Jason) grabbed me out of line and checked me out! I will definitely be back. Also– all staff seemed friendlier than at the nearby Fred Meyer and produce prices seemed a bit better.

I wouldn’t recommend this Safeway, mainly because of the ridiculously long lines at the check-​out stands. This store has yet to install self-​check stands, and is pretty much always under-​staffed, so you’ll end up waiting an unecessarily long time to buy your goods, no matter what time of day.
Also, for whatever reason, this store seems to attract a lot of homeless people and addicts outside. The bus stop on the west side is always dirty and littered with trash. This isn’t necessarily the store’s fault, but I still have to mention it.
Fred Meyer and QFC are both nearby, and offer much pleasanter experiences, so I’d recommend going to one of those.
That being said, the employees at Safeway are friendly. This harsh review is mostly on the upper management.

I have never left a review about anything, but after 6+ years of working near this safeway, and sometimes needing to run over for a quick lunch, I decided I needed to tell people just how terrible their customer service is, and always has been, at their deli counter. Don’t count on getting a hot sandwich or any of their hot prepared food with time to spare to eat it before going back to work. You need at least 10 minutes just for them to acknowledge you’re there, then another 10 just to get them to come help you. Hmm, that’s 20 minutes wasted of a 30 minute break, and still no food in hand! That’s ok, whatever conversation they’re having instead of working must be important. Usually I just grab some soup or a salad or a frozen meal I can microwave back at the office instead. I should have learned a long time ago, that even if there’s 3 workers standing around chatting, there’s no hope for a Philly cheesesteak sandwich, yet I still give it a go once every few months in hopes something has changed.
On the bright side, their Starbucks girls are pretty awesome.

Good established Safeway. They have the groceries that I need when I need them.
There is a small parking lot on the side of the building and another on top of the store.
I buy donuts here maybe once a week.

This is a smaller grocery store, one of my regular stops for four years. We recently moved, and I’ve been missing this particular Safeway.
–they carry brands that are hard-​to-​find anywhere else (ie Tessemae’s dressing or Nancy’s whole fat yogurt) for a great price
–awesome bargain bins
–intuitive layout
BUT what makes this diamond in the rough (and there are parts that are rough — read the other reviews) is that the employees are STELLAR!
They have honored coupons that expired the day before, they have given me 50% on items that haven’t sold well (not marked, they just did it while I was in line), they’ve substituted organic produce at regular price when they were out, or a larger item (16oz rather than 8oz) at the smaller, on sale price, they’ve given me credit for coupons I swore I had but forgot to bring to the store, I’ve returned produce without the receipt (the olé’ cilantro instead of parsley scenario)… and on, and on and on. For four years!
Also, Safeway has the best JustForU online coupon app, and I get about one free item every week. If I’m not interested in trying the item, I get it anyway and donate it to a local food bank.

If you like being approached by homeless people this Safeway is for you!
Seriously though, if you haven’t been here often, you’ll have to know that there are two parking lots. One at the top, above the store and one on the bottom near the entrance. When you walk in, it looks like every other Safeway. The first thing you notice is the hard alcohol cases that are locked up. My guess is that there was a lot of stealing that resulted to the hard alcohol getting locked up. In order to get hard alcohol, you have to approach a cashier and ask. Once this happens, he/​she will go and unlock the case to retrieve the hard alcohol to sell to you when he walks back to his cash register. I believe this is the reason why EVERYTIME I come here there is a giant line. It also doesn’t help that there isn’t a self express line. Most of the time if I’m grabbing one item, I pay for it at the deli (make sure you don’t buy any meat otherwise you will wait in line). While I understand that this is protocol, it’s honestly more convenient for me to go to Fred Meyer to get groceries because they move lines through much faster.

This Safeway is so freaking slow… every time I go in I wait forever to pay (usually for one or two things). There’s no self checkout and there are always way too few checkers (like usually one person). Weird.

This is the most frustrating grocery store I’ve ever been to. There is ALWAYS a wait to check out and never anybody to be found at the Customer Service counter. Management needs to do something about this, or put in self checkout lanes so people don’t have to wait 10 minutes to buy 2 items. I get that that option isn’t the most feasible, but it makes it so much easier for everybody.
That said, the employees here are wonderful. Despite always being busy they are friendly, professional, and helpful. The service is top notch but the management really needs to figure some things out.

man, the garage underneath where cars and trucks park upstairs is being cleaned!
thats so awesome, they have a moveable lift and a pressure washer in the port where the dumpster and extra storage is… and theyre getting rid of pigeon exriment build up and making it clean… the only thing i noticed was that the area wasnt soapy, it wasnt really dripping any soapy residue, but i guess thats better than nothing. adnd yes inside is clean too and has a good selection of products also.

The only reason I give this place three stars is because of the employees, who are pretty awesome:) they are all super friendly and work their butts off. One of the gals came into help for a diaper drive a couple weeks back on her day off!
This Safeway doesn’t have a lot of the products I would like to see:(I feel like this is a grocery store in a small town due to their lack of variety, and they run out of products quite a bit. I wish they would star carrying a larger variety and learn from their ordering shortages in the past.

This is the worst place to get groceries in the area. About 90 percent of the time they only have two check stands open. Usually 15 minute wait. Unbelievable

The lines are always super long here, especially in the evenings. More staff at the registers please.

Safeway I want to love you, but you make it so hard. The checkout lines are always so long it’s worth the extra ½ mile I have to drive to Fred Meyer just so I don’t have to wait in line for 15 minutes! There’s hardly ever more than 2 – 3 cashiers open, maybe it’s time to get some self check out registers!

This is a very, very typical Safeway. They split the aisles, which I hate, but once you get your local Safeway layout down, it is easy to get what you need.
What sets this location apart from others is the staff. Kellie is my favorite, but there are dozens of other checkers, baggers, and stock staff that are friendly, helpful, and a pleasure to interact with.
I can’t give it more than a three star rating because the produce and meat are so effing dismal. There are also some real surly/​downright unfriendly employees, but once you know them (trust me, you’ll be able to tell) it is easy enough to avoid their aisle.

Solid, close grocery store. I come here at least once a week. Usually it’s for a baking excursion but then I remember we need actual food so I buy all that too.
The produce area is decently stocked with fresh and healthy things. Their baking aisle is adequate, though during the fall canning season it was difficult to find the pieces I needed and it never seemed like they received any new stock. Their bakery holds M&M cookies which is totally my weakness, especially since they sell them by the dozen, in a huge size. Just after work, you can find WARM freshly baked French bread which is awesome since typically most baking is done in the morning. The beer/​booze selection is good, as is their dairy.
Upon check-​out, I’ve either waited no minutes or twenty, but once it’s my turn, everyone is super nice and they always ask if I need help with my bags. And yes, just park upstairs. it’s not worth wasting time in the tiny lower lot.
Otherwise, their Starbucks is a-​ok, their bank is fine (I just go to the ATM), and their customer service counter (I love to buy me some lotto) is woefully understaffed. But they have a self-​serve lotto dispensing machine, just know that it DOES NOT make change. I once bought $ 20 of lotto on accident. And no, I did not win.
Since we are arriving in the holiday baking season, I’ll be coming here waaaaaaaaaaay soon.

Pretty meh Safeway. If you’re unable to park down below there is AMPLE parking upstairs in their lot. I usually park up there to avoid the crowd of cars pulling out at the same time.
This Safeway has all of your standard features. Full produce, deli, bakery, pharmacy, Starbucks, and of course your standard grocery items. If you can, avoid their Chinese food at the deli unless you go during peak times. Otherwise, you will be eating something that has sit under the heat lamp for an eternity.
Checkout can be a hassle during busy times. It baffles me when I see a line of people yet only two checkers. Figure this out!

I’m not sure why this place doesn’t have such a great rating. It’s a pretty average grocery store.
The best thing about it — they sell more than just organic foods! There are 4 organic food only stores between me and the Safeway. They really need more regular food grocery stores in Seattle so I’m very pleased that this is one of them!
As far as inventory goes, I can usually find everything I’m looking for. Sometimes they don’t have some of my special items, for example I really like this particular brand of orange sherbert and they are frequently out of it which bugs me, but you can’t win them all.
They have a parking lot, their produce is fresh, they have a counter of ready made food, and they always have medium sized flour carb balance tortillas in stock :). Good store for me!