Safeway

This safeway stinks — small, old, non caring staff. Had a bagger who crushed my tomatoes and put meat in the same bag with what I consider my chemicals (dishwasher soap). Next time I will bag but instead I am focused on the register so I don’t have to come back due to the mistakes the scanner makes. Staff needs training, store needs some help. I will head over the bridge and go to Trader Joes or the other safeway to avoid this one. To management — make some improvements so residents actually want to shop here.

Lines have been much shorter lately, had to update my review to reflect that! Really good people at the cash registers and has your typical full grocery inventory. Also can’t beat the location for harbor bay

I like the South Shore Safeway better, lot bigger and more stuff it seems. This one is O.K. for needing to pick up a few things if I’m in the area. Went by the meat department and they had a bunch of old meat for sale. Everything seems smaller at this Safeway in terms of selection and products.
Great deals tho being a member. I always look for stuff on sale :)

The staff is friendly and the location is convenient if you live on Bay Farm Island. However, on more than one occasion I have found molded meat and cheese in the pre-​made sandwiches, rotting fruit in the bagged fruit and brown lettuce in the salad bags.
They also do not automatically honor their scan policy. When an item is scanned in with the wrong price, policy says it should be free. You always have to remind them.
They need to improve the freshness of their food to earn more stars.

Because this Safeway is so small and services a distinct population on Bay Farm Island, it’s easy to get to know the employees here and they do a great job. A lot of them have worked here for years.
The pharmacy is first rate. The other day, I needed a particular medication in a hurry. Because the drug is kind of obscure, they had to order it and it would not arrive until the next day. Fortunately, Brian at the pharmacy told me he had some samples of the medication that I could have immediately. What a life saver!

It’s nice that this safeway is in bay farm because its more convenient to go to then the one at South shore. The fact that its open until midnight is also another bonus. It’s pretty much got everything you need, including a pharmacy at this location as well. The lines here can get a bit long as they dont have that many checkers even though they’ve got a lot of lanes (seems like a Safeway trend). It’s a grocery store and that’s what they got when I go there so I’m happy with it.

This is the worst Safeway ever. The dumb lady cashier told my 50 yr old mom that her $ 100 was fake and started questioning her about where she got her money. Are you a investigator? Then she had 2 cop cars come question my mom. My mom was confused because she knew little English. These workers are not trained well enough? Safeway didn’t even have a money pen or a bill scanner? Even the officers couldn’t tell that it was real. Are they serious? The officers had my mom go back to chase and verify that the bill was real. Chase said it was real. This was such a waste of time and horrible experience for my mom. Safeway needs to retrain these workers.

Safeway isn’t my usual market, but this one is near my house and I give it Four Stars for their organics. I was pleasantly surprised by the selection of organic produce and dairy. I don’t know if you can get everything organic you want here, but for a Safeway, it’s pretty darn good. They also have a rack of plants, flowers, and herbs out front from Sweetwater (organic) Nursery, in Sebastopol, although last time I was there it looked like they might be dismantling… or re-​stocking?

Don’t let the small footprint and wayward location fool you; this Safeway has stuff most others don’t. (At least in my experience)
What?
They started carrying chicken feet, plantains, pork belly, dragon fruit, and shrimp chips. They also carry one of the few frozen chicken nuggets that don’t have soybean product and/​or gluten.
I know Berkeley Bowl and 99 Ranch also have that stuff, but I work by this store. And I rack up gas rewards points.
(Note the Safeway gas is the other Alameda one)
It’s a solid Safeway.

Well, that was a nice walk to Safeway to get NO FOOD and come back empty-​handed. Just moved to Bay Farm Island, and this is the most poorly managed Safeway I’ve ever seen. The checkout lines extend ¾ of the way down each aisle. And people are enduring it. It looks like Russia inside. I’ll shop somewhere else on my way home from work.

First off, let me say that the Pharmacy gets 4 stars. The pharmacy staff is friendly and very helpful. The cashiers are also generally a cut above what you get normally.
That said, there are never enough cashiers. There is usually only two open at a time which is a big problem for the evening rush. Seems like it’s getting slightly better and will update the review as time goes on.

It pains me to write this review, but the service at this Safeway has gone downhill, especially in the deli. I’ve been shopping here for over 25 years but lately they’ve been terrible.
One incident a couple of weeks ago. I bought one of Safeway Select’s soups from the deli. When I got home my wife noted that it had expired a month ago, so I took it back. The customer service people were great and let me exchange but when I told the deli person she could care less.
Today, went by around 1:30 looking for lunch. Sandwich line was 7 deep, checkout line 10 deep. 3 people working in the back of the deli ignoring the line. Another person just leaves on her break.
The South Shore Safeway is newer but busier. If I continue to get crappy service at the Bay Farm Safeway I may become a Nob Hill customer.

If you want to shop Safeway in Alameda, you have two choices, South Shore and Harbor Bay. Each store provides a different shopping experience.

Store size: South Shore is a newer store and is probably double in size to the Harbor Bay store.
Hours: Harbor Bay closes at midnight while South Shore is a 24-​hours store.
Parking: Both have large lots. But shoppers at Harbor Bay don’t have to compete with the Trader Joe’s shoppers at South Shore.
Inventory: Being a smaller store, Harbor Bay would have a smaller inventory and selection. This would be an issue for a popular item on sale as it will tend to be out-​of-​stock at Harbor Bay.
Checking-​out: The Harbor Bay store is a neighborhood store that is mainly patronized by the residents of Bay Farm Island. It is not crowded and the check-​outs are usually not long. The South Shore store is in a large shopping center which draws in customers not only from Alameda, but from outside the city as well. So it tends to be crowded with long check-​out lines.

Service: The service as Harbor Bay is much more friendly and personable than the high-​volume and busy South Shore store.
Overall, there are pluses and minuses to shopping at the Harbor Bay store. So depending on the factors that are important to you, Harbor Bay may or may not be for you.

this Safeway is definitely a 4 star experience for people living nearby. they have few other shopping options. items pricey. «card savings» available on almost everything makes pricing almost reasonable.
buys: «the snack artist» nacho chips” (1.99) house brand
–nice crunch, «natural cheese flavor» little cheese tasted
shopping notes:
–sammies 5.49, free if not made within 3 minutes. (deli)
–lots of parking available.
–it’s just ok.

this is my go-​to grocery when I’m visiting family. It’s nice and clean and the staff is very friendly.

Most of their cashiers are friendly here, and they are willing to give you information when you ask. Well, one occasion, I happened to encounter unfriendly cashier, though.
Overall this is a nice small Safeway store with very friendly shoppers. If the store can find how to solve the long line early morning before commuting for work and evening, this store will be great.

Compared to the safeway at south shore you would get a four
But in general you’re kind of poor
Lines can at times be long
and that’s kinda wrong
but given that you don’t get much traffic
in general your service is pretty static
This store is definitely smaller than the south shore alameda safeway, but the service and wait times are so much more better. Being on main island, I’d much rather drive all the way to this safeway to avoid the super long lines at the south shore safeway. The only thing is that this safeway closes at midnight. Not only that, given that it’s a smaller safeway you obviously get smaller selection. But it has all the basics of what you’d need.

I have no idea why I’ve never reviewed this location, and this place needs more stars.
Have you ever tried going grocery shopping on the weekends in the morning… in Alameda? South shore Safeway has lines going in and out of the aisles, and then I come here and I just zip in and out of there within 5 minutes. I’ve lived here more than 10 years now and have never once encountered bad customer service. I’ve seen a lot of regular workers, all great people. AND it is on Bay farm, HOW NICE. I don’t have to cross the bridge for some groceries and worry about running into people I don’t want to see. They are always stocked, except the one time I came here and all the bread was gone for some strange reason, and always clean
This pharmacy is so new and updated and nice to look at. All the pharmacists here are so nice. I’ve gotten my flu shot here from Agustin twice in the past two years, there’s also Brian and the tech Dana. They’re all great and efficient at their job.
One reason I had to review this place and give it a good rating is because this is the time of year when they have people standing outside ringing the bell for the Salvation Army. Most of the people I encounter working for that are pretty miserable and glare at you if you walk by them. The woman here is always singing, happy, complimenting you, I just thought that was really great and made my errands more merry.

It’s just an a-​ok store, most of the cashiers are very friendly. Their deli used to be very good, but I noticed that lately the food just looks like it’s been sitting for a while.

Since I’m over here so often, sometimes I have to grab lunch really fast.
I have always been happy with their premade lunch offerings. I had a Turkey Havarti Sandwich on Wheat Bread. It was fresh and good.
The customer service is very friendly. I would say 4 star worthy. But since I am in and out in 2 minutes or less they are very friendly for that amount of time.