Safeway

By and large I generally like this place, I have been shopping here at least twice a week since 1983 when we moved to Carmel Valley. For a long time the checkers and stockers were folks you knew who had been working at this store for years. Now it has changed and a lot of the new employees would rather pass the time visiting with each other in Spanish, especially at the deli section, than look you in the eye and give you some attention.
My main gripe however is the pharmacy. It is too small for the volume of business it does and they do not seem to keep enough stock on hand. I nearly always have to go back twice to pick up a prescription that the phone message, when I order a refill, says will be ready the next day. For the past two days, my husband and I have both been trying to pick up two simple prescriptions that the staff claims were never phoned in. My doctor’s office has had to call this pharmacy three times to verify that they did get it. My phone order for a refill, they claim, they had no record of. So tomorrow, for the third time in three days, we will trudge back and try to wait in line once more. The pharmacy appears understaffed for the volume of business it does. The staff spend too much time chatting it up with the customers. They chat and they chat and they chat while the waiting line, which goes down a food aisle making it hard on the mere shoppers, gets longer and longer. In the meantime the friendliness at the pharmacy pick up desk goes on and on and on with the staff person apparently not noticing a thing. It is very innervating. The next closest pharmacy is 6 miles away and in a super box Safeway which I do not wish to frequent. At the Mid Valley shopping center, every time I pass the empty storefront right next door to Safeway (which by the way years ago was a pharmacy!), I wonder why they do not either move the deli in there, or move the pharmacy in there, and expand the enterprise one way or another.

We wanted to get some very thinly sliced rib eye meat for sukiyaki, and called the Mid-​Valley Safeway to see if the butcher could do that. The butcher said, «no problem,» though he said nobody had ever asked for that. He said we can pick it up within the half hour. The slices were perfect! We’ve had other meat markets try but ended up with meat scraps, rather than nice thin slices. Quick, convenient, and friendly.
Thanks a bunch!

I read the previous reviews and all I could think was «flatlanders.» Yes this store is small and as a result might not have everything one wants. With a street on one side and connected to other shops on the other, there really isn’t the room to enlarge it. But, it’s very conveniently located in mid valley and has a very friendly staff. The meat and produce are very good. People need to think a little harder before posting these very negative reviews. Or, go live in town. This is Carmel Valley. I like this friendly store, I like the people who work there and I like meeting my fellow Valley neighbors there.

I live further out The Valley and absolutely love this Safeway. In fact I don’t want to go into the one Big Box in town. I get everything I need or want right here. The checkout people stay for years and help create a real community feel. The pharmacy is a big plus and they are knowledgeable and very helpful. So please do not ever make it bigger for that will not make it better. The deli section has very fresh and tasty salads etc. The roasted chickens are fresh. Nothing wrong at all.

Went to the deli section with my daughter… lady that took our order must have been new as she had to look at how too make the certain sandwich we ordered… does not use
real avocados on your sandwich, used spread that you can get in guacamole in any
store, ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm no turned around and walked away.

Wow. This is a stunningly poor Safeway. My major complaint is with the pharmacy. They are always either losing prescriptions shrugging their shoulders at my questions or just shooting a lot of attitude. I have moved my pharmacy another 6 miles out just to avoid this place.
The grocery never has more than 2 checkers open so prepare to wait and wait.
I prefer the home spun qualities of the village markets, buy for those odd essentials I will now head to Crossroads.

This Safeway needs a major overhaul — size, selection and service.
The produce section does not carry the array of offerings that the others in Carmel and del Rey Oaks offer. Why not?
The meat department also lacks in variety and quantities. I asked the meat dept. guy if he had chicken wings and he gave a pained look and replied «yeah, FROZEN». So defrost those suckers and put them out the next day. But No.
The seafood Dept. Looks like a death trap and smells so. I can’t imagine anyone actually buying fish there.
No matter what time of day it is, there are one to two checkers, tops. The lines drag all the way down the aisles at times and all of the customers are rightfully irked. The bagging help can take an exceptionally long time, especially if they are «tired» as one of the guys kept repeating as I waited for him to bag $ 150 worth of my groceries as the people that were behind me in line squeezed by me without bags just to avoid the grief.
Carmel Valley deserves a better grocery store.
For the love of god — give us a Trader Joes or a Whole Foods.

The lines here are outrageously long. I just waited in line for 15 minutes to buy my items and the line was all the way back to the dairy section at the rear of the store!
They consistently have 1 checker, never more, sometimes less (you may have to ring a bell for service, I’m not kidding). They are also the slowest moving (and most depressed looking) checkers I’ve ever witnessed.
There is one exceptional worker though who is always on the ball, Misty. The pharmacy is good to go too.

It’s a super convenient location as this store is on my way to work… However, its small with limited selection and I always get attitude from the cashiers. Today, for example, I was the last person in a ridiculously long line when they finally opened a new cash register. The new cashier asked twice for the next in line to come to the new register and after no one budging for the second time, I decided that I would like to pay and get on with my day. Thus ensued an argument between her and the other cashier on next-in-line-doesn’t-mean-last-in-line, making me feel very uncomfortable. I’m standing right there and they’re talking about me like I’m some kind of imbecile.
I’m sorry. I just wanted some sustenance for the day…

If there were other options nearby, I wouldn’t shop here. With that said, I have to drop by this location from time to time when I need a last minute ingredient. The staff, though quite busy at times, are friendly and helpful. Don’t come here between 5 – 6 as people are coming after work and the lines take forever. The prices are high, but sometimes you just need that one item for a dish.

This store is like a super large convenience store. It has 95% of the items you need but not always in the size or brand you may want. Today, I wanted a pint of non-​fat half and half; all they had was the quart size which will stale date before it gets used. I could have gone to the mouth of the valley but another six miles is too far to save about $ 1.50. Oh we’ll, I’ll note it in my list of things not to run out of before I go to the Crossroads Safeway.

Kind of a cramped Safeway but nonetheless I love Safeways in general. Even the Not-​So-​Safeway near the Triangle Square (I think that is what that area was referred to… Triangle something) and right behind my apartment complex (which was supposed to be one of the nicer ones in Denver).
Anyways, ran into get bleach and sugar… came out with a flat bread pizza from the deli and a few potato wedges… and I’m supposed to be detoxing… not lovely. (I know… Jennifer C.P. doesn’t like pizza and I’m supposed to be cleansing with her!)
Well everyone knows I heart sausage so obviously I ordered the sweet and spicy sausage flat bread… nothing was sweet or spicy and the sausage wasn’t lovely… I rarely complain about sausage. It was cold too!!!
So I get home and there is no bleach… What? I bought 2 jugs. So guess where I’m going now. So it cost like 4 bucks and usually I’d say eff it since I went to the one in Mid-​Valley which is like a 20 minute drive… haha… but I figure if I go back then I will stay out of trouble… I’m expected to have dinner at a friends which ends up being a lovely shit s show of empty Milagro tequia bottle and Viogner… Always a lovely time but I’m freaking gaining weight!!!