Smart & Final

This store go’s unnoticed by many. «me included». Great selection of meats, fruits vegetables. I like the fact that you can get name brands at a discount price & the option of house brand too (even cheaper).FAST in & out register’s. Like Costco without the wait.

Smart & Final is part of my grocery rotation, about once a month I pop in and stock up on specific items that are essential in my kitchen. It is the best store to buy my favorite «Gardenburger» veggie patties. Do not mistake them for Boca or Morningstar Farms, or any of the meatless patties at Costco. Gardenburger is the best patty for me, they are much larger patties when you buy a sleeve of them instead of the boxes at the grocery store.
Other highlights include ricotta cheese, fruity juices (think mixers), panko, and pepitas from their bulk bins. These items alone make it worth a trip to Smart & Final! I never get out of there without picking up extras.
The décor is reminiscent of decades past, you may feel like you are in a time warp with the fluorescent lights and flooring and shelves that just miss the mark. It it is not sexy or laid out to entice shoppers to visit frequently.
This is your place to find professional kitchen supplies such as massive kitchen tools, mason jars, chafing dishes and more. Hit ‘em up before throwing a big bash. They recently added more organic products and expanded the produce section, this may be a trend towards this store coming into the 20^th century,

I’m slowly beginning to like this store. I have always preferred Costco for bulk supplies and Sprouts for fresh produce. The prices
here are great when it comes to bulk items. I’m a little iffy when it comes to produce because I’ve always been a Sprouts person.
Check-​out isn’t too bad but some cashiers are just bleh. There’s never anyone bagging the items and the cashier never even attempts to help with the bagging. Does his happen at all Smart and Finals?

Great place to buy bulk supplies especially if you own a business/​restaurant, or simply just for a gathering or occasion.
They have everything here from groceries, to bulk supplies of boxes, trays, pans, cups, utensils, parties supplies and so much more.
Great affordable prices as well. The store is very spacious and welcoming. I’ve bought parties supplies here for my son’s birthday as well as other gatherings I have. I also stop by this location for supplies for my mothers business. Always receive great service, everyone here is so friendly and welcoming and willing to help.

I almost never come in to Smart & Final except when I need to go food packaging. This is THE BEST place to get boxes, trays, baking pans, kids, etc. of all different shapes and sizes, for a great price. They have the best selection– better than other supermarkets, or superstores, dollar stores, party stores. I take food for different reasons pretty regularly where I don’t want the recipients to have to worry about washing and returning a dish. Smart & Final hasn’t let me down when I need good quality throw away dishes.

I don’t think of Smart & Final when I’m headed to the grocery, but that’s starting to change.
Did you know they are owned by the folks who used to own Sprouts?
Went in the other day to pick up cleaning supplies and was surprised at their produce section. Lots of great looking stuff — some of it deliciously oddball like baby Mexican onions. Good organic and juice sections, too.
Just bought some organic yellow peppers for .30/​lb. LESS than their conventional ones.
Their bulk bins are awesome — foodie heaven with a large variety of organic grains, nuts, dried fruit, candy… even turbinado sugar… all at great prices.
Lots of parking, long hours… the only thing this store is missing is an organic meat section, but given how far they’ve come, I’m confident that’s probably coming soon… and I’ll echo someone else’s sentiment about slow checkouts.

Really good prices on bulk items and I really like that they are open from 6am till 10pm. It is easy to go at a time when it is not busy which is nice. I did have an issue with bugs hatching in a bag of pecans that I bought but they exchanged them for me and I have not seen any new critters which is great.

The roasted turkey legs in the refrigerated section are awesome. Not too salty, easy to heat up in the microwave. Also the produce is much better than Vons or Costco.

This store has a good range and good prices thats the plus
This store is so so so slow on check outs with most of the time in store is spent stuck in line waiting to check out…
The owners of this store need to realise the faster i can get outta the store the more i will come back…
They could install express checkout like EVERY OTHER supermarket chain has done in the world and get self check outs that i can use as i always have 15 items or less and so do others in line also…
I have asked a number of times why this is such a slow store in checkout and am told that head office are so tight on wages… heres a tip for them from when i ran a business happy customers mean more customers that spend more…
Use the data you collect on customers to improve check out times as its pathetically slow…
Staff are great and super friendly!!!

I live right around the corner so it’s very convenient for the basics; water, cereal, juice, milk. For anything produce or fish, I gotta admit, I head up the street to Sprouts. One time I bought a bunch of bananas and I guess those came with a bunch of fruit flies. Hate those suckers! Now I’m paranoid to buy anything fresh. Oh, and the whole bean coffee was blah — and I make strong coffee. I love how the checkout lanes are named after local streets :)

One of my favorite smart and finals to shop at, excellent meat, full bulk foods and great prices. Open layout helps provide a nice easy going shopping experience.

This is just another odd little Smart & Final.
It always feels a little dingy to me, and I can’t always find what I’m looking for. The staff is helpful, but I’m just not a huge fan of this location.
I keep going back and trying to like it because sometimes it’s the easiest one for me to go to, but that doesn’t always mean that I leave happy.
This is a good place to go and stock up, but I always feel a bit lacking. Strangely odd, but definitely true.

I really like this Smart & Final. I don’t usually visit this location since I have one closer to home but decided to stop in while I was in the area to get a few things for an upcoming party. The store is very clean and well stocked. The layout is a bit different than the one I frequent so I was wondering around aimlessly to find the few items that I needed.
While I’m a fan of their supplies and prices, I find it odd that most of the shelf stocking goes on during the day and blocking much of the aisle with their boxes and carts. Perhaps they don’t have early morning crews to do this or receive their shipments in mid-​day. I often find it annoying because you really have to navigate with other shoppers and the many carts and boxes they have in the aisles.
For those that bring re-​usable bags, they don’t give you a 5 cent discount/​per bag but maybe they’ll consider doing that in the future? hint hint.

Great prices. lots of really good deals here. Like a small Costco… just for groceries. Fresh flowers are very inexpensive. Great vegetable and fruit selection. Staff is very helpful and nice. I come her from Del Mar… worth the trip. never crowded either!

Fairly easy to find everything in here. Prices are great too. I love how some items in here come in bigger packaging than normal grocery stores but not quite as big as Costco (although Costco does have free samples which I feel all stores should have). I come here often because its a close walking distance which is good when you have people over and need more beverages but are in no condition to drive.

I stop here often. It has to be one of the cleanest and well-​lit stores I have ever been in. Their produce is outstanding – great prices and some of the best-​tasting, freshest stuff around. Customer service is outstanding – very friendly and helpful. There’s a checker named Bryane that is as sweet as a pussycat (though I probably wouldn’t try to mess with him either – lol.)
Glad this store is here!

Not too bad a place if you forgot something at the regular grocery store. They have good prices on bulk teas, juices, canned goods, and produce, but there’s a reason for that. The produce is not usually the best you can find in town, but will suffice if you have to. Lots of freezer stuff, if your into that kind of food, and good prices on most everything. The real deal is the beers, OK selection with great pricing on 12 and 24 packs.

i was pleasantly surprised by this smart and final. I have actually never been to this location before. i usually go to the one in clairemont and ages ago i went to the one across the freeway (which is no longer there)
the number one thing that sets this smart and final apart is they have a vast fresh fruit and veggie section! it has many aspects of a regular grocery store.
on the down side… the only reason i went here is to get a giant bag of corn (and it was closer to me at the time than costco)…well…no giant bag… same 16 oz bags as the grocery store, for the same price. wish i had waited for costco (5 pound bag for $ 5 vs 1 pound for $ 3)

Costco and Von’s hooked up after a few drinks at the bar and Smart and Final was born! This place has the feel of a local grocery store and has prices similar to that of a wholesales store. It has more quality produce than Costco with a greater variety and the prices are better than Von’s. I think is is a great place to get the essential items for a good deal, without having to be a member or join a club. I will definitely would recommend anyone to go check out what they have, you may be surprised to find that the things you love are right around the corner for a great deal.

** FOR MY EXCITING 500^th REVIEW **
This is the NEW location of the only Smart and Final in Encinitas. It was formerly on the westside of the freeway.
Evidently, they moved into a new plaza and a bigger space to provide a better inventory. The space was formerly an Albertson’s that closed a number of years ago.
I cruised in to check it out and pick up a few things that I could pick up in bulk — something that I could get at Costco — but the difference is that I don’t need a membership.
Costco is great for what it does, but given location for the Encinitas community and the lack of a membership needed, SNF is the way to go. It fills the gap between Costco and a regular grocery store since they not only provide stuff in bulk sizes, but they also provide vegetables and fruits also. Mind you, because of their focus, speciality items are limited.
Like I’ve said in my other SNF reviews, if they could match Costco’s hot dogs, I’d be an awesomely super fan. RAWERAWER
** THIS CONCLUDES MY EXCITING 500^th REVIEW **