Safeway

This is the worst grocery store in the area due to incompetent management. The shelves are never stocked full, they run out of shopping carts and you wait longer to check out than you do to shop. The best part: the employees don’t seem to care.

I love this store! It is convenient to swing by here after a Costco run if you realize you don’t need certain things in bulk. There is a Jamba AND and Starbucks in this store, so you can enjoy something hot or cold while you shop. Right next door there is an REI. I love sending whoever I’m shopping with over there so they can be entertained while I shop. Grocery shopping requires concentration to get the best deals after all! There is a Papa Murphy’s and a few restaurants in the shopping center too. Literally a one stop shop.
This store has a great variety in every section, I’ve found. Super convenient to grab a few things on your way home from work if you live close by.

This is absolutely the worst Safeway I have ever been to! This place is unorganized and dirty. The deli is horrible and the service is horrible when you can get it. Each time I come in here they are always out of soup. Why even bother. I’m done with this place and will never shop here again!

This review is exclusively directed towards the Chinese take out. (Otherwise I love most other things about this Safeway and would rate this store 5 stars overall)
I was in Safeway tonight and wanted something quick to munch on for dinner. Saw the Chinese take out and thought I’d give it a try. I’ve eaten Chinese take out from other Safeway stores and they always seem to lack quality. But looks alone the food looked halfway decent so I thought I’d give it a try. I got the option for two entrée, rice/​chow mein and egg roll/​2pot stickers. I went with the chicken teriyaki and chicken and vegetable with black bean sauce, chow mein and 2 pot stickers. Got home. Ate. Or at least tried to. Holy ****, the only part of the meal that was even palatable was the chicken teriyaki. The chow mien sucked so bad I can’t believe how they can manage to serve food that tastes this bad. How can you screw up noodles!!! The pot stickers tasted like hard cardboard, LITERALLY. If I had to guess, based on flavor alone, I would have said that the pot stickers were cooked (deep fried) a few days ago. The meat on the inside was completely dried out and lacked any flavor. Moral of the story: Get your crap together Safeway and cook some decent Chinese food!

Not sure what it is about this place since they re-​designed it but it makes me feel like I have dementia. Nothing feels like it’s where it’s supposed to be. I see people shopping in here wearing pajamas. I basically try not to go here and go to QFC and Trader Joe’s.

My work office recently moved to Issaquah, so I’m having fun exploring the area. (I’m LOVING Issaquah, btw! Wow, has this city changed in the past 10 years. It has a LOT to offer! But I digress…). I had to do some grocery shopping and I found myself in this store. I do my usual grocery shopping in Safeways in Redmond or Kirkland, so it was interesting to discover a new SW.
All I can say is, wow. WOW!
First, the «good»: this store is looks and feels brand new. I know it is not, but it has the feel of a brand new store. It’s spotless clean, the interior is huge (way larger than the other SWs I go to), the aisles are wide, the store is super-​organized and well laid-​out, and it’s beautiful. I went up and down every aisle. The lay-​out is extremely different than the other stores I go to (it would be nice if there was some consistency) but the signage over the aisles was so clear, and each individual department was so clearly delineated and marked, that I was easily able to find everything I came in for.
The deli counter is way longer than those in other SW’s and more well-​stocked. The wine and liquor department is beautiful. The bakery department had unbelievably gorgeous cakes, the likes of which I have never seen in any grocery store in the PNW (for real). They also stocked breads I’ve never seen for sale elsewhere (like specialty fold-​over thin breads and specialty wraps, and there was just a larger selection of everything). The packaged muffins and sweets and Danishes were pretty amazing; there were some delish-​looking things that, I’m embarrassed to admit, I’ve never even heard of (and this, from a food lover who’s pretty much had most sweets and treats her whole life and used to carry the poundage to prove it! lol). The meats and fish counters and islands are larger with more diverse products than other grocery stores.
The produce area was gorgeous with a large organic area and shelves of exotic and tropical fruits I’ve never seen before. They also had packaged wrapped veggies for baking or sautéing or for making fajitas or hamburgers, or stuffed portabella mushroom caps or stuffed jalapeño peppers (stuffed with cheeses and other tasty foods, for grilling or baking). I’ve never seen the sheer selection of these types of packaged, freshly cut produce in any SF, or even at the nicer QFC’s. Sure, I’ve seen some, but not like this.
The floral department was lovely, and although I didn’t check it out, it sounds like the pharmacy here is fantastic (reading the reviews). And the health care aisle was impressive, with the usual fare alongside some very high-​end hair and skin-​care products.
Oh, I should note that there is a fantastic Starbucks coffee shop attached to this store, opening up into the SF interior.
Now to the «bad»: this is a picky point, but the parking lot sure could use more «parking corrals» for the shopping carts. They also could use more employees in the store. (I was here from roughly 6 – 7:30pm and it was pretty quiet, but there was only 1 employee in the baking department and a bunch of us needed assistance there at the same time, and one guy was in the middle of a lengthy exchange with her about a cake order). And there were only a few cashiers open and the lines were relatively long to check out.
Now to the «ugly»: I had the coldest and slowest check-​out clerk in the history of check-​out clerks. I said hi and smiled at her three times when I moved up in her lane, to no response. Granted, she was older and perhaps hard of hearing (but I don’t think so). Her ringing up my order and packing and then re-​packing and then re-​re-​packing my items into the tote bags I brought in with me took and inordinately long time. Then she had to look through the super long register receipt to make sure I purchased 2 Belvitas when I handed her 2 coupons for them (she couldn’t find them on the receipt and didn’t remember ringing them up). This took about 10 minutes and people in line were getting quite antsy. The lady told me this would not have happened if I had given her the coupons prior to her ringing me up. (What? I noted that I always shop and SF and this has never happened to me before and I was never told to give my coupons first, before the clerk scanned the items). Then 2 free yogurts didn’t register. Anyhow, the saga continued. It was awkward, time-​consuming and unpleasant. (If it hadn’t been for this experience at check-​out, hand’s down this store whould have gotten 5 stars).
All in all, this is a pretty amazing grocery store. If I shopped here regularly, I’d know whose check-​out lanes to go in and whose to avoid.

Pharmacy is the best in Issaquah. Keep up the great work!!! They set the bar high and other pharmacies might want to follow suit. They take care of our kids very well! Nice they care about our family as if their own.

Unfortunately, this place has gone downhill. Where have all the cashiers gone? They have one employee overseeing the self-​checkout registers and the poor guy is always running around like a chicken with its head cut off. No fault of his own when they only employ one regular cashier at peak times.

well four stars are only for Megan the cashier @ Safeway Gilman Blvd. She is so nice cute with perfect smile and well mannered.

My favorite Safeway. Everything is always well stocked, employees are nice, and it’s nice to see the same familiar faces working there. Lots of choices, and lots of parking. Been coming here for years. Even though the Highlands Safeway opened less than a mile from my house I will continue to drive to this Safeway.

Maybe it’s because I’ve been shopping at Issaquah Safeway since I moved to Issaquah…18 years ago! Loved it when they moved from their old location, where Sports Authority is now. I’m always treated well, and am pretty satisfied with their products.
***special shout out to the pharmacy***
I switched from Target because their head pharmacist is extremely rude, they seldom had my Rx filled, even when I would call it in 24 hrs in advance, they close up for an hour for lunch then are overrun and backed up for 2 hours.
I switched to Safeway pharmacy the first week they were open. Both Edward and Rioh are awesome! They are informative, helpful, respectful and go the extra mile for their clients.

Unfortunately I have not been having good experiences at this Safeway lately, I used to go to this one a lot but lately I have not been getting good service. Most of the time the only problems I have with this Safeway is their deli counter. The last few times I have gone to this Safeway I would go to the deli counter and end up waiting 5 – 10 minutes to get the 2 things that I wanted. Most of the time i have seen people look at me and still not come up to help or say anything or they would say they will be right with me and then never come back. I would also defiantly recommend checking your receipt before you leave because I have been overcharged there more than a few times.
Other than their deli counter I do like this Safeway they have a Jamba Juice inside this Safeway which is really good and has good service. They also have a Starbucks that is connected to it but is not a Safeway Starbucks but is a real Starbucks. In addition to those benefits I like that they have two lanes of self checkouts, and it is a pretty big store. They usually have good sales especially if you have their just for you app, which is extremely easy to use. Generally I like shopping at Safeway but this location needs some customer service training.

This review is for the Chinese food only. I have no review about the store itself.
Ran in there today and grabbed the Supreme combo of fried rice, orange chicken and asparagus chicken. It looked pretty good in the counter. I took it to go and went back to the office.
For the first time I can say, the Chinese food was horrible. The rice was bland and undercooked. The orange chicken was also bland and goopey. The saving grace was the asparagus chicken which was decent at best.
This is the first and last time I go there for lunch.

QFC didn’t have bacon, they did, therefore they win.

I do not shop here frequently but was visiting a friend. Did some shopping and spent quite a bit of money. I didn’t realize that they are charging for regular grocery bags like Seattle but the cashier gave us «complementary bags» which was half the size of normal bags and just about as thin as writing paper. Yeah… fail. Then I get home to look at the receipt and they over-​charged me. Not a huge deal in the amt of money but how do you charge me for garlic when I never bought any? And they added an extra yogurt to the bill. Makes me wonder if this Safeway has a habit of «accidentally» over-​charging every customer. Glad I’m not a regular customer.

Occasion: Grocery shopping
I don’t think this location ever closes which honestly is a great thing. Since there are no Walmarts in the area, Safeway will have to do. :) I’ve found this Safeway to always be clean and I believe this location is bigger than most.

Unfortunately, I’ve had some not so great service at this Safeway. I feel like they throw all the trainees in this store, which would normally be fine, but it takes almost 15 – 20 mins to get through the checkout line. I probably won’t be back to this location if this keeps up.

Overall I have been happy with this location. The store is usually ridiculously cold especially near the frozen aisles. I asked why it was so cold and I was told other customers had even sent in suggestion cards suggesting they make the store warmer. I was told the corporate office in Arizona regulates the cooling system so they have no way to correct this locally. All customers can do is wear warm jackets and complain to Corporate.

I’ve been coming to this location ever since I moved to Issaquah. There’s a sign that says open from 1−5AM, but as far as I know from experience, the doors are always opened… even at the hours that they said they’re closed. Mainly because they don’t actually have the main floor staff at those hours, but they still run business anyways, so if you do come in to do a little late/​early shopping, don’t expect hasty service.
With that said, I think this shop don’t get enough attention, and there are always great deals on their clearance isle. And not to mention they have beer on sale more often than the Bellevue locations… probably cus there are more drinkers in that area? Their produce is pretty fresh, and I haven’t had any complain so far besides the slow AM service… I’m a fan.

This is a nice and big Safeway with all the usual items.
The parts that made it «5 stars» for me were:
The guy at the deli counter was very polite… and the Italian pasta salad I got was quite good.
Their in-​store Jamba Juice. My friend and I were trying our first ever wheatgrass shots and the gal working suggested we use OJ or an orange slice as a chaser. We decided on the OJ and they gave both of us little plastic «shot» glasses filled with juice. Awesome!
Added bonus? If you’re only getting a few items and no cigarettes or other such things (as well as a Jamba Juice item), the JJ people can ring up your other Safeway items. This was SWEET because the it was Christmas Eve and the check-​out lanes were LONG.