Smart & Final

My girlfriend’s favorite place as they always have items we don’t find elsewhere. I love that they have candy and nuts in bulk.

I love this store. I get most everything I need here, and their roasted chicken is just the best. I am so happy this store opened here. BUT, it is so poorly managed at the point of checkout. Getting out of the store is so frustrating! As an example, tonight at 6:20p the store is really busy. I go to checkout, and only two registers are open, and two lines were so long they went down the aisle! One checker announced over the PA for some help, and no one came. She asked a second time and finally a young lady and Chris came out of the front office to work. I know this store is generally not that busy but at dinner time, a good manager would watch and control this better. Come on folks, you need customers, but I am starting to get really tired of waiting in line!!! Get it together!

Good selection, incompetent check-​out.
I was fortunate to be second in line, behind a nice woman who suggested that I go to another line. It turns out she was doing WIC/​food stamps. The check out person «Dee Dee» was not trained on this, and asked for assistance SEVERAL times.
Instead of sending me to another lane, or a manager helping her complete the transaction, I waited in line for 15 – 20 minutes, and eventually chose to go to a different lane that had sent through 10 people by this point, and still had 3 people in the que. I finished in under a minute from when «Maria» started scanning my 6 items. Though she was unaware of what an «itemized receipt» was.
It was infuriating that a mother on WIC had to be subjected to attention drawn to her, and that customers had to wait, all because the cashier was either incompetent or severely under trained or both.
Now while I don’t expect cashiers to be rocket scientists, I do at least expect a manager to know how to open an extra lane, or cashiers to shift people to another lane when they get backed up.

I was really happy to have this location open here. The produce is really good and often very reasonably priced. Other items in the store are pretty decently priced as well. I would come here a lot more if it weren’t for the amount of time it take to check out. Yesterday, I spent five minutes picking up groceries and another ten minutes in line. There were only two check stands open and the cashiers aren’t terribly quick. I wish they would open a self service check out.

This is a big store with a full produce section. That’s the plus. Otherwise, like most others, the shelves are half stocked, there’s rarely anyone available to grab items that are way at the top of the shelves. Lines are kind of long every time I go in as well.

The store itself is beautiful. Very well kept and always well stocked. The only problem I have with this particular store is one checker, whose name escapes me, who is just so awfully rude to every customer. She is an older women with blonde hair who is normally there in the early morning and she has quite the attitude problem. Everyone else is normally pretty good with their customer service, but a hello when I pass by wouldn’t be too much to ask.

After the loss of Albertsons and Top Valu in the same location, Smart & Final seems like it will be here to stay. Their bulk items aren’t Costco big, but still pretty buiky. Being an Extra! they have fresh produce, dairy, and meat.
Great if you need to buy in bulk, but avoid if you only need an item or two. Check out is always under staffed, and waiting in line feels like forever. Run over to Ralph’s and self checkout if time is of the essence.

I was glad when Smart & Final opened in this part of Long Beach. It’s nice to have another grocery store to choose from. The main thing that stands out is the great customer service. The store is always well stocked, and clean. The isles are a bit and narrow, but, that’s to be expected in such a small store. For the most part the remodel was nicely done. The meat and produce are average. My favorite part is the bulk item section. There is a good selection of nuts, dried fruit, granola, cereal, etc. (Monday can tend to be out of many of the bulk items) Finally the checkers are great. They are fast, efficient, and friendly. I’m glad they moved into the neighborhood.

Great customer service :)

First time leaving a review. I’ve come to the smart and final since it opened, I came here last night to buy a 12 pack of angry orchard. The lady behind the register decided to give my wife and I a lecture on alcohol abuse and tried to not sell to us (we each had a SINGLE margarita for dinner lol). Old lady with blonde hair and a super chip on her shoulder. If you are buying ANYTHING with alcohol I suggest going elsewhere.

I really like this location, brand new, staffs are friendly and helpful. One think that bothers me is parking lot… pretty small… but not a big deal.

Excuse my language please everyone, but yesterday I had the WORST experience ever at this Smart and Final. We (me and my mom) asked an employee if they had any honey, she rudely replied «on the other side». We checked on the other side and it wasn’t there. So we asked her for help again. She ignored us. After a double take, cause why in the hell would an employee do that or maybe she didn’t hear, we asked can you help us find the honey, she made us follow her and she pointed at pancake syrup and yelled at my mom saying «Isn’t this what you’re looking for». I said calmly, «she said honey not syrup» and she said hold on let me check. She never returned, she left to work at the checkout aisle. Me and my mom went to the aisle where the supervisor was and had to complain about this. Never returning to this Smart and Final ever again. Hope she gets fired! You don’t yell at a customer, you don’t ignore them, you don’t leave them hanging.

Store: Big, clean, and lots of selection. This is a plus store, so it has fresh produce and other features that an everyday grocery store would have. They have a nice bulk foods section with various nuts, flours, and snacks. They still offer the usual Smart and Final flair, you know, paper plates and bulk packaged items. Be aware that some items come only in bulk packaging, so if this is your everyday place for grocery shopping you will most likely be buying bulk. Prices for some items are significantly cheaper than other places while prices for other items are significantly more expensive, keep that in mind. Shop around different places if you’re trying to save money, you will end up spending what you think you are saving here. Still great if you’re buying things for parties and such though.
Staff: I went in the evening. Staff was scarce but business was slow so I get that. However, the staff working that night were loudly having vulgar personal conversations that I could have done without hearing.
Paying: No self-​checkout. Lots of checkout lanes, but as usual with most grocers, they are not all used. The store still kept wait times down though, opening lanes as needed.
Parking: Shared parking lot right in front of the store. It can get hectic if you go during peak shopping hours.
Overall: Savings are hit and miss. Still good for bulk party items, office supplies, etc. Parking lot. Produce and bulk section.

Love the store location, set up, prices and items. The evening later shift staff are cool and friendly. The older blonde cashier lady in the morning needs to be friendlier to everyone. Five stars if she would be friendlier.

I really liked this S&F, but I’m too afraid to go near this place again. Today before noon, some other patrons and I witnessed a man being chased by another crazy man in a car… in the PARKING LOT! The car hit the poor man on the ground. Then he got up & ran away frantically yelling at the driver in Spanish. The driver jumped out of his car & started yelling back at him waiving… MACHETEI! ON BROAD DAY LIGHT!
OMG! Called 911.
I am not risking my life over grocery!

Stopped in for the first time yesterday. Wow! I am so impressed. They had everything and things I have been looking for sometime now. I only wish it was in downtown LB and it is so needed. This store is tops and right on the way home from work. Can’t wait to go back

Great store. Clean, organized and friendly. I love Kimberly. Such s big help and great poster for this store. She is so professional.

This new Smart & Final just opened on Thursday and it looks great. Customer service was awesome and the store looks clean. I was surprised by the large selection of produce when you walk in and even more surprised to see that they have organic options. I hope they keep the store looking this good.

Newly opened Smart & Final on the corner of 7^th and Redondo, where Albertsons used to be. Clean, with lots of workers around. The workers are having fun, enjoying their job and joking around, which makes grocery shopping even greater! One of the workers overhead me contemplating buying dishwasher soap, and then I put it back saying «someone else will buy it», and she got in on my conversation and agreed with me, haha. Parking wasn’t an issue when I went, but I can see it getting busy here!
Great deals on fruits, veggies, dairy, and even liquor! They’re doing a great deal right now for the next week where if you spend $ 30 on qualifying P&G products, you get $ 10 towards your next purchase AND those products are already on sale. Also they’re giving a Smart & Final reusable bag with your purchase, while supplies last.

A beautiful new S&F store in an area that has been without a grocery store for a long time. It seems to have everything that will work for the neighborhood, including lots of fresh produce, moderately priced. Friendly staff, moderate prices. My only complaint: there is a bulk foods section and despite the many signs asking people not to use their hands, there were people freely sampling by sticking their unsanitary hands into the bulk food bins and tasting freely. One father/​daughter duo marveled over the high price of the macadamia nuts (which is standard for these premium items) and kept dipping their dirty hands into the bins to taste them, despite the signs all over asking people to use the designated scoops and not their hands. When I pointed this out to them, the father offered to fight me. I would love to utilize bulk foods because they save tons of packaging, etc. but it isn’t worth the risk from people like this.