Walgreens Drug Store

This location is closed. The phone number here is for the Gough & Fell location in Hayes Valley.

I called to see if they were open. «That one shut down» was what they told me. CLOSED.

They have a full selection of odwalla, every kind of toothbrush and deodorant and TP for way cheaper than price-​gouge-​y «Whole Foods» across the street. They’re always clean and always polite, all on Haight and Fillmore and until 11:00 in the damn nighttime! Quit yer bitchin.
And for god sake, white people STOP doing it in «Oh lawd, massa» ebonics! You have NO IDEA how obnoxious/​racist that is.
…Christ.

OK, I’m done shopping here. There’s only one product I have been buying here recently, and I have to get it from the pharmacy. Every time I try to purchase this particular item, I encounter one or more problems. Here’s a list:
— Instead of the brand-​name product I requested via the product card from the aisle display, the pharmacist returns with the generic version and proceeds to scan it without asking if it is acceptable.
— Instead of the 96-​count box I requested, the pharmacist returns with the 48-​count box and again proceeds to ring it up without asking if it is acceptable. The 48-​count box is $ 12.99; the 96-​count box is $ 16.99. Do the math. Also, it’s a lot cheaper at
.
— The item has to be scanned several times at the cash register within the pharmacy, with the pharmacist seeming confused by the befuddling machine, leaving me standing there wondering what the hell is happening.
— I have to use a pen-​based touch display device to read and accept the terms and conditions. The checkbox I have to check keeps toggling itself on and off, forcing me to try again, and wait while the machine flakes out.
— When I have to sign to agree to the terms and conditions, the pen starts drawing on the screen before the screen is even touched, producing incomprehensible scribble.
Totally unacceptable, and not worth my time or money. This is exactly why people shop online.

What I see here is a bunch of sheltered white hipsters writing about how your average Walgreens store is supposed to be really scary. Oh, the affront to your values! If only the minimum-​wage employees of this store could work harder to make your anonymous shopping experience easier!
Then other privileged hipsters read this drivel and toss out easy «funny» and «useful» ratings. I guess it doesn’t take much effort to have your shallowness affirmed for you.

A pretty crappy Walgreens, even by Walgreens standards.
I go to this tiny cramped location a lot because I like the lower haight area and it’s one of the closest ones to my house. However after they messed up my photo order one too many times, I’ve been looking for a new Walgreens to go to. Luckily they’re everywhere!

I kind of hate Walgreens because they are taking over the world, and being from the Mountain West I’m used to being able to go into stores and come out with anything i wanted. It’s really not the case in bigger cities where Walgreens and other mass retailers often have smaller branches with a limited supply of goods to support the bigger locations and the major customer base. While it is a great place to go in if you ran out of antacid or tooth paste, I have not been able to find my chocolate covered pretzels or christmas lights that seem consistent in prices with other places.
That said, I really like this Walgreens because I use the pharmacy here and sometimes the goodness of the service I get there and the personal interest people have in actually making my day awesome surprises, shocks, and pleases me all at once. I went into this place because when my insurance ran out my prescription still needed to be filled (just a topical anti-​acne antibiotic) and I was price shopping and they gave me the best price quote. But then when I called back to just put in an order, the Chinese man over the phone mentioned the Walgreen’s savings club. At first I was like, nah, don’t want to pay $ 20 bucks but then he got me to talk about my future prescription refills and he was basically like, you’d be dumb not to do this — it will save you like $ 100 just on this med alone in the future. And then he told me if I chose just to take all my allotted refills home it would cost less than if I were to get just one portion through Kaiser Permanente. I went ahead and did the research and the guy was right.
When I showed up at the pharmacy a few hours later, he acknowledged having spoken with me via phone and helped me take care of business. Today I called for a refill and didn’t have my prescription number, and they were fussless and helpful again. I live 6 blocks away so this is my neighborhood pharmacy, lucky me. I highly recommend that this be your pharmacy stop in the event that this is on your way to work or home somehow. I used to get my prescription filled at Sutter & Powell, which is a good Walgreen’s location and there’s a very smart, friendly pharmacist there, but nowhere near as good as this one.

It’s a Walgreens. They are all pretty much the same. However, this place deserves an extra few stars. During the daytime, Sherry is often working, and she is possibly the nicest the person in San Francisco. Every time I go in to buy something, she’s there with a friendly smile and something nice to say. She also let’s you know if there’s a special or coupon for something you’re buying.
If you’re reading this and part of Walgreens management, please give Sherry a high-​five and a raise. She deserves it.

I can not believe all the people shitting on this place. It’s wonderful. Stop the hate on walgreens on haight
1^st: If you are complaining about this being a chain in the neighborhood (the only one i thinks), get over it. Where else am I going to get my prescriptions filled? The pot club next door?
2^nd: The staff is great. I’m sorry if they aren’t nubile teenage boys and girls for you to fawn over and that they are real ordinary people but to diss a place and the humans who work there just because they aren’t pretty enough for you is insane. They are super nice, really friendly and my service has always been great. They don’t have enough cashiers all the time, so sometimes there is a line, but that isn’t their fault.
3^rd: ok, so the inside is ugly and full of walgreens crap, it’s walgreens, what do you want?
4^th: I don’t know what part of town most of you bad reviewers are from, or when you’re going here, but it’s full of the normal SF color, so unless you’re from out of town or the marina or something, I don’t get where all this crack head stuff is coming from. Yes there is a homeless lady on the block sometimes, but you can say that about any place other than the marina or the outers. If that bothers you, maybe you should think about moving to a different city.
anyway, this place rules and I go there all the time and all the crybabies up here just don’t know what the real world is like.

It’s fine. Yes, there are a few oddballs here occasionally, but this is the lower Haight so not sure why that is remarkable in any way. No reason NOT to walk in and get what you need.
Staff is like anywhere — a few dolts, a few champs. There’s one woman at the counter in the morning who is particularly lovely, calm, good humored.
Only issue I’ve had is that the pharmacy can be fairly ineffectual about contacting you if there’s a problem w/​an Rx — so you need to be a little proactive about checking in if there’s a delay with your order. Also, they seem fairly understaffed at times so line can be long. Seems like a fair number of clients have issues with Rx filling whenever I’m there.

I can’t believe there are this many reviews about Walgreens. I mean seriously, its a Walgreens. They’re all pretty much identical, and this one is no different. If i need to by batteries, shampoo, a laser pointer to play with my cat with, fuses for my car, ice cream, this is where i go.
Do I like Walgreens? Not particularly. Is there a suitable alternative? not at all.

One of my more memorable Walgreen’s shopping experiences was the time I saw a man try to shoplift a snow globe by sticking it down his pants. I give him a perfect 10 for creativity but a negative score for execution.
You see as he was apparently not expecting the employees to notice his new bulbous appendage, he sauntered, care-​free towards the exit with a look of glee and madness that we so often witness in our beloved city.
Well he have must have been quite startled to have his perfect crime thwarted by the ever diligent Walgreen’s staff. This would reasonably explain why the snow globe came to to meet it’s unceremonious end shattered on the well trodden floor of Walgreen’s.
Because of my voyeuristic desire to watch this increasingly amusing scene unfold, I was rewarded with the bottom half of my jeans, and brand new suede shoes covered in globe water and sparkly snow. I believe santa ended up somewhere in the candy aisle, but really it was too late for him anyway.
As could be expected, crazy guy high-​tailed it out of there in search of new adventures, but not before yelling to me that I should quit my job at the post office (I don’t work there) and began working for the donkey show in Tijuana.

Haysoos Creesto!
Wow, amazing what a difference one block will make. I live kinda near this Walgreens and while I’ve passed it on the 22 a few times or walked by it during the day, I’ve never really been on this block at night… until a few weeks ago when I desperately needed a humidifier, some drugs and some Kleenex. Oh and Tic Tacs, ya gotta have Tic Tacs, right?
Upon walking in, there were some pretty sketch looking people lurking around the entrance. One, a homeless dude, another, what I think might have been a crack whore and maybe, just maybe, a mutha f*ckin’ P-​I-​M-​P. Once in, there was an additional cast of wayward characters in the form of some stoned looking guy talking to himself, a sistah in some very tight biker shorts and then me, Snuffalupicus.
Once I found the humidifiers, I selected the least ugly of the bunch and made my way quickly to the check out counter. Passing a few more, err, um, interesting characters, I heard someone psssting at me, but ignored. While waiting in line, someone was standing uncomfortably close to me and I could feel him breathing. Ick. Calgon, where are you!!!
Once home, I set up this humidifier and realized that it was pumping cool air into the room which wasn’t what I needed. Crap. Did I accidentally buy a Cool Air one. Ugh. Now, this means I have to return to this store to return it and i have to say, I’m not really looking forward to this. I felt like I was gonna get shanked or jumped or both while walking home that night, so maybe I will bring a bodyguard or something or hey there’s always saving it for my next garage sale, right?
Me? Paranoid? No way. :)

After I saw a hobo with a femme face attempt giving this Russian tourist a blowjob in the back of a very full 71-​Haight/​Noriega, I hopped off the bus to search for a bag of rubber bands in this Walgreens.
They had a bag of those standard beige rubber bands, but of assorted sizes for a little less than $ 3 I think, if my memory serves me correctly.
I was only able to use about ³⁄₅ of the bag to create a Chinese jumprope – my contribution to an east bay potluck/​BBQ.
I was also pretty backed up and wandered around the fiber/​laxatives aisle. This one carries a vast assortment of laxatives and fiber supplements. I didn’t have enough money so I was not able to make those purchases.
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It’s really just a giant walk-​in ATM machine – the best place in the Lower Haight to get some breakfast funds for cash-​only Kate’s Kitchen.
Aside from the obligatory pack of gum needed for an ATM cash-​back purchase, the only other things I’ve bought here are cough drops, a cheap pink wig (finishing touch on my poor man’s drag Halloween costume) and 48 Cadbury Cream Eggs. Only a few days after Easter and they were on sale for 12 cents each! I bought out their entire stock, most of which is now sitting in my freezer. I figure I can double the price and sell them to my friends later this year when those suckers are completely off the market!
Awww, who am I kidding – between me and my roomies, they won’t survive May.
So yeah, otherwise the Walgreens on Haight and Fillmore is typical of the chain – never a place that’s exciting to go to, crap service, but sometimes the most convenient option for getting what you need. Like cash for the French Toast Orgy over at Kate’s Kitchen or 48 Cadbury Cream Eggs.

I hate this place with a passion not seen nye these 7 years (Bush v. Gore). From the shoddy customer service, to the chain, plastic, nicknackery spouting from every open orifice of this blight on my neighborhood, I hate it all.
The people who work at this store are ugly ugly. Not tv ugly, or fugly, but just ugly ugly, and their outsides sure enough reflect their insides. Rude. moronic, bewildered — these are just a few adjectives that describe the service awaiting at Walgeens.
The only reason you might even CONSIDER going into this place is if you need cash to spend else where and don’t want to trust your ATM card to shady liquor store ATM machines that inhabit Lower Haight. No charge from Walgreens, and usually a $ 20 or $ 40 max cash back.
In the words of a wiser man than I: «shop at Walgreens and you will get the worst case of syphilis known to man, and no Wal-​biotics will save you.»

Woo-​ee, you see some crazy mo-fo’s in he-​uh!
The Fillmore/​Haight intersection boasts multiple marijuana clubs, the Lo-​price meat store, and a whole bunch of whacky folks! The staff who work at this Wallgreens must put up with heaps of crap & insanity (sadly, I mean this quite literally). And yet, I find them to be helpful (but not overly), efficient (but not rude), and most shockingly of all: calm & casual. (Maybe it’s the gentle green breeze wafting in from next door?)
Plus this shop really saved my butt today. Once again, my powers of procrastination managed to shock and awe even my own sweet self, as I realized I was nearly late with a piece of my application for my professional license. If that were to become overdue, I would not be able to work. That would be bad. So anyway, I needed a passport photo pronto. I strolled in here (you don’t walk quickly in this neighborhood — it looks suspicious and like you might have a job, and therefore money), they snapped a quick one, charged me a deal at $ 7.99 (I think they’re around $ 14 at Kinko’s) and I was on my way.
This Walgreens has all the usual wild conglomeration of useful stuff and crap. However, I would like to point out that around Halloween when I needed a ridiculous amount of green glow sticks for my phosphorescence costume (over multiple nights), this was the only place that kept restocking them.
From passport photos, to chocolate, envelopes & glow sticks, they keep me well-​stocked on essentials.

Aww, cmon now people. It’s a DRUG STORE. it sells STUFF you NEED.
it’s not a big store. it’s not a pretty store. but it’s the only one nearby. I get my toilet paper there. I get my «feminine hygiene» products there. I get candy on Halloween & post-​Halloween there. Some of the clerks are cool, some aren’t (Hi lady who cards me every time i buy cigs!) And hell, she’s even warmed up to me.
do they have fast passes? no
do they have anything cool? no
do they have anything but a basic Walgreen’s with a (important point!) pharmacy does? no.
but it’s there. it’s what we’ve got. it’s better than nothing. which is what we’d be left with if they left. which, due to all their problems, I’m sure they’d like to.
Yay Walgreen’s! Yay toilet paper!

This is a pretty clean Walgreens, for the area. Still, as most Walgreens are, it’s kind of scary. Too much pink everywhere. Eugh.
As far as I can tell, there are two pharmacy managers.
One is a woman in her late 20s/​early 30s who refused to believe that I’d ever received non-​Barr prescriptions from her pharmacy because «(they) don’t carry other brands,» and continued to scoff as I explained that they have to special-​order my troublesome meds from some mysterious warehouse but they usually arrive the next day. This news was greeted with a «well, I’m the manager here and have been for umpty-​ump months, and I don’t know what you’re talking about,» which was followed with a total attitude change when I asked her to pull up my record and WELL WHAT DO YOU KNOW.
The other is a middle-​aged guy who’s just a jerk.
They do, however, have a pharmacy tech named Allan, who is the sweetest, friendliest, nicest man, and the only one they should actually let interact with human beings.
Three stars for the fabulous Allan and for getting my problematic drugs for me as quickly as they can.

At the crazy intersection of haight and filmore lies the oddest walgreens I have ever been in. For the record I love walgreens but being new to the area I tended to skip this one. Until recently when I have been going to places in my «hood» alot more .
So despite random experiences from the denizens of the area, or because of it, the staff is amazingly friendly. While it is not the largest walgreens or the cleanest it is by far my favorite.