Eric Akis's hot and sour soup made of fresh ingredients from Fairway Market. A picture's worth a thousand words.

I refuse to shop here anymore. I bought a $6 Saman Barbari bread on the 1st, I refuse to shop here anymore. I bought a $6 Saman Barbari bread on the 1st, took it home and ate a bit of it. Noticed I had been eating moldy bread that's expiry wasn't until the 9th. Called the store to ask about a refund as I had kept the receipt and it was only the 2nd. The lady on the phone said I could come in for a refund and she would let other staff know when I'd be by. I asked her if I needed to bring the moldy bread, she said nope. I went the next day to get my refund with the receipt. The cashiers did not want to refund me unless I had the bread with me to prove it. Clearly they had no idea I was coming by. LUCKILY I KEPT THE MOLDY BREAD and went back to my car to get it. When I brought it back they STILL refused to refund me. They told me to go exchange it for another. After eating moldy bread the last thing I want to eat is the same bread so I asked again for the money refunded and the cashier was literally ARGUING with me as if the cost of the bread came out of his own pocket. Unbelievable. He continued to refuse to refund me even though I had taken all steps requested to correctly receive a refund. I opted to just cash exchange it for a different item so that this man would stop arguing with me over a refund for MOLDY BREAD THAT I LITERALLY ATE AND SPENT MONEY ON THAT HAD NOT EVEN REACHED ITS EXPIRY BY DAYS. The audacity. Some of the worst customer service I have ever received anywhere. read more

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The Quadra Street location of the Fairway Market supermarket chain, is the only store with a full cooked Chinese food take out deli. The food prices are about average and the customer service is sufficient. It is not bad and it is not spectacular. The neighbourhood around this store is on the lower end of society and those problems with low end citizens. Sometimes you will see some of the freaks doing weird things as you go around, but it does not happen very often. The store is brightly lit up and that helps to see things visually. I suppose it is also to make shop lifting theft more difficult? read more

Breathe T's review was honest and factual. Mouse droppings and chewed packages of food is not something to take lightly. I appreciate it.

The most expensive grocery store in Victoria. And they have a rodent problem. I was looking for the freshest wholewheat tortillas, so dug into the back of the pile, only to discover rats or mice had chewed through and left droppings in several bags of tortillas. I didn't have my phone on me, otherwise would have taken some pics. I took the rodent chewed tortillas to a senior staff member, and while they thanked me, they did nothing to remedy the problem. I'm sick of this company ripping off customers. Save-On is the best. read more

Chinese food at the buffet counter: might be OK when fresh, yet somehow I always get the oldest items? Old pork, old chicken balls...the rice tastes old even when its fresh. Paying $13 for a 3 item combo is now a normal price for lunch but the quality is so rarely there. It's a shame because I always want Chinese food but then I have to put up with such terrible quality and I feel bad for giving in. It's not my fault the food is shite. It's just my fault for buying it again thinking it will be different this time. read more

Fairway Market is a 6 min walk from my place so - naturally - it is my local grocery store. I pop in there for my weekly groceries. Pros: they have awesome sale prices on many things I buy regularly: this week Silver Hills bread was $3 a loaf (woo!) and navel oranges were $0.99 a pound. I wanted to try Daiya faux dairy products and found the slices on sale from $5.99 down to $4.99. The honeydew and mini-watermelon were also on sale for $2.99 each. They frequently have sales on organic items too - a big win for me. Cons: organic produce can be really expensive. $3.49 for one bunch of kale or $2.99 per lb of tomatoes is hard to sustain on a pauper's budget. While they have a fair bit of organic items, I would like to see a dedicated isle as it can be hard to find stuff sometimes. Overall, quite pleased with this as my local grocery store. read more

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Horrible experience with the Fairways at Shelbourne, this Fairways is almost always over priced and the customer service generally is pretty terrible, but it's the closest grocery store to me. I went to buy a can of pop, waited in line for what seemed like forever, then when I got to the counter with my $1.25 the casheir refused to scan my pop saying she didn't like my face mask and began to argue with me about the amount of nose coverage... She spent so much time arguing with me creating a conflict when she could have just taken the money and I would have been out of the store. The harassment I have experienced twice now from cashiers regarding both the 1 cm that I was off of the red square 5 months ago and now this, makes me wonder who the hell is training these people? This experience is borderline discrimination! And I suspect Fairways will do nothing whatsoever if I phone in and make a complaint. So I will just continue leaving reviews for everybody else who can hopefully avoid having the same experience. read more

one year of being watched, followed, stared at by the Undercover security guard. I am vegan and Partly vegetarian so picking out grocery's takes longer. It's so hard. It was okay when I went with my boyfriend at the time but he had to move for work so that's when this started. -undercover security- looks me up and down at my body then my basket 'I've always liked your style' 'love your pink boots I saw you walking the other day actually' 'hold on I need to follow someone I will be back' catches up with me outside the grocery store 'yeah I have been on my moter cycle a lot it's so nice out we should get together' Friendly at first then started avoiding 'you should try the sushi with wasabi' granola bars, rice cracker and mint chocolate only thing out of stock or not on the shelves. everyone else is nice but so many times constant uneasy staring interactions with him over more so the last couple of months when I am just trying to grocery shop. I have spent so money there and if I want to eat rice crackers, fruits, vegetables, sushi and bars then I can and shouldn't be singled out when my boyfriend is not there to shop with me. I feel so uncomfortable uneasy and upset over the interactions there is too many to add. Sometimes Im trying to pick out something I can't get what I need and I literally can't eat. Then when I go with a friend to Walmart I'm so stressed out I end up getting just drinks off the shelves and I need to be alone to grocery shop. I just need to be left alone. It's summer now I broke my arm. I couldn't get rice crackers with my right hand as it's in a sling wore a oversized hoodie as I felt uncomfortable even though it's hot comes up to me Ike he dose wile I'm paying for my grocery's. 'Have you been enjoying the sun?' mumble yes lookes away -lookes at my broken arm 'it's nice to see you've finally changed' Just the tone and look as well there are countless uncomfortable Interactions I think about it Alot I just added the minor ones. People I know grocery shop there see me and kindly let me be as they know it is hard for me but he I'm just trying to get some food. No one gets it but when I go with other people I am sooo stressed I get happy planets, orange juice, apples and water. It's just all I can pick out when I am shopping with someone I like to shop by myself. I can't handle someone constantly coming up to me so I have to leave the store without getting literally just like food so I'm eating less. That's not the goal. Sometimes I stare at the shelves for longer then everyone else I don't know what to get. like I go somewhere else but it's honestly really Traumatizing to think about if you experienced the interactions there was more to it I don't want to add but If you were in my shoes you would get it. It's so upsetting for me. I'm so friendly and nice to everyone I meet. read more

I've been shopping here every week for about 3 years now because it's semi cheap and across from where I live. The staff are usually okay and the store is decent too, or so I thought. Today my roommate and I were standing at the checkout, waiting to pay when my roommate went to go look at what was in her pre made Cobb salad and accidentally dropped it on the ground. She immediately tried to clean it up (no one helped her), and went off to get a new one. I placed the dropped salad neatly at the end of the register and the cashier immediately says "oh ,you're not going to pay for that? You broke it" and I said "no because it was an accident and we come here all the time, accidents happen sorry". The lady in front of me decided I was in the wrong and offered to pay to which I tried to explain that a large grocery store chain should absorb the cost for a cheap 7$ salad. Not berate it's customers and threaten them with "customer service who will force me to pay". They kept harassing me and saying that I shouldn't make others pay for my mistakes. It's a salad , how cheap can you get? My roommate felt so bad and embarrassed she wanted to cry. Then the cashier aggressively squished our bread and everything into one bag , despite us having 2! This is not how you deal with accidents Fairway. You have horrible customer service and you should be ashamed. Fire that cashier she shouldn't work with the public until she gets off her high horse. read more

Damn. I have to say that Fairway is improving. I enjoyed hating it, but they've done a bit of a reno inside and the place looks noticeably better. More importantly, the staff seem to have gotten some training and are getting friendlier. Not Thrifty's friendly. Not Nova Scotia friendly. But definitely trending in the right direction. read more

Sadly, I have to update my review. I moved, and am no longer near the Quadra/Hillside Fairway, but now near the Gorge/Tillicum Fairway. And it's GROSS. I've been consistently disappointed and it bums me out. I needed a head of iceberg lettuce recently (taco night!). They had 7 or 8 heads, all on for $2.39 (not cheap), and they were all limp, loose, and brownish. I picked the only one that looked kind of okay. Brought it home, started removing leaves - not okay. It was rusty, brown, slimy and awful. Thrifty's, Save-on, even Walmart - I can't imagine any other grocery store of size being willing to sell crap like this. We returned it, but with some hassle and close inspection on behalf of the staff member (seriously? we bought it yesterday and it's BROWN.) The bakery offerings are often empty, the bulk section is lacking and I have found items for sale beyond their sell-by date too often for comfort. I just can't do it. I like that they still have some good specialty ingredients (hominy, lots of Asian fare etc). I wish they would take better care of the store and do a better job,and take pride in what they're selling, because it's a great location and has plenty to offer, but they're kinda failing. read more

This bright and open grocery store with a large section catered to the Asian population is quite busy. The prices are decent and you can get all your Chinese staples here such as oyster sauce, rice and Chinese veggies. Their deli section has made to order noodles. But their Chinese fast food items that were already cooked in the trays didn't look fresh at all, I would pass on this. But on the other hand, if I had more time I would have ordered some stir fried noodles to go. read more

Fairway Market - cars parked in a parking lot - Grocery Near Me - Victoria, British Columbia

Well, I guess I should write a review since I come here at least once a week to get groceries!!!! They are generally cheaper than most of the other grocery chains here (safeway, save-on, thrifty's) and although there's a Thrifty's right up the street from me, I find myself driving the extra 2 mins to go to Fairway. Their fruits and veggies are really fresh, probably because the turnover is so high. I like the variety in their fruit and veggie section as well for the asian greens. Their seafood section is pretty good and I usually buy black cod and halibut from here. I also get salmon fillets here over other stores like Save-On because they don't remove the skin and I really do love perfectly pan-frying my fish and eating the crunchy skin! Meat section is also really good... but yeah, if you're looking for organic or non-hormone injected beef or anything like that, you won't be finding that kind of stuff here. You will find a lot of different cuts of beef here though. I've had their chinese hot food and there's not much to say about that. Not crazy delicious, but they sure do give a lot of it!! I tried their new steamed buns that they've had for a couple months now. Toooo much bread for very little filling, especially on their chicken bun. I won't be buying that again. To end on a good note, the staff at cash have generally been pretty nice. No complaints here. read more

For anyone shopping for Groceries on a budget, Fairway Markets are a lifesaver. Their prices undercut the other major grocery chains by a decent margin. Though this often comes at the cost of product quality. For regular grocery items, it is very hard to go wrong. All brands are standardized but still sell for less than the other chain. The savings margins are a little thinner here, but every little bit helps. The same applies to the dairy case, you won't save much, but you won't sacrifice quality either. The departments are where Fairway really differentiates itself. The meat and seafood department is quite inexpensive, but I've always been a little frightened of what they have out and have never bought anything any more perishable than a ham nugget. Produce suffers from this problem a little as well, but it is well worth a look as you can save an enormous percentage and the selection is often impressive. Just be aware that what you buy won't last very long, so buy in small lots. The Deli is not bad and the cold cuts are actually quite good. The Bakery is quite impressive with a lot of goods to choose from. I personally must note that they have very good Red Bean Buns and packs of Chocolate Chip Cookies that actually taste like Chocolate Chip Cookies are supposed to taste. Fairway's also make themselves unique by having one of the largest Asian food sections you can find without making a trip to T&T (is there one in Victoria?). There is both a separate aisle dedicated to grocery items as well as specialty selections in their departments (like the Red Bean Buns I mentioned above) Most of this review is generalized to all Fairway Markets as I have seen little change from store to store, however since I picked the Quadra location to review, I will mention the feature that makes it different. The Quadra location sports a large take-away chinese food counter, with both an ' a la carte' menu as well as fast-food style warming trays. Sadly, I must recommend avoiding it. I got a quick take away "3 item dinner" and the food tasted absolutely vile. Every item, including the noodles, which should be a safe bet, had a very odd taste which lingered in the mouth. In the end I couldn't finish. The "A la carte" may be better, but it is the same kitchen so I'm reluctant to try. Overall, its a great place to shop. You can save a good deal and make some real good finds. You just need a little patience. read more

The worst meat department and the customer service is non existent...I'll go way outta my way to shop else where

Don't get the Chinese food if you are hungry! I usually go to the Quadra St store as their Chinese is great but this one? I have never EVER received so little food. We usually get 3 good meals from a noodles plus two sides. This serving was barely good for ONE meal. It didn't even come to the top of the bottom of the styrofoam container. The other store fills the container to almost overflowing! I almost gave the container back. Wish I did. Save your money - go anywhere else. Come to think of it most people probably do as the place was pretty empty for 6:30 on a Fri night. read more

The only good thing this store has going for it is it's selection of Asian products. Advertised sale items are often poor quality. Yesterday, I went in to get the advertised Bell Peppers. I located the Peppers in the produce section and I observed that they were moldy and decomposing. Items of such poor quality should not be out on the shelf for customer purchase. Take some pride in your store and the products you sell, Fairway Market! On a previous occasion, I made the mistake of buying some packaged cheese slices that were featured in the weekly flyer. When I arrived home and opened them, I discovered that approximately half of the individually wrapped cheese slices were teeming with mold. Needless to say, I had to throw them in the garbage! Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, I found this store to be filthy. In particular, the handbaskets were disgusting and they appeared as though they had not been cleaned in years. Thankfully, Fairway Market seem to have stepped up their cleaning game a little bit. In addition, the store's aggressive security personnel can make innocent shoppers feel unwelcome. I'll stick to doing the majority of my grocery shopping at Country Grocer. read more

I had a bad experience with a meat item , just last Saturday September the 22 . I was very sick after eating a meat item . After I eat 2 pieces out of a sealed package not noticing mold round spots . Went to bed work in the morning , around early am started having a bad taste . Ending up getting sick and other body things happening . I came to the understanding I had FOOD poisoning. I do home care and there was no one else so went to get her out of bed in a lift , which was my first time doing a lift . Did it while sweat pouring of me and had to leave after my lady was in comfort. Waiting to see how this mistake from a grocery store giving me food poisoning will be fixed up . read more

Great place to stock up food when your on vacation and have a kitchen. I have came in this store in the last couple of years while on vacation. It is quick and plenty of food choices and other needs. Also easy to find and close to most places you might staying. I would say the cashiers might need more personality but you if your get something quick and get out of there you can ignore it. The bakery ladies were awesome.. Keep up the good work! I would come back to this store. read more

I live half a block away from the Fairways on Quadra, and much like you read from others, the Chinese food to take out is overpriced, and poor quality, the cashiers tend to be slow, many isles only catering to Asian cuisine, and almost twice the price of most Wal Mart items. I do large shops at Wal Mart, and use the Fairways when needing just a few items. read more

I haven't had good customer service at this store ever. I also work in a grocery store and I would be appalled if my staff treated the customers the way the folks at Fairway do. Today I had to physically talk to three staff members. First was Betty at the customer service counter, no hello or can I help you, just a what do you want from her. When I left, not a word, no thanks, nothing. Next was the deli counter, the man that asked me what I wanted was pissed off because I didn't want an entire meal. I asked for deep fried prawns, was charged for deep fried prawns, what I in fact got was deep fried chicken. Overpriced deep fried chicken since I was charged for prawns. Didn't notice that until we went to eat them. Next was the cashier, I went through a cashier in training, neither the trainer or the trainee said one word to me, no hello, thank you, nothing. They were too busy whispering to each other and giggling. Tried to phone the store, could not get through. Tried the website, same deal. WORST experience ever. read more

I live a few blocks from the Quadra Street Store. I used to buy all my groceries there. Now I refuse to shop there. The prices are intermediate. The selection is intermediate. It excels at ethic foods. The store is bright and clean. The aisles are wide. The staff are chatty and pleasant. They tend to keep secret the origin country of the produce. My complaint with them is ethics. I caught them cheating me dozens of times with dishonest price labeling and decided I had enough. The straw that broke the camel's back went like this: There was a freezer shelf full of a variety of McCain thin crust pizzas. A banner across the shelf said "3 for $10 McCain thin crust pizza". "Wow what a deal" I told myself and loaded up. Then when I got to the checkout I discovered they were charging $8 EACH for the pizzas. The clerk explained that somewhere in the fine print only pizzas ending with a 7 in the product number qualified. There was no such fine print. It was just a scam, just as they had pulled dozens of times before. They count on people not noticing the bait and switch. I complained to the Better Business bureau without result. It is not just a mistake, it is deliberate fraud. read more

If you like coming home sick a lot, shop here. Imagine being cold free, flu free, and well. You shop here once a week, and the next day you feel ill. WTH? I swear, they never clean their baskets. Also, I'm finding the staff to be really really rude. Some are nice, but at the Shelbourne location, that's a different story. The bulk section guy is always glaring at customers. Never smiles. It gets really tiresome. I've watched the cashiers refuse to help old people if they have problems with the debit machines. I had to take over and help the old lady. What the heck fairways... It's your job to help the customers. Not the customers themselves. Never returning. read more

Always friendly, people of most demographics will feel comfortable. The prices are good- no reward cards or airmiles points to inflate prices. Shop there all the time. read more

Great place for cheap produce and essentials. Meat section is okay but not great. Items in the meat/seafood section to avoid: pork ribs and mussels, but by all means, fill up on chicken feet! But seriously, I'm here every Monday. Tip: ask the young guys in the produce department to get new stock out of the back. The old guys just laugh in your face. read more

Chinese food counter review, I bought the 3 Item including rice,noodles and green beans. The Green beans had Rotten green beans mixed with fresh and the chow mien and the toughest pieces of chicken. Shop here at your own risk of getting sick. I've lived by this fairways almost my whole life and this was very disappointing. read more

These guys have got good prices, and good Kimchi! The Chinese restaurant looks like it might be decent too but I haven't tried it yet. The downside: slow checkout on a regular basis. I recommend scanning the lines and looking for someone with fast hands. If they look half asleep steer clear because these cashiers will make a concerted effort to slow down even more especially if you look to be in a hurry. read more

Thank you for existing. Dont need to fill up my big coolers and drag it to victoria. You guys pretty much got what we need.

The good: -cheap groceries overall - a lot less that Thrifty's or Markey on Yates for most items -produce selection is generally good. Lots of exotic items -good selection for many import foods, especially Asian goods -has seating area for eating food from the deli -about every type of meat for sale (some really gross things like pig uterus) The bad: -poor selection of some higher end items, like good pasta or olive oils -poor beef selection in meat dept - no thick steaks for bbq or good cuts for roasting -Chinese food in the Asian Kitchen is gross. Like really bad. The meat is tough, veggies underdone, deep fried food is mushy. They can't even do sweet and sour sauce right. -poor florist/flower selection -slow lineups for cashier. Avoid this place from 5-6 if you can. It's crazy busy! -no tap debit machine (yet) read more

Good prices, great hours and friendly staff! I like that they also carry some healthier and natural options in the store. (Gluten free, vegan ect.) the salad bar is amazing and cheap quick dinner as well as the small Chinese restaurant is great and well priced :) read more

General groceries: the price is not the best; Bad in restocking. Food: the Asian kitchen is wonderful! Staff: Be aware! The checkout girls double scanned items and you'll get overcharged if you don't keep an eye on the whole checkout process! I personally have encountered this more than once. Only one time I caught her on the spot before signing credit card slip and didn't have to pay for things I didn't get. She voided the two non-existing items without even saying 'sorry'! read more

First, none of the numerous Fairway stores in the Victoria BC area have any way to contact them. There are NO phone numbers or web-links for a customer to contact them at all. They are NOT in the phone book and even their Customer Service link does not contain one. This is EXTREMELY BAD customer service as all other competitors such as Thrifty, Save-On Foods, Red Barn, etc. would never think of shutting their customers down like this. Is it even legal? Try it. Its insulting and I will shop at businesses that publish their full information. read more

Terrible Chinese Food from the deli. Returned all items and was only given a 30% refund. Very disappointing.

The worst place for produce. A lot of it is not fresh. What makes this market ok are some of the incredibly nice cashiers. Apart from that, I only want to shop here if I'm in a rush and can't get to a market that feels nice to shop in. Creepy male staff just stand around like a crime is about to take place all of the time. (Quadra/Hillside) read more

This is a review for the Chinese food counter. The food is terrible, it is not even worthy of mall Chinese food status. Ginger beef was tough as hell , everything else was just bland and greasy. read more

Decent prices, good selection. The produce section is great but the butcher selections are inconsistent.

We live locally and go here often to shop - lov the freshness of the produce and availability of Asian produce. USED to love getting take out here but the quality has seriously dropped off the ;ast 3 or 4 times. Beef Chow Fun was my favourite - no not so much. Delicate, tasty cuts of meat and veggies has been replaced with large chunks of carrot, peppers and strong sweet or tangy sauces. Won't be buying meals from here again until I hear the quality improves - sorry to say. read more

Seeing as I am an employee, this is from a different perspective, but true nonetheless. I think for the most part, our staff are all very caring. I know I can't get enough of them! (The training is not extensive, and it is apparent, and for that, I am sorry. We need better management, but I think we are successful in making our customers happy, for the most part). Our cashiers and supervisors do deal with a lot of havoc, due to the bad area and such. It's not like Fairway is your every day grocery store. Our staff is always aware of fraud, liars, and the bottle guys. The pay is honestly just not good enough for most of our girls, for them to put enough effort into it, or rather, fairway is just not hiring many of the right people. But so to speak, Fairway is a great place to work, and that's why i'm still there. We have a lot of really cool products that you will hardly see in any other store. The meat is kind of gross, but I am not much of a meat eater, so it doesn't effect me. The bakery is great, we are improving all the time, we now have bubble tea and salad bar, and now steamed buns! I think the area has alot to do with some of the mishap, but honestly, most of us care, so don't forget that! I'd rather work at Fairways than any other grocery store. And yes, I shop there too. And one more thing, yes I know I didn't fill this out correctly. Didn't really care, kind of just wanted to put my own opinion out there. read more

Fairway Market has just lost me as a customer. I was one of the unfortunate shoppers who was affected by the Hepatitis A Alert. Everyone should have been made aware of the fact that Hepatitis A Immunizations are NOT FREE TO ALL BRITISH COLUMBIANS. They are only free if you use the VIHA Public Health Clinic. I personally paid $63.98 for the serum and it was administered by my Doctor. This came about because cbc.ca stated they were free for all British Columbians, never mentioning one had to use the VIHA Clinic. fairwaymarket.com Hepatitis Alert noted only two days they would be available, March 31 and April 1. They also did not mention you had to use the VIHA Clinic for the Immunization to be free. VIHA did send a Press release received by the store on April 2 which they attached to the tail end of three or four pages of information about Hepatitis A. When this was brought to my attention I noted I didn't read all the extra information as I was familiar with Hepatitis A . The acting manager (I think everyone at Fairway Market acts as a manager when necessary) didn't comment. Not even 10 minutes after I got off the telephone the fairwaymarket.com web page moved the VIHA Press Release to the top of the first page. Fairway Market will accept no responsibility for this lack of accurate information. I am out of pocket $63.98. For a 68 year old senior citizen with only my OAP and a supplement $63.98 is 5% of my total income or a weeks worth of groceries. At 68 with a compromised immune system I couldnot afford to risk having Hepatitis A. As an aside not many shoppers were aware the deli included the Asian Kitchen and chicken and other foods, cooked in the deli and not sold the same day, are packaged and moved to the cold case across from the deli. If you have paid for your own immunization serum I urge you to contact Robert at Fairway Market (250-380-9773) and request a refund. Dyanne Lineger read more