Very bizarre and unfortunate incident happen at the Ralphs Grocery at 7140 Avenida Encinas, Carlsbad, CA 92011. shop's at this location frequently and always uses one of two pods of island station self check-out clusters to "self check-out". The process is simple, REDACTED is well adept at checking out, REDACTED does not require assistance and never has had a problem at this location in the past. On 04/25/2021, REDACTED used the self-checkout island located at the South West portion of the store. Upon check out, REDACTED was greeted by an employee who presumably was acting as the supervisor for said check out station located within the store. REDACTED has used that check out 37 times in the last year, yet had never encountered this "Kroger Employee" before at this terminal location. REDACTED recently registered his account and this entire transaction can be reviewed at REDACTED Without cause, the employee, identified as Monique or Dominique or some type of "ique" upon the end of their name, violated the 6 foot "COVID 19 Quarantine Space" of REDACTED to inform him of a breach of protocol, according to this employee. Each checkout station in the self checkout area, is sectioned off by plexiglass to protect all those involved in the check out process. This employee not only breached that protocol, but invaded REDACTED personnel space to inquire about an item within REDACTED " Shopping Cart " which he was in possession of. REDACTED had already scanned and been charged for said item, via the Ralphs checkout protocol and digital scanner registering a "Bakery Fresh Goodness Louisiana Crunch Pudding Cake" with a CLEARANCE price of only 2.00. REDACTED the system works, and the Cake registered at 3 Pounds, so REDACTED chose the skip bagging option for this time and placed it back in his cart. The Ralph's employee, who was at her station, suddenly approached Mr. REDACTED and told him "you forgot that". REDACTED ignored her, so Monique came into REDACTED checkout cubicle, and repeated her claim. REDACTED informed the Employee "Monique" that he "already got that". YET in a threatening tone and provocative demeaning candor, Monique asked REDACTED "fine, do you have a receipt for that ?" In addition, the employee continued to violate REDACTED personal space, breached the 6" COVID 19 Barrier, entered REDACTED checkout space and physically picked up the "cake" out of REDACTED CART with the employee's bare hands, and presented it to him in an accusing fashion, as though he stole it. At this time, REDACTED pointed to the digital read out upon his checkout screen, and said, here it is: it says, CAKE "LOUISIANA CRUNCH" Ms. Monique's response was " Oh " To date, there has been no apology, no regression of her accusatory rhetoric, which caused a scene among those whom were also checking out at the same time in other cubicles. An unknown shopper asked REDACTED if he "stole the cake?" This presented REDACTED in a bad light, and he felt embarrassed. Mr. REDACTED immediately left the store, and only returned to report the incident to Kroger Store Management. They concluded that they did not know who the person was whom intervened, but a person working nearby on a register spoke up and said "it was me".. The Manager, said that she would speak with that person. To date, REDACTED has not heard back from the Store. This was a very serious breach of REDACTED personal space, a violation of his COVID protocol, and more importantly a violation of civil rights. In addition, the Kroger employee personally handled his food, subjecting REDACTED and his family AND to all of the persons whom this employee came into contact with over the course of her "employee shift" to their filth and germs and diseases'. In addition, this person seemed out of place, so she probably does not follow personal hygiene and employee safety protocol for the role at the registers, for she blatantly ignored all such conditions so she could accost REDACTED whom she believed stole a $2.00 cake! This employee physically reached into REDACTED shopping cart and removed his food with her bare hands, All, in an erroneous attempt, to show him inaccurately that he "STOLE" said item. Stores have Loss Protection and Risk Management policies for this type of event, and they specifically call for an employee to NOT GET INVOLVED in a theft attempt, as they are instructed to let it go and contact the authorities afterwards if warranted. This person called out REDACTED in PUBLIC, ALOUD and embarrassed and made him seek shelter to shield himself from public humiliation. REDACTED only to returned to the store to report said inappropriate behavior read more

I love this store! I shop here weekly. I know many of the employees by name and they are always very helpful and kind to me. yes, they are out of things sometimes but no more than any other place I've shopped. it's been like this since Covid and inflation. The produce department is the best in my opinion. 5 stars each to Angel, Tony, Kelly, Hunter, other Kelly, Kenia and many others. i worked retail for years. This store is always clean and well maintained with many great employees. read more

I had not been in a Ralphs in a year or two and I had not been in a mainland Ralph's in many years. I was pleasantly surprised for the most part though. The organic food selection is impressive even though some of it has canola oil in it (yuck). I bought lots of organic food like popcorn (on sale), blueberries (huge), red bell peppers, cucumbers, soy nuts (great with seasoning, I hadn't eaten them in years), mushrooms, dried apricots, frozen pineapple (delicious), frozen blueberries (also delicious), bananas, raisins, paper towels and napkins (recycled, unbleached). I used the self-checkout once and it worked. An employee swiped the store card for me to get their discounts, so that was appreciated. read more

Every time I go to the store at 7 in the morning. There is no Boar's head lunch meat. Don't bother asking anyone in the deli to slice you any meat. They say they are closed and bothered you even asked. read more

My neighborhood market, come in everyday. Today I was told by a manager my dog couldn't be in a shopping cart. I have a very small dog that I carry in a big beach bag. It's not the fact that it probably is a health violation, just the way this lady manager went about telling me it was violation. I explained that my little chihuahuas was in a large bag and then the manager was very unbecoming of a manager when she confronted me. I told her she was the only manager that ever said anything. I've been coming in the store for three years, everyday! She said if I didn't like it not to come in anymore. This isnt the first time I've seen her be rude, she just not very nice. Not front end material. Maybe a good spot for her would be in receiving where she could just beat up on the vendors, not customers. Respectfully Sean read more

This is a great market. It has everything you need including household items great meat, selection, grapefruit selection there's a Starbucks inside, but I found the self check out to be infuriating. The machine kept telling me to put my items in the checkout area and of course I was it took quite a while to check out for three bags so it's worth the wait to have a real human. Check you out I guess read more

This Ralphs is awesome. Their organic products are great and they're adding more and more each time I go. I love the organic veggies too. They're not all wrapped up, but stacked individually just like their counterparts. Another thing I love . . . they send coupons to me in the mail and they're personally chosen for me and what I regularly buy. Love it. Thanks Ralphs. read more

Nice, clean market. Went to purchase a birthday cake and snacks. Other Items are easy to find. Staff were friendly. I'm not a local but I appreciate nice well kept super markets, this is one of them. read more

We've been coming to this Ralph's for almost 20 years and it has gotten better over the years. The organic fruit and vegetable section is much better than our other go-to Ralph's off of Encinitas Blvd and superior to any Vons or other major chain in the area. That's key for us. Plus, add in the multitude of digital and direct mail coupons and add in the fuel points and you'll see why this place rules. We've comparison shopped the same groceries at a few other major supermarkets and Ralph's consistently beats most others (with the exception of Trader Joe's of course). Great selection, awesome checkers and a clean well-run store will keep us shopping here for years to come. read more

Kinda sucks having self check out options only 7:06 am still no cashier? Although there was someone at self checkout to assist, (Kelly) the check out process was still significantly slower, no fault of hers. there is a delay in scanner's agility to process items scanned. Even she had to wait foe it to catch up to her pace. My time is too precious. If in a hurry before 7am it may be a better idea to shop elsewhere, especially when shopping in large quantity with limited time. read more

Ralphs - Grocery Near Me - Carlsbad, California

The quality of customer service at Ralph's on Avenida Encinas has been extremely poor since even shortly before the pandemic. My favorite cashiers and managers are gone, and remaining are the ones who never smile, are snippy and frankly don't give a flying flip about their job, or you, as the customer. One long term checker told me that she didn't like her job anymore. It's really sad. They are literally down to ONE checkout lane, and the remaining options are self checkout. The quality of their food options has gone down, and their products are often expired or aging. If you opt for Instacart or pick up from Ralph's, the items picked are either wrong or just plain bad. I prefer to have a good shopping experience with friendly people and good quality items. Now I go to Gelsons or Sprouts instead. read more

Okay overall good store BUT. My wife and I shopped at the Carlsbad location today. Cart loaded with $320.00 of groceries, ready to check out and as always for everywhere we shop in this town, she pulled out her phone to pay. And then we were told, sorry you can only pay with a South Korean phone. Not really, but she did say, we only take the Samsung phone, but not the American made Apple phone. Really Ralph's. You and Wal-Mart, great company to be in., the last holdouts. I remember now why I don't shop at Ralph's. We left the groceries and went to Vons, where they allowed us to give them our money with our American iPhone. Prices were better too. read more

Kroger on the west coast. Good selection of items and great people working at the store.

I loathe going to this grocery store. There are only 2 clerks who seem to be nice. Everyone else seems to have an attitude when you are in need of assistance. I've been to this store multiple times, monthly for the past year. There are rarely any cashiers to ring up your items in the morning and only one section of the store has "open" self check out stands. I think I ran out of patience today when I asked a clerk for a shopping bag because there were none available at my stand. I finished bagging my items and was ready to leave the store. However, the stand across the way had plenty of bags folded but there was a TRULY box resting atop the plastic bags. I asked a male employee in the self check out station if I could have a bag. He pretended to not hear me so I walked over to the bags and again, asked for a bag. He rudely stated that he was busy and begrudgingly lifted the TRULY so that I could grab a bag. The customer service atmosphere is extremely lacking. I'm only giving 2 stars because of the 2 cashiers who are generally pretty nice. read more

They fired people for the self serve kiosk and now there are 6 of them closed and huge lines on a Friday afternoon......

Please hire appropriate staffing so ms Stephanie can give a better customer service experience especially in the morning unless she just didn't like me as a person but either way her energy sucked so I'm writing this to possible help her at 8:55am sorry not sorry like she made me just ughhhhhhh read more

Super disappointing to call this location and speak with someone who could barely think for themselves, who said I could pre-order balloons. I picked up the balloons and they were definitely too full and when I called back after a couple of them popped in my car, they told me they didn't actually have anyone who knew what they were doing. That I could either go back for a replacement or for the refund of a couple dollars. Neither gets me to where I'm going with these balloons on time or helps since I don't live in the area. What a disappointing group of people working here. read more

I've been coming to this location for years, it's in a convenient spot and up until now I've had nothing but positive experiences. Some might say that the only reviews that are written are negative, but at this point I've had a truly terrible experience and I felt that it was review-worthy. I felt like having a sandwich, so I went through the store picking up the necessary items. I finally made my way to the deli counter and asked the woman behind the counter for slices of a few different meats. She gave a big Huff and then told me that my request was extremely time-consuming and she had better things to do. Behind her there was an automatic slicer doing all of the supposed work that she had to do. I understand that in the morning they have prep work they need to do, however at the end of the day this is a deli for customers to be able to pick up their personal selections and PAY for the food. The fact that I was belittled for making a simple request left me disgusted, customer service comes first in every job. I don't care if you work a service job, or you are a white collar cubicle worker, or even a blue collar welder. How you interact with the general public, especially a pain customer, speaks volumes about an establishment. I will never utilize their deli services again and shall be taking my business elsewhere. read more

mediocre sushi, but i wasn't expecting anything better. there was a hair in the sushi i bought lol pretty gross. read more

Ralphs - hair in my sushi! and the avocado is gross,, maybe not the place to get a quick lunch.. - Grocery Near Me - Carlsbad, California

Honestly I was not expecting much but boy was I wrong. Went in there to grab a few things and left with a full car. The guy working the cash register even gave me a discount! Great service great prices. read more

Ralphs - Deli section - Grocery Near Me - Carlsbad, California

One the worse Ralphs in San Diego. Out of stock on a lot of items. On multiple occasion there has been moldy bread sold past the expiration date. Long lines with all of the campers from across the 101. Only one or two checkout lanes seem to be open. I guess they want everyone to use the self-checkout, no matter how much groceries you have. read more

I am fortunate and have multiple grocery stores, produce stands and mega warehouses within 5 miles. Ralphs may be the closest location, however my visits are infrequent. The flow of the market works well, there is plenty of room separating each department and it is well laid out. Clean, well stocked shelves never let me down - however their prices kick my a$$. I tend to shop for produce and the quality does not substantiate a 50% premium over what is available elsewhere. I like the ducks that frequent in the parking lot and the convenience of being able to pick up what I need in a pinch. read more

Always a clean and well supplied source for groceries and produce. Service is by most part friendly and resourceful

Great location, huge selection and fantastic service. Ralph's is our go to grocery store, very clean, well stocked and fair prices. I love the sales and managers specials, making them having fair prices compared to other grocery stores. They have a nice deli, meat and bakery section, very nice store with plenty of easy parking. read more

Was so disappointed in the Von's on El Camino Real, and was so elated to find this fabulous Ralph's on Avenida Encinas!! it's very convenient to my place, and it makes me feel less sad that there isn't a Gelson's nearby. They have lots of gourmet items, the aisles are spacious, neat and orderly, and the people are friendly. What more could you ask for? read more

My personal choice for grocery stores in the La Costa/Leucadia area. They are always well stocked and everyone here is very friendly. Customer service is exceptional. Everyone who works here seems to enjoy what they do and enjoy helping customers. Clean store and has everything we need, rarely runs out of something on those special holidays. Even other customers seem pleasant here. Anywhere I went in this store, every employee I bump into would ask me if I need help or greet me. It's a pleasant experience and stress free. Sometimes there's a line at the cashier or self checkout but they manage it very well that you don't have to wait long. If you're like me and you like the idea of coupons but don't like to carry it with you or forget to use them in store, you can now just scan your Ralphs card and it'll automatically enter coupons for you. You can now load coupons on your Ralphs card and don't have to carry physical coupons (but you have to register your Ralphs card online but it's not a big deal). You can see the discounts on the receipt and it makes a big difference on the total. We love the deli! You get a sample every time you order. They have a good selection of beer and wine. The cheese department is probably the only thing that is lacking or disappointing. Bagged salads are fresher than Albertsons. In fact, the entire department of produce is well kept. The plants they sell here are also beautiful and well taken care of. I buy house plants here instead of Home Depot. I've ran around between Ralphs and Home Depot and Ralphs had better choices for mini roses and other flowering house plants. Home Depot had limited choices and their plants did not seem to be as well taken care of though they both came from the same nursery. read more

This is a really great grocery store. All of the employees are super friendly and there are so many unique items to look at. They have tons of flavours of dairy free milk alternatives, ice cream and more. They also have lots of gluten free options, a nice produce section, flowers that smell amazing and much more. It's a great grocery store to stop by and buy whatever you need. read more

Always come here on my way to my hotel to load up on water...fruits and snacks. The staff here are the best and produce is so awesome. This has to be one of the cleanest Ralph's we ever been too. The staff make our visits truly amazing. Now let's go see what we buy today? read more

See all

Convenient grocery store, good service from the staff, when on the area get your groceries here. Fresh fruit, vegetables, ready available hot items at the deli, olive bar and other essentials for our picnic, there is Starbucks too. read more

Ralphs - Grocery Near Me - Carlsbad, California

See all

BEST STAFF ON THE OUTER LIMITS! Whether you visit the deli, the meat department, or the produce department of this lovely store, you cannot ask for better service! I always enjoy the friendly and helpful deli staff, however the meat department goes above and beyond (frequently) to make my shopping experience the best I can possibly find. I wish I had the names of the two fantastic men that work in the meat department - on is always "happy to be at my service" all of the time -- LOVE it! The other is one of the #1 or #2 in charge of that department and actually took the time to care about what type and brad of ground turkey I come to Ralph's to purchase (Kroger brand is the best!). Ah, my dear Ralph's how I miss Fred Meyer, but you are rapidly getting closer to the quality of product selection and staffing that I miss so dearly! THANK YOU!!!! read more

We were staying nearby at the Hyatt Home and I needed to pick up some groceries. I'm a customer at our local Ralph's, so I decided to get my stuff here. First off, the place is huge! The prepared food counter is quite extensive (and the gentleman working at it was very friendly). I didn't actually purchase anything from that area so I can't comment on the quality or taste, but was just pleasantly surprised at the selection. The prices on center-aisle items seemed pretty much the same as they are at my local Ralph's. The salad bar was a dollar more per pound (the sign says it's organic, whereas the local one doesn't specify). Some reviews have mentioned that produce is expensive, but I didn't visit that department so I can't agree with or deny that. The only negative I encountered was seeing small bugs on some bagels in the glass bakery displays. I almost purchased some items from the displays but changed my mind after seeing those. read more

Ralphs - The black dots on the bagels/pastries are tiny flying bugs. - Grocery Near Me - Carlsbad, California

What a beautiful Ralph's store. We stopped in for a sandwich before the beach last week...Gabriel in the deli area was very happy to make the sandwich and let me say it was delicious. We got the traditional chicken salad on marble rye with lettuce and red onion. Positive experience from beginning to end. Thank you, Gabriel. We'll be back. Returned today and Gabriel made tuna salad sandwich...delicious again and great experience. His mgr was razzing him though...I didn't like seeing that...banter isn't healthy when someone is trying to work. read more

Wow. All I can say is wow. I wish all grocery stores at this price point were as clean and organized as this one. The stock was piled super high and products were all properly faced. There were friendly associates in almost every other aisle willing to help. Everyone was just so friendly here in this super bright market. I just came in to buy some water for the road and was really wowed by this location. Even late on a Wednesday night there were still people handing out samples. It's really rare to see a grocery store with this high of a yelp rating and now I see why. If I'm ever in the area again, this will definitely be my stop. read more

They're only getting one star because that's the minimum I can give someone I would give negative stars called yesterday to get a pre-cooked turkey they said wait till tomorrow because it drops to $.99 a pound I called this morning they said they had plenty of them I come in today they say they don't have any of the guy at the deli doesn't know what he's talking about and then I asked for the manager and of course the manager takes a long time getting here his name is Jim and then he comes over and shows me where the turkeys are without want to hear anything I have to say or answering my questions other Ralph's are good but stay away from this one and the problem seems to come from the manager Jim down read more

Absolutely horrible service , never enough checkers and they don't acknowledge the long lines to call other checkers to assist , no bag boys to assist either I have walked out more than once If your not into lines try another store Only positive is their fish meat department read more

I really enjoy shopping here! The people are friendly and attentive and the management is very helpful. They are very attentive when you have questions or need help. The selections offered are plenty and even if something is out of stock, they matched the price for me (milk). The only reason I am deducting one star is the fact that I'm not really happy with the area who is responsible with the fresh salad bar/ chicken and meat department. Be prepared to wait and not get attended and sometimes face people that look like they don't want to work there. I just take a deep breath and at the end the cashier cheers me always up. read more

Please figure out how to have at least 1 lane open. Having to use self checkout for an entire cart full of groceries was a huge pain in the butt. I had multiple employees and a manager look me in the eye and no one offered to open a lane for a full cart of groceries. It's 11pm, sure, but you're open and I needed help. When the self checkout machine forced us to receive employee help after we selected that we used 5 bags, no employee came and I had to walk up to the registers and ask for assistance. Bad customer service. Bad experience. read more

A little bit older looking grocery store, but the aisles are nicely aligned and well stocked. Fruits and veggies are fresh with a decent selection of organics. Workers are always super friendly. Watch out for the ducks in the parking lot read more

I was on my way home from work and swung by to pick up little items for the weekend. I needed Halloween candy for the kiddies and fruit for the upcoming week. This Ralphs is smaller than the one by my place and I had to walk around a bit to find what I was looking for. There were several lines going with little wait so I was pretty stoked about that. The cashier was friendly and even asked if I wanted to add fresh garlic bread to my purchase. I declined indicated that I was on a low carb diet. He laughed... The signage was a bit confusing on some of the sale items that were only avail on Thurs, Fri and Sat. I later noticed on my receipt that I was overcharged on an item, but didn't go back since it wasn't by very much. read more

Very friendly with bright, wide isles and nice selection in the fresh cold cuts area. Parking is a bit crazy with shoppers visiting all other popular retailers in the strip mall but overall, not bad. read more