Nothing much to purchase in this store. Food was kind of pricey; cost a little more than Costco and Safeway. Service was satisfactory and the ambiance was below average due to homeless in parking lot. Aggressive panhandling could occur. read more

Looks like the place the locals shop at. The prices seem inflated maybe due to this being it seems the only grocery store in the area. Plus it is where some tourists may be directed to grocery shop or drive 22-24 miles to Walmart. The employees seem friendly and nice but just an inflated priced grocery store. I shopped at Ray's more than once during our vacation. They have organic fruit and vegetables and snacks. read more

Camping north of Trinidad, CA for Thanksgiving, we found that we needed a few items to round-out our holiday meal under the redwoods. After a memorable hour in Arcata's main square, we found this supermarket. The dozen or so free spirits sort of standing around in the parking lot with ostensibly no where to be after a lifetime's journey of poor decisions sort of lay the foundation for what was going to be an interesting grocery store experience. Roll em up, kids, we're going in. Once inside, the store looked and felt "older" somehow-- was it the lighting? the vinyl floors with a 70's print pattern? The aged wood trim around the registers? Unclear... but was was clear was prices were actually lower to match the overall (but not entirely unpleasant) dinge to the joint. Incredibly, we found most of our missing/forgotten Thanksgiving items on an end display: cranberry, cornbread stuffing, gravy mix. A quick stroll around the store rounded out the rest with a bag of potatoes, some Cool Whip, and a few other odds and ends. The cashier was not what early Roman philosophers might have referred to as "bubbly," but she dragged those SKUs across the laser light with the best of em, and got us on our way. No propane in this store, so don't ask. They suggest checking the Harbor Freight nearby, but they don't have it either. I've been to worse grocery stores, and fairness, we were shopping for a camping meal, so our expectations were not very high anyway. How do you screw up selling S'mores makings? You don't, unless you don't have them. Ray's did. So hey-- we'll probably be back. Didn't want to drive all the way through those awful Eureka stop lights and speed traps anyway. Man. read more

I am highly disappointed about The deli sandwich making. I paid 10.49 for a sandwich that has maybe 4 slices of meat and not all the toppings I asked for. The worker could have told me if they were out of cucumber and pepperoncini peppers. Instead she preceded to make my sandwich with the bare minimum and not a word spoken to me about the topping not all being in the sandwich. This is the second time this employee has made my sandwich this way. read more

Great supermarket with a wide variety of products. Staff was pleasant and service was very quick.

Recently I went here because I received the coupons in the mail but I also went in to buy refried beans which I hardly eat but was craving them. I was planning to make home-made crunchy tacos, like Taco Bell. Anyways I get to Rays and I look around, immediately I look under their aisles and I find it extremely helpful they have labels indicating what the aisle carries b/c it eliminates trying to find an item esp. when hurried for time. Along with the beans I was planning on grabbing some Poblano Chilies for Chile Rellenos not only find them withered and over price but many of their produce looked like it had been starting to lose their color, withered away or hardly had a smell of freshness to it :-( such a sad environment Also another thing to note is to ask for a receipt. When I shop I hardly ask for a one but when I bought the two can of beans I was so glad I did take one b/c when I arrived home I came to find out that their can was not only expired but had a bunch of dust on top of it! Goodness I wonder how often they replace those cans? The reason I gave this Ray's store only three stars is because I highly appreciate receiving their coupons in the mail but unfortunately their store items is way over priced and their produce doesn't full fill standards. I appreciate the customer service every time, at least when I have been there I see two cashiers opened. Plus when I returned the can of beans the manager was really calm and courteous about it. Sometimes the cashiers can be on the serious side but if you make conversation they seem to open up. read more

HORRIFIC CUSTOMER SERVICE! Used to be good but a few recent bad experiences have drastically changed my opinion. Had a cashier get very aggressive towards me with a 6-pack of cans by shoving it in my direction while I was bagging my groceries simply because she claimed I overwhelmed her by bringing so many of my own bags. Reported all this to an assistant manager who was very respectful but surprised at what I was reporting. After a few months I felt brave enough to go back in and sure enough there she was at the only check stand open. Not a thing had changed in her attitude. She didn't speak a word of greeting, offer of a bag, or a thank you for coming in and paying their high prices. From what I observed the woman behind me was getting the same treatment. I spoke with the manager this time thinking he would care...ha! He suspected I knew the woman and that we had some personal beef. I told him no, we don't know each other. To try to make him take this seriously I shared with him I have been in customer service for a very long time and I'd never seen such hateful customer service. He feigned surprise and mumbled he doubted that and walked away while we were still in conversation, or so I thought. Guess we know where the other cashier, complained about in a previous review, learned that trick. You MUST check all expiration dates on EVERYTHING! Don't buy any packaged produce; good chance it's pure rot under the first layer. I wouldn't recommend going to this store without a body guard to keep you safe from the scary people outside the store 24/7 and the aggressively mean cashier. F/U Rays Arcata Valley West; I'll be spending my money at Wildberries and the Co-op. I used to support you as my neighborhood grocery store and the anchor store of that shopping center, now I hope you shut down and that shopping center goes to the varmit that are taking over and making it a homeless camp. read more

Customer service horrible! I'm looking for an Apple GiftCard and see an employee or might of been a manager. I asked for help which at first she was great. She had no clue if they even stocked Apple GiftCards ...I know they stock them cause I have purchased them there before... Half way through though she stopped looking and started walking away. Never once saying "let me find you someone who can help you" She just walked away! Never once saying "I apologize for this inconvenience" Customer service!!!!! I go up to the front to ask again and the clerk told me they were out of stock but didn't know when they would be back in stock Though never once said "Would you like me to find someone who could answer my questions" Customer service!!!! Extremely disappointed read more

Will you please stop selling ice cream that is refrozen. Either buy some new freezers that actually keep it cold, or throw it out if it's thawed. I literally should have taken a picture of some Steve's ice cream "on sale" for $4.99 that was obviously melted and still being sold. Every thing of ice cream I've bought here has those annoying little ice crystals in it, indicative that it has thawed significantly and then refrozen. And yet, I keep coming in like a fool, sheepishly hoping this time it will be different. Why? Because it's so damn convenient being so close to my house, and I work all the time (and I'm lazy). I'd rather pay $7.50 at the gas station for a pint of Ben and Jerry's because at least they keep it frozen. Sheesh. You have one job to do, can't even do it. Also, I agree with other reviewers, always bums sitting in here and no one seems to mind that fresh produce is right there. The employees act like the obviously sick and dirty people mulling around coughing everywhere is normal. To make matters worse, there have been multiple times I've bought salad/ lettuce, later to find it was expired. Same with milk. Surprised this place hasn't been shut down yet tbh. Here's my guess: soon. I will add that Ray's Arcata gets 2 stars instead of one because I have been shopping there a long time, and have also had pleasant experiences there. For one, some stuff from the deli is pretty good and decently priced. Another bonus is the employees are always nice. read more

I normally don't shop here often, but when I get the coupons in the mail, I will if there is an item we need or haven't used in a while and the sale price is right. My experiences here have always been pleasant. The employees seem friendly and I think the customers are regulars. My favorite thing about this store is the specialty items they rotate through like coffee cups, kid's items/toys etc. I bought a large coffee mug here a few years ago that matched a blanket I owned! This was a "steal". So my eye is always on the lookout for special items when I shop here. read more

Ok I wanted to wait 24 hours before posting this review because I'd put something out of anger that would have been inappropriate. So....yesterday morning I walked across the street from our hotel to this Ray's location. The day prior we totaled our car and we're stuck in the area until Monday when a rental car becomes available. Ok, I did about $145 shop for stuff we needed for the weekend (food, paper plates, plastic ware, napkins, drinks, etc). Everyone was considerate and helpful as I'm legally blind and was doing the shopping alone because gf was dealing with her insurance company on her cell phone. I was getting pretty sore from walking around the store because of the accident so I hurried along at a snails pace and finished my shopping. After I walked back to hotel with all the bags my gf noticed there were 2 large boxes of salt and 2 other items my bag I'd obviously never buy. We checked the receipt and noticed I was charged around $18 for those items that were not in my cart but ended up in my bag (come to find out later it was the persons behind me in line). LOREN, our cashier wasn't paying attention, big deal, right, no not really. I called real quick and Loren answered the phone. I kindly asked him to run across the street to our hotel and refund my money and I'd happily hand him the goods that weren't mine. His exact words were 'No, that's not our policy'. I explained politely on the phone I was not only disabled but in a very serious car wreck just the evening before and he'd need to come to me because this was HIS fault (he was quick to blame the customer behind me and accepted NO responsibility whatsoever). He refused to take down my information for a manager to call me back so the issue could be resolved. Oddly he told me he was management which I call BS because there's no way ANY reputable establishment would have this jerk as a manager. Finally got ahold of Don (a REAL manager) and he was in my hotel room within 5 minutes & refund in hand. LOREN is obviously also a liar because he informed me the store wouldn't come to me. Thanks Don....you were awesome! Loren I hope you get either canned or retrained, you obviously have no customer service skills and are a liar. read more

Stopped at the deli counter to ask a question and was told abruptly, "We close in 10 minutes." Jeez. I was staying nearby and needed a few snack items, so I quickly ran in and got what I needed. I grabbed a block of Dubliner cheese but was stunned at the check out counter to see it was nearly $8 - wowza. But I wanted it, so I paid it. read more

Ray's Food Place is definitely not the place to go if you need a bunch of groceries. They do not have almost any produce. I went to get cilantro, a bunch of fresh ingredients and they didn't have any of them. There are 5 or 6 check out stations, and they only have 1 person working AT ALL TIMES. Never has there ever been more than one check out station open. I have been there many many times due to closeness, and I am always dissatisfied. Their selection of food is small, they don't carry almost anything you need. Sure if you need milk or cheese or frozen pizzas go there. By the way it's super super expensive and not even good. Safeway is 50% cheaper than here!! Make the drive go to Safeway!! Much cheaper, wayyyy more ingredients, and tons of great service. read more

Despite the numerous signs requiring masks AND the order from our governor, Ray's is still allowing people to shop without wearing masks. Upon speaking with an employee about not feeling safe after watching an unmasked man cough all over their produce and packaged meats I was told Ray's was "not the mask police". I stated I would phone the non-emergency police line to report the store and the employee just shrugged and walked away. Ray's is 100% not taking proper precautions to slow the spread of Covid-19 and their employee's handling of my concern was atrocious. Their produce department features overripe, molded food, if you even want to take the chance on it knowing they've allowed an unknown amount of customers cough all over it. Shop at your own risk. read more

We purchased freshly prepared sandwiches from the deli. They were made correctly, with care and were delicious. The woman assisting us was pleasant and helpful. It was our first time at this market and we were impressed wth the service, food quality and price ($7 for a customized sandwich with choice of chips). We had just tried getting sandwiches from the nearby subway which closed before its posted time of 7 p.m. and had skipped pizza from Round Table which would have cost $38 for a pizza with three topping. Next time we're absolutely going to Rays first. read more

This store smells so bad. It's from the homeless people always in this store. I'm switching to Murphy's market. Nicer store, nicer employees, cleaner store. read more

We love Ray's! We go here for cheap(er) meat and produce. Any time we need to make a quick grocery stop, we head to Ray's. Staff is always helpful. read more

Dear rays, Hey we went in there today and It was kind of a weird experience. I am eight months pregnant so usually people are pretty nice to me but that was not my experience at your store. We commented on how nice the store looked and your employee acted like we were stupid not to have known that you redid the place. I know valley west is kind of a piece of crap place so it's understandable that your employees seemed super miserable and out of sorts but we decided to go grocery shopping somewhere else today and spend our money where people treated us a bit nicer. I don't know what the solution is but maybe give your employees an incentive to be nice they have to deal with a lot of riff raff. The location can't be helped but the additudes probably should be adjusted if you want to have normal people shopping there. read more

Overpriced. Try to grab the weekly specials print-out by the entrance to find decent values. Every now and then they have sales which are actually pretty good (look for the orange "Advertised Special" tags) Overall, I would have given them a two-star rating, but they are the only market within walking distance of Valley West, which means they're convenient if you just need to grab a thing or two. I wouldn't recommend doing any major shopping here though. Beer is cheaper at the gas station (Chevron) and a lot of smaller things can be found much cheaper at the Dollar Tree next door. read more

on top of everything being really overpriced and expensive- half of the stuff is expired. CHECK THE EXPIRATION DATE before purchasing anything!!!!! It also has this disgusting rank odor I cant put my nose on it but makes me gag everytime I walk in there. read more

Some employees are friendly but one in particular is loud, unprofessional and making insensitive comments about customers with crying kids. Sometimes I just make the drive to Safeway in Mckinelyville just to avoid encountering this cashier. read more

Nice friendly customer service, decent pricing and the worst music you ever heard. It's a psychotic mix of bad songs from the 80s and really bad classic rock. I've been complaining for two years, to no avail. The Christmas music every year is a trip to hell. I shorten my shopping or wear headphones to compensate gif read more

VERY EXPENSIVE!! The only good thing about this store is that they're located close to my home & their checkers are always really nice & friendly. read more

This is a decent grocery store. All of the employees are great, and the place is kept generally clean but I tend to come late in the evening so maybe things have been spruced up for the night by then. They have a great selection of beverages, both alcoholic and non alcoholic. They have almost every obscure soda and root beer that is distributed into this area. The bad part about this is the price to quality ratio. They have average products, the kind of things you would find at safeway, but they often times will cost slightly more. Here is the biggest negative, they have very very limited selection of organic products. The organic produce section is very small, they sell standard humboldt creamery milk gallons for the same price that other grocery stores in the area sell the organic humboldt creamery milk gallons. Organic butter, if they have it, it's very expensive. Safeway has a lot of organic options from their house brand "O organics" and other suppliers which means there are a lot more food options at safeway. Probably the very finest feature of Ray's is that there is very rarely a HUGE line like develops at safeway. This grocery store is NEVER understaffed to the same level that Safeway is. The quicker lines and better customer service alone are reason enough to go to Rays over Safeway if you don't care about organics. Overall, the majority of the people that shop here live very close by and aren't in the mood to go to another grocery store (if they have a car) or shop here exclusively because it is the only grocery store within easy walking distance. Rays has a tough time being in a pretty dingy neighborhood with a lot of transients that like to hang out in this shopping center and use their bathroom and make things generally dirty. In conclusion: If you care about quick lines, Ray's is great. If you care about organic food, Ray's is awful. If you care about minimum prices, rays is slightly more expensive than Safeway for a significant portion of things. read more

If I could give this store a zero stars, I would. This non-union disaster is the worst grocery store I've ever been in and I've lived all over this country. First, it's nowhere near as busy as its competitors. Why? The prices are easily 30 to 70% higher than other chains on most items. Minimal staff who couldn't care less about bring there. Refrigerated section temp gauges are broken in many cases which is illegal. I've returned spoiled milk, moldy bread, expired items sold as fresh. The produce is overpriced and the tomatoes are rotten. I've even noticed that instead of throwing out these items, they deliberately put them on sale as if they were a great deal. When I confront the manager I get a no explanation. I even witnessed their corporate inspectors walking around the store talking about what a dump the place is and how no one cares there. The parking lot is full of homeless and meth dealers despite the security guard who frankly looks like one of them. Just avoid this place. Lots of of other choices. read more

Worst grocery store ever! Incompetent employees, very few employees. All prices way inflated. Waiting 45 min+ for western union. They had no pen available for Western Union. I asked an employee, he was totally clueless. Never come here. GO ANYWHERE ELSE!! read more

This place is a total dump. My husband and I stopped in to pick up some hamburger for a barbecue. All the meat had a strange brown/green hue. Upon picking up a package of hamburger, a vile death smell emitted from the package. Rotting meat juice dripped down my arm and I almost vomited. Never again will I shop here. read more

Great rotisserie chicken. Worth going in just for that yes everything is a bit more but it's forgivable

If you decide to do some shopping here PLEASE make sure you check the expiration dates!!!!! (I was dumb to trust the store thinking everything I bought was not close to expiring) read more