really a 3 star safeway, but extra star for entertainment value--around 3 nights/week, there is police activity--some slob casually strolls out of the store w/ arms full of groceries, baked goods, etc. (Not running, just a casual clip, i'd say). --the exhausted , no-longer-amused-by-these-shenanigans security staff runs interference, and a slap stick scene unfolds: food flying, half eaten chicken slides across the floor--on lookers flee and gasp. Its awesome. " better than TV" says my 5.y.o, who *also* earns herself stickers from the sympathetic check out staff. points for starbucks, who also hosts a cast of characters in that area, running the gamut of psychiatric conditions, a sort of Live DSM 5. and theres produce. and plenty of parking. oh, they make GREAT cakes, btw. We ordered a Barbie cake --it looked (and TASTED) !!BEYOND!! read more

Safeway - the day Rapunzel was edible! - Grocery Near Me - El Cerrito, California

So easily impressed am I--- I found organic Dave's Killer Bread from my erstwhile residence in the Pdx area. Though not cheap, it's a quality loaf (not to mention a hard find). Silk Coconut Milk on sale....! Check A more than decent wine selection in their aisles....fun times. Lastly, a very sizeable outdoor patio for chilling and catching the tan while grubbin' may just persuade me to come here more often.....it's great for the Del Norte BART users. Starbux inside has actual lounge chairs. Blow me over! read more

Just appalling. I was in line for 25-30 minutes at checkout. There were only two checkout lines open, and the self-checkout area had a line of about 25 people in it. This was today at 1130am on a non-holiday weekend Friday. What was particularly galling was there was NO manager at the front of the store watching to see how the lines were moving. You should observe the store and get cashiers as required. This is not the pandemic. This store (and several of your stores in NorCal) are like this and have been this way for years. What exactly do your managers do? They are CLEARLY not monitoring the checkout lines. Also, I notice that Dawn M from Albertsons keeps responding on behalf of Safeway. But NOTHING appears to be changing. You should SERIOUSLY consider how to run a store. People want to come in, find what they want, pay for it, and leave as soon as possible. Do you have some other business model in mind for a grocery store? Safeway could be excellent. But the El Cerrito store is just awful. And it appears it has been like this for years. read more

Two people were incredibly helpful today. The one whose name I remember was Ceylona. lovely lady. Very empathetic and some good advice about don't overload your homemade pizza or everything will slide off! read more

Restroom is disgusting someone from management plz put serious attention to it.i am Safeway regular customer never seen seen restroom as messy as this one. It's health concerns issue. read more

This review is solely for the Starbucks inside Safeway. This isn't my first time, but this is my first time coming in here in a bit of a rush! Goal was to get a couple of cups of sugar and caffeine for the Hubbers and I and be outta there in a jiffy! Luckily for me, there was NO line. Got a venti salted caramel hot chocolate, Hubbers with the 3 equal venti latte. My barista (forgot her name!) asked if I wanted whipped cream on my hot chocolate. (YES!) I'm so glad she asked because it would have been disastrous without it! Was outta there not too long after. I'm a fan. read more

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Exceptionally bad and there's nothing I can do service on coin star piece even from manager. Oh well you can call them. Yeah and I can shop elsewhere too- even with a screenshot there was little to no help. It's always understaffed- 25 minutes for this, and unless you do self checkout at 9 am forget getting in and out. I'm done. read more

Shopped all over in many Safeways but this one takes the gold star for unmotivated workers at the deli section. 20 minutes just waiting now for single server to have full scale chat with BFF and then has the nerve to want to apologize for the delay. This is not an unusual occurrence at their deli counter where service is slower than a snail but having a delay because you want to catch up with a coworker who "missed you at work today" and then worker just wants to move on to the four waiting customers with apologies. It is my last time in this store as clearly management is not managing. read more

Still the worst Safeway in the Bay Area. One checker for the whole store and they are so slow. Most of the vegetables are rotten.

I come here from time to time to buy flowers for my dads grave. There are no sanitizing stations at all in the entrance/exit around the registers, I asked the security and he told me they had some at the self checkout cashier but they looked at me like I was speaking a completely different language. They said there are none whatsoever anymore which is outrageous we are still in pandemic, and I would think Safeway cares about the safety, hygiene and overall health of their customers. I'm trying to buy produce I'd like to sanitize my hands. I repeat Pls before I touch the produce I'd like to sanitize my hands! read more

Don't come at 5am when they are supposed to be open. They take their break at 5am and stare at you as you wait until they open the front door at 520am. read more

2 experiences shopping here this week. One at 10:00 pm weekday which was nice/staff were helpful. One at 4pm Saturday- tons of cops, security, felt gross. Also the same proxy's ( like Ben and Jerry's ice cream places all over the store. The case in the ice cream cooler did not have the type I wanted, but I happened upon it in a random end freezer, the other end freezer was out of my flavor. This is just one example, oftentimes the same items are placed in various places around the store, which is silly and annoying. read more

Please be aware of your surroundings at this safeway. The homelessness infront of the store has always been heavy. A homeless man today followed me into the store, found me in a far away aisle and started yelling at me when I wouldn't give him attention. As he approached me I was able to get away a few aisles down to pay comstantly checking my back. This is NOT how a shopping experience should go. read more

Today my cashier Heysia was too busy texting on her phone to ask me to enter my phone no for Safeway rewards. As a result I paid a lot more than I otherwise would have! Not happy about that! Next time, especially when there is a line growing, maybe stop freaking texting on the phone! Seriously! read more

This is a store I will never give business again. I went tonight to buy a Mylar balloon for my granddaughter's birthday tomorrow. I arrived at 8:30pm and was told the floral department was closed and I couldn't get a balloon. One of the clerks offered to call the manager to see if she would blow up a balloon for me. The answer from the manager was, "No, that department is closed." Really, you're the "manager" and you won't walk out and blow up a balloon for a customer? Whoever the manager was on July 23rd at 8:30pm should be fired! If this is the customer service model being set by the manager it makes total sense that this store only has a 2 Star rating. I'm frankly surprised it is that high. read more

I have been loyal to Safeway for far too long.. every other time I go I leave feeling really frustrated. Today I was stuck in line for 30 minutes... and there was only one family in front of me! The cashier had zero urgency and was trying to preach patience to everyone out loud. I had patience until the people behind me went to different lines and had been gone for 20 min already.. while I just stood there. He was very unprofessional. It was 8pm on 9/10 if management is looking at this. But I've had so many experiences like this.. and not only in this store. There is zero chance that I will be stepping in another Safeway from now on. I'm tired of it. read more

This is location has the worse Safeway deli I have ever seen. They have no sense of customer service and no acknowledgment towards customers when they get to the counter. I go here often and the deli has good food however, their lack of staff and lack of service is so bad I try to not ever need anything from the deli. There is a woman that works that counter and will only slice meat and cheese and will not help with anything else. She has yelled at customer's and I have seen first hand her run out from the back of the counter to get a lady thrown out of the store. School kids stealing and eating food and walking around like they own the store and no one tells them anything.its horrible. I don't recommend this location to any of my friends or family. read more

The manager "Terrell" is very disrespectful and rude. He insulted me and I've been trying to call customer service and complain because he believes as a manager he's untouchable read more

Safeway - Grocery Near Me - El Cerrito, California

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Scheduled a pick up for 7 pm at this location and was sent a confirmation letter with my total and a list of all the items I requested. Got there promptly at 7 and have been waiting for 40 minutes with my newborn baby. The reason we chose this pick up option is due to not wanting to expose the baby to any germs. My boyfriend went in to ask about our order twice, the first time they asked for us to wait ten minutes because they were busy, that was reasonable. Another 30 minutes pass and still nothing. He went in again and they changed their minds and said they didn't even have any orders for that day. Horrible service, would not recommend read more

Really must be short staffed to treat customers so poorly. Nella could have resolved a simple issue but chose to lie about having a printer at the store to help customers with ecards. read more

Safeway @ 1450 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito, CA. Really must be short staffed to treat customers so poorly. Nella could have resolved a simple issue but chose to lie about having a printer at the store to help customers with ecards read more

I placed my $310.22 order on December 4 at 4:31 PM and set it for pick up on December 5 at 7:00 PM. I arrived at Safeway 11450 San Pablo Ave, El Cerrito, CA 94530 at 6:30 PM and parked in one of the Drive Up and Go stalls. When I called the number indicated on the sign, I was told that my order was not processed. The person on the phone told me that I will have to call the next day (today) to talk to someone named Donovan because that department is closed. She informed me that there was another person whose online wasn't processed and she cannot do anything about it. Probably one of the worst response one can get when there's absolute zero fault on the customer side. There are several reasons why I placed the order to be able to pick up at this very specific date and time. Two of these reasons being I have a 5-month old child and travel often for work. I made an assumption that the online ordering system is dependable. I had to stop by another grocery store to pick up dinner, and other necessities when the whole point of the online order is so I did not have to spend my time grocery shopping. It's incredibly frustrating that the excuse is that it was not processed and that the department that is processing online orders is closed. If you have an online order system, there should be systems in place for this not to happen. I would think that it's an automated process and if there were something to happen that the order wasn't processed, they would let the customer know ahead of time. It would also be wise to not schedule pick up when the online order processing department is closed so that any issues that may come up can be resolved. Companies have been processing online orders for years now and I would think that this company would have figured out any kinks in the system so they don't leave a mother of an infant scrambling to get groceries. read more

This Safeway always feels like a coin flip, sometimes it's a great easy in, easy out experience and I feel like I can rely on them for a quick errand. Other times, it feels like once I'm in, I'm trapped there for at least an hour, I've waited up to 25+ minutes to check out a few times this past few months. I think the produce quality is usually good and the so is the selection (the store feels massive) but it really feels like a bottle neck to get out. Also pro-tip, make sure you're using the safeway app to clip coupons, I routinely get 35-45% off my bill by looking for deals and coupons in the app. read more

We bought tortillas for my moms birthday, THEY WERE MOLDED. They didn't even ask for a receipt. This has ruined my moms birthday!

The store is actually quite nice and the few people that work there seem to be as well. The flower department is always stocked properly for the various holidays too. But it brings me to tears how the negative outweighs the positive. My number one complaint is/are the notoriously long and slow lines at the checkouts. I have tried to come at different times and it's always slow, even the self checkout lane. Maybe I need to come at 3am. Occasionally I read the city's police plotter and there is a shocking amount of crime happening around the parking lot (and the nearby BART trail). It attracts too much riff raff. Since this is now the only Safeway around here, I think the people of El Cerrito deserve better. Hire more check out clerks. I wished I had an answer regarding the crime and the homeless though. read more

One of the worst place to do shopping. They customer service is like a third world country. Basically, you are sitting there with no help at all. Even they see you and know that you need assistance, they will ignored you. If you ask them for help, they always pretend like they are busy and have no time. One very amazing thing is they manager is also like that. I don't know weather they don't wanna work here or not? Seem like, they want this store to closed. read more

Deli Counter Attitude and Sanitation: This is the 3rd time I have dealt with rude and unsanitary employees behind the deli counter. The first time, one of the younger female employees was bagging up some chicken tenders for me, and her colleague came in. She proceeded to hug her friend while she was holding onto my fried chicken which ended up touching the other girl's hair. The second time, I asked an employee to slice fresh roast beef because the ones in the deli case were super thick. After a few tries at making the slices thinner he told me that it wasn't possible to slice the meat any thinner which was a lie because I have gotten meat at this location sliced thinner than what he gave me. (If the customer ends up wanting meat sliced so thin that it falls apart, just do it, and let the customer deal with it.) Yesterday, I asked an older female Asian employee to slice turkey fresh and make the slices thinner and she told me that the only turkey meat that was available was sitting in the case already sliced. I asked "so you are telling me there is absolutely no more turkey in the store?" She said "yes". Then my husband made an observation about how there were plenty of deli turkeys available and stated that she just didn't want to slice new meat. She then proceeded to call me back to the counter to reluctantly slice the meat. She also had me check a slice by touching it, and when I handed it back to her she put it on the tray in the case with the other previously sliced meat for the next customer to buy... Another customer called her out on being super unsanitary and she finally threw that slice away. They need some serious retraining of their staff in this store in regards to health and safety standards. I was also making my way past the dessert and bakery section and there were several employees who were gossiping loudly in the back. When I say loud I mean I thought a fight was going to break out. This is beyond unprofessional. One of the girls was sitting on the bakery counter in the back while chatting away and ignoring the other customers. They really need to start putting the smack down on these employees. And another thing, if your employees are sick with a cold or flu PLEASE send them home. I find it DISGUSTING that you allow sick people to touch food, prepare food, and bag the products that people are going to take home and then get sick from. We had a sick bagger where she was pretty much useless at helping the previous customer in line so we bagged our own groceries. We didn't want her to get her sickness all over our purchased items. Butcher Counter: There is one butcher, the main butcher, Caucasian who has slightly longish salt and pepper hair who is the WORST. He is constantly mislabeling meat, usually at the cost of the customer. Also the meat at this location is always super expensive so I rarely buy meat here because of the cost. Pretty much every time that I have picked up meat packets I have gotten blood spilled on me. There are never any paper towels around and I have to ask the butcher for some. When I mention that there is blood leaking everywhere, none of the butchers really seem concerned. This is disgusting and can get people sick. And when I say blood leaking, I have actually seen blood dripping in a steady stream from one tier of the open meat case into the lower tiers, contaminating all the packets of beef below. read more

Apparently they don't want to sell their premium liquor here. Waited and waited and waited. Listened to the in

Safeway in El Cerrito, has got to be one of the worse Safeways in Northern california. They never, ever have enough registers open, whether you go there at 11am. or 11:30 at night! So, I decided to save myself the stress and irritation of shopping there in person, I placed an order online (for Pick up). When I get there, I called number you are supposed to call many times nobody ever answered. Then, I called store main number to try to get some help, person on the phone says: The people that put the Online orders are gone for the day! Really? Yeah, my manager said (message relayed by clerk on store managers behalf), go to safeway.com and tell them. So, here it is my story lesson learned avoid that store at all cost, since no matter how you do the shopping, they'll Always manage to screw up! read more

I stopped by the store this morning just before 5am when they opened, the only problem is they didn't open at 5am like they are supposed too. I stood outside with other waiting customers for over 20 minutes waiting for the doors to finally open. A employee coming to work came and knocked on the door and when someone came to let her in I asked the employee why they weren't open yet even though it was well after the time the store should have been opened and she got a attitude with me for asking and was very rude. They finally opened the doors at 5:23am and when I walked in I saw a table full of employees by the Starbucks inside having coffee and conversations. This whole thing was very unfortunate and unacceptable and I recorded most of it on video. Can someone help me get this video to someone in charge of that store. read more

I was skeptical about coming to this store because of the bad reviews. But this store was the only Safeway near the el Cerrito Bart station, so I had no choice. I came here for something to eat for lunch because I had a gift card. I walked in and seen one security card at the door and I expected him to say something about my backpack I was wearing because of the reviews but he didn't give me a hard time. I wanted a sandwich so I walked to the sandwich making station but a lady said they were closed, so I had to pick a pre made sandwich. I then went to get some chips, I couldn't find any small bags of chips so I asked this lady putting boxes away but she said she didn't work here. Which pissed me off just a little because she was obviously lying. But I eventually found the chips I wanted. I headed to check out but none of the lines were open, just the self checkout, which I had no problem with. Ambiance wise: The self checkout is kind of hidden because there are rows of snacks and drinks surrounding the area. Overall It's not that bad, it's just the employees come off as having an attitude like they don't want to be there. read more

The workers in the deli can hardly speak any English. I can't even ask them any questions about food. They just say "yes, one pound?" To any of my questions. The prices are extremely high compared to other stores. You can get organic food at a place like Whole Foods, so there isn't much point coming here. After school I constantly see kids coming in here and stealing food. read more

Today I had the terrible luck of using the self-checkout while a man named Gene was working. This employee had the nerve to scold me about how hard it is dealing with people like me, who somehow in his mind, are responsible for the machine malfunctioning. Sorry, Gene. That's your job. Literally. You are paid to deal with self-checkout customers and machine issues. I can't imagine why you would feel it appropriate to talk to me in the manner you did, but you should not be working with people. You are a cantankerous miserable man and hopefully you will be forced to find employment elsewhere. read more

Safeway - Grocery Near Me - El Cerrito, California

This is the worst store for Drive Up and Go service. They will text you to come in and you park at a stall , call them , then an hour later they come out with your order! Good luck if your ordered items are complete. That just doesn't happen. The phones are mostly busy no matter what time of the day you come in and they don't care. Poor service for an establishment that has a good reputation for their groceries. I had a greater experience during the time earlier time of covid. Now it seems as though no matter what time of the day I stop by to get a pickup the standards of poor service remains. I'm not sure if it's because of low staffing but they need to fix their system that's obviously broken. read more

UPDATE: DO NOT COME HERE IF YOU WANT LIQUOR. This place was already a nightmare. It just took me 56 minutes to buy a bottle of vodka. 30 minutes to wait with 6 other people for liquor in their new locked cabinets. We asked 4 diff employees to come help us before someone did. 5 people gave up and walked away (Im interested whether the sales will drop now). There's a liquor store right up San Pablo from here The lines haven't changed, maybe gotten worse. Today was 30 minutes and they now have hilarious signs saying "there's a crowd: well open a new lane when there more than three in line". Biggest joke ever, our line was 15 deep. I will never come back here again. This is a great place to meet people. By the time you get through the Disneyland line you have made 4 friends who are also in disbelief. The lines are constantly 10-20 people deep with two check stands open. Gotta feel bad for those checkers, Safeway really needs to staff this place bette read more

9:30 Sunday morning, thirty people In one line. Employees standing around and not opening other lines. Was told we'll open sooner or later. Then to add insult to injury the Starbucks wasn't open, again informed that we'll get to it sooner or later. This used to be my favorite Safeway store. read more

I used to like this store...back when it opened but it's been on the fast decline since then. The store has a nice ambiance. They do carry a nice variety of items. It can be pricey but it you have the rewards card or use the Safeway coupon app, you can find some great deals. How can I say this...their bakery and workers suck. They sell old cakes and have no problem pushing customers to buy them. I have purchased 2 cakes over the past couple of months. The first time I had to buy a pre made cake because it was a last minute birthday celebration at work. When I found one that I liked, it had exceeded the "best by" date. When I inquired with one of the workers if she had a fresher cake with similar decorations, she responded "it's still good - you can still eat it." Needless to say, I put it back. I found another with a "best by" date of a week later. However once at we cut into it at work, you could tell that it was not fresh. The frosting was too firm, the cake was a little dry, and the filling which was not spread properly was also firm. We tossed about 3/4 of the cake into the garbage. My last experience was pre-ordering a birthday cake for my son. The cake was fresh and yummy but whoever decorated the cake was either in training or pretending to be a decorator. (See the picture I posted). I agreed to balloons with confetti. When I picked up the cake, the dye from the black frosting was already bleeding into the white frosting. The "balloons" looked horrible. The writing on the cake was messy and slanted. The decorator forgot the confetti but the cashier was nice enough to pull out this ginormous container of edible confetti and literally dumped it on the edge of the cake. I had to shake it around so it would not look so clumpy. I told her it was a sloppy looking cake. All she could do was smile and shake some more confetti on the cake! In general, the staff are not very helpful - some are even racist and prejudiced! Just sit at the Starbucks area and people watch. You will catch it. At this point, I'm only going to this store if they have great deals. Other than that, I'm taking my money elsewhere. read more

Safeway - Crappy decorators at this Safeway...it's supposed be balloons... - Grocery Near Me - El Cerrito, California

If you need a price checked (like from the 50% off area) and you tell the cashier it is 75% off - they will speak in Spanish to each other, no translation and tell you it's only 50% off. You will have to PROVE it yourself because the cashier's won't. Don't bother shopping here - I recommend the Safeway in Berkeley or Tara Hills. This place might be convenient but the security guard at the door says different. Very upset because they do not believe the customer and do not translate their decision nor do you know WHAT THE HELL they are talking about. It is poor, prejudice customer service. I HATE that people come over to the United States and try to treat Black citizens like shit. I complained via email to HQ in Pleasanton, I hope to get a prompt reply or I will write a letter. My suggestion - Smart & Final, Grocery Outlet, FoodMax or anywheres else. read more

Walked around looking for FastTrak tags with the gift cards and the electronics and couldn't find them, so I gathered (correctly) that they must now have them at the Customer Service booth. So I went up to it... and waited... and waited... finally, a woman came out from the back room about five minutes later, after about 5 employees walked past, saw me standing by the unmanned counter, and went about their business without helping me out. She got the tag for me and started ringing me up without asking if I had other shopping to do, which I did. So she said to come back when I was ready. I went and grabbed my Powerbar and my gum and was back at the counter literally a minute later. And waited literally another five minutes for her to return from the backroom to ring me up. And watched ten other Safeway employees walk by, seeing me waiting, and doing nothing to help. She was actually quite friendly the second time we interacted, wishes me a Happy New Year and everything... but seriously, this should not have been a fifteen minute stop, when I was in a rush to get into the city, especially when ten of those fifteen minutes were standing alone at a counter (with no bell), being ignored by every employee who walked past. I was very irritated when I left. read more

I've been to different Safeways in different states, but Safeways in Norcal are oddly a lot cleaner and better... I like the variety they have here, with organic fruits/vegetables, in addition to the large collection of nuts, spices and dry goods! For July 4th, they had a special deal in the deli area, 8 pieces of fried chicken (drums and thighs) for only $5! I had to get it, and Debby the lady behind the counter was extremely nice and super cheerful. Tips/Observations: -Definitely get a Safeway rewards card! Everything is almost 50% cheaper if you do so! Overall, I would shop at Safeway for certain items! When they are on sale, they are cheap! When they are not though....I would probably go elsewhere. read more