More fresh organic produce than any store in the city. Open 24 hours a day. So sayeth the manager. The gelato bar, the sushi bar, the nut bar... all new since the renovations. Fresh made pralinated nuts from the nut bar. Make your own organic nut butter from 7 varieties of peanuts (you can even make chocolate peanut butter). Wine tastings to come... Social Safeway ain't what it used to be. :) Oh - and it's now surrounded by a new Starbucks, and a Bergmanns dry cleaner (but I hear they'll come to your house and pick up your laundry or dry cleaning, which makes them awesome). Note: Same pretentious, self-important clientele. :sad face: read more

I missed the wide aisles of american supermarkets. The shelves of plenty and of variety! I came here to pick up some Tide to take back to London. No they don't have tide in the UK. Go figure. I meandered to the ice cream aisle.... Have you tried Safeway's Moosetrack Ice Cream?! It's one of the best ice cream series. A half gallon container was only 2.99. for less than a scoop at Max's Ice Cream Parlor you get a whole half gallon! I wish my friends were less weight conscious because I would totally do an Ice Cream Social! So sad to waste a half gallon as I was leaving for London in a few hours I passed on it. As I walked down the aisle, I saw Moosetracks in individual cups for under a dollar! For me, the moment was like Moses parting the Red Sea. A light at the end of tunnel! So excited! I had to get it! I see more trips to Safeway in the future! For um... fabric softener. ;) read more

Safeway - J'adore Moose Tracks! - Grocery Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

4 stars for a solid Safeway location. I haven't been to a ton of Safeway locations due to being relatively new to Washington, but this Safeway hits all the marks. Located on Wisconsin in Georgetown, I often prefer to go to this Safeway over even Whole Foods and Trader Joe's due to the great combination of prices and quality food. When I visit this Safeway, I always drive because this location has a free parking lot! I usually park in the top lot and head inside. This Safeway is a fairly large location with pretty much anything you want, including good selections on healthy foods and grass fed meats (love their Elite burger brand). This venue also has a cigar room, huge wine selection and huge fresh cooked food area. Overall, the Georgetown Safeway is an excellent grocery store. The quality food combined with the location, parking and prices makes this my go-to grocery store in Georgetown. read more

Well, I just do not know what to say about this one. As a child, nothing felt as glitzy as outings to THE Gtown Safeway, its aisles shimmering with grapefruit soda and nutella. Did aging rob me of this stary-eyed zest? Well, I do think so, however, I am working (and to an extent, believe I have already started!) to reclaim this awe-struck approach to the world, a view saturated with wonder, curiosity, and love for existence. In any case, the point I'm trying to make is, I'm not sure if Safeway has *actually* gone down hill in the past decade, or if I am simply becoming more aware of cleanliness and $$ as an adult PROS: free parking, kind associates and a nice starbucks in my experience, pleasant assortment of international foods, CONS: moolah (I sound like a broken record), bakery quality items like moldy bagels and such I will say it is the best grocery store in Gtown proper, nevermind it being the only one. Solid 3 stars read more

The super slow checkout lines at this Safeway are just atrocious. Everyone knows they are bad and opts for the self checkout lines located at the far right and left of the main checkout lines. This creates irritated, confusing self checkout line scenarios. I went to get a late night snack (1 item) and saw that several of the self checkout stands were open/free. I went up to one of them and saw that it was shutting down. It appeared that they were closing all of them except two. As I was realizing this an obnoxious voice yelled at me and the man next to me, "There is a line" I looked up and saw a middle aged white lady waiting with her cart in the aisle. I walked up to her and said I hadn't realized there was a line and was just checking out why there were free spots at the self checkout ( as I had never seen them shut down before) I asked her if she knew anything about why they were shutting them down. She said it didn't matter there was a line and that me and the guy who was now using one of the only working lanes seemed to be above waiting in line. Wow! I apologized for offending and not realizing there was a line and went to stand in line for regular checkout across the aisle from her. I was wearing a hat with a G on it that I had purchased from Georgetown university and I had a back pack on. She then said loud enough so everyone nearby could hear, "Pretty sad you're wearing a Georgetown University hat and you can't even figure out there is a line". Wow I just looked straight ahead and figured someone was having a bad day. Nothing like going to a grocery store to get a snack and having your intelligence questioned by the crazy line monitor lady. I'll think twice before going here again, especially with GU paraphernalia on. read more

Alas, the price of talenti has increased to $4.99 from $3.99. Are they doing this to make me eat less gelato? Well, it's working. Every time I come here, I find the most random, yet necessary cooking ingredients here, like fancy anchovies in olive oil, aged sherry vinegar, goat cheese from Vermont creamery, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, and truffle oil. I'm a little bit wary of buying non-organic meat or farmed fish, but their fresh meat and fish counter looks decent. Has anyone given it a try? There has to be a reason why their giant sea scallops are $14/lb here but $27/lb at Whole Foods...at least you can buy some Pepto Bismol and some Imodium with your questionable fish! read more

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Employees don't respect covid 19 guidelines. They come up to you and talk to you in your face .it is not a safe place to shop there . They need to train their employees. Don't go to the one on Wisconsin. I go late at night to avoid the crowd, when an employee came to my face and took bottle of wine from my hand . She said it was too late buy it . She could have said it from 6 feet, I would have put the bottle down instead of grabbing them from my hand . Just hope the employee wasn't sick . She came To close to me . read more

Ok so...I love this market because they have my canned soups that I can't find anywhere else but, tonight as I was stocking up I passed through the nut section in the back and saw a big old rat running through. I realize that pests are common near food places but grosssssss it's another thing to actually see one live time. I hope nothing is contaminated but I'm super glad I only buy canned goods here... read more

I have had it with the rude employees at Safeway. A few days after the riots a young woman was at the checkstand I went to. A man came up behind me as I approached the checkout and he was very close . I asked him to please distance as the lines on the floor direct. The cashier did not have her mask covering her nose so I asked that she pull it up for her own health. She turned to the man and told him to come move up closer and looked at me and said "everyone has to die sometime." What in the world is this. I am just getting my groceries during a pandemic and ask that people do what the are supposed to. That was not the problem though, I am white and she is black so she wants me to die? Heaven help us. read more

I have been shopping in this store for years, and every interaction I've had with the cashiers, the store managers, the butchers, the produce staff, the bakers, has been warm, friendly, and fun. Today, I offered to buy cupcakes for the staff today as a Christmas gift, and the store manager said no, "please just continue shopping here. You pay for our salary, and we are grateful." read more

The Social Safeway is one of the largest grocery stores I've ever been in, has ample free parking in Georgetown, and so many self-checkout lanes that there are rarely lines. They have a huge selection of pretty much everything a grocery store could have, and a nice seating area for eating prepared foods. And the prices are no better or worse than the smaller, unkempt Safeways throughout the city. Hard to say that there's a better place to buy groceries inside the District, short of MOM's. They also have an enormous selection of natural/heath food brands, and some bulk foods as well, which is fairly unusual for a big name grocery store. read more

This store was so neat and well organized. It was a pleasure to come here for groceries shopping.No long ago they changed the shelves and tried to reorganize giving preference to safawey brand.The store setting is confusing;employees are restocking the shelves while customers are trying to see the products on display. Aisles are occupied by restocking carts. The paving near the meat department is uneven; prices are rocketing; coupons are mainly digital so of not easy use for certain categories of people. read more

This is the nicest Safeway I've ever seen. This store has amenities you don't usually find in high-end gourmet grocery stores - and definitely not at Safeway. There's a large prepared foods are, with a salad bar, hot bar, sushi and more - once you've paid take your food upstairs to a large seating area - complete with a fireplace. Or grab a bottle of wine - their unusually large selection includes a temperature-controlled wine room not found in many wine shops. read more

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Safeway was my go-to grocery store growing up in Northern California. Ever since moving away from there I always make sure to visit their store when I'm near one. Safeway was my first stop in DC and I was excited to check out their bakery. I have the fondest memories of eating their chocolate chip muffins when I was a little girl and could afford the calories. The first aisle I visit in any grocery store is the ice cream aisle. I live for ice cream. I spotted a box of Lucerne (Safeway brand) smores ice cream sandwiches. I knew I had to buy them as I love anything smores. They did not contain real marshmallows so I picked up a box. Next I went to the bakery and we saw they had my childhood chocolate chip muffins. They were selling 9 pack boxes for $5 but not in chocolate chip flavor. We asked the lady working there if she could combine the chocolate chip flavor into a 9 pack box. She had the WORST attitude known to customer service and argued with us for a few minutes until she rolled her eyes and agreed to combine them into a 9 pack. She acted like we were asking her to perform surgery. Wow. I had not dealt with someone this disrespectful in a long time. We used the self check out to pay for the muffins and ice cream. They made you pay for plastic bags. Really Safeway? A few hours later I ate one of my smores ice cream sandwiches and it was to die for. Definitely the best ice cream sandwich I have eaten. Even that could not erase the bad customer service we experienced at the bakery. 3 stars for the bakers terrible attitude. Had she been nicer they would've been getting 5 stars. read more

Safeway - Grocery Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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Somewhat limited selection due to small size, but some Mexican and Salvadoran food you won't find at most supermarkets. Friendly helpful staff. Checkout is usually quick except at peak times. read more

(Sigh) I am disappointed, and Safeway is my preferred grocery store just because it's usually cleaner and nicer and the overall foods is better. This is the 2nd time that I've gotten something that was supposed to be freshly prepared and it turned out bad. First time was some sushi I tried that had raw fish on it but it gave me food poisoning, and so I go for something more simple like chicken salad but I begin to eat it and it taste old. Looking at it it had to have been sitting for a few days and they just slapped a new label on it because the chicken tasted old, the apples were bad in it and a dark color and tasted sour, and the olives had absolutely no taste to them so yeah it was horrible. I hear some groceries reduce the price of some items because they are old and don't want to have to do a lot of waste. read more

Safeway - Grocery Near Me - Washington, DC, District of Columbia

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I mean drive up & go should be called drive up & wait. My expectations were low with this offering but thought I'd give it a try. Each time I've had to call multiple times and go in the store. I end up waiting about an hour. And at that point I could have done all my grocery shopping. If you can't fulfill a service than just don't do it Safeway. I will never shop here again in my life. read more

Why is this place so popular? It's convenient if I need to stop for something small on my way up Wisconsin Avenue, always seems to have what I want, and carries a wider variety of non-bougie foods than other supermarkets in the area. However, the produce sucks and prices are generally higher than the Cathedral Commons Giant, where I typically shop. There are never enough self-checkouts open - the pod at one end of the store or the other is always closed - which is challenging when trying to purchase a handful of items and other shoppers are buying cartloads of stuff, are clueless, or both. read more

Shopped there May 27 around noon and had one of the rudest encounters with a check out person. Had to wait for her to finish her conversation with a fellow worker about how she had to buy her own gloves and the other staff telling her they are tax deductible. Side bar: Safeway should be providing their employees with rubber gloves. After she finally came around to finishing my check out, I had already began to leave since the transaction was approved. She stopped me saying it wasn't approved even though it clearly was. She printed my receipt which I grabbed and turned to leave. As I'm leaving, she starts yelling at me that I snatched it. Which I did not And even if I quickly grabbed it and turned to go, I didn't need to be verbally yelled at for quickly trying to leave the store. I had been patient as she talked to co workers with out saying anything. I patiently walked back when she said it didn't go through even though I received confirmation it was approved. To then be yelled at in this way because I was in a hurry shouldn't be tolerated. Customers should not be verbally accosted during check out. I don't typically shop at Safeway, and this last interaction has sealed the deal. I will never return to Safeway. read more

Total inconvenience that this store is saidbto be 24 hours then you get here during the 1 o'clock hour only to be told you have to wait until 1:30 am for the registers to open back up. read more

I would have rated this Safeway location four stars if I was writing this three years ago, when I moved down the street from the Wisconsin Ave location. But the drastic drop in the quality of service here warrants no more than half that rating now. As other Yelpers have pointed out, this is a large, well-stocked store with a beautiful wine room, extensive imported cheeses, and a market-fresh deli section. But the quality of the service here has receded remarkably over recent years. It used to be possible to be in and out quickly despite the store's size by coming early in the mornings, but nowadays there are so few cashiers servicing those low-volume periods that the reduced checkout bandwidth means less time savings. And the unprofessional, rude, and inefficient cashiers (despite a few notable exceptions) make the checkout experience a nightmare more often than not. The quality of this Safeway location, one with great potential, could be restored to the admirable levels of yesteryear. But it would take a fresh look at employee scheduling and hiring a brand new cashier crew that actually cares about customers and their jobs. read more

Hey creepy checkout guy, I know that my pathetic purchase of 2 pints of Ben and Jerry's, a box of Special K, some raspberries and a couple of Lean Cuisines makes it painfully obvious that I'm a single girl, but that doesn't mean you can stare at my breasts the entire time you scan my purchases. And me calling you out on it doesn't mean I want you to invite me to your house to drink a bottle of wine and watch a movie. Thanks though. Kisses, Kathleen "I'll stick to the female cashiers from now on" M. read more

Literally they put back an open watermelon container that I returned in front of my face... never coming back.

3.5 Stars I normally don't shop at grocery stores in Georgetown asides from Trader Joe's. However, I will go out of my way to specific grocery stores (see my reviews of H Mart) if I feel it is worth my time to go there, since don't own a car. I love to go grocery shopping, even at ridiculous hours like 10 or 11 at night. By and large, I am not a big fan of Safeway. Their prices, even for certain sale items, tend to be more expensive than Giant. Some of their produce is okay, but it isn't as fresh as Whole Foods or H Mart. But, I had to go and check out the "Social Safeway" that just reopened last week. It was easy to catch a 30-series bus on M Street heading up Wisconsin Avenue. There is a metro bus stop right outside the grocery store, as well as one directly across the street for the return trip. The layout and its prepared food offerings reminds me of the Whole Foods in Reston (Fair Lakes). It's not as overwhelming as a trip to Wegmann's, but I kept overhearing people say, "It's so big!" (that's what she said). Everywhere you went, there was an employee offering free samples. You could get samples of chunky chicken noodle soup, chips and salsa, signature sandwiches, wine, and there was one woman in the meat area who kept saying, "Gulf shrimp!" like a broken record. I went through the produce aisle. Very nicely laid out. Big selection of organic produce. All the bagged and boxed salads, however, looked old and wilted. Strawberries, blackberries, and raspberries are on sale, but don't look that hot. I did like that their fresh herbs were in some sort of incubator-thing to keep them fresh. If you are in the mood, you can get black truffles for $999.99. Overall, the produce was hit or miss. The nut bar looked interesting, as did the wine cellar. But again, if you are used to shopping in the suburbs, this won't impress you too much. Much to my amusement, the hummus shelf was depleted, and there were Greek yogurt displays everywhere... okay, we get it, yuppies love Fage and Chobani (though to be fair, I have never been to a Safeway that stocked Fage). Sale price for Fage is 3 for $5--which is a good deal for that brand and on par with TJs and Target which sell theirs for $1.79 regular price, respectively. Pricing--really annoyed at all the "sale" stickers that claim "new lower price" but their original pricing is highway robbery. This is one of my main pet peeves, and why I don't shop at Harris Teeter on a regular basis. Take Simply Orange, for example. They have the "sale" price of $3.99--which is the regular price at any other grocery store, even Target. Many other products have similar markdowns. Overall, it's a nice grocery store. Compared to the 24 Hour Harris Teeter in my neighborhood, this Safeway be mad pimpin'. I ended up not buying anything. I think if you are budget-conscious you will have to be careful and know what they're charging for goods at other competitors. Otherwise, this new and improved Safeway is a great addition to the area. read more

What's up with all these one star reviews from Whole Foods employees? I'm here to say that the new Social Safeway is finally open and definitely welcome. The first bonus? Open 24 hours. Glory be. Next, it's big, clean, and has everything you need with a bit of flair thrown in for good measure. For instance, now we have a nut bar from which to buy any number of nuts. Around back of this bar is a place to grind your own fresh nut butter. (almonds, pecans, etc). Admittedly, the pre-packaged chocolate peanut butter was dry and flaky (how can you possibly compete with nutella??), but I'll still give the other varieties a go in future visits. The wine area looks fancy, complete with fancy ikea light fixtures, and dark wood everything. I'm not a wine guy, but it really looks like they're stocking a great selection. I believe they have a sommelier at hand too. Keep on walking around the store and you'll come across the bakery department with an awesome display case of desserts. I mean, these look like late-night greek diner irresistible type of desserts. Continue around to hot food, made-to-order sandwich shop (like a Wawa), and even a sushi bar. The sushi bar even has a counter and several seats to enjoy your order there. Staff has been very courteous to me each time I've been there (about 4 or 5 times now). Sure, there's the honeymoon phase when a new store opens up, but I hope it's signs of things to come. Not to bash Whole Foods (even if it neatly brings my review full circle), but I parked up on Wisconsin and swung into CVS and Whole Foods on some errands. After not finding all that I need and spending $5 on a bottle of Worcester sauce at WF, I drove down to Safeway to get everything I need at a reasonable price. I'm sold. This is my new supermarket. read more

Open Letter to my local Safeway: I live and work near your Georgetown location @ 1855 Wisconsin Ave NW. When it first re-opened a few years ago, I shopped there frequently. These days I avoid it as much as possible. Unfortunately, I stopped by today because I was short on time and thought it would be my fastest option. I'm taking the time to write because it's really a shame that the store is in such poor shape. And these problems would be easy to fix, if you had a decent manager and/or team who felt like making them a priority. Three constant issues: 1. Sanitation/Food Safety - your large salad bar is avoided by anyone who has visited here more than once, because all of the food is put out at 9am, and is not replaced or switched out for the remainder of the day. Tuna salad, pasta salad, etc, all have half-inch thick crusts on top by lunch time, with a fair number of flies feasting in the area. This is just a sad waste of space & food. 2. Customer Service Desk - this counter appears to be unattended 90% of the time. If there is someone there, they seem to have been selected for their talents at being rude, avoiding eye contact, and acting too busy to deal with customers. The irony here (it's the Customer Service area, after all) is actually amusing, unless/until one actually needs something. 3. The attendants posted at the self-checkout machines seem to have been carefully trained to handle all situations in one of two ways: 1) Avoid eye contact and wait for a customer to come over and say "the machine says it needs your approval," so that at that point the attendant looks up with raised voice and says, with irritation, "I just approved it--so why don't you go on back and take a look at it now?" 2) Yell in the general direction of the multiple customers at the self-checkouts when one is doing something "wrong," such as not being able to figure out where the entry for Potatoes Yukon Gold is. The result is that I'm often checking myself out alongside several people and will notice after a few minutes that someone is yelling something along the lines of, "SIR! You need to hit VEGETABLES first! ACCEPT QUANTITY, sir!" I'll look around and see other customers at their machines. Then I'll see that one of them looks confused. Then I'll look over and see that your customer service specialist is vaguely looking in that man's direction and yelling. But the man doesn't know your specialist is speaking to him. When he does eventually walk over to ask for help, he'll be told sternly that, "That's what I've been TELLING you!" It might be novel or radical, but I'd suggest that these self-checkout attendees could act a little less like they're unable to move ten feet, and could be told that they should feel free to walk up to customers who need help, and politely (or at least not in a raised voice) assist them with their checkout. Right now the attitude suggests that your employees are really irritated to have to monitor these machines, and god forbid a customer not perceive when the yelling coming from ten feet away is directed at them. read more

If I could give a negative rating of this Safeway location I would. The employees are beyond rude. I once had a cashier refuse to check me out because he told me I had too many items to go through the express lane, even though he was standing there doing nothing. I went to full service and told the Manager what had happened and he calls over to the cashier "she only has 13 items". Things have gotten even worse since Covid. Employees with no masks, wandering around store, coughing. Going down the aisles the wrong way even though they are marked. I promised myself after my last experience I would never shop here again. Constantly trash outside the front entrance, but the worst part of this particular store is the people who work here. I wonder why management has done nothing to address it!! read more

The nickname of this Safeway is Social Safeway. Why? I had heard this rumor that folks flirt and meet while there. Let's face it, the grocery store is a perfectly acceptable way to meet a potential future mate. It's not like you're doing anything shameful in there...and it's a place nearly everyone goes. I had heard that there's a Gay Night. A Georgetown Student Night. A 30s Something Night. Like you, I was a doubter. Till I popped in there on a Friday after work with my friend, Lisa H. We were picking up some provisions for a low-key girls' night at her home. While in line, an attractive man in front of us struck up a conversation! He had noticed one of the items we were buying and offered commentary. No digits were exchanged, but my mind was changed. This Safeway WAS the place to meet folks! So save your $20 club cover charge, and head to Social Safeway. It's a nice, solid grocery store. Social Safeway: I recommend. read more

I never ever shopped at Safeway's sister store, Randalls, when I lived in Texas. However, I haven't been able to find a grocery store yet that I am thrilled with here (see Central Market, HEB in Texas). My daughter and I took a drive into DC and ended up in the area. One, I love that you can actually buy alcohol in the grocery stores as this in a no no in Maryland. They even have a wine expert in house. Very cool! There bakery has a really cool selection of chocolates, cakes and cupcakes and even bread shaped likes fish and turtles. All in all, it was a pretty impressive store. read more

This Safeway will definitely do in a pinch, but the parking is kind of hard to figure out, with most of the nearby spaces apparently reserved for Safeway vans and Teslas. Product selection is good. Check out is a free-for-all, with only a tiny minority of the check-out lines actually open. The self check-outs had a line that snaked up one of the aisles, and the self check-outs repeatedly sounded alarms, so that someone was always waiting for "help." The "help" turned out to be someone asking if you would like to "help a needy family," which sort of defeated the purpose of a speedy self check-out. So yes, it will do in a pinch, but this is not a store to go out of your way to get to. read more

Ah, the lovely Social Safeway, located between Glover Park and Georgetown. Once a week for two years I visited this place, usually trying to come when there was the lowest chance of running into people I know. This meant I usually came late Sunday evening, when everything was practically gone. But I was willing to make some sacrifices. One complaint I have about this Safeway is they never seem to have enough people working the registers. When there is a 30-foot line of people and carts, yet only five cashiers, someone needs to call in for back-up. On the positive side, this Safeway has a pretty big parking lot, so there's usually not a long wait for spaces. read more

Considering how most grocery stores are like and compared to Wholefoods market, This safeway deserves 5 stars. I don't mind going g-shopping but I don't like the feeling of getting so crowded and messy at most grocery stores. This safeway is very clean, spacious but not over-spacious like costco so you won't feel like you are walking around the warehouse. - Parking and gelato-, starbucks-, pizza-sections are winning points for this safeway over wholefoods. - Nut-butter loves!! 5 kinds of PB, cashbutter and etc.. can be made freshly using real peanuts. Bakery comes with much more selections than any other safeway. Overall, I had a pleasant experience at this safeway. PS: - Free-ride is offered by safeway from Georgetown. so if you want to check it out, just get to georgetown by bus or car, and try their free ride. it's fun. - Salad bar is more expensive than wholefoods. It's $7.99... - In the end, everything at this safeway is from the SAME safeway. Do NOT expect anything more than what you get from SAFEWAY. read more

Horrible Thanksgiving day grocery shopping. It was only grocery open nearby me. Usually I shop at Trader Joes in West End. Anyway, there was a cashier named Tanyelle shouted at her customers, ok i get it you are working on Thanksgiving but it is not our fault, and treated me with utmost disrespect when I asked for a discount card/club card. Business will not thrive if your cashier keeps treating your customers like piece of trash. Better have some training and lessons, whatever Trader Joes does differently - manager at this location should learn to train their staff better. read more

Customer service here ranges from hostile, and disrespectful, to absent. A minority are friendly & helpful. Many are simply confused. Wonderful, above-average selection of products. The price for goods on my list are all excellent! All this... and its open 24-hours! Love the cafe and Starbucks... This store is a diamond in the rough. I bet service will improve over time. At that point it will be 5-stars! read more

Ah the Social Safeway. You have a gorgeous olive bar, 50 varieties of nuts, New England-style flat top hot dog buns, black truffles for $999/lb, and ample free parking... but you DON'T sell live lobsters!!!! When I asked the guy at the seafood counter, he looked at me like I was speaking a martian language. All they had were frozen lobster tails. Maybe he didn't know that lobsters had more than a tail. If you're having lobster cravings in the District, you'll have to trek to the Giant in Columbia Heights, the Harris Teeter at Potomac Ave. on the hill, or the Maine Ave. Fish Market in Southwest. At the end of the day, this is just a regular old Safeway with a somewhat wider variety than your neighborhood Safeway probably carries. However, they do have a few special services/features that might make a special trip worthwhile, including: - An expansive wine selection (apparently they have a wine steward, but I don't know what hours he/she keeps) - Specialty cheese department (they claim some are flown in daily from Europe) - Breads baked in a wood-burning oven - Vast nut bar, most of which can be ground fresh into nut butters - Free marinating of fresh steaks and seafoods - Gelato bar - Starbucks with patio overlooking Wisconsin Ave. read more

I usually don't shop at Safeway, but I'm sick of Whole Foods and the annoyance that comes with it, so I decided to out the Social Safeway this evening. I didn't see anyone that I knew there, but I did have a fairly good shopping experience. The store itself was very clean and actually had aisles that you could fit more than one cart down. This is a nice change from my local Safeway in Adams Morgan where you can probably grow a new civilization off of the floors, and that is jammed to capacity if there are more than 3 people inside. Produce was nice and the prices were much better than the gougers over at Whole Foods (if you're sensing some bitterness with that chain, then you're right). In addition, they had a good selection of the gourmet items that you find at most grocery stores these days. It was pouring rain outside, so the place was empty. I imagine it would have lived up to its name more had it been a nice evening. However, I enjoyed being able to blast through the suckiness that is my weekly trip to the grocery store. read more

The new Safeway is a big upgrade from the old Safeway that formerly occupied this spot. When it opened, it was this great, modern grocery store with free food samples, great employees, and great items. For example, when this place opened it had a nut bar and you could get all these different sorts of nut butters. Sounds kind of gross if you have the sense of humor of a 16 year old boy like I do, but it was great! Why would you get regular peanut butter when you could get honey-roasted peanut butter?! You wouldn't! Now, when you walk by the nut bar, there is no one there to assist you. There is no honey-roasted peanut butter in sight, and there is nut butter all over the place. It's like the end of an XXX movie. OK, I kid, and it's not that bad. The shine has worn off, but it is still the best moderately priced, big-chain grocery store in the Georgetown area. The fact that it is well-lit and clean is a big plus. You really can't say that about the Giant up the road or the Safeway on Macarthur. You can find good deals on things with your Club Cards, but they either run out of many of the advertised items or are not good at restocking. Also, be careful that the sale item tag correlates with the item above it. read more

Wow. I mean, wow. Georgetown's Social Safeway is not only the newest grocery store in DC, it's not only the largest, it's also the only mainstream grocery store that's open 24 hours. Not only does it have a wine cellar and several--several folks--aisles of wine and beer, it also has wifi as well as indoor and outdoor seating. Five stars, easy. Wow. read more

I know that this is the "Social Safeway," but really, it's just where Georgetown students shop. Being a GW alum myself, I can't say the guys there are really my cup of tea, but some of them can be nice to look at. Anyway, this is definitely the best Safeway in the city. A normal-sized grocery store (no Watergate Safeway 3-aisle bullshit here) with a great selection. Two aisles of wine and beer (heaven), an organic aisle, a deli where you can get sandwiches to go, and real meat and bakery counters. They also get major props for the weekend specials which generally involve discounts on rotisserie chicken or the best chicken strips I've ever tasted. Not only is it the place to scope out hotties, it's also the place to scope out politicians! I once saw Joe Lieberman while I was doing my shopping. While I don't like him anymore for being a traitor to my party, it was cool to see that kind of person in a natural environment. Chalking up another tally on my "famous politicians I've met or seen" board! read more

I have been searching for a place that makes panini sandwiches (actually makes them, not has premade ones). I'm pretty picky, so I have to be able to tell someone exactly what I want in a sandwich (and what I don't). Let me just say: YUM. I love Safeway---great soup (try their Tuscan Tomato Bisque), great "hot meal options". I never tried their sandwiches until recently because there were always other things I wanted more. Now, I regret that. Well, not really. The other stuff is good too. Now every time I go in there I have to fight with myself over what to get. I rarely get excited about a grocery store, but this one rocks. PS If you know of any other places that make good panini's, please let me know! read more