Mind-blowingly understaffed during peak times as well as totally random off times. It doesn't really matter what time of day it is- you will probably end up waiting behind someone buying a week's worth of groceries just to get your pint of Halo Top. They never have all of the cash registers open and lines often back up down the aisles. The selection of food is okay, but the number of open registers/wait time is just so bad. read more

The staff are kind, helpful, and attentive. The layout and selection are not so hot. The lighting and self-checkout lanes feel outdated. read more

Disheartening. Is that a way to describe a grocery store? It is if you are the unlucky soul that shops at this Safeway. When we first moved in, I told my roommate that this store was ghetto and to stay away, but after a few times of going to Harris Teeter, I'd drifted in a few times and wasn't completely repulsed. But today represents a last drift... I arrived seeking to pick up just a few items for proper football watching. It became quite an ordeal - many of the items I wanted to buy were just not offered. Okay, so I was looking for fresh or canned lychee and a cucumber tazo tea - but buttermilk?! The lines were ridiculously, yet familiarly, long. The disheartening part came while I was standing in the self-checkout line. Why they couldn't have all four operating is beyond me - but it's Safeway - lowered expectations will keep you from disappointment. So, I waited and waited and then in one of the aisles a crazy commotion broke out. I heard cans falling, so assumed that a display had fallen. But no. Over the speakers, a frantic call for security was made and it became clear that a fight had broken out in the aisle. There were two females (cannot refer to grown people fighting as women) going for blows in the store. Instead of calling the police, as one customer so brilliantly requested - the staff took it upon themselves to all leave their registers and either break up or view the fight. Customers seemed to be excited that this was occurring and rushed over to watch the spectacle. As I began to leave the store, the fight continued in the parking lot, with Safeway employees looking on. At least the police showed. You can say what you want about P St Whole Foods - but I've NEVER encountered ANYTHING like this while shopping there. So it looks like the next time I need buttermilk and a couple of football treats, I will get a zipcar and head over for safe grocery shopping rather than walking 2 blocks. I will gladly pay the hourly fees for a car and the higher food prices than EVER go back into this Safeway. read more

I go here because it's like 5 blocks from my apartment near the Eastern Market Metro. I haven't lived here overly long so I can't really identify with the whole un-safeway thing. Personally I don't see any issues at all with the area. Yes it's kind of on the edge of going into some more ghettoish areas so you end up shopping next to both extremes, uptight yuppie b#tches and ghetto crackheads but it's all good. It's an average big name grocery store. If you don't go in with your snobby attitude expecting whole grain all natural imported whatever the F you eat you'll be just fine. I saw everyone raving about Harris Teeter, uuuuum yeah if you want to spend a couple hundred bucks for next to nothing you go right on over there. Me personally I'll go to Safeway and get the majority of my staples and occasionally hit up Harris Teeter and Eastern Market for specialty items. The place gets pretty busy and it's really not quicker to do the self checkout if you or the person in front of you doesn't know what they're doing.. so only do that if it doesn't have a line. I haven't really had a problem with the employees. Seriously do you think people are going to be excited to go to work for what they make lol. For the average person who doesn't want to pay out the behind for groceries and really doesn't care if the person checking you out is overly friendly or not this place is fine. read more

So to begin with let's just say "I HATE THIS SAFEWAY". I used to go to it before the Teeter opened, but stopped after several unsatisfactory experiences and based on the fact that it's located near a five way intersection. Today I decided to go because I hadn't been for awhile and I just needed a few things and didn't want to deal with the rush hour traffic trying to get over the Anacostia bridge. I pull in the parking lot and get a spot immediately, great I think "must of bet the rush" I'm thinking because this lot used to be full. I go in and immediately realize it must just be my day...someone hasn't picked up their birthday cake which has now been sliced down to individual portions for less than two bucks...SCORE! I then find my fifteen items or less and get in line, which I'm the second person which is almost unheard of here. The cashier is friendly, inquires about if I need help out, using my name from the receipt, makes eye contact, smiles and surprise, surprise say "thank you and have a good day". I'm giving it three stars up from zero stars had I reviewed it on previous trips. Maybe I'll venture over again to see if it maintains. read more

Like most stores, this one has its pros and cons. I'm writing because I am really horrified by their current signs everywhere warning about winter storms when the forecast for DC is only rain. That's deceptive marketing. read more

Been waiting in line for an hour. Which gave me time to write this post. They're lucky there is a lack of other options nearby. Constant slow lines make it clear they need to actually staff the store properly. read more

As expected for a Safeway store. Long lines and poor customer service were unfortunate.

DO NOT USE DELIVERY SERVICE. You will only wait home for hours while no one shows up after you've already received a call to confirm that you're home waiting like a complete idiot for a delivery person who has no intention whatsoever of showing up. Then you'll wait hours longer for him to come back, because customer service has apologized and promised he's on his way. But the delivery idiot has no concept of knocking on a door or ringing a doorbell, so he'll just keep driving and claim you weren't home, even though your 2-hour delivery window, for which you paid a premium, has already been expanded to 4 hours while you starve and wait and wait and wait for ingredients for dinner. If, sometime that week or month, your delivery ever does show up, guaranteed at least 1/2 the items will have been "unavailable" so that you pay $12.95 to deliver $40 worth of groceries that you only bought because they were on special. A $10 credit isn't going to do it this time. Safeway has lost a customer permanently. read more

i go to this safeway about once/year and now i remember why! (it's conveniently located to my home.) had about 5 things on my list to pick up anywhere, and safeway had cleverly sent 'round a flier to all mailboxes in our area over the weekend, so why not get my 5 things there? the fact that there were no carts in the cart line out front should have been an indicator of the mess to come. the parking lot was less than 1/2 full, so it couldn't be that the store was packed at 11am on a weekday... nope, EVERY CART on the property WAS BEING USED TO RESTOCK SHELVES. meaning that THERE WERE NO CARTS AVAILABLE FOR CUSTOMERS! now i'm no marketing genius, but if the idea is to entice your customers to buy MORE, it seems the only American solution would be to give 'em each an Escalade-sized cart to fill to the brim. not only did i buy LESS because i had to make two passes to find anything to hold my groceries (a city-sized basket), but even if i had been able to get my hands on a cart recently vacated by 1/2 ton of bloody shrimp, i would not have been able to get it through about 1/3 of the aisles! seriously, i didn't event GO down two aisles because i couldn't squeeze my 5'4", 115lb frame + city-sized shopping basket through the maze. i wish i'd had a camera with me. this place was an absolute zoo, and not the normal day-before-thanksgiving kind of zoo, just a don't-know-how-to-manage-operations kind of zoo. my teeny basket full (despite the nagging voice in my head telling me to drop the damned thing in a cardboard and packed-cart aisle and walk out), i didn't even go to the beer/wine section or fresh fruit/veggie. had a cart been available out front, or if one of the bazillion employees busily restocking shelves had offered me a cart, i probably would have spent another 1/2 hour pinballing around the store and picked up another $50 worth of stuff for the pantry. alas, the unsafeway of SE remains a necessary stain. i think those tide stain sticks were even on sale, but i couldn't get down that aisle either... read more

The people that work here are some of the most lazy people I've ever seen. They just don't care about anything. Serious attitude from everyone, lines backed up well into the aisle. They shut down the self check out pretty early and only keep 1 lane open, if you go after 9pm get ready to wait despite the place being mostly empty. read more

In the recent past, we here on Capitol Hill got all excited because Safeway invested a lot of money in renovating this store. New management, new attitude and a spuced up look, it was a great place to shop. I'll admit that I've spent most of my time at Harris Teeter's and Trader Joe's lately, but now I know why -- I was appalled when I stopped by the Safeway yesterday. Filthy, disorganized, employees could care less, no stock in the wonderful Safeway O Organics brand that I had come to rely upon. It has only been about 6 months since I was there last. What happened? I won't go again, that's for sure. read more

I live in this neighborhood. Going through checkout here is ALWAYS a disaster. The store is understaffed making waits long and unpleasant. The fresh vegetables and milk are often depleted hours before the store closes. read more

i think i like this safeway better than the NE one. the guy in the produce dept. offered me a delectable slice of watermelon! thanks! this store is smaller than the NE one, they had a few more items in stock, and yay for the self-checkout. my rootbeer was flat, but hey, what can you expect? read more

still not the best safeway around, but it's def. better then the one on Maryland ave. cleaner, decent fresh produce/bakery/seafood section and the staff at this one seem much friendlier and willing to actually help you. read more

Consistently fast, accurate and courteous service during my 20-plus years in the neighborhood. My pharmacist is very personable. I am more than a prescription. Thanks John. read more

I've had a similar problem with Tracy. She was horribly mean and unprofessional. I actually called the store management. Clearly Safeway doesn't care about customer service or how they manage their employees. read more

I've been shopping at this Safeway since 1983. It's still my grocery store for the weekly staples run. I share most of the complaints: long lines, few checkouts open but I usually find everyone I need. Lately, I've discovered artisan breads that are pretty good for grocery bread, and their small selection of organic meats, poultry, bacon is improving. The produce is less than stellar...I've been unable to find green beans in edible condition all winter. But do I really want to go to Easterm Market for produce and bread, go to a grocery story for house hold goods? One stop shopping is what want, and this Safeway usually fits the bill. If I really want a super grocery shopping experience, I'll drive to Wegman's. read more

Darlene C. I grew up in the capital hill area. Have been going to the Safeway on 14th St for years. I know just about where everything is located in the store. There is a sandwich station to order sandwiches , which is pretty good. Parking can be hard to find at times which is frustrating. Overall customer service is good and you can do your banking. read more

WARNING - Shop carefully! This store often sells meat that is expired. I've caught it on more than one occasion. Fresh meat and processed meats are both on the self several days past their dates. read more

I've lived on Capitol Hill for 18 years and have seen this Safeway location come a long way. When Harris Teeter opened up a few blocks away, Safeway put in some capital investment and upped their game. Their produce section has a good selection and is by and large less expensive than the competition. The employees are mostly cheerful and helpful. Some are not but they are the exception rather than the rule. However, after seeing newer Safeways in other neighborhoods (K Street, SW, and Petworth), I now realize the Capitol Hill location is the "grandfather's Oldsmobile" of grocery stores. And I'm ok with that, except for one critical part of the grocery shopping experience--the checkout lines are too long and there NEVER enough cashiers on duty. There are 9 checkout lanes and even on peak weekend hours there are never more than half open at a time. If you just need to stop by for a few things to make dinner, be prepared to wait for at least 25 minutes to check out during peak times. The self checkout lanes are theoretically a nice convenience, but inevitably they are clogged by people who have full carts of groceries rather than the 12 items or less crowd. There is no way to just "pop in and quickly grab a few items. Seriously, if they could just improve the checkout experience, I'd give this store 5 stars. read more

We moved to the District a year ago. We had been told that DC grocery stores are somewhat lacking in variety and quality of produce and friendliness but the Safeway on 14th street takes this to a whole different level. At best the attitude of the staff is unfriendly and inhospitable, at worst the attitude is hostile.They seem to forget that we are the customers and that they are there to provide customer service. The liquor store section is the worst. We now consistently go to Harris Teeter on Potomomac/Pennsylvania. I can't praise them enough for customer service so I think it must be due to staff training. They are friendly, helpful and I never dread shopping there and the quality and variety of the produce is significantly better. Safeway, you are losing customers rapidly and now that WalMarts are opening up In DC , you better watch out, your days are numbered unless you do a complete shake up of your staff. read more

I quit going to this Safeway a year ago and now shop at Aldi. Most of the Safeway cashiers are unprofessional, rude, lazy, have a bad attitude, get ticked off if you question a price, etc. Several times, I had to ask the cashiers to sack my groceries--that is part of their jobs--and two of them laughed and started talking about me to their co-workers right in front of my face. Another time, I went in the A.M. to get some bakery items for my co-workers and the morning cashier, who has worked there for years, had left her register. I waited about 10 mins. as there was no other register open. When she returned from the back, she opened up another register to check out a man who came up after me, then got nasty when I told her I was there first and had been waiting a while. Over 17 years of shopping there, I complained to management 3-4 times although there were many more times complaints were warranted. The last time, the manager told me he had gone through 11 cashiers in 3 months because many of those hired were tardy, were absent without calling in, etc. A few of the employees are really nice, but the bad ones bring down the whole store. Before I quit shopping there, the lines had indeed gotten much worse, plus they had quit carrying some items that my family likes after they remodeled. At Aldi, I have to sack my groceries, but at least I can select my groceries, go through the line, and sack my items in half the time as a trip to Safeway, and I have cut my grocery bill in half. The Aldi cashiers are friendly, too. I go to Harris Teeter or Walmart periodically to get the few brand-specific items we like. Since quitting Safeway, I have had the last laugh, and it's all the way to the bank. read more

it is safe, but the problem is service, cleanliness and lack of stocking. the shelves are often half empty, and i've gone first thing in the a.m. and late at night, same thing, not stocked. i stopped in one morning before work for dt. coke -- they didn't even have that on the shelves. head over to the fruit area, you stick to the floors while picking through the 10 oranges on the shelf, finally find something to buy and the staff, wow, they top the charts on rudeness. it's not my fault I'm white and it's disconcerting how the staff treat white people like trash because of it. i'm courteous, say hello, etc., but the resentment, wow. come one, i treat you as any other person, why can't i get the same in return. Harris Teeter may be more expensive, but the staff don't resent me for the color of my skin. HT staff are wonderful, kind, pleasant, and see me as a customer, nothing else, or if they do, they don't make it so obvious. read more