I gotta admit this to everyone, I am a Winco junkie. I've shopped at ALL of their warehouse locations in the greater Sacramento area; Orangevale, Arden (Watt Ave.), Antelope, Roseville, Folsom, and this one which is in the north part of Elk Grove and fairly close to South Sac. However, this is location and the Antelope location are my least favorite Winco stores to do my shopping and I will go into detail with this review.
The location itself (which is on Sheldon Rd. and tucked in between Bruceville Rd. and Highway 99) is fine but as many other Yelpers have stated, it is crowded and not quite the best crowd to go with it. The parking lot is an absolute ZOO and on any given day, you will see everyone with their mother, cousin, aunt, uncle, well you get the picture. I would highly avoid this place on the weekends and try to make your trip here in the morning hours if you can.
Now once you make it into the store with your shopping cart, you directly make a right where they advertise specials on all types of food and beverages. The produce section can be a hit or miss as you have to make sure not to get a spoiled item since the fruits and vegetables are not as desirable as other major supermarkets. However, the real winner with this store is their bulk section (which is what all Winco stores are known for). You can find the best prices anywhere on flour, sugar, salt, nuts, cereals, rice, beans, dried fruits, pasta, spices, candy, and even pet food.
Their bakery also carries a very decent selection of home-baked breads, pastries, donuts, cookies, cakes, and pies. As far as their meat section, this is another area that can be hit or miss. I personally do not buy a ton of meat items here except for boneless chicken and pork. Much of the steak, seafood, and ground beef is just average quality. But they do have a nice deli department where many of their cold cuts (turkey, ham, roast beef, etc.) taste good in a sandwich.
As far as the regular name-brand items, prices are competitive with what you would find at a large-box supermarket; especially FoodMaxx and Foods Co. I do like that even with food prices skyrocketing in 2021-22, Winco does everything in their part in keeping their prices down as much as possible. Even during my visit (which was on Saturday 6/4/2022), I bought a nice loaf of freshly baked sourdough bread for $3.28, a gallon of 1% milk for $3.48, and a 40-pack of bottled water for $3.99 + CRV.
All in all, if you can get past the chaos of customers and the parking situation, the Elk Grove "WinCo Foods" is a very decent place to do your grocery shopping which is why I am rating this store four stars. The public restrooms are clean, customer service (where you can purchase hard alcohol, money orders, etc.) is above average, and the cashiers are always in an upbeat positive mood. They also have several self-check out registers if you have 15 items or less. Just keep in mind that they do NOT accept credit cards so make sure you have cash, debit, or EBT cards handy. Happy shopping! read more