Update Monday 1/9/11: We have selected a winner for this giveaway!
Those of you who have lived around here for a long time might remember that before Target came to Albany, our only Target was in El Cerrito. That huge retail site is now the home to a beautiful, huge Safeway, and in November, I took a guided tour of it.
Here are a few things I learned:
- The full-service pharmacy includes a clinic where you can get flu vaccines AND other vaccines. If your child’s pediatrician has recommended you protect yourself (and the rest of us) from whooping cough/pertussis, you can take care of that at Safeway. There is a waiting room and closed doors. You don’t have to share your experience with food shoppers.
- A complete Starbucks, including Wi-Fi, lives inside this store. So if you really dig the vibe, you can stay all day. Ha! A furnished patio promotes on-site eating of prepared foods or coffee.
- The produce department, which is so nice looking that I would compare it to a Whole Foods, sprays water to keep items fresh and cool. For your entertainment, they have installed “lightning” over the veggies to go along with the “rain”, so this may either thrill or terrify your children.
- The nutritionist on staff at Safeway has a team that sets guidelines for certain products and then tags them with their Simple Nutrition labels on the shelves. I thought it was most helpful when faced with a crowded selection of brands for one product to identify the brand that offered the healthiest choice.
- There are numerous “self-check-out” machines, so if you like to do-it-yourself, go for it.
But wait! There’s more! We have a $50 gift card from Safeway to give away to one commenter on this post. Comments have been closed and a winner has been selected.
To enter the random drawing, tell us where you like to buy your groceries in the East Bay. On Monday, January 9, I will close the comments and select a winner using a random number generator.
(photos from El Cerrito Patch article on this store’s Grand Opening.)
Safeway in San Leandro!
Trader Joe’s Lakeshore because it’s funky!
I like shopping at Trader Joes since it’s close to my house and has a lot of ready made things. For produce we go to Berkeley Bowl or Monterey Market or Safeway.
Great to have another Safeway here.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the new Safeway!!
Massive location, the Best Safeway ever!
I shop at Trader Joe’s, Berkeley Bowl (West) and Safeway. I have favorite things that I buy at each store. I have been waiting for Safeway to update my area stores, but I have to go to my parents’ house in Alamo to shop the “nice Safeway.” Looking forward to checking out the new one in El Cerrito — and eventually (at least a year away) the ones at 51st & Broadway and College Ave.
We get groceries at Trader Joe’s, Grocery Outlet and the Berkeley Bowl West! Glad a new business went into that part of El C!
Berkeley Bowl (the old one) is my fave, but I’ll go anywhere for a bargain!
I’m a regular at the Albany Safeway. I did visit the new Safeway way back at the grand opening. Very Impressive!
Thanks so much for the great blog. We use it all the time!
Ever since the new Safeway opened I do most of my shopping there.
It’s convenient, stocked great, and great prices.
We shop for a lot of food at the Trader Joe’s by Lake Merrit; the Lake Merritt farmer’s market (especially when asparagus is in season!); the Target in Emeryville for brand-name stuff like when we crave Pepsi; the Safeway in Redwood Heights; and the Mi Pueblo on High Street for any fresh fish, cheese, or very specific cuts of meat.
We usually do 3 stops! We like to buy our produce at Monterey Market, box/pasta items & other goodies at Trader Joe’s and deals at Grocery Outlet.
We do most of our shopping at Trader Joe’s in El Cerrito. Until its recent closure, we also frequented the Andronico’s on Telegraph in Berkeley because it was near work–we really miss it!
Either Safeway Alameda or TJs. Would love to shop at Berkeley Bowl but not convenient:(
Safeway and TJs!
Alameda Safeway & TJs mostly. Sometimes the Marketplace:)
Trader joes!!
Safeway’s seem to be getting better.
I shop at Safeway & WinnCo in Brentwood for the last year that I’ve been in East Contra Costa County. Prior to that I shopped at Safeway in Hayward.
Monterey Market!
We love Monterey Market!
I shop at Costco, Trader Joe’s and Safeway, and love the produce deals at Giovanni’s.
Even though it’s a drive I’ve been to the new Safeway a couple times. I wait until I need to do a biggish trip to make it worth the drive.
We do most of our shopping at Trader Joe’s. But I work near the new Berkeley Bowl so do some shopping there, and the new Safeway as well! We waited for it for so long and now I find I miss my old Safeway at Moeser. I could walk there from my house and the new one is just a little too far away and too big!! But I wouldn’t mind a $50 gift card anyway. ; )
I have gone to the new Safeway a couple of times. I still prefer the products at TJ’s, but the produce is much better and the lines have been quick (even on the day before Thanksgiving).
Grocery Outlet on 4th St., Target in Emeryvile, and Safeway on 51st/Broadway!
Equal parts Trader Joes and Safeway Solano supplemented at Monterey Market
We do a lot of our shopping at Trader Joe’s and the farmer’s market.
I shop at this Safeway and Trader Joes
produce @ Monterey Market
Rudi’s bread + organic stuff @ El Cerrito Natural
cereal @ Trader Joes
Farmer’s Market
discounted kids bars & organic stuff @ Grocery Outlet
Costco
Giovanni’s in el Cerrito
When all of the above are closed, then safeway it is!
We do our shopping at TJ’s, Safeway, Farmer’s Market and WF.
We do the TJ/Safeway hybrid shopping trip in Alameda.
The Lakeshore Farmers Markets on Saturdays and Berkeley Bowl (the original one) every other day.
I hate to say it, but I don’t buy produce often at Safeway or any other supermarket. I buy from the farmers at the Berkeley Farmers market. However, Safeway is great for other things. I am so glad to see that they are stepping up their prepared foods and fancifying their produce sections…however, I wish that they would have spent the $$ to feature locally made foods rather than the lightning….or perhaps even installed a locally made coffee stand instead of the dreaded Starbucks….but that is just me.
Berkeley Bowl West is the fav for big shops and then Trader Joes’s for the quick trips. thanks.
Trader Joe’s (El Cerrito or Berkeley), Monterey Market, occasionally Safeway (Shattuck) and Target.
Wow! That looks really nice. We do shop at Safeway for some staples, but most produce I get from Berkeley Bowl and most other staples from Trader Joe’s
This very Safeway! Love TJ’s too…and would love Berkeley Bowl if it weren’t so crazy there!
I usually shop at TJ and Whole Foods.
I usually shop at TJ and Whole Foods.
berk bowl west is my go to for veggies and fruit; get other staples at safeway – glad to know this one is open.
berk bowl west is my go to for veggies and fruit; get other staples at safeway – glad to know this one is open.
thanks for posting that this one is open; i usually go to safeway or Berk bowl west for shopping.
We typically hit up Trader Joes & Berkeley Bowl, but round it out with the Farmers Market and a handful of other markets. Cheers!
Trader Joe’s at the EC Plaza for most things, EC Natural Grocery Company for produce
The new Safeway is nice, we shop there for some of our regular groceries, but I love shopping at Berkeley Bowl West. It is convenient to where we live and I love their produce!!
I like the safeway located off of Shattuck Ave. They have so many great prices, especially those with more of a tight budget close to poverty. The food is always fresh and the people that work there are always friendly, going out of their way to ask if I need help finding something. I have been to the Safeway off Solano in Albany, their people are awesome as well. The new one that is located in El Cerrito has more to choose from and fresh meat and produce, but the people there seem disgruntled, like they have to work there against their will? maybe it is because they had to centralize the place in which they work, who knows, just weird vibes. I think Safeway has a lot of great products especially their Open Nature products,BIG FAN. Great quality low price. If you have not tried their Uncured Hotdogs, they taste awesome, more healthy and cheaper than Hebrew national (another fav).
Anyways, I wore out my welcome here, good luck to everyone.
I like the trader joes, safeway, and target grocery dept
I do most of my shopping at grocery outlet with most supplements at Safeway or Costco.
I drove past the new Safeway yesterday and couldn’t believe that I was looking at the old Target. What a change! I shop at a mix of places: Safeway, Yasai Produce Market (accross from the Safeway on College), sometimes the butcher shop next to Yasai, Trader Joes, Berkeley Bowl, sometimes Whole Foods, and Costco now and then. I mostly do Berkeley Bowl since it’s withing walking distance from my house (so I don’t have to worry about parking).