Nob Hill Foods

I love this place. Never change. They’ve got Peets and an estuary view with rowers. Doesn’t get any better.

You’ve got supermarket choices in Alameda. From Safeway to Lucky’s to Trader Joe’s to Nob Hill. Each has its high points and low points, whether it be inventory selection, parking, service, prices or if it is busy or not.
Nob Hill anchors the Blanding Shopping Center and I haven’t found parking to be an issue. Service is pretty good and lines are never long here. They also have self-​checkout lanes as well. In general, the prices are a little higher than the other fore mentioned stores. It has a gas station too.
Nob Hill is a supermarket that some shoppers will enjoy shopping there.

Nob Hill has good food and selection, it’s a nice location and well designed, very open and architecturally refreshing. It’s the kind of place that really should get five stars. I come here several times a week for lunch, but I’ve been slowly transitioning to other stores even if I have to drive farther. The reason is the staff. A couple floor associates are friendly, but in general there’s a very lazy attitude. It’s gotten slightly better, they did finally clean the disgusting bathroom, mostly. They did start restocking the flatware in the café area, mostly. But now the wifi has been broken for several weeks. Prices have gone up, most expensive place in town. The lines are much longer. Basic items are routinely out of stock — a whole shelf of orange juice empty for days. Gross overflowing trash cans while staff stands around chatting. Racks of prepared foods that should be refrigerated left in the aisles because someone left for break. Expired food on the shelves. Dirty tables, dirty floors, that sort of thing. I used the feedback form on their web site and never got a reply.

Nice store. Roomy. Seemingly good quality.
Customer service was non existent. I went to the deli. There was one person to help a long line of customers. I had to leave and go to a different store.

Like the lay out of Knob Hill better than Safeways, so it’s a preferred shop.
I’m writing this review for the café, though. Which offers a relaxed atmosphere, good coffee, great staff. You can hang here for a while without being pressured.
If that’s not enough it’s on a prime spot on the Alameda channel. So you can sit outside or take a walk afterward.

The bakery here is one of the worst I have ever been to.
Not only do they not check their attitudes at the door like you’re SUPPOSED to do as PROFESSIONALS. But they’re also SO disorganized.
My mom came here to buy a cake for my aunt’s birthday and they told her to bring them strawberries. I don’t care if they’re in season or not, the only difference in strawberries throughout the year is the price. Grocery stores are always going to have strawberries, just more expensive or less decent quality. I don’t care if you’re going to give us a discount, you’re supposed to supply things a bakery should. Are we going to have to bring you whipped cream next time too? Damn.
They also gave us so much attitude when we picked it up. The woman we ordered it from didn’t tell them when we were picking it up so they gave us attitude and told us we were late. As a grocery chain of expect them to be organized, but I give up.
The only good thing about Nob hill is their gas station. They have plastic gloves since gas stations are one of the dirtiest places.

I love the layout of this place and when I shop enough times here with my Something Extra membership, I earn 1 point for each dollar spent and there are SE Extra Points on some of their advertised items, ranging from 10 to 30 points. I get a coupon for free 64 ounce orange juice and free Martinelli’s sparkling apple cider, what’s not to like? The place is spacious and I get my Evolve salmon doggy treats here as well as my favorite Kind bars/​healthy grain granola bars! The prices here are slightly higher than other stores but this place is spacious enough that you don’t feel cramped shopping in the aisles and they also carry more natural, more organic products. The only con is that I no longer receive the weekly sale ad in the mail probably because I don’t live in Alameda.

Wow! it IS possible to go from 1 star to 5!!! Yes it’s true. Apparently Nob Hill is listening to their customers. My original review was all about the food handling by one of their (albeit very courteous and helpful) counter managers. Well he has turned over a new leaf. I have been going back and voila! when assisted by this employee he is now using proper food handling. All the others do as well. I can’t be more happier. I love the deli counter at Nob Hill. Bravo! Nob Hill management. You have made a frequent customer happy! It is good to note that Nob Hill has pretty much the best deli counter of all the chains in Alameda. I use their Chinese, sushi, and deli meats counter all the time. Always service with a smile and top quality food… and when I see that counter manager I am happy to be served by him and the service is A#1 Thanks again!

This store is good for certain items, but for the most part it’s highly overpriced. The quality of goods here are comparable to Safeway, but cost a lot more, so be sure to choose what you purchase wisely, and always be sure to watch their weekly sales for a deal. I originally came here for beer, but as soon as I made my way down their beer aisle, I quickly realized that their variety is S***. They stock all of the basic domestics and imports, but lack a true craft beer section. You can obtain basic crafts like Lagunitas, Ninkasi, Sierra, Speakeasy, and 21^st Amendment, but don’t expect to find any specialty beers like Magnolia, Alesmith, or Evil Twin. Maybe I’m a beer snob, maybe not, but either way they still need to step their beer game up, even places like Walgreens carry Buzzerkeley;geez.

Since moving to Alameda, 6 years ago, Nob Hill, is my store to shop.
I love the store at Blanding Ave. I can find what I need, without any fuss. The Meat Department,
is very good — butchers, are all very accommodating and nice. The Fruit/​Vegetable Departments, are just great. Fruit and vegetables in top condition and beautifully displayed.
Prices on some items, can be a bit high but, there are also items, where the prices are very reasonable and even lower, then other supermarkets. One has to choose what shopping for
food, means to them. I don’t mind paying a bit more, if the store I frequent, is a good, well run,
well kept, one-​Nob Hill, is all those things.
I will end this survey with kudos to the check out staff. They are all just terrific and they make
my shopping experience at Nob Hill, a positive one every time I shop there.
I am so glad there is a Nob Hill, in Alameda–

I love this place. The deli is good. The produce selection is beautiful. Lots of sustainable seafood and local, organic meat. Plus there is Peets.

Good place to shop; very convenient, friendly staff, love Peets Coffee inside the store, Monday’s sale, good varieties specially bakery… But one thing I didn’t like today was one of the employee taking a break next to our table and he cough facing our side without covering his mouth. We were eating at that time and he didn’t even say «excuse me» or «sorry»!!! No manners!!! Just hoping this won’t happen again. But I still love the store

The selection isn’t super impressive in this supermarket, but they have a few items that add pluses in my book.
Their sandwiches at the deli are pretty generous and tasty.
They carry chobani Greek yogurt with passion fruit which the Safeway closer to me does not. Love that stuff.
They had a seafood roadshow the day I was there and the seafood looked tempting.
The prices in general are ever so slightly more expensive than Safeway, but were taking like maybe cents pricier.

If it were not for Sandra and Judy, absolutely FANTASTIC, friendly, helpful checkers, I would start a campaign to SHUT THIS PLACE DOWN. The food selection is so-​so, nothing to write home about, but the WORST thing about this place is:
It is TERRIBLY MISMANAGED!
Safeway BEATS THESE GUYS HANDS DOWN in terms of CUSTOMER SERVICE!!!
For Example: They recently (in about the last several weeks) PROMOTED probably their ABSOLUTE WORST CHECKER to be a MANAGER — his name is BILL… WATCH OUT for him. Every time I ended up in his line (when he was a checker), he would NEVER ask the customer if they needed help, he would NEVER ask the customer if they were able to find what they wanted, he would NEVER smile, he would be GRUMPY, and TOTALLY ACT as though YOU (the customer) were JUST A BOTHER!!!
Anyway, I’m going to STOP at that point — and again say THIS STORE IS TERRIBLY MISMANAGED!!! BUT, Kudos to Sandra & Judy (and a few other checkers that I can’t remember their names right now).

I wanted to like the store but they just have some fundamental problems.
On three different occasions I receive food that was moldy or past it’s due date. One time I bite into a sandwich with cheese thatI had black mold on it and I just bought the cheese that day. The other day I saw some meat that was on the shelf that was all gray. My wife bought lunch meat that was 60+ days past its date… and one other item that I cant recall.
They are repeat offenders of not checking the dates on their food.
UPDATE: 1÷19÷2015 (lower to one star)
So they got me again — 4 times in 6 months that I get sick from old food. My wife bough some Lloyds BBQ chicken on 1÷17… and fed me a sandwich tonite. I started to violently throw up this evening. I go check the container of all the food I ate — and sure enough the date is 12/​30/​2014.
WHY CAN’T YOUR STORE CLERKS REMOVE OLD FOOD?!

This place is ok. Really only gets one star for not being as crowded as Safeway. Purchase meat here which is OK, but their seafood display was quite shocking, everything looked rancid and old. Every single package of frozen crab legs had frostbite.
REALLY inattentive/​downright unfriendly service. Checkers are either teenagers who have not been properly trained on customer service and carry on conversations with each other rather than greeting customers, or downright surly older ladies who can’t be bothered to acknowledge their customers. The ONLY exception is one male checker, an older guy (mid-​late 40s?) who’s name I can’t remember, but he’s been working there for years and is super friendly. Attention managers: that is the type of person you want working for you, because your other employees have inspired me to spend my money elsewhere.

I love that they have Pete’s instead of Starbucks. And it’s inside with a great view and sitting area overlooking the water.
They have a great selection of nondairy, vegan, and gluten free options throughout the entire store — all clearly labeled. Frozen foods, snacks, etc. Which is why I always return.
I’m a huge fan of having chicken lunch meat from the deli counter, but most counters don’t carry it, just turkey. They always have it. And it’s always the lowest in price in the deli counter. Every week, I pick up chicken thinly sliced. For $ 7.99 per pound.
The produce is a little over priced, but this is a higher end grocery chain, so I expect that when I enter. The produce quality is spectacular so I don’t mind when I shop there.
Meat counter is about the same as Safeway.
They have a Sushi Chef who makes better sushi than most restaurants in Alameda. We order a sushi platter for $ 20 on Monday, for Tuesday dinner. It’s amazing. Way better than spending $ 60 – 80 at dinner for two and the quality is great.
Love the look and feel of this place. It’s just nice. And fresh. And clean.

I received several «customized» coupons in the mail from Raleys/​Nob Hill so it got me in the store for something beyond cat food. I walked up and down each aisle and realized why I detest these «mainstream» grocery stores — the vast majority of products are processed and 80% have some type of added sugar and/​or sodium. It’s so depressing.
So I got my cat products and the few natural organic products I could muster to use these coupons and there were only 2 aisles open — one for 12 or fewer items and the other had a line of 4 people waiting with carts far more full than mine.
Begrudgingly I went to the self-​service line. I dreaded scanning can after can of cat food but it just seemed like it would be faster than waiting behind four overweight families laden with processed bounty.
These damn «smart“machines may talk to you but they’re far from intelligent. I had to request human intervention several times. So my real issue here is the quality of this human intervention. The first man took his time coming to my assistance… acknowledged me from afar but went on talking to different people before coming my way. The second man looked at me, said he’d be right there, and never returned. Finally the cashier from the express line helped me… but not without an incredibly snarky attitude.
She berated me for using the self service line if I didn’t like it. And then she wasn’t able to adjust the machine and had to go to managers to fix it. I was in this self service line for ~20 minutes. Turns out the coupons I’d been sent through the mail were being «read» incorrectly. No one apologized for the inconvenience; I was made to feel like I was amiss for going in the self-​service line.
And people complain about Whole Foods? You know, they really aren’t more expensive and the quality of their products is superior. I’ve never been talked down to by anyone working at WF.

Nob Hill has offered Something Extra membership for (I believe) about a year or so. They signed me up immediately so I can enjoy the benefits. For most of the purchases I have made (excluding alcohol beverages and other items), I earn 1 point for each dollar spent and there are SE Extra Points on some of their advertised items, ranging from 10 to 30 points.
A few days ago I received by mail a voucher for $ 11.00 along with 9 coupons for various items. The $ 11.00 voucher was used to purchase a pack of ribeye steak, priced at $ 19.31 and final cost was $ 8.31. Four of the nine coupons were used and I ended up saving a total of almost $ 17.00 on my groceries… woo hoo.
I have just started drinking Crystal Geyser lemon-​flavored sparkling mineral water and Nob Hill is about the only supermarket in town that sells it (1.25 liter) at $ 1.39 a bottle. Occasionally, they will have a special on this item — 10 bottles for $ 10.00.
Nob Hill also has their $ 5.00 specials on Mondays (similar to another supermarket which has its $ 5.00 specials on Fridays).

I don’t shop here. But I come I get car washes here, so I can speak to that.
Express wash is $ 5
Double pass hot pre soak
High pressure wash
Spot free rinse
Power dry
Supreme Wash is $ 6
Everything above plus:
Tire cleaner
Under carriage wash
Clear coat protection
Rocker panel and side blaster
Ultimate wash is $ 7 and includes everything above plus triple foam polish
Cleans real good plus dries your car as well. It’s a machine btw (one of those drive thru wash things)
That’s all I know about nob hill. Oh and there’s a wingstop here and everyone loves wingstop
4 stars for legit car wash