Smart & Final

I hated shopping here and will never shop here again!!!

Big store with lots of choices. The fruits and vegetables aren’t the freshest, but the prices are great! Lines can be a little long at certain times of the day. And sometimes you have to hunt down carts. But other than that, I love how they have rotisserie chicken, a regular market selection, and uba tuba acai packets :)

Expect to wait at least 15 mins at the checkout. This S&F is always busy but I come here when I don’t want to deal with the craziness at Costco. Prices are reasonable and workers are friendly/​helpful.

Horrible customer service and poorly trained cashiers. Waited over 20 minutes for a check out, our cashier kept disappearing from her register. Someone opened a register next to us, and rather than taking the next guest in line, he allowed a first come first serve free for all. When I spoke to the manager, she was completely unapologetic and said that this experience is NORMAL! Won’t be shopping here again!

I guess it’s been quite a while since I’ve last shopped here. Heard that a lot of changes were made and decided to give the store another try.
The store’s been remodeled inside and it looks so much better.
The produce is still not all that great.
I went in specifically for bananas and what little they had out were a dark green.
So I bought other fruits instead and am not too happy with the quality.
There’s loose bulk item canisters now like those at Whole Foods and I do like the fact that you pour the items straight into a bag rather than shovel them out of bins like those at Sprouts. It’s more sanitary. Prices are comparable to both places.
The pre-​packaged meats in the back are better.
Some are packaged on smaller trays which I prefer. Never bought the bigger family packs in the past.
I had picked up some chicken that was on sale and noticed that there were two prices (original & sale). Darn, I think I threw away the S&F card years ago. No worries, there were signs saying that cards weren’t needed any more. That’s a plus!
The check-​out lines were slow and each had 4 – 6 customers in line.
Reserve cashiers were not called up to help bring the lines down.
Now, that hasn’t changed from before. Hah.
Because I had that extra time to look around, I noticed that each checkstand was named after main streets in Montebello. Beverly, Garfield, Olympic, Whittier, etc.
Cute idea.
I guess I’ll shop here every so often.
During the week when there’ll be less customers.
And, if I don’t need any produce.

This is my main grocery store. They open early and close late, even on Sundays. They have a surprising great selection of fruits and vegetables. Prices are reasonable and they always have great sales. It can get busy sometimes, but there’s always parking and you can get in ‘n’ out pretty quick. The staff is always helpful and the stores always clean.

A lot bigger then the El Monte S&F.
Parking lot is pretty big. Big grocery section.
5 stars for the AMEX promo. If you have AMEX and Twitter, you can link your card and get a $ 25 off $ 50 credit, up to 3 times!
I bought 3 Arco Gas Cards. Thats 50% off gas!!! SCORE!

Awesome customer service provided by Mark… thank you for your help, keep up the great work! :)

Seriously? Not the best place to go for fresh produce strawberries were disgusting! There was mold growing already how gross and there was only about 2 lanes open and long ass lines. Really? Don’t go here !!!

This is a fairly new store in montebello. I think some prices are good and others are quite high depending on the product your looking for. Employees are friendly. The store is very clean and stocked. Parking was good and the lines were not long at all …

They just remodeled the place and now it looks fantastic! Popular street names from the city of montebello adorn the registers under old fashioned mini street lights looks pretty cool! Awesome fresh produce, fresh meat, and bulk granola/​seeds/​and flour that’s pretty amazing. I’m done with Von’s, smart and final is my new go to place for my grocery needs. Registers are quick and if a line starts to form a new register opens very quickly. Check it out you won’t be disappointed.

Pretty big store with cheap veggies and fruit. They have bulk items, 25 lb sugar and half gallons of Half and Half! I didn’t look at meat, but my daughter says they have good meat and prices too. They have fresh flowers.

Bad customer service overwhelms everything good at this store. Went in one day to buy some advertised sale items. Saw the item in an endcap fridge near the produce section. There were many varieties offered at the sale price of $ 1.49. Grabbed two of these and stood in line at checkout. Items scanned at what appeared to be the usual price. I indicated to the male cashier that it was a sale item and it should be $ 1.49. He indicated that is the price. I repeated that was not the advertised price. In a condescending tone, he points to the screen that displays the price and says, «See this. This is the price and this is what you pay.» I said, «No thanks» and walked out. I won’t be back at this location.

Try the madilines form this spot delicious it’s a great alternative to going to Cosco finding parking waiting in a huge line to by a few Items I’m a very impressed with the staff
Great variety at competitive prices love the short lines at check out fresh produce I’m a sure you’ll find this ain’t your parents smart and final

Do I dare say it? My Costco replacement? Well could be if all you need is food in bulk. It is not everyday I need to gawk at televisions, the latest and greatest Vita mix demonstrations, or walk around and sample things I don’t need :) Such as in my neighborhood Costco.
If you are looking to buy in bulk fast and efficient this is your stop. In fact I noticed how clean this location was and the shelves were stocked well. I got all the items I needed and in less than 30 minutes! Wow why do I even go to the other shopping markets around here?
Smart and Final does not sell everything, no they are not a super center, but they sell the essentials and what most of us need: food. If food is what your into stop here :)

Hooray for dry ice! It was such a lifesaver before our Coachella trip since we were car camping. 20 lbs for a little under $ 30 was totally worth it. As far as I know, they’re the only place that sells it in the area. They also offer a large variety of ethnic foods here but not a lot of organic options though. Overall, Smart & Final is reminiscent of a large wholesale market (Sam’s Club, Costco) with its bulk items but not quite there yet. However there is a bit more value here compared to Ralph’s or Von’s.
Tip: they offer free hand santizing purell wipes right outside the entrance

OK so where do I start… This place is the closest to their corporate office at the Citadel and it replace the store that was on Olympic /​Gerhart… Unfortunately they left the will to work and ability to help at the old place…
When I go to this location and stand in the ONLY CHECKOUT line open with five people waiting. I leave disgusted with my visit and when you call corporate to file complaints about their service you get an unsympathetic person and they will never call you back to address your concerns. They need to go back to «the smaller faster warehouse store» over all this location is the worst I have ever been in… do your self a favor go to Costco it will be faster to check out

I like this Smart & Final. It’s close by, clean and always has plenty of parking. I’m really just writing this to say that if you want the almost-​pints of Häagen-​Dazs, get it here. I say «almost-​pints» because they used to be pint-​sized ice creams but Häagen-​Dazs didn’t think that people would notice when they reduced it from 16 fl. oz. to 14 fl. oz. and still charge the same price, but that’s a whole different rant.
Anyway, Ralphs in the same neighborhood charges about $ 5.00 for the almost-​pint of Häagen-​Dazs while this Smart & Final charges $ 3.69 for the same thing and has tons more flavors for you to choose from. In fact, Häagen-​Dazs makes the BEST green tea ice I’ve ever had and Ralphs just stopped carrying it last year. But this Smart & Final still has it, among lots of other flavors!

This place deserves much better reviews then just 3.5 stars.
First off this smart & final used to be an albertsons several years ago and a Rite-​Aid even before that, until it moved to it’s current location across the street in the other shopping center.
So let me explain my experience here.
Smart & Final has been an interesting store for me. It’s not quite a market and it’s not quite a costco or sams club. The layout for the store is very similar to the smart & final located just north of Pasadena City College. The exterior and interior of the store has been remodeled and looks very nice for a smart & final. Prices are competitive and are great for getting moderate bulk items such as spoons, straws, ice, etc. However smart & final does not have the bargaining power as wholesale shopping stores such as Costco. (which means you can get more at costco for around the same price)
This is the only store that i know of that still carries bulk 5lb tubs of icecream. Costco used to do that but they discontinued stocking bulk 5lb tubs due to the slow inventory turnover. A tub of thrifty icecream was 14.47 or 17.57 for the premium vanilla which is very reasonable for parties.
Cost of ice here is very reasonable as 20lb bags of ice are about 3.79 + tax vs $ 7.25 at eastside ice located south of the 60 freeway but east of the 710 freeway on ford street just off whittier blvd. So rather than driving all the way down to pick up a 40lb bag of ice from them, i can save time and gas and just get it here.
Although customer service isn’t as welcoming as other supermarkets, the lines weren’t long at all.
cool stuff smart & final.

I feel like I go to different markets all the time. I don’t know why but I just end up going and getting random things that I just thought of that day.
Today I thought of going and getting clam juice. Yes I know it is a little strange and I did hear from a friend that clam juice at Smart and Final is only about $ 3.50 for a large bit can.
So I wanted it and I decided to go and get it and this is where I ended up. the Montebello Smart and Final. This is a pretty new one considering that you have to think about parking. The parking lot is a little bit on a small side but I don’t come here on weekends so it was pretty empty.
Walking around the isles were super clean and very organized which I love and I did find the clam juice and it was at a very very great price!