Smart & Final

Cheap prices… did I say cheap prices? Their prices are very good and lower than most local grocery stores; small or big chain. This is my go-​to location for most of my grocery needs. They have a huge selection of everything I am looking for when I go grocery shopping. The produce is always on-​point, the store is always clean and the staff are very helpful. I only wish they could have more cashiers on hand because this store does get crowded and you can be in line for a very long, long, long time — this is the only reason I removed a star. You can find just about any and everything you need in this Smart and Final.

This is one of the best Value grocery stores in the area. It is a great place to get you basics and more. With the typical Big Grocer prices increasing I’ve found Smart and Final and Sprouts to be a great combo. Best things to purchase at Smart and Final. Fillet Bulk ($ 11 a pound), Milk, eggs romaine lettuce (6 heads 2.99), bulk cheese, chicken breasts (consistently around 2 $ per pound), ribs (find on sale for 1.99 PP), ice cream (store in out second freezer. And the two best things: Bulk dish washing liquid and Kitchen Tools. Their spatulas and kitchen tools are as good as Sur La Table where the prices are like 5X the price. Overall this is a great store and I’ve noticed it getting much busier over the last year.

It’s a small warehouse budget store.
While the line can get long sometimes, I don’t mind waiting for 5 minutes since the prices are low. Line wait times depend on the time of day, luckily the store is open 16 hours a day, which is surprising and convenient.
Candies in bulk are cheaper than Costco.
Has many special items in bulk for baking that Costco just doesn’t carry and are too expensive elsewhere otherwise.
Store is clean and well kept. It takes a while if you want to find some help, but they’re accomodating. Although, if it’s not on the shelf you’re out of luck, however they do take special orders for items that you need, for example, I special ordered 16 1 gallon jugs of Arizona Green Tea and got it 2 days later, just talk to the manager.
I usually stop by when going to Costco as it’s a store where I can get things Costco doesn’t offer and when Costco bulk quantity is too much.

Groovy little store, not quite a warehouse and not quite a grocery store. I shop here when I want items in bulk and would like to avoid the Costco frenzy!
I can always count on various items: beverages, paper goods, dessert in large quantities, and of course, meats.
This is not everyday shopping for me, but when I need it they are here! Sure beats the CompUSA store that used to be in this same location!

This store is laid out very nicely with a good all around product selection and really good prices. It’s a good alternative to Costco. The 3 star rating is for the service quality, or lack there of. I’m new in the area and have now gone to the store three times in the past week. The employees are not very friendly. After waiting in long lines at the single opened checkstand during each visit, not once did I get a welcome acknowledgment or a thank you at the end of the transaction. On one occasion, while I and other customers were waiting in line, what appeared to be one of the managers had a cashier open up another register so he could make a purchase for himself. They had total disregard for their own customers. Not very impressive. Lesson learned — Come for the prices, not the service.

Nice, clean; refreshing for a Smart & Final. Service is typical Smart & Final or they would have gotten the 5^th star.

I really enjoy this place as a quick go-​to for groceries and staples during and after work. I work down the street and find this to be a convenient location to pick up items for dinner (or the work potluck I may have forgotten to prepare for).
The people that work here are pretty friendly and willing to help me find things when I have trouble. Sometimes they do not have enough checkers which leads to some slowness but they try to rectify this problem as soon as they can.
The only item I have popped in and not been able to find is gift wrap so I would say they are doing pretty well in terms of selection. They are catering towards businesses so most items are packaged in serving sizes for that crowd. If you have the patients to separate and freeze things for a small household you will pleasantly surprised with the savings you can find.
One Pro– I feel like they sell spaghetti squash much longer throughout the year than grocery stores!

Unfortunately while they do have great prices on the products that I come here for. There is always a long line to check out! I haven’t been here once where I didn’t spend at least 10 minutes waiting in the check out line. Usually they only have one lane open you’ll be lucky if they open up the second! It’s kind of ridiculous they wait till 20 people are in the one lane before they open up the second one.

I was in the area & starving, didn’t feel like eating restaurant food, so I figured a grocery store would be safe! I wandered through the aisles, checked out products & prices. I was pretty surprised to see that they carry some organic stuff along with the regular Safeway type products too, but the prices were pretty good! Some stuff really cheap, other things like deodorant were pretty much the same as everywhere else.
They have a lot of bulk items & the savings are even better if you buy in bulk! Definitely has avocados for cheap, and all their produce was really fresh!
Minus one star for the creepy old man that looked like a chomo, that was probably store security, that kept staring at me. You suck at your job dude.
Besides that chomo looking mf staring at me constantly, the store is pretty cool, has a wide selection of products & good prices!

Mini Costco :) +super clean + nicely organized
I have been regular customer in every week since 2012.
Prices are awesome particularly meat and breakfast items.
Good customer service too.
Good job guys wishing you all success

I used to use these guys decades ago for wholesale supplies for trade show markets and they were great but very industrial. Now they pave upgraded to more retailish style and of course the prices are higher — Costco better in many areas. But I still go to them for those items that are hard to get in quantity packages at good prices and still appreciate their service — likely why they have survived in the Costco environment.
This local «Extra» location has more fresh produce — good for large consumers and us guys that put the scale aside for a large party or big BBQ.

I would have given this place 5 stars because of their awesome prices, cleanliness, and plentiful parking, but I’m afraid I’ll have to dock a star. Why? Because despite having a large array of goods, occasionally I have come in here looking for particular items and have failed to find them. For instance, where are the canned black olives??! Still, it’s a fantastic place for groceries (and sometimes snacks) because they often have great sales.
On a side note, I don’t understand why the cashiers scan a barcode at the bottom of each shopping cart, if you choose to use a cart. If it’s to track the carts, well… I can see some issues with that. For instance, what if you put back the cart, then another customer uses it and abandons it in the middle of nowhere, without buying anything from the store? Then the last time the cart was scanned is under your name! Or, if you pay by cash, none of your information is tied to the cart. In that case, are they counting how many shoppers use their shopping carts? If so, it would still result in inaccuracy. What about counting the people who use the cart but don’t end up buying anything? Or maybe I’ve spent too much time thinking about this.
TL;DR — check this place out!

Bottom of the barrel service. Standing in line for 20 minutes while the 12 year-​old cashier struggled to check out the customer in front of me and bumbled through the obsolete «rain check» process that Smart & Final uses was ridiculous. The bagger told her to call for another checker — after the line had gone 20 deep down aisle 5. Wow, this place is a mess. How can you place someone at the check stand who doesn’t speak, doesn’t smile, is slow and unaware of irritated customers forming a long line behind her? Management fail! Sadly, Lucky’s blows these guys away in check-​stand service… and Lucky’s sucks! Never again. (not) Smart & Final-​straw (I’m never stepping foot in your store again) is a lousy grocer who deserves to go the way of the dinosaur.

Best place to shop for candy. Bigger selection than Safeway in my opinion.
Produce is super fresh too. I found Watermelons here for 1.99 each once too.

Smart and final is weird for me.
It’s like clean target’s and dirty Wal-Mart’s redheaded cousin who you tend to forget about around the holidays and end up buying a gift card for at the last minute.
In fact, I knew smart and final existed… I just had no idea what was inside. Until recently.
I have an office in Pleasanton that I am stuck at sometimes and seeing as I don’t have a car (and don’t want to eat in-​and-​out every day) I stumbled in here seeking a healthy alternative (and wondering wtf it was).
I was pleasantly surprised.
Here you will find you standard grocery items such as frozen goods, fruits/​veggies, toiletries and ALCOHOL all at reasonable prices; think safeway savings without the need for a card.
The store itself is clean, the staff is helpful and the lines are reasonable during non-​peak hours.
I was able to snag up a week’s worth of frozen lunches, apples, bananas and nuts for a hair under $ 15. So now I can be satisfied and healthy! Smart and final indeed!
Definitely a great store that I will absolutely continue to patronize.
Tip: they don’t sell iPhone 5 chargers. I searched. Don’t ask.

The store itself is ok, but the service can definitely be improved. I come here at least every other week and it seems like there is never anyone around to be of assistance if I can’t reach anything. So I basically end up finding one of their ladders in the store and getting the items myself.
Getting help out to the car is also touch and go. Depends on who you get at the register; sometimes they offer, most of the time they don’t.

Why only 1 Star?
Because after rolling up to the cashier to check out and placing my 12 items on the counter, she asks me «would you like a bag?»
I think, well, yeah. Of course. How else will I get this out to my car?
So the kid stuffs all 12 itrems (including a melon) into one plastic bag. I tell him I would like to have another bag, and he says something to the cashier as I split up my stuff into two bags.
The cashier says, «that will be 10 cents please».
I say, ‘what?”
«10 cents, for the bag».
I’m stunned. I had no idea they were charging me for a f**king bag after buying groceries! I say, «send me a bill»…and I walk out. With two bags.
What is this world coming to???

Smart & Final is a wholesale /​retail /​restaurant food store. The Pleasanton S&F Extra is a nice store with more selection then most other S&F. Since a lot of counties in the Bay Area Supermarkets not giving out plastic bags, I need to buy a box of T-​Shirt bags for my dog. I go through about 3 – 4 bags every day. The T-​Shirt bags are 18.95 per 1000 roughly about 2 cents each. I was in and out in 5 min. Nice store with plenty of parking.

People that shop here really ARE Smart. I usually run into BevMo assuming it will be cheap alcohol but Smart & Final next door has slightly cheaper stuff. I also like the way the store is laid out — lots of cart pushing space, you never feel crowded. There is a good variety of snacks, fresh food, frozen goods. I like this place! You’ll just have to fight In-​N-​Out customers for parking haha.

Meh, there’s not much here that I can’t get elsewhere. Are the prices cheaper? It doesn’t seem so. What gets 3 stars is the HUGE selection of sugar free Torani syrups! I’ve never seen such great selection anywhere. I know what I’ll be coming here to get. Also good selection of paper and plastic supplies. Sometimes I don’t need a costco sized selection of cups and plates, this is a good place to get them.
And for the creepy acne ridden begging chick in the parking lot, who followed me to my car when I said no and then inked up my door, piss off. Watch out for these shennanigans if you shop there.