Great service and good prices. Good meat service and selection. Helpful staff. Excellent deli service. Very clean store.

I hqve been shopping the Great Lakes commissary for over 20 years. I have been happy with the great sales and diverse products they offer. the employees are always so helpful. read more

Stopped here for a few groceries. Excellent selection, and (I must say) a very fine meat department. All the shelves are stocked and neatly arranged and convenient. Exceptional prices, and no tax makes it an extra bonus. Very clean store... You can tell the manager it's hard at work supervising and knows his job. A lot of sale items and specials throughout the store. All the associates are very helpful and knowledgeable. read more

TL;DR : Everything except produce is cheaper and typically of higher quality. Even then, if you only need a few things it's not worth the gas money to buy produce elsewhere. Self check saves you money on tips, but not time. Get a loyalty card, plan ahead, use coupons. Should you shop here? You'd be stupid not to. Just have your ID ready at the front door. Wow I'm glad I'm shopping here now and not a few years ago as the past reviews aren't really relevant anymore. I've been here for about 7 weeks now and I've done most of my shopping at this location. I'm a bargain shopper and I've done my research: this is the cheapest even WITH the surcharge. Yes you will need your ID at the door and at the checkout. (just like getting on base, it needs to be scanned at checkout, why complain about this?) Meats: The meats here are always fresh and even comparing similar products to say Walmart they are better here. They go through them so fast, they rarely have leftovers. When they do, typically on steak, they freeze it on the "sell by date" (please note this date doesn't mean the meat suddenly turns rancid, you still have a few days) and place it into the freezer near the milk for the discounted meats. My husband eats pretty good with all the frozen steak I've been buying, and he aint complaining. Dairy: The dairy section also tends to be around the same price or cheaper than typical grocers. The milk is always fresh (a big deal to me) and other than going to Costco, it's cheapest. Chocolate milk is about $1 for a quart, 2% is $2.10 for a gallon, you get the idea. They also have a nice selection of non-dairy and organic options which FAR beat Whole Foods or even Trader Joes in price. Canned goods/boxed foods: For the most part (and take note I don't eat a lot of processed foods) all the canned goods seem cheaper, I can buy bush's canned beans for 69¢ a can compared to Walmart's 92¢ per can. If you use their loyalty card (which you really should) sometime there are coupons where you save more. For example, I saved $1 off two cans of bushes beans the other day. So I ended up spending 39¢ for TWO cans of beans. Heck of a deal! Brownie mixes, mac n cheese, boxed meals, are either the same price or cheaper. Deli Meats / Cold Foods: The deli is more expensive but the quality of product is nicer. If you want run of the mill luncheon meats they are near the frozen foods with the cheese and what not. Again, cheaper. Bagged cheesed are between 30¢- $1 cheaper a package. Frozen foods: Again, don't eat a lot of processed stuff, but it's cheaper from what I can tell. Especially the frozen fruits and vegetables. $1.50 cheaper here per package on blueberries, frozen veggies for 50¢ per 1lb package? YES PLEASE! Produce: okay here is where I get negative (lol) if I had ONE complaint about the prices it's the produce. Positive first: fresh. I've never seen gross or moldy produce here. The negatives: it's expensive. Expensive in a sense if you compare to walmart or Aldis you might be upset. Depending on what you're buying, you might be better off making an extra trip to get produce elsewhere. IF it's just a few items, you might not care. Look for the "cooking bananas" and other misc items that are marked down and wrapped in plastic. I was able to buy apples the other day for 75% off because they had a tiny bruise on the corner. You cut that part out, bam, good to go. Beyond all of what has been mentioned I will say that 99% of the employees have been kind to me. I've only ever used a "regular" cashier once and she was nice to me. I normally use self checkout and yeah it can be a pain, but I'm cheap. If you go through a regular lane there are baggers and they aren't on the payroll so they rely on tips. If you have an extra couple bucks I'd say help them out as a lot of them are kids going through college from what I've noticed OR veterans. If you're like me and money is really tight, self checkout is an option. One last note, coupons and loyalty cards: when you show your ID at the entrance you'll notice they have information about the loyalty card which is like a store card that you load coupons on. You go to the website, register, log in, and load coupons. When you start checking out you or the cashier scan this card and it automatically takes the savings off. You can save BIG if you just do a little planning. They take printed coupons, coupons from the newpapers, and often times you'll go about the store and find government or commissary only coupons. Grab it and use it. Often it's the highest value coupon on that product. I am unsure if they stack, sorry. If you've held off coming here, don't, this place is awesome. read more

If the Gals at the Front DO NOT want the Medical Scooters taken Outside. Well then Make Sure Shopping Carts are Avail for Customers to psomeut Their Groceries in After They Check Out... ( They Need a Scooter to Shop. They Need a Cart to take Out to Their Vehicle.) My Husband Started to take the 1 Cart that was Up Front, The Front Line Super? about had a Melt Down You CAN NOT have that Cart, You need to go get a Cart From Out Front. Fine I will take the Scooter Out. Well We Do Not want the Scooters Outside. Neither do I But You do not have any Carts Available for Us to use. That is when She finally gave Him the Cart He was going to use. Those are for Abandoned Product. My thought is take Your capable Body Out and Get more.. This is NOT the 1st Time He has Delt with this Issue. He goes there at Least Once a Week.. read more

Please don't forget your military ID. They aren't going to check it just once, but AT LEAST twice. This is the worse customer service I have ever encountered at a DECA facility. Most of the cashiers are rude and act as if you are imposing on their time. There are a few that actually enjoy their job, and they are the only ones I will use. Even the front end supervisor is rude and unprofessional. I have had the unfortunate privilege of listening to her curse about and berate another employee, right there in front of shoppers, at the check out line. Fill out a complaint card? 18 months later, same vulgar language from this woman. We price checked 4 local stores and, by far, the commissary is cheaper. But is it really worth it to deal with rude employees? I have found that, by entering at 7am for early bird hours, and scanning my own groceries at self check out, I don't have to deal with the nonsense. Try not to shop on military payday. I have learned that the prices go UP right before payday, then come down shortly thereafter. They are also notorious for hanging coupons on products AFTER they double and triple the prices. Kraft Cheese 1lb blocks, which are usually 2.50, were suddenly 4.99 when a tearpack of coupons appeared. They do this with many products, which is a shame. read more

"NEXT PLEASE!" bellows the computer sounding thingy that tells you which checker lane to go to. If I had a dollar for every time I had to hear "NEXT PLEASE" while standing in line.. lets say I'd need not shop in a commissary. Oh who am I kidding, I love going to the commissary. It's fun getting all those deals. Makes me feel one up on the rest of society. Ya, they're all snotty. They got government jobs and they know they cant be fired easily. I haven't been there in over a year, I don't imagine they're much better. They used to have really great case sales. Now they aren't worth going to. I do remember a good deli and great bakery!! sure the cakes came in pre-made, but they were really good. They decorated them pretty cute. Not fantastic, but better than some of those places that spray paint the cake (previous jobs must have been at Earl Shibs) . Another nice thing is that you don't have to drive on base to use this commissary. Its also nice having the exchange next door. If you got kids you can send them over there so you can shop in peace. Normal Store Hours (Early Bird hours Tues-Fri 7:00 - 10:00) Sun: 10:00 - 18:00 Mon: CLOSED Tue: 10:00 - 19:00 Wed: 10:00 - 19:00 Thu: 10:00 - 19:00 Fri: 10:00 - 19:00 Sat: 08:00 - 19:00 http://www.commissaries.com/stores/html/store.cfm read more

Very limited selection, the store needs to be updated really bad! The cashiers aren't too friendly, they act like they hate the world

Small, the cashiers are ghetto as heck on any given day. It looks old, the selection is very small, its dingy. Rather pay a few extra dollars and go somewhere else. read more

I'm only giving it three stars because I wished the produce could be better. Their meat selection is okay, but I sometimes feel uneasy about the poultry section. The staff is friendly though, and of course you can't beat the prices here at the commissary. read more

Great deals on 70% of all items they sell. There are a few items that you can get find at better prices but overall they are considerably cheaper. I drive up there once a month and spend quite a bit but it is well worth it. For big families it is a Godsend. read more

Goodness where do I even start with this place? The prices can sometimes be cheaper than other places but not by much. I say sometimes because it seems like a day or two before every pay day they raise the prices. I mean seriously? Not cool! This is the main reason I rarely go here any more. Besides that issue the meat doesn't usually seem fresh and the produce section is just sad. Wouldn't recommend going here. read more

I do not like going to this commissary, and it's not really the store it's the employees. The employees sit around and talk about people, many of them get an attitude like you are getting on their nerves by just being there. And when using WIC for myself and infant they act like its a sin and try to belittle on the sly. But as far as prices they do have ok prices, not a really big selection. And their produce section(and prices) are a joke. Only reason I gave them 2 stars is because of the prices and location. read more

Commissary is what you would expect. But ya know coming from Hawaii to here it really sucks balls. The deli counter rocks though. I havent seen that at a commisary on a navy base...army yes. I thought since RTC is the "Quarterdeck of the Navy" it would be all top notch. Not so. I usually have to go elsewhere to get a couple items on my list that couldnt be found. But hey its cheap so I go. read more

As with every other Commissary I have been to, CHECK the EXPIRATION dates! This location is good... Never had issues. Produce anywhere here in the midwest has gone bad pretty quickly. If you want super fresh produce there are farmers markets and then Lewis Fresh Market. The deals are pretty good and you can also find items that no other grocery store in the area will have ( southern items like Dukes mayonnaise, good and decent priced pimento cheese, etc). read more

I went to NEX (Navy Exchange) and bought some clothes and I also went to the commissary! NEXT IS AMAZING! I'm from Houston, and whenever I get the chance to go back to Chicago im definitely going back :) read more

Okay, I lied... Wal-Mart won't save you more money.... But this place still needs to be bigger and the hours could be LONGER. Also, if they opened 7 days a week that would be great too, but I know that would be asking too much of them. I'll bump them up one star because I've been here too long to stay so sour at a commisary so busted.... :) I miss Oceana Commissary in Virginia! read more

Great choices, low prices but never open on Mondays, that is very inconvenient

Staff at Great Lakes Commissary are very friendly. Most of the cashiers and baggers I encountered were pleasant and courteous. I have to admit, not all the merchandise are cheaper than Walmart or Jewel but meat are still cheaper in this store. In the meat section, Robert was always helpful when he's around. Some of the staff may look like unfriendly but whenever I said hello and started conversation they were great. Keep up the good work guys. Carrie Henne read more

i reall cant believe this is the commissary for RTC. I was really suprised the first time i went in that it was so small dirty and the employees were so rude. for this base being the "quaterdeck of the navy" i really expected something alot better. i have been here in Great Lakes for about a month now and found that the trip to the walmart supercenter is well worth the amount of money saved verses going to the commissary which is right across the street! its really kind of sad that the navy doesn't think about the families of their service members and providing a nice place for them to shop. read more

For the location I happen to think this commissary and the Exchange is just fine. It's not one of the larger ones like you would find in TX, VA, Gulf Goast, CA etc. but it does suffice. I do agree that raising prices around check day reminds me of greedy politicians stealing tax payers money and should be outlawed and stopped. When I first started going the base, I could get chicken wings for less than 1.00 a pound. Now they are over 1.60 a pound and climbing. As for the attitude syndrome...I've never had an issue with the employees they've always been very nice. read more