Dirty carts, poor fruit/veg quality, long waits.

Clean store with everything you need. Of course, you'll pay more than necessary but there aren't many options in this small town. The staff is friendly and will readily show you where to find whatever you need. read more

Safeway- well there are two in Novato, this one is not as nice as the newer one but it does come with shorter lines. Parking is always bad here but its a heck of a lot better than the other Safeway across town. The deli here is pretty good and they always get my order correct. read more

William is so helpful and nice, and always had a smile on his face. Love seeing him on my late night Safeway runs!

Come on now, it's a Safeway store, what do you expect from me! Everything is done well and the shelves are always stocked. The blessings of capitalism are so obvious when you enter a grocery store in America. Nothing more to report from the western front. read more

I cannot believe I am giving Safeway three stars! I hate Safeway and avoid buying food here whenever possible. Of course, I avoid buying food at stores altogether! (THINK FARMERS' MARKETS!!) But this newly renovated Safeway has a couple of not inconsequential things going for it. The service here is unbelievably good. The manager of this store should run the country as far as I am concerned, because everyone here is one the same page. And that page must be - give our customers the best service possible, because it is ridiculously good. Also, they have a good floral department. So until I find a local flower shop that outdoes them or never have the need for staples food items I cannot get elsewhere, I'll be back occasionally. Or I may just come to stroll the aisles and get asked, "Can I help you find something, sir?" nines times per visit. read more

This location does not even deserve 1 star!! I was so excited to purchase a flower arrangement for my mother for Father's Day. Additionally, I had a separate bouquet that I needed assistance with arranging. Over $60 dollars worth of a sale. I walked over to the cashier clerk as there was no one in the floral department and politely asked if she could call someone over to flower (which she did). I stood there for over 10min. Then I went up again, and asked a gentlemen to also call someone to floral (and he did). An additional 10+ minutes passed by and NO ONE ever came! at this point I was frustrated. I went up and asked for a manager. The girl at the cashier said "go over there" as she pointed forward. (Not the best answer not great customer service skills, I wish I had asked her name) then I was directed to customer service as there was a manager covering that department. Apparently NO ONE on this shift knows how to do flower arrangements! Including management!! William was called over (second manager ) only to tell me "The flower employee has left for the day and we have no one at floral". I stood there for over 20min! This could have all been said long ago. For me to have stood there for over 20min is ridiculous! It took for me to get upset and call a manger over to finally get an explanation and receive some type of acknowledgement as a customer!!! The worst experience! I told William that is was NOT ok to have me there for over 20min awaiting assistance and for him to take initiative in communicating with his employees when and if something is not available to customers! This could have all been avoided! It's bad management skills to not communicate with their employees! I am NEVER purchasing here again! Bad communication skills! Horrible customer service skills! Including "go over there" as cashier pointed toward customer service. Clearly no one takes pride in representing Safeway well! read more

This is just for custom sandwich service. I am usually third in line no matter the time of day. The staff is overworked and they really skimp on the sandwich contents. One slice of cheese broken in half for a 5-6 inch roll. Two thinly sliced pieces of tomato. Mustard, mayo and a pre-weighed roll of meat. $6 for this. I got one at Subway, $6 for a foot long with lots of meat and heated cheese. Just wish they would treat us right. Employee at Terra Linda Safeway does a great job. Crazy, the stores are all different. Management. read more

It's a newly remodeled Safeway with a Starbucks and a decent deli. The staff is complacent for the most part, the butchers are always nice and the deli staff is exhausted which means they're busy and the food is fresh. I'm not a Starbucks guy but on the rare occasions I get a coffee the staff there is fast, just located right by the doors and it can get pretty awkwardly crowded. There's always some organization trying to get you to put some change in the bucket or ask you to sign their petition or get you to subscribe to a newspaper; that can get annoying when you're in there a few times a week. read more

I wavered between a 2 and a 3. I settled on a 3 but that is generous. On one hand I really like this store or it would not be the place I shop at most often. However, I am disappointed that they do not have a better organic selection. Safeway has a terrible selection of organic anything. They do not carry Organic Lowfat Greek Yogurt. Go figure. There are about 50,000 yogurt flavors but no Organic Greek. They also do not carry Organic Ice Cream. With an entire row dedicated to primarily ice cream you would think you could get some wholesome organic ice cream. I was also disappointed by what happened when I went to check out. Te sweet cashier asked me if I had found everything I needed and when I told her NO. She did not know what to say and awkwardly said. That is too bad. The tellers are trained to asked if the customer found everything, but they there is no action plan if the customer says no. This is simply poor management. I am giving a higher rating than I should because the personnel is always pleasant and I can get most of what I need but come on guys. Get with the times and improve your organic selection. read more

This is by far the worst Safeway deli I've ever been to! I usually visit this location on the weekends and the wait time for the deli department is beyond outrageous! The deli is really busy on the weekends and their department is understaffed! Customers get so frustrated many just walk out without ordering! I tried to be proactive and call my sandwich in ahead of time thinking this would cut down the wait time. I couldn't even get a deli employee on the phone! I waited on hold for 25 min before hanging up! This is beyond frustrating! The staff in the deli department are frustrated as well, which is understandable due to the lack in staffing! You can see he look of frustration and delete on everyone in the deli departments faces. Also it's frustrating when the staff who take care of he sushi department act like they can not help you unless your inquiring about sushi! Safeway please fix this! read more

It's my closest Safeway, always go there for anything. I buy a lot of gift cards. Lately was going few times a week for Arco gas cards, without any luck. They were just not there. From my previous experience they were someplace at the back but nobody bothered to put them where they should be. Lisa, the manager had no idea about the gift cards, where they come from, where they are stored, she knew nothing. Gina at the self check out, very unhelpful, she even didn't want to make a phone call to bring somebody in charge to help me. Nick from customer service, the only person who tried to help calling some other departments, but unsuccessfuly, nobody at that facility new anything about the cards. I went to another Safeway, the gift cards where also not displayed but the person helping me knew where to look for them, she knew everything about where, how, when they come. Such a big difference.... read more

I give this store a lot of credit. They offer a wide variety of foods and at fair prices. Many of the staff a really nice folks that I respect for all their hard work and generally cheery attitude. Unlike some of their box store competitors like Target and yes, TraderJoe's, they work with a variety of vendors to keep the integrity and selection high. Compare to Trader Joe's, where if something succeeds, they copy it and sell it under their house brand!!! I call that theft of intellectual property... At Safeway, they keep promoting the originator of a product and may or may not create a store brand. The seafood counter is a bit concise, but covers the basics. The produce section is very good. The wine and beer selection is very good too. Parking is a breeze. There's a Starbuck's inside which I wish was a Peet's, but is OK for an espresso. A few of the checkers are totally cool, kinda like a nice neighbor feeling chatting with them. read more

Safeway - Great selection! Check out how they have three or four types of Soy Vey as a case study of their support for small business. - Grocery Near Me - Novato, California

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LOVE THE FLORAL DEPARTMENT! They were super helpful in special ordering flowers for a bridal shower for my sister-in-law-to-be. I called all over town and they had the best price on fresh lavender. I was able to purchase and have them store them until I needed them the following week. read more

They've left addresses of porn sites on their bathroom door for at least weeks now, and of course it's filthy and the paper dispensers are broken. N-A-S-T-Y. read more

I prefer the one by Bel Marin Keys. I used to enjoy coming to this Safeway but noticed the employees and even a few customers aren't that friendly and stare at you like you've done something wrong. I always feel uncomfortable when shopping there and will go on a few rare occasions when I need to, since it is very close to me. The employees there just seem miserable and snappy. The customer service at Hamilton Safeway and Grocery Outlet are definitely more pleasant. read more

The store itself is nice and always has everything I need. The checkout staff is always unfriendly and always be prepared to bag your own groceries. read more

i like this safeway cashiers are always friend the only thing i dont like is that there is no self check out and when i have only two items i got to wait in a long line but other than that is pretty well kept i really love the floral separtmwnt its aimply amazing and they have such great personal as well one tip is always ask if they have fresher flowers in the back they sometimes do! read more

So I wonder if these Corporate idiots ever read these reviews. Perhaps they could stop pondering why their store is doing so poorly. The sad part is that there are some very nice people working there that suffer from the piss poor management. The Seafood Manager puts out ROTTEN Fish so he doesn't loose inventory. Check out why there's never any discounted fish, It's because he changes the dates. I was told not to say anything about this, but how can I not? read more

I gave this store as much as 2 stars only because, in general, the rank and file employees are nice, hard working people. I don't have a problem with them. The management, however, is another story. I have experienced frequent overcharges in this store for several years. I have to now check my receipt before I leave the store to avoid having to make a return trip. I estimate that there is an overcharge at least 50% of the time and I have the receipts to prove it. Rarely is there ever an apology from the manager on duty when I ask for a refund. When I complain, they give me a postcard to send to "corporate"...a waste of time. Safeway needs to address this problem at this store. If more people actually checked their receipts there would be a riot. read more

I don't ever like going to safeway, but it's where my client shops so I go where she goes. Every single time I go in there one of the cashiers always gives me attitude. She is a short older lady. She practically yelled at me for not having a safeway card and when I refused to sign up for one she continued to argue with me. Two days ago we went shopping. I made sure this time to go to register 1 where she was not the cashier. We paid for our items and the cashier asked if we wanted to donate a dollar for cancer and if we did we get a free bottle of cold water. We both agreed. The cashier directed us to the cooler of water and walked away. All of a sudden this old lady decides to leave her register and run up to us. Grabs our waters and shuts the cooler. She snaps at us saying they aren't free. I'm pissed but trying not to yell at her in front of my client I simply push her hand off the cooler and said we already paid for it. This lady is a bitch and makes me hate Safeway more than I already do. Doesn't even deserve one star.... read more

not as organized and clean as the Safeway on Nave but will do. produce doesn't seem as fresh, but only been here 3 times. not many workers around to ask questions or for them to offer help. nave/hamilton safeway always have workers adding new produce or prodcuts on shelves. but diablo safeway is very nice compared to any in san francisco. just that the hamilton safeway is as nice as a whole foods, less the ridiculous prices on many items. read more

I hate shopping at Novato Safeway. Everytime and I do mean everytime I go in there to get a sandwich it is a joke. We enjoy getting the Panini Sandwiches and two times in row now they have burnt them because they are too busy. The lines are incredible so I have tried to call ahead of time to order since I know Panini sandwiches take more time but they have never gotten it right yet to this day. The first time I ordered four and they only made one, the second time they messed it up by putting some weird dressing on it and the third time they burnt all of them and then expected me to pay for them. One time I was standing in line and one of their employees had just quit and decided to tell me all the reasons why this Safeway store sucked. This person did not know me from Adam. I hate going in there to shop. The rest of the deli is really slow as well. One person actually told me to hold on a minute because he was going on break. read more

I ordered a cake for a baby shower and picked it up today the cake it self was very yummy but unfortunately did not look like the picture I ordered and there was a spelling mistake also but still very yummy the manager was very kind when they saw the cake and fixed things right away read more

This place has now lost a star due to recurring overcharging. The frequency of it is inexcusable. Check your receipts every time!!

horrible methods after 9pm. only one check stand open and about 15 ppl in line. so stupid. makes the low prices not even worth it because you have to wait 20 fvckin minutes. DUMBBBB read more

FURIOUS at how my husband was treated there today! He goes to the deli to get the five dollar meal deal (usually a sandwich, chips, and a drink). He asks the deli lady if he can sub out the chips for soup...like he has done before. She says, 'sure'! He goes up to the checkout and it rings up for $7 something....he tells the lady at the checkout that it is supposed to be $5 like it says on the board. She calls the deli manager over...when she comes over my husband explains and says that the woman making the sandwich said he could sub the chips for a soup. The deli manager says it is not a problem. The deli manager leaves and the checkout lady says my husband was LYING because he said 'on the board" to her, and told the manager the the deli lady said it could be $5. HE WAS TALKING ABOUT THE PRICE on the board! Not what the deal is! He ends up getting the store manager and telling him all about it...but I can NOT BELIEVE that she thinks he was trying to pull one over or something for $2.00. We shop there EVERY DAY! Well - not anymore!! What a joke. read more

I am referring to the bakery only. I ordered a birthday cake two days in advance. When I went to pick it up they hadn't decorated it yet. They couldn't understand what one of their co-workers wrote on the work order although it was in plain English. Well, there is the problem, the holiday staff could read as well as they spoke which was barely. English was clearly their second language. I showed them 3 times what I wanted which was displayed on a one of their other cakes. They just couldn't or wouldn't do the job. When I finally got out of there after more than 20 minutes the cake did not look like what I ordered but I was very short on time and had to leave. When everyone started eating the cake we discovered that it was a spice cake rather than the carrot cake I ordered. An absolutely disgusting experience. read more

Customer service is atrocious here - not that I expect a lot from a neighborhood Safeway, but if you're a manager, you should have some sort of management abilities. There is clearly no training program at this particular store. I needed to cash a Western Union check, so I looked up the WU stores that could perform this service & this Safeway was on the list, so I wen to cash the check when I did a little shopping: but no - they can sell you a WU check, perform a money transfer, but cashing a WU money order? Out of the question. Why? Just because. I spoke with 2 managers & an uppity cashier, who not only refused to help me, but just stared at me after refusing this service with no justification, rather than offering to find me another solution for my situation. Management skills: nonexistent. And you're setting an example for your young workers & encouraging them to be belligerent smart-asses - "have a nice day" shouted loudly as I leave frustrated by your lack of assistance is neither professional nor acceptable. Thanks for the terrible experience, Diablo Safeway. I'll be going to Lucky's from now on, where customer service is still a value. read more

They are out of basics and are rude about it if you can actually find an employee. Used to shop at Safeway exclusively. Haven't in a few years since moving to Novato. Both are terrible. read more

This is one of my favorite Safeway's in Marin. They have great sandwiches. Great fruit and veggie selection

i must agree with denise's review of safeway. i hate shopping there too, but had hopes for their deli, new w/the renovation. BUT! i call early to put in an order, and when i come 30 minutes later, they haven't started it. or they get it wrong. or i have to wait 30 minutes after i get there for them to either fix it or get it right. unbelievably slow, incompetent service. seems they are always training new folks, which says to me that it's not being managed well. too bad. if it were good, and the lines and customer service were reasonable, my husband and i and our companies would give them our business. as it is, they might as well not be there! bummer! read more

I just wanted to say thank you SO much to curt and the really nice lady at the automated check out lanes (forgot her name so sorry :-()for taking care of me and honoring the free sandwich policy. Apparently cooperate took that part of the menu down but I asked curt and he was SUPER cool about honoring it. I liked that he understood that my time as valuable from a business aspect. The businesses on Novato really know how to treat their clients. A while ago at the extreme on Rowland after eating there for like 6 years, I ordered my usual yard sale and got food poisoning afterward and threw up. Went in and talked to the manager and my next pizza was on him. A large yard sale with all the toppings (a 30.00) value. Thanks to the manger, I only paid like 2 dollars for a 2 liter of sprite. He was super cool and room care of the pizza and delivery. The Safeway in Hamilton is nice cuz it's in the rich part of town but that doesn't mean they have good customer service. The only Reason I go to the Hamilton one is cuz they have a gas station but for not having a physical gas station the Diablo location totally makes up for it with awesome service. Novato, unless u need gas, make the trip to the Diablo location. You'll be glad u did. read more

Clean and ok selection, but never any baggers and not enough cashiers. Not enough people to help you find things. Nice people, but too few of them for good service. read more

This is the most convenient grocery store to where I work, but the lines are always long. Please open up more registers! I generally prefer Safeway, but the Luckys in this area is much better if you're in a hurry. read more

Decent store. Always seems well stocked but busy throughout any time of day. Employees seem nice. However the girls at Starbucks are amazing! They always have a smile on their face and always make the drink I order perfectly. read more

I reluctantly went to the Safeway Deli for a sandwich. Don't get me wrong the sandwiches are a good price with really good bread. The sandwiches can be really good but I always have to stand there waiting for someone to help me. The Sushi Lady for a while felt bad and was calling back for help but I think she got tired of doing it. Now I stand there while everyone back there trys their darndest to "not see" me. I always feel like I'm bothering people and it makes me uncomfortable or I would come by for great sandwiches much more often. Until the last time I went by, a Gentleman helped me named Mark. He was actually attentive and helping customers didn't seem to be like pulling teeth. He actually seemed to take pride in his work and cared how my sandwiched was prepared. This gentleman was first class and must know the fundamentals of retail and customer service. This employee is gold and if it were my business I would take good care of him. I go by for a sandwich hoping he's working but have missed him last couple times. PLEASE get more employees like him, I do love those sandwiches!!!! read more

So I went to Safeway into the deli on my lunch break and the only person who is good there is a worker named Malika very good customer service, and a very fast worker everybody else seems like they don't want to be there except her. She prepared my food very fast and is very polite. read more

And I can't believe I'm giving THIS Safeway 1 star. It would get 0 stars if there was that option. The bakery and deli and manager (Rich) are a joke. Good luck getting someone in these departments that can speak English. Oh, and there's the 2 clowns in the meat department that hardly speak English too! I don't shop here any more because of that reason. I go to lucky where they hire English speaking employees. Also, their shelves are always lacking many staples that are typically stocked. I got tired of going there and having to go to another store because they were out of at least a dozen things that I needed. Their isles, and especially the liquor/deli/bakery section are always jammed with stocker carts so dodging them is a workout and is an accident waiting to happen. I hope Safeway has lots of liability insurance! I don't understand why they don't stock their shelves after midnight when there's less traffic. That's how it was done back in the days when I worked for them. This Safeway is mis-managed by Rich and corporate should give someone else a chance to turn it around. And don't waste your time filling out their suggestion forms. Nobody at corporate listens. Things are still the same so I shop elsewhere. Another thing - the employees go on their breaks no matter how busy or long the lines are. Like, sticking around until it clears to take a break is unheard of? I've even stopped employees to ask questions, and they would say, sorry I'm on a break. Get rid of this manager. And the carts are filthy, filthy, filthy!!! And why is it that the guy who collects the carts from the parking lot can't make sure that they're not jammed into one another so you don't need a crowbar to pry them apart? It's a battle getting a cart before you even get to experience the hazard inside the store! Is that asking too much? And, is it too much to ask that the employees not be so RUDE because most of them are! Could you please get them to post "CANNED FRUITS" on the sign above the isles? I've been requesting this from the manager for almost 2 years!!!! This store is POORLY MANAGED!! read more