I was looking for canned pie filling. I looked everywhere I could think of, No one on the floor for help but 2 men stocking Pepsi. I looked in the obvious spots, like the baking aisle. Found nothing. Finally went to the check out with 2 items I did find. A manager type person was there so we asked her and she said the baking aisle & and I asked her re the pie filling because I didn't see it. She explained it was on the very top shelf.... I am 5'2'..... Why way up there seems odd. She offered to help which was very nice when she was finished up front, but by then I had traversed the store several times and just wanted to go! I'll try again and take my husband with me for higher up items. read more

I am doing this review for my dad because he is to nice to do it but yesterday he went shopping in this store and when he was checking out he got asked the would you like a bag sir to what he said no which the cashier did not understand bc she bagged his stuff regardless when he paid she gave him one bag my dad did not realize that he was supposed to recieve two bags so when he realized he went back and ask for the rest of his items with the receipt in hand to what they say that it was not their problem the lack of accountability and customer service skills is beyond comprehension from such a big company they pretty much robbed my dad and did not care but what do you expect when half of the cashiers in this store lack training and proper customer service etiquette read more

I come here often since I live close and haven't really had any issues with this place. Always clean, I can mostly find what I'm looking for, love the bulk meat or large meat options here. My only gripe is I wish prime grade beef was available. Other than that it's a good grocery store. read more

Honestly it has been too many instances where I feel a very prejudice vibe from the cashiers here... today I literally watched this short haired blonde girl smile at a man in front of me in the line, who said nothing to her, (rude if you ask me) and then when it came time for me to check out her face went cold, even when I smiled. Its truly a disgusting feeling to feel prejudged when you just want to shop and be treated the same as everyone else. It's been about 5 instances I can think of where I got this cold/ rude customer service, and I hardly come here for this reason. Seriously work on it! It's absolutely ridiculous that your workers are behaving this way In 2024. Diversity training is very much needed. read more

I just shopped at the Tierrasanta Smart & Final store. I asked for help from Carlos and found him to go above and beyond for me. He was polite and most helpful. Thank you Carlos!!! read more

The old Vons that was here has been bought and converted into a Smart & Final Extra store. It is kind of a weird large space now that doesn't seem to be as well stocked as when it was Vons. When I was here for the holidays I didn't realize it had changed owners when I went in with family, but I noticed something was off about it as we were walking out. That's when they told me it was a Smart & Final now. It'll take some getting used to, but I'm glad there's still a place to get grocery items in this shopping center. It would be really helpful and beneficial to those who don't know that "Smart & Final Extra" is a grocery store if they changed their name to "Smart & Final Grocery!" read more

I stopped in to Smart & Final today, 12-13 and was having so much trouble with the online app. Andrea and Michelle were so helpful. Couldn't have gotten through it without them. Thanks ladies!! I love this store. I stopped going to Walmart because it is so busy and no one to help you ever. So to wrap it up. Try Smart Final! Great store and the nicest staff. read more

I wish this store was stocked better but the alcohol section is decent so I included that in my rating scale.

I'll keep this short and to the point. Every time I come here, the check stand I go to has a problem, and today was no different. I seriously waited in line 5 minutes for 5 items while the clerk had a refund issue and decided to take his time rescanning. I finally had enough and left. There was a lady in front of me who was waiting longer than I was for the same amount of items. This store needs to have their express check-stand staffed during business hours, and not as the main check stand. Read the other negative reviews on here, they all have the wait time at check stands as the problem. nobody should have to wait 5-10 minutes just to ring up a small handful of items. This used to be my favorite store, but no more, and no more shopping here. I just have too many bad experiences. I'd rather go to Albertsons. Prices are higher, but I am in and out. read more

Smart & Final opened in the old Vons location. It's apparently very exciting for everyone in the area. So exciting that they kind of acted like little monsters without manners. It's still a smallish store. They closed off one of the entrances and it looks really odd now as the outside tables are still over there. They have put in a new set of doors dedicated as an exit only. I don't foresee this working too well. People in this neighborhood have been used to going in and out of the same doors for years, you know that saying. I watched the old dogs, and they weren't picking up that new trick too well as they got aggressively grumpy with the exiting shoppers. Smart & Final touts itself as selling organic produce. I had trouble finding it. I'm sure it's there though. They also have all those bins of bulk items, which frankly scare me as I watch people reach in with their hands, ew. They had a few deals. Just not anything I was interested in specifically. I think the eggs for $.99 a dozen were a good deal for some, I prefer cage free organic eggs though. They have a bakery section, but it's worth noting that nothing sold there is actually fresh. It's all items from other retailers. Same with their deli. They don't prepare anything onsite, other than their rotisserie chickens (I think). The bottom line on this store is that pretty much the majority of everything sold here is not fresh or especially healthy. If you're ok with that, then you can pick and choose to find the few items worth buying. read more

Smart & Final Extra! - Doesn't look ready to open :/ - Grocery Near Me - El Cajon, California

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On two separate occassions I have been severely disappointed in this Smart and Final store. I went to pick up the advertised sodas, but the sale price came with an almost unreadable caveat. You had to spend $25 in order to get the discounted price. Today I saw a display advertising 2 lb shrimp for $7.99. The fine print on the display that I didn't see stated per pound. It was at the bottom of the display card in much smaller print. Virtually invisible to the average shopper. When it rang up at $15.98 I was shocked. The cashier had to point out the fine print disclaimer. Don't think I will bother to go out of my way to shop at this store again. read more

This smart and final opened up to replace Hagans after it closed. It has a great selection and really nice low prices. The produce prices are good. The apples taste great. The staff was friendly and helpful and we will be coming back for sure. read more

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Finally a neighborhood grocery store I am happy to shop in again. I was a little confused by the change in entrances, but I understand completely why they did it. It makes for a better flow and for easier monitoring from management. My favorite thing in this new location is the produce department. It is huge, has a large variety of fresh veggies and fruit to choose from. It even has a large organic section for those of us who are extra careful about what we put in our mouth. I found things here that vons never or rarely carried. Big bonus for us. I found a great selections of fresh meat and frozen. They have individual boxes and industrial sizes for those of us with big families or for a party we are hosting. Great selection of party supplies, trays, etc. Where I find they lack is in sundries, such as shampoo, deodorant and toothpaste. With CVS next door though, it didn't really faze me. They are actually a really good fit with CVS, the ying to their yang. I'm not gonna lie, I miss my Vons, but watching Haggen's go bye bye was very satisfying. read more

This store's bathroom is actually top tier quality. The toilet paper was soft and the bathroom was clean. Very impressed by the cleanliness. If you ever need a quick bathroom break, then come here. read more

We go early to avoid other shoppers in this Omicron period. There aren't any lines at this hour, but quite often, the checker on the one lane that's open is semi-busy doing something else and not paying attention to customers. There's one checker with a Russian/Eastern European accent who seems to deliberately ignore customers as long as she can (even if she sees us), then acts like she's doing you a big favor by checking you out. If you ask her about a specific grocery item, the answer's always a shrug and "I don't know". When I worked in retail, I was taught that the answer should be "I don't know but I'll find out". That's good customer service. The pandemic has been hard on everyone, I get that, but I sometimes think that's being used as an excuse for mediocre manners and poor service. I disagree about the comment on poor selection of produce. They actually have a fairly decent selection of organic stuff. My only beef is that often, their organic lettuce and cucumbers are already starting to deteriorate. I don't mind cosmetic flaws, but when romaine lettuce is browning and cukes start to wrinkle and collapse (i.e. rot), it's time to take 'em off the shelf. read more

Whatever you do, do NOT shop here came for 3 items at 1pm on a Tuesday they have such an inefficient system took 45 minutes to get out. Whoever is making the decisions to run things this way has zero idea on how to facilitate. read more

Literally just left this location. I was in the store for all of 10 minutes. Had the same male employee follow me throughout, from one end of the store to the other. When I caught on, he acted like he was setting up a display. I went down the aisle with the chafing dishes and he runs to catch up to where Im at, spots me looking straight at him and stumbles to keep walking. DA PHUCK YOU THINK IM GONNA STEAL? A WHOLE ASS CHAFING DISH AND TWO BIG BAGS OF CHIPS??? ‍‍‍ Bruh. Yall can take your discriminatory ass practices elsewhere. read more

I don't understand the negative reviews. This place is great! I've never had a problem getting out quickly and their prices are good.

This store started off with a bang. Clean, new, better prices, lots of help. That is not the case today. Help has become non existent. Checking out is a nightmare, be prepared to have your ice cream melt before you get out. The shelves are full of voids, does anybody restock them? The produce should be dumped but instead the mushrooms are allowed to turn into little globs of fungus. The greens were in terrible condition. No one seems to understand what fresh is. This is the height of strawberry season. The other day there were 3 containers in the entire store. I bought 2. However there were mountains of apples. Can you guess where the one worker was restocking? So this store replaced Hagans, that replaced Von's, I am curious as to who will replace this group. Not a good experience here, don't believe it will last long. read more

I used to like this store. I now go to the local Albertsons for various reasons: 1. Not a very good selection of items 2. This past February (2019) I purchased a box of Cheez-its that expired in November 2018. 3. The Fresh Never Frozen Foster Farms Chicken was still frozen in the case. 4. I tried to purchase bread on one occasion and it was still frozen but placed on the shelf. I picked up another one that was soggy. Hand went right into it, it was so mushy. 5. Today I tried to buy Udi's granola and it already expired on 7/17/19. 6. On many occasions, the few items I purchase are out of stock, so I end up going elsewhere to buy them. I now have serious trust issues, especially in regards to food quality and safety. read more

Don't go. Poor selection of produce. High prices, quality poor. Only 2 checkers. Lines more than half way down the aisles!

Welcome to the neighborhood!! Awesome rotisserie whole chicken done perfectly not too salty like costco rotisserie chicken. Excellent friendly service and finally we get reasonable prices in our neighborhood. Store is immaculate, veggies and fruits are plentiful and on point and again go here and pick up a delicious rotisserie chicken to feed the whole family. read more

Wow talk about unfriendly! They have one line for everyone! When I FINALLY got to the register with my one item I mentioned they really need a less than so many items line. Otherwise those of us with one item are waiting for all the registers to clear their larger orders. Bitch said nothing! Ignored me. I looked down and noticed the sign about customer service survey and said I was definitely gonna do that. Did that change her attitude? Nope! Hate going in here, but damn how hard is it to be kind? read more

Really wish they had more employees working sometimes, but Jacob and Caleb are always super helpful as well as the other employees there. I come here to get a majority of my groceries as other places can't compete when it comes to both quality and pricing. read more

Simple, fast, a well stocked store. Friendly staff and plenty of free parking.

Longest wait ever. During xmas season, sat afternoon, only 1 register open for regular shoppers. And Andrew was clearly in no hurry... Stopping regularly to talk or whatever. OMG!!!! read more

This was bad shopping day, the place is unorganized dirty the employee that helped me check out was rude and smelled like B O, yeah its hot but it 9am your in the air conditioning and you smell real bad. Didnt want to help wirh all my food and milk i bought for the school i shopped for..will not go back to this particular smart and final again read more

One star goes to Jacob, who ripped my water case open while scanning it. You know how much fun it is to carry a ripped case of water bottles up to the 3rd floor? Yeah, it's not. Not to mention the water bottles spilled all over the parking lot as I was walking to my car :) get better people at the front please who can actually scan without damaging the goods read more

I honestly spent more time trying to figure out how to make 0 stars an option or if 1 was okay than on writing this review. Keep in mind... This is coming from two people who have almost 30 years combined of customer service experience in various settings from food service, retail, banking and corporate. Came here on a nice Friday night after dinner at Ahi Sushi. We were looking for an energy drink fix before we continued our adventure of the night and Smart & Final always has good prices so we went in there instead of CVS. Bad idea. The cashier - who was wearing a name tag that said Matthew - seemed in decent spirits despite working a Friday night. We overheard him telling the customer in front of us he was wearing the name tag because he forgot his and his name is actually Steven/Stephen. No big - when I worked in customer-facing jobs and we forgot our name tags, we did the same thing. HOWEVER, his attitude changed as he rang us up for 2 Red Bulls that were displayed as 2/$4 in the impulse buy fridge at the next register and we pointed out that the price displayed was lower than what was coming up at the register. We pointed it out, he kind of just looked at us like we'd offended him, he turned to the cashier at the next register and said something about the price discrepancy. They stared at the register screen and at us like we were being troublesome when we were just pointing it out so that if it needed to be updated, it could be. (I used to work as a price auditor for Staples, and know the consequences of outdated signage if bigwigs come through.) He called someone over, they went and looked at the fridge we grabbed the drinks from, came back and made the adjustment. He refused to look at us or smile, the cashier at the next register kind of scowled at us and we felt the tension of "we don't want you here." We paid, he didn't ask if we wanted a bag (which we didn't, but true customer service skills? Always ask.) and he didn't move the drinks to a point where they could be reached without us reaching around the register. He plopped the change into my friend's hand and that was that. Well... guess where we're not going ever again, even if it is more convenient? And from the looks of other reviews, we're not the only ones. I get that people have bad days, and retail is rough. But it wasn't our fault the price wasn't updated in signage or the register system. If you don't want to deal with customers, don't work in customer service. read more

I dislike coming to this store because some of the cashiers are just down right rude!!!! I sometimes have to stop in but they never fail to disappoint me and I regret it every time read more

Worst Smart and Final in San Diego. Three times in a row they did not have meat available. Normal meat like beef ribs and pork shoulder. Also trying to find an employee is like playing where's Waldo? After having an employee paged he said their meat selection is small. For the third time in a row (and last time) I left angry and drove to El Cajon. That store had everything and employees to help. Please find a new store manager here! read more

If you are looking for a in-between Costco and the normal grocery store then Smart & Final is a good place to come. Just check the ads because they can have good deals on certain items. read more

I love this store!! They are so helpful, positive, and well organized to handle Covid-19 rules.

Great service here! Sometimes when I go shopping here on my lunch breaks there is only one register open; however, when it gets busy they open more registers. Its also very convenient for me since I work a few miles east of this grocery store. The food is fresh as well as clean and store looks good! read more

I was hoping when they went in that I could do my grocery shopping their but I find they are so limited in a lot of their products I can't. Not only are they limited because they don't carry certain items but they are often out of or low in stock on others. They don't replenish their merchandise fast enough. read more

Not a fan of this location. Last time I shopped there, they only had 2 "10 items or less" lanes open, so large orders used the same line. Took forever on a weekend. I have also arrived 10 minutes before their closing time, and the clerks had locked the doors, turning me and 2 other customers away. I have also found some of their checkers unprofessional. I have not encountered these issues at the other Fletcher Parkway location. read more

Very disappointed, I always spend 100's in here , and cashier Kin was very rude because we paid with a check , I always pay with check and she keep telling me the my check was declined when I had more the. 344 dollars in my bank account !!! You guys need very cashier , there was another girl I believe her name was Katy not sure but she was very nice , !!! read more

Smart & Final Extra! does have smaller quantities than the traditional restaurant and commercial supply oriented mainline stores. You can buy small boxes or large boxes of items. So it's a Smart and Final for every day purchases or large/ commercial purchases. It's a no frills shop and staff are just there to get you through the line. Tough to find them when you have questions. We'll take this over a empty store front but we'd rather have the Von's or an Albertson's back. Any mainline grocery store would be better And this strip mall is getting a dingy and too budget/ discount store oriented. So we'll keep this place in mind when we need massive amounts of plates and silverware for gatherings or enough toilet paper for a small city. Unless we happen to hit Costco first and generally have a more positive experience. If you're a teenager and need lots of toilet paper for say a medical condition or night time art project with your friends just remember they close at 10 P.M. And singe ply while cheap is harder to wrap over tall art projects and falls apart especially if it's damp out. And remember to borrow a hybrid car and leave your hoopty with the broken exhaust at home. read more