Smart & Final

What sucks is that they put stuff on special then they don’t have it. They run out of boneless skinless chicken breasts every day. Plus, in lower income areas they have a very very limited amount of fresh produce.

Medium size store that looked clean. Limited choice of brands and didn’t carry a lot of what I normally use. An aisle of Hispanic foods. An aisle of all kinds of dried beans and all kinds of rice in all size containers. They have a butcher counter with meat and fish, it all looked good. They have a deli and little place to eat. They have a smoothie bar too! Party and paper products. Geared to large containers and volumes. Veggies and fruit looked nice. Employees nice. Paper bags are a dime each.

S&F is always there when you need it.
The parking lot can b tricky to get to if you’re entering from the southbound side of Figueroa (where the HP Rec Center and Taco Bell are).
Experts know there is a second parking lot entrance/​exit behind the store.
S&F is not the store with the most variety, so you have to know exactly what you want. I like that this store doesn’t sit out on the street because it doesn’t get those random. people just walking in and the lines are never really long.
They’ve got dry ice and giant tubs of red vines.
I mean, really.
What else could a girl need?

Before I ever came here as a customer, I’d see families frequenting this place so I assumed it was a small, discount grocer. When I became a shopper for a local café, picking up supplies and actually went inside, I saw families still, but it quickly
became clear the actual purpose of Smart & Final is more to cater to restaurants/​supplies like napkins, cups, bulk boxes of chips, etc.
This would be a really handy spot if it delivered on this but products (basic items like lids) would go un-​stocked for days. I’d get the brush-​off when I’d ask when they could be expected to arrive back in stock. Blame was always shifted to the distributor, the order wasn’t placed right, etc. Very unreliable.
No one seems to have a working knowledge of where/​what products are stocked. When I could manage to track down an employee on the floor, they would be nice for the most part, but it was unhelpful having them surf the aisles searching alongside me… doing exactly what I was doing with no additional «insider» knowledge of where to find the lox in the frozen section. I assume they had the intentions of assisting me, but offering up something that was obviously not at all what I described was time consuming and frustrating. I’d end up politely shaking my head and saying, «I guess it’s out of stock huh?»
It’s fine to not know what lox is, I’ve had similar encounters at Fresco (albeit rarely) where an employee wasn’t sure about an item/​its whereabouts but the major difference was that they would quickly find another employee who DID know instead of haplessly gazing at the aisles with me.
I don’t know why any one would say the customer service is remotely good let alone great here.
There are a few younger ladies working here who were nice and gave me no hassle about my multiple returns the café would send me back and forth to make. I appreciated that. It’s a definite mixture here but almost every time, I would find myself waiting in a long line for the sole check-​out open. I was on the clock so this stood out to me even more.
This morning after a hiatus from coming here (I’m no longer with that previous job) I decided I was feeling lazy and in lieu of going down the road to Food 4 Less (my usual lazy option) I opted for the ultimate convenience of Smart & Final.
Got my 2 purchases and waited in the good olé’ single check-​out lane open (typical although it was 8AM so that’s understandable).
I noticed the cashier Debra already had a bit of an attitude when a man asked her if they carried cigarettes which to be fair, the word he said sounded nothing like cigarettes, but she had to sardonically point this out multiple times in a matter of a minute. Okay.
When it was my turn, I swiped my bank card. I came in with the aim of getting cash back so I was waiting for the debit or credit option to pop up as usual. She then bossily told me that I had hit credit, which I hadn’t. Sure enough, a second later the prompt popped up for me to enter my pin. I put it in and she insisted on telling me I had selected credit even when seeing I was typing my pin. I didn’t say anything and proceeded to push my cash back amount ($ 40). She then acted like that never happened and I can assume she canceled it and I had to swipe my card again. This time it only ran as credit and she insinuated it was my account’s fault and it did not have the cash in it/​the option for cash back. Of course I have more than enough in my account for this and it rubbed me the wrong way.
I realized it was pointless to further continue my original mission for debit/​cash back but I did say, «So this doesn’t give cash back?» to which I got no response. It made no sense why she behaved the way she did. Mission failed and her scornful/​borderline aggressive tone certainly did not help.
I’m a very easy-​going customer so it always stands out when I am treated poorly at a business and when I literally did nothing to provoke this behavior from her. I know «everyone has their bad days» but I have a very strong feeling this isn’t the case here.
Also, yes, the beer IS cheaper as I learned from a neighbor who is a lush and therefore was 100% okay with saving a buck or twfor a 30 pack of un-​refrigerated Budweiser. However, I’d rather suck it up and go to CVS across the street for ice cold brews instead of attempting that shoddy paper towel wrap –place in freezer «hack» that never really works.
The prices overall are not a noteworthy bargain unless you want super generic ketchup or canned vegetables. Bulk supplies are reasonable but there’s only a certain price range one can reasonably expect when it comes to styrofoam plates.
The fresh produce section is small and looks a bit worse for the wear. I once looked through the whole stock of strawberries trying to find a package that was, well, fresh and not off-​color and bruised/​dented. I had to settle on the «least» sad looking batch.
I consider myself smart so this is my final time going here.

I only come here for cleaning supplies and water. I’ve glanced at their meat selection which is extremely limited and not in the best condition. Their produce is decent but not too much to choose from. I’ve also go here to buy water but only when costco is closed. The 24 pack of water is a lot more expensive here. Staff does their job but does not go above and beyond. Only one cashier at all times. I’d only recommend shopping here in an emergency.

This store sucks. Only shop here, if u have lots of free time. they never have enough cashiers, long lines and employees doing other crap when they could be opening up a register. the mgr. is an idiot. never is aware of what is in stock. better off going to Food for Less, on Figless; the alcohol is cheaper. the laundry products and cleaning products are cheaper at food for less.
The line may be longer at Food For Less on Figuerora, but at least every register is open for a faster checkout. I mean a if ya have to shop int he hood, then make it as bearable as possible.