Gene’s Fine Foods

I come here 1 – 2 times a week just for the sandwiches. Hands down, the best I’ve ever had. I haven’t even grocery shopped, it would survive as a sandwich shop alone. Solid price, Bacon isn’t extra, and is stuffed with goodness. ¹⁰⁄₁₀

This is the only place I buy any type of meat. The butchers are always friendly and well informed. For a small store they have a great selection of produce. In addition to that the rest of the staff has always been excellent. When you shop there you are truly supporting your hometown market.

Unfortunately the honeymoon always ends. We still love all the organic produce and the fresh sushi. The sushi chefs and produce people are wonderful and helpful.
There are some great people that work here. But recently the deli and butcher/​meat counters have had some serious service and product issues over the last six months or so.
We were excited about the fresh organic juice but getting some is way too much work. It is either in bottles that are expanding from decomposition or it takes 20 minutes to get a fresh juice. So we have given up. We have had several really bad experiences with Amber who makes it clear you are bothering her anytime you need help. She shoved a spoiled bottled juice back at me barking I needed to take it to a register. I just wanted a fresh juice, one that wasn’t decomposing. She also calls people names like *hon* etc. We are not at a bowling alley and I am not your *hon*. I have waited at the deli counter while people pretend to not see you. Or they are eating the food they are preparing and chewing when they address you. Gross!
Which brings me to the meat counter. There is one tall, dark-​haired younger guy who is great as well as several others. And then there are others who are curt, pretend not to see you or disappear into the back for 5 – 10 minutes. One time not one person was there and I had to ask someone if anyone was working. Five guys came out of the back chewing food. Again YUCK!
We have recently purchased rotten seafood that we had to return twice! Thank goodness I smelled it before ruining my gumbo. In the past we have had to return many meat items that have passed their sell by date nd are no longer good. Really disappointing.
We hope Gene’s gets it together.

Horrible horrible service.
If you come across the employee Amber stay away. I overheard her make both racist a homophobic comments about other customer in the store at the time that were «asking too many questions».
I’m sorry is it not your job to answer and help. This put a bad taste in my mouth. Clearly genes fine foods is okay with this behavior. This ends me ever going there again and I was one of their biggest fans. Now they leave a horrible taste in my mouth. Pitiful and disgusting.

I just need to say it. I love this store. everything about Gene’s Fine food is absolutely incredible. The quality of food they have is outstanding, and the overall company really helps small businesses within the community. While the prices here are higher than somewhere like Walmart, the store boasts a HUGE organic section, and its far more trustworthy than a massive corporate giant that most of people shop at. the employees dont look overworked, and i feel as though i can actually trust that what i buy in the store was produced ethically. I highly recommend shopping here!

It’s a looks like a nice clean grocery store, has about every thing a grocery store carries, but the prices are a little pricey. You can find same things you need at Trader Joe’s or Safeway For a lot cheaper. Bought some produce today, almost double the price I would’ve spent in Safeway.

I came in here the other day looking to buy a book of stamps because Rite Aid didn’t sell any next door.
My conversation with this older lady with glasses:
Me: «Excuse me, do you sell book of stamps here?»
Lady: «Yes, we do. They are $ 9.00 however we only accept cash for them.»
Me: «Do you accept Debit?» [You know, whenever you swipe your Debit card, you get an option to pay via Credit or Debit — inputting your 4 digit Pin]
Lady: «I’m sorry, but we only accept cash.»
Me: «Oh, never mind then. I don’t carry cash.» lol
Lady: «We have some lovely chocolates here you can buy [points to a display of individual wrapped chocolates] and suggested I can request cash back to get cash instantly using this method.»
Me: «No, it’s okay,» as I walked out telling myself, WHO in their right mind would input their 4 digit Pin to get cash back? The whole incident rose red flags on my mind. lol
I went to Lucky’s Supermarket where they sold the same book of stamps for 80 cents more and I was able to buy without having cash. Safeway sells book of stamps too.

Service here is great! They have a wide variety of gluten free foods including regular and reduced sodium soy sauce! Kevin and the cashier (young black guy) were so friendly and helpful! I would highly recommend this place to anyone.

It’s unfortunate that I feel compelled to write this review. I have been a customer of Gene’s for years now. They have been my go-​to source for their incredible meat and seafood selections with a very knowledgeable staff of butchers.
That said, today was 2-​for-​2 with terrible customer service at the check-​out counter. The women-​grocery clerk who rang up my purchase scanned all my items placed them all into my bag and never once even looked at me let alone spoke to me until it was time to click «yes» on the card-​slider.
Since the grand-​opening of New Leaf Market I’ve been shopping there for most of my groceries and baking supplies. Gene’s has been my source for most of my meats and seafood. That will change starting today.
From now on I’ll be turning to Whole Foods in San Ramon for my meats, seafood and Thanksgiving Turkey order.
As a business owner myself, excellent customer service is an essential part of the equation to success. I wish it was possible to purchase my meats and seafood from the butchers.

We found this gem here on Unilocal 2 years ago, picked up sandwiches on way to Scottish games at fairgrounds. THE BEST SANDWICHES EVER!!! Can’t wait till this year games to do it all over again.

OK… I lied! Went back today for Boar’s Head, bread, and few minor items.
The store has been completely re-arranged…some new cold cases have been installed. Still pricey, and most defiantly watch the pull dates on perishables.
Better than old… still not a fully functional grocery store.

I live over 10 miles away, so I don’t frequent the store — like a previous Unilocaler said, «wish there was a location in Livermore».
The few times I have shopped there, I make a bee-​line for the Seafood counter. I can always rely on the freshest selection and plenty of selection as well.
The most wonderful part of my experience, is that upon entering the store, it is always so clean, well organized and does not have any unusual smells, that some other grocery stores may have. The staff is delightful and very helpful.
Please get a location in Livermore!!!
Thanks Gene’s — keep up the great store !!!

I can’t say enough good things about Genes other than I wish they had one in Livermore. I most frequent this supermarket during the middle of the week since its not far from my work. They offer a wide variety of specialty foods while also keeping
home and food basics in stock. Their deli is amazing. I love the freshness and generous amount of meat on their sandwiches. Our office has purchases party trays and everything has been fabulous. Gene’s is clean, easy to navigate and their customer service is top notch. I’ve never had to wait in line for any long period of time.

Come for: big sandwiches
Skip: tuna salad
Came to the deli counter to get a tuna salad sandwich. They have the standard deli fare, nothing too fancy. I ordered a tuna salad on Dutch crunch which comes with cheese, condiments and avocado spread at no extra cost. Score!
When I was handed the sandwich, it was the size of a brick! The portion was so big that it feed me for lunch and dinner! The only complaint is that the tuna salad was way too sweet. It must be the type of mayo they use because I can’t imagine they add sugar in this.
$ 6.99 for that size of sandwich, it’s quite a deal!

I’m really impressed with how the new owners are running Gene’s. So many great changes. From the layout of the store, new — super clean — shopping carts, to a farmers market feel outside.
The man at the meat department (I’m going to report back with his name) was so friendly and helpful tonight. I purchased some Petrale Sole and he asked me how I was going to prepare it. Told him I was striving for a light dinner and he proceeded to give me so many helpful tips. So nice! The employees overall have been genuinely friendly, helpful & knowledgeable.
I wish they opened at 7 a.m. during the week!

I like the quality and quantity of the Organic produce, very fresh.
Would like to a selection of gluten free products.

There’s no fine there.
Gene’s changed hands in 2012. Classic Gene’s had the best produce in the Tri-​Valley area, a great full service meat counter, and a good deli. The staff was quirky and helpful. The produce is now about the same as Safeway. The meat counter is still full service but now has two price tiers. The deli is the least changed although the selection is not as large. The staff has turned over 100% and lacks the individuality of the previous crew. More importantly, the 100% staff turnover has to say something about the new management.
I loved to buy meat and produce at Classic Gene’s. New Gene’s is an ordinary smaller grocery store. There was never any reason to shop the middle of the store and they’ve taken away the reasons for shopping the perimeter. It’s too bad. Classic Gene’s was a textbook example of how to compete with the chains by staking out a niche. New Gene’s is a textbook example of trying to be just like the chain stores only smaller, higher priced, and more limited in product variety. Sounds like a blueprint for failure for anything larger than a convenience store.

Small but nice bakery, fresh produce, and a good salad bar for grabbing a quick lunch. Staff were pleasant. A nice mix of gourmet and every day products.

I happend upon this store in a carb depleted post workout haze with the original intention of going to Peets for some light sustanance. I missed my turn, twice, and ended up in this parking lot instead and decided to give it a shot.
In place of my whole milk Freddo I found sushi! I went with the Spicy Tuna Roll. I must have looked like a lathargic mess because the person working that section reminded me to get chop sticks… I appreciated that.
The check out woman had a smile and was pleasant. Not really something you see very often so I liked that too.
I took my roll back to my office and it didn’t have that «I’m that old sushi sitting in the display» smell. That assuaged my skeptisim so I dove in and destroyed the whole 12 pieces! It was really good, tasted fresh, and the sauce was good. In a pinch I can see myself coming here to grab lunch in the future.

I don’t understand why Gene’s prices aren’t competitive after Safeway opened so many new locations around it. The quality here isn’t that much better than the chain stores. For example, $ 23.99/lb scallops vs $ 14.99 at Lucky’s? Come on!