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This grocery store is the most convenient grocery store in the neighbourhood: clean, well lit and it contains all the stuff one would expect from a large grocery store. It's just missing a bit of the character of other San Francisco establishments, and its food selection is spotty in some areas. Yummy fermented soy drinks: check. Red lentils: fail. They also do occasionally seem to have problems turning over their produce enough, so they'll have stuff that is a little less than stellar. Check the produce carefully.
The staff here is amazingly friendly though. If you do stop by, make sure to say hi.
For its weak points, it's still the best place to get food stuffs late at night.
I'm not gonna lie, I go here 3-5 times a week since I live across the street. Plain and simple, it's convenient. Other than that, there's not too much to go on.
The quality of the food is so-so. Sometimes it's good, sometimes it's not. I've gotten bad meat, way old veggies, bad dairy, etc. that I've had to return. Most of the time I don't have a problem.
The prices...man, don't get me started on the prices. RIDICULOUS. I can get the same products (brand and all) at Trader Joe's or even Target for half the price, literally.
The staff is generally really nice, though my pleas to restock often sold-out items go unheard. "They're cutting back on that" is usually what they tell me. But you'd think that if it's constantly out, cutting back on products selling well is a bad idea. Hmmmm.
Come on, DeLano's...have more stock and charge less for it.
Hey, Tom R.. while it is interesting to know what IGA means, as a person who has been known to shop using food stamps, who does not have extra cash to throw around, i never ever go to this place for more than 1 or 2 munchie items.
As the many corner stores around here prove, one can own an independent grocery store without sacrificing quality of produce and while offering a good selection for a reasonable price. It sounds like you're a person who maybe does not have to feed a family, or does not need to worry about cutting costs while you make your political shopping points. I do, however, and i prefer to support truly small businesses by shopping at the produce store on the corner of the block where Delano's squats, or the Casa Lucas right around the corner from my house.
I don't know what's going on with the owners of this particular DeLano's, because the one out on 27th Ave and Geary is WAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY cheaper, and the quality is 200% better.
I echo everyone else's sentiments about how ridiculously overpriced everything is here.
The grapes are moldy. I'm no priss, but I instantly jumped and dropped the bag of grapes when I saw the huge white and green moldy mess on the bottom of the bag. It was easily the nastiest thing I had seen in a long time.
Obviously the employees didn't undergo customer service training. One time, my debit card was declined. Not after one, two, three, but FOUR tries. The cashier rolled her eyes at me as if she was silently thanking me for wasting her time. When I asked her if it was possibly a machine malfunction, she snapped, "NO. It's YOUR card." I had no choice but to do the walk of shame, which means leaving my bag of groceries at the counter and walking out in front of everyone.
I hurried home, worrying relentlessly about my money. What happened to my bank account? Did someone steal my debit card information on the internet and go on a shopping spree, thus wiping my account? Did the bank charge me a bunch of fees, thus making my balance go under 10 bucks? Did my cellphone company accidentally charge me a number of times? Netflix? Student loan payments?
As soon as I walked through my front door, I immediately went online and looked at my bank account only to find all of my money intact.
It WAS a machine malfunction. Although I was as relieved as you could ever imagine, I was beyond pissed at the cashier and her "I'm-holier-than-your-broke-ass" attitude.
DeLano's, screw you and your moldy grapes. I will not be back.
F you, DeLano's!
I always thought your prices were reasonable, I thought your hours made sense, and I thought your location was decent.
NO MAS!
You guys close at 2am. WTF?
$9 for a bag of frozen pasta? $5 for a can of soup? $4 for a box of two bite mini cupcakes? $3 for TOP RAMEN????
I'm a student, dammit. I can't afford these prices.
No thank you, DeLano's.
However, I LOVE your security guard. I don't know his name, but he is so genuinely nice.
You are damn pricey for what you offer.
Overpriced. Poorly stocked. Ok service. Poor selection.
I went there three different times since this year has started and everytime I attempted to get TIllamook sharp cheddar they were out. In fact, they had just the same amount of other cheese products out as last time. My guess was "maybe it was in high demand?" but I think not. I think they're just as lazy as ordering more/stocking up on produce as they are on checking if its expired or not.
Once I came here to grab alcohol and it cost me an arm and a leg. Delanos is always my EMERGENCY stop for food...bc its only 2 blocks from my house. I'd rather make the far trip to Safeway or Trader Joes for good produce.
Wish this place would get bulldozed over and replaced with a TJ or Safeway :(
Basically just a really big corner market. I suppose if it was more convenient to your's truly I might give them an extra star, but frankly I just can't imagine going back here. I'm no elitist; I'm definitely not above shopping at Safeway if it's easy AND has what I need, but the fact of the matter is that there's just no reason for me go back to this place.
i've been here for many beer runs, and picking up random groceries.
it was nearing 10pm, and i needed to do a quick shop for breakfast and lunch the following day. i was pleased to see that they had my favorite vegan spread: wildwood garlic aioli! this spread is not easily accessible, so often i have to make a trip out of my way to get it. it was nice to see that had healthy alternatives to dressings, yogurts, veg meats, and the whole lot.
it was quiet enough in the shop, so i was able to do a 5min sweep -- in and out!
i think i'm really into this supermarket simply because i'm a loyalist and, at this point, almost feel at home when i shop here. the cashiers and security guards are great for light, weird conversation and they're always playing oldies that are fun to whistle to while you shop. the quality here is exactly what you'd expect from an ol' IGA supermarket. normal. i must say, though, that i've noticed more and more variety and upscale brands making their way into delano's isles. nice cheese! there's a fairly new 'organic' isle there now, too, with some good bulk grains and candy (latest obsession: the all natural gummy bears. ha). they're open 24hrs.. i think. at least til 3a and before 6a which is all i need to ask for AND they'll give you coins to go into the back and use they're surprisingly clean bathrooms. I just can't seem to knock this place.
This place deserves a little more love.
Yes, the Safeway on Bryant is nicer. And hey, the Whole Foods in Potrero is... well it's a Whole Foods. But IGA is fine.
If you live within a few blocks of this place, it's a perfectly decent grocery store. They're even trying to bring in more upscale stuff. We got some nice bread the other day. The ice cream selection is getting better. And yeah, I've even bought fruit and veggies there.
And ya know what? It's relaxed. I don't leave here wanting to start mowing down idiots.
Agree with all the previous complaints on here:
- almost nothing on their bare shelves
- the things they do carry are NEVER consistently kept in stock
- produce is a TOTAL joke (thank god for Casa Maria, et al)
- so over priced it's ridiculous (and I'm talking everything included the EXACT same brands as safeway)
- this may just be me, but has anyone else noticed that anything in a refrigerated case or freezer seems to be a little too warm for comfort...?
I'm not one who must always buy fancy stuff (though when needed it would certainly be nice to have the option to buy it) but this place doesn't even have so so so many of just the basic everyday run of the mill foods and varieties that a store of their size ought to stock.
I've never in my life seen any kind of store run as poorly as this one.
This place sucks and is so overpriced. It's also gross and dirty, and there selection is horrible, but it's close to my house so I've been there a few too many times.
Once I bought a loaf of bread here, and when i got home i noticed that some cute little rodents had eating there way thru the bag and into the loaf itself. It was a lttle cave of bread, and although it was strangley cute, I returned it. The checkout women told me as I returned it, "yeah, we have a bad rodent problem here" and laughed...... gross!
Also, once during a long wait in the long lines, I had a junkie approach me inside the store and ask if I had change for him or if I could buy him some food. He was also not your typical SF Junkie, he had it rough and was all skinny and super dirty and had scabs all over his face/hands/arms. Although I am used to people asking for money, I was shocked to see that no one was asking him to leave, and the checkout women was actually talking with him and calling him by his first name! They were friends and she was allowing him to harass the customers in line and spread his nasty germs.
ahhh...gross.
I'm a little embarassed about this. I feel like it's a nasty secret I have. I live right next door to Delano's and it is overpriced and a big chain (well, not the biggest chain of chains), BUT they do sell some good organic stuff now - Straus, organic chicken, casa sanchez products.
I've made a commitment to shop at Golden Produce in the Castro, but - in a pinch - Delano's is doing better than Cala did. And they must treat their employees right because the clerks here are some of the kindest of any grocery store. No surly service at check-out - always very pleasant.
Ok, I hang my head in shame as I walk in and out, but I only have to do that for a half-block, so it's worth the compromise ... like I said, in a pinch.
The IGA in Delano's IGA stands for Independent Grocers Alliance. This is exactly the kind of little guy co-op taking on the big guys that should be nurtured and supported.
If you prefer throwing your money at international conglomerations and buying produce that's been trucked in from across the country rather than buying local stuff then by all means shop at Safeway.
Delano's is full of super friendly staff. Tala always steers me toward the good produce, they have piles of Organic produce. They have a first rate deli, the best in the neighborhood. They have a good selection of craft brews and decent wine.
When I saw the ill informed negative reviews here I got a little mad because you fools don't know what you're talking about. Take your frou-frou candy asses to where ever snotty rich people shop because this is the mission damn it and we don't want you in our stores anyway.
Okay, I have to update my review here, if only because of the bizarre thing that I encountered here tonight.
I have to say that this place has gotten a little better - someone down at Corporate figured out that not everyone in the Mission is looking for bulk pinto beans and they've started selling some better wine, cheese, organic stuff, even a few fancy magazines. These are all at exhorbitant more-than-Whole-Foods prices, mind you, but I buy them every once in a while just to let the buyers know they are on the right track.
But, back to earlier this evening. I was picking up some coffee. I chose Peet's, even though it was $13.95 for a pound and you can get the same stuff in an actual Peet's for $10.95. I was desperate to have coffee for the morning.
So as I'm checking out, there's a lady in front of me who wants a small jar of instant Folger's. Why is she asking for it at the checkout? Because they have it LOCKED UP. So I have to wait like 10 minutes while they scramble around looking for the keys to get this lady her $2 instant Folgers (really? someone drinks that?). I asked the cashier, jokingly, "are people stealing the instant coffee?" and she told me that yes, people steal it all the time so they had to lock it up.
Okay, I'll admit, I'm old and out of touch. Is there some kind of drug you can make using instant coffee?? Coffee Crank? Is that what the kids are into these days?
Anyway, I waited and waited and finally they unlocked the $2 instant Folger's and sent that lady on her merry way to make crank or whatever so I could pay for my $13.95 Peets French Roast whole bean that was just sitting on the shelf for the taking. Stoopid Delano Cala.
This place has inspired me to write my first Yelp review. When Cala closed I really didn't think it… Read more »
Close to my apartment, convenient and they have a pretty decent selection of organics & high end products. I think that they've been slowly making improvements to this IGA - trying to cater to the growing population of Mish hipsters.
It's just easier to go here than to go to Rainbow or Trader Joe's or Safeway... so what if it's still a little ghetto around the edges?
Lesbians making out while paying for groceries. well alright.
I can see how shopping here is convenient on many levels.. like having it's own dedicated parking lot. Hooray.
I found what I needed, but the only problem was that the checkout was a little slow because someone tried to pay with their card and it shut down the whole system, but it's alright though, no hurry..
Don't be confused when you first walk in. Don't dash back out, stare at the sign, and then reenter, looking quizzical. No, you're not at an amusement park, but yes, that is a turnstile that you're going to have to walk through to get into the grocery store. Just in case you think it's for security purposes, check out the big gate right next to it, and the numerous open checkout aisles anyone could sprint through. I guess DeLano's just wants people to get into a party mood when they shop here. So they can crush that mood.
There are few things I hate worse than grocery shopping. And if there's one person in the whole wide world who hates it more than me, it's wifey. So we're not in the mood to be jerked around when we go grocery shopping. And the turnstile is a bad way to set the mood.
My biggest complaint about DeLano's is that they don't know what they want to be: discount store (hey, week-old bread for only 50 cents!) or up-scale (hey, artisan salami!). So, they stock a little bit of both, along with a whole lot of Mexican food (fits the neighborhood, and it all looks intriguing), and call it a grocery store.
If http://Safeway.com didn't suck 32 flavors of donkey balls, I wouldn't come here. But that's not the world we live in. Instead, we live in a world where http://Safeway.com regularly tells me they're out of paper towels. So, I need a place where I can fill the voids http://Safeway.com regularly leaves in my order (and in my heart). DeLano's manages to fill the void, sort of, without pissing me off too much.
So, 3 stars.
Delano's IGA on South Van Ness is open late at night, stocks something for just about any kind of craving that might hit you after Rainbow closes, and has friendly workers--or at least the night shift is friendly. The prices are higher than Rainbow's but better than Safeway's on their modest selection of "natural" foods--Safeway seems to think that you have to be rich not to eat food that has been processed absolutely to death.
This store doesn't carry everything I want, but it carries enough to keep me going until Rainbow opens in the morning. For that reason alone, to me it is a lonely, bright little gem in an otherwise under-served area.
Yeah it's in the Mission. On the "bad" side of Mission Street. But anyone who thinks there are drug deals going on in the parking lot at night needs to take a tour down around the 16th street BART to see what real action looks like. No, the lot is not illumined by Klieg lights. And walking there late at night might feel sketchy especially if you are small or disabled. But there are taxis if you don't have a car of your own, and the parking lot itself is a luxury in an area otherwise filled with flats and businesses crammed so tightly together the back yards themselves are all their own isolated ecological niches.
But if it's still too scary, get in your car and drive to Safeway. No whining! You're a grownup now.
I avoid this place almost at all costs, but tonight I decided to stop by to pick up some rice and chicken broth for my sick girlfriend. Now I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure rice takes a long time to expire. So tell me why I got home and noticed that my rice had expired. More than 9 months ago!! God knows how long it must have been sitting on that shelf. 4 years or so would be my best guess. Wow. Purchase meat here at your own peril.
This place has two things going for it. It's very close to my new apartment and there is never… Read more »
The only things I buy at this place are:
egg
bacon
prefab chickens
olives
avocados
oj/grapefruit juice
goat cheese
peanuts
chips
salsa
In this realm they function quite well. They kept the casa maria salsa and chips that I can't live without so Delano, I salute you.
The bonuses over cala are that they removed the tables outside where crackheads would lounge around doing crack. They also tend to keep the parking lot pretty clean too, bonus. The only reason I go here is because it's only 2 blocks away. Otherwise I would never ever go here.
Another thing I noticed was that Deleno's added a turn style entrance to cut down on ppl stealing fruit and walking out which I saw happen quite often. Good move Delano. Some MBA definitely optimized this place a good bit.
I never thought I'd miss the old Cala store. Limited selection, high prices, poor produce, beaten down employees, etc.
The good thing about this store is that it's there when you need to get something at an odd hour and don't feeling like driving all the way to DIamond Heights, the Sunset, or someplace where they have more user-friendly supermarkets. So for that reason, it's sort of hard to dump on it too much; I'm glad it's there. The downsides, some of which have been mentioned by others, is that stuff doesn't always seem that fresh; it smells a little antiseptic, musty, or something; the lighting makes me wanna get out of there as soon as possible; and it's hella expensive. I think that unless they do something to improve it, the prices and unattractiveness are just going to lead to a downward vicious circle. Who does supermarket makeovers?
Change sucks. I had a feeling Delano IGA was gonna screw up my Cala foods, I just had no idea how much so. Do you remember the skipper of the Exxon Valdez? He must work for Delano IGA now.
Mission Cala was never known for its meat or produce sections, but now, it's downright SCARY. I saw a flank steak last night that would have been considered "rotten" even in medieval times. The WORST part is, they've jacked-up the prices on EVERYTHING in the store. Eggs, deodorant, vodka, hot pockets, Just for Men hair color (ummm...a friend told me about that one)...EVERYTHING.
1 star. It looks like I will need to trek my lazy ass over to the 9th Street TJ's from now on. I just hope they have Dark Brown Just for Men...for my....ummmm...cousin.
Guys! The new Cala is amazing!! They've completely redone the interior! They lowered the price of everything plus they have the same super cheap specials but you don't need a card! It's totally clean with non-fluorescent lighting, great music, attractive produce displays, new security guards who look like they might do something if someone stabbed you, and a large sign detailing their new freshness policy-- perishable items donated to charity three days before their expiration dates! The new cashier even told me they'd totally sell me beer after 2am if I did a secret knock on the back loading door!!!
That's the review I really wanted to write, but as you'd expect it's completely untrue. I don't think they even cleaned the floors during the "transition" last night. The only difference I see is that they moved the coin counting machine and GOT RID OF THE GOOD ALCOHOL SPECIALS. I knew I should have stocked up on Campari when it was $16.
You fail, new Cala.
Edit:
Ok, so as much as I'd clearly like this to be Rainbow's new south Mission pescatarian location, DeLano's is what it is and mostly succeeds on those terms, so plus 1.5 stars. Incidentally, it's entirely possible that I've softened up solely because they replaced the mean old lady cashier with a very sweet old lady, thus making the whole experience a lot more pleasant.
Positives:
There is always parking
They have a Coinstar machine
They are 5 blocks closer (without hills) to my house than any other grocery store.
They carry vitamin water (All 15 flavors)
Negatives:
It's pretty damn ghetto (and this is coming from someone who LOVES Foods Co)
So I was out of the country a year ago and I came back and my grocery store of, oh my god, the last more than a dozen years had CHANGED.
The Cala was never a store for the ages, but it wasn't too bad for being a block away and open 24 hours. A weekly trip to Trader Joe's covered its lapses, but TJ's can't help when you need ice cream at 1 a.m. Also I once saw a short indie film from about 25 years ago that I recognized as being set in this store, a remodel or two ago, and that's always fun.
So I'm suspicious of the new guy. But there wasn't a huge immediate employee turnover. The club card went away, which meant they weren't monitoring my purchases every time I wanted to buy something on sale!
And then they started to make a little more shelf space than the Cala. Ralph's brands disappeared, no loss, to be replaced by some other set of store brands. Then I started noticing all the tags for ORGANIC or NATURAL items. That was one of the things I'd had to wait for the weekly TJ's runs for! Some of it was spendy, some of it compared okay to the TJ's price, and all of it I could get at 1 a.m. Chocolate is somehow less of a guilt trip when it's organic and fair trade....
It's still not like having a 24-hour TJ's around the corner, but nobody has that. Downside: I can't buy ice cream at 2 a.m. anymore, because that's when they now close. But a 20-hour store in the neighborhood (with a parking lot that's never full for those of you further than a block away), with an okay stock and a fair selection of guilt-reducing products is easily worth four stars. (Just, get yourself some fair trade/organic MILK chocolate! I know the high-cocoa stuff is trendy but WHATEVER!)
Oh, and they started taking WIC again just as soon as they got the government bureaucracy to let them (they had signs all over the place before that, telling customers they could use the store phone to call the government to tell them to move their butts on it, for a while). And I don't find the parking lot scary--in fact, my favorite change solicitor, real nice guy, used to frequent there--but then, it's a block from my house, I like the neighborhood.
It's a fine neighborhood supermarket, it takes care of basics a-ok. All of the checkers are really friendly, the guard always smiles and says hello, and even though overall it's not cheap, they have decent weekly specials on ok soups and what not that you can stock up on. They are making an effort to emphasize green, local and organic products, so I applaud them for that. I am surprised people have such an aversion to a plain old neighborhood supermarket. You can't have froofy SF markets everywhere and thank god for that.
The place is a little pricey, but it's not horrid for getting one or two items late at night. They even have this really good glass bottled milk.
It's much more cleaned up than the Cala foods that used to exist here, but time will tell if they can keep it up.
- overpriced
- rude security people at the door
- horrible selection
- poor quality products, not terribly fresh
only thing this place has going for it is that it's open late. still, i miss the old 24hr cala- it was sketchy, but at least it was 24hrs. at this point, i just wait until morning, or walk to safeway.
the cashiers are ok too, but hardly redeem the overall experience.
I really only go here because it's close to my house, and the two stars go to two really simple things:
The people who work here are super nice
The music is always good, it's weird.
Oh, and I just went in there the other day with a hug back pack and it was raining and they gave me a garbage bag to put over my backpack. So...I think they are cool with backpacks now.
yeah, the place is going from really bad to worse. Cala used to suck cuz the prices were higher, but it was 2 blocks away and was open 24 hours.
now, the place closes at 2 a.m., and things are way pricey and they've stopped carrying some of the essentials on my grocery list: soyrizo, pozole de pollo, my deodorant. It feels like a discount market, like the place on Folsom and 15th or so but without the low prices.
I love the people that work there. They go out of their way to help, but this is a corporate thing, I am sure.
2 stars because as a 24h store it is convenient but 2 bad things:
- one of the employee at register consistently gives incorrect change
- bought a crab yesterday which I had to through away because probably too old and just concentrate of amonia...at $7.99 a lb not cool. I will avoid seafood in the future.
i consider them soldiers.
ser.
It's true, all 15 flavors of vitamin water are sold inside the building. All other flavors of pharmaceuticals can be purchased in the dimly lit parking lot.
I just went there yesterday, not realizing it had changed ownership. I went there because, even though Cala sucks, I knew it wouldn't be crowded (I just needed a few basics)... it being the day before Easter and every mainstream grocery store packed with cars, people, kids, carts. Not here! Very quiet. Though I didn't hate it as much as Erik H., I will say this - it's a weird place... very weird.
Boycott this place if you care about not being treated as a criminal at your local grocery.
So I've lived near "DeLano's IGA" since it was Calla Foods. I go [went] there every couple of days to get groceries because it was convenient. The selection isn't great, the produce isn't great, etc... Sometimes you have to wait for a cashier to show up, and when there are more than 4 people in line it takes forever. But hey, it was close, right?
They just started a policy so that anyone in the neighborhood hoofing it over there cannot bring their backpack, bag, or whatever into the store. That sucks. They asked me if I would leave it out near the door and that change machine. If they can't trust their security to make sure I don't steal cheese, I'm sure as hell not trusting that their security guard will keep my bag safe 5 feet from the door. I marked "Not Sure" for wheelchair accessible -- I am not sure if it really is since they also now make you go through a turnstile on the way in...
people say this place is scary. what may be scariest is the way my friends look at 2 am in the harsh lighting in here. as evinced by my former comment, it is open late, so that is good, and its daily longevity is worthy of a couple of stars. the third star stems from their kind staff people and the newly displayed organic produce up in there. on the flipside, it is overpriced. waaaaaaaaaaay overpriced. vaya con dios.
sucks but they play some good supermarket radio ( whitney, mariah, etc. )
they need to carry more organics and less pathetic produce.
right next to my new apartment and totally overpriced. and they close at 2am i just discovered! i wanted some ice cream :(
Kangen water now available!
Neighborhood: Marina/Cow Hollow
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Category: Grocery
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Category: Specialty Food
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