"A huge produce section greets you as you enter."
(in 5 reviews)
"This QFC was 24 hours and right near our hotel."
(in 4 reviews)
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QFC Quality Food Center
Rating Details »
Neighborhood: Queen Anne
500 Mercer St
Ste C-101
(between N 5th Ave & N Taylor Ave)
Seattle, WA 98109
(206) 352-4020
500 Mercer St
Ste C-101
(between N 5th Ave & N Taylor Ave)
Seattle, WA 98109
(206) 352-4020
- Price Range:
-
$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Garage, Validated
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
36 reviews for QFC Quality Food Center
Review Highlights
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Service is great. A little pricey, so get the discount card!
We're thrilled with this QFC. Not only is it mere blocks from our place, but the selection is quite good and the staff is very helpful. On more than a few occasions someone on staff has dropped everything he was doing to help me find something obscure, like fish sauce, or crushed cashews.
And by the way, it's open 24 hours a day.
The tipping point for me, however, was going through the cashier and getting a whopping $42 discount on a $130 bill because I had the QFC discount card. That definitely cushioned the blow of having to pay a little above market for groceries.
I go in here for a quick pick up when I am workign or going to the Seattle Center.
It's always warm feeling, clean and I can find that which I need quickly. Customer service is alway spleasant and prompt.
Quality Food Center (QFC) is a colossal supermarket in Lower Queen Anne that shares a chunk of the building complex with Genki Sushi, Office Max and an indoor parking lot. They carry all the essentials plus a little more, such as ready-made party platters, dvd's and lots of flowers. A great place for all your summer barbecue needs too, except for maybe serving platters and large utensils. They don't seem to carry any. Picnic sections are important to a grocery store during the summer months. It may even be an imperative like soap. Oh ohh ohhh!
I'm the first to admit I can be a bit of a dork. I mean who the heck visits places like Walmart, Target and Grocery stores when on vacation? Hopefully you do too so I'm in good company. It's just that you can find some cool things that you might not find at home so I get curious.
This QFC was 24 hours and right near our hotel. Awesome floor layout and speed thru self checkouts that actually work. Unique veggies and fruits. And pretty cool how it's part of an office building and major shoppers use the elevator to get to a parking garage. I liked....
I see they've covered the 'F' and 'C' part of their name, as they do carry food and they have walls and doors.
The 'Q', I'm not so sure about. Some of their food fails to live up to Quality. I couldn't find any tortillas without preservatives and/or partially-hydrogenated oils in them. Me no likey.
However, they are close to my work and the guy in the wine area is super nice and knowledgeable about vino, so that's good.
He's bringing Quality back, yeeeeeeeeeeeah.
Maybe I have really low standards after years of shopping in the wretched hives of scum and villainy that pass for grocery stores in Chicago. But I was pretty impressed with this place. Admittedly we just went in, got what we needed and went out, so I didn't have time to explore the store. But I liked what I saw. It was clean. The meat department had a good variety, and the woman working behind the counter was very helpful.
*sigh*...I really wish this was a good store. I work across the street and it would be so awesome if this store was dependable, but they're not.
Sandwiches are flat-out gross. Avoid anything prepacked or repacked in the deli case. Tip: Try to get to the soup before the homeless people with pinkeye start sampling. The produce is pretty good, but good luck getting anything else 'fresh' from there, or getting the attention of anyone behind the deli counter, especially without any attitude.
Speaking of attitude, what's with the checkers? I have never seen a staff so irritated to have customers. Sorry to interrupt your "stand around and glare" time.
There are a couple of employees who are nice - Mandy at the Starbucks counter who jumps over to help at the deli, and the girl that runs the floral department. Other than that, it's best just to head to Metropolitan Market.
Well, this is an odd one. I can't describe how happy I am that a grocery store went into this neighborhood a couple of years ago. Before then, it irked me that I had to get in my car and DRIVE 10 blocks or so to go to what used to be the great lower Queen Anne trinity of stores within a few blocks of each other -- the metropolitan market (used to be Larry's before they went south -- I guess having an AMEX monopoly wasn't such a good idea), Safeway, and, yes, the old QFC (which since moved to it's present location nearer to me).
So I'm grateful, in a way -- it alleviates my "green" guilt since now I can WALK to the store, and makes me feel more a part of this neighborhood community. But in exchange for green community-hood, I sold my soul to the devil, QFC.
The store is nice enough -- you are greeted by Starbucks (of course) on one end, followed by the produce section, reminiscent of an open air market, or at least that's the idea, I suppose. The cheese section rocks for its amazing selection, as does the medium-sized, but excellent wine and beer section (they even have a section especially for belgians). But everything is so expensive, I rarely buy too much of these things here, tempting as they are.
I used to date someone who worked for Kroger (which owns QFC and Fred Meyer), and I can tell you that everything they do -- from the sales to the layout, are cleverly designed to make you buy crap you don't really need and maximize profit. This may be true of every other grocery store, but I think QFC are masters at this. When you walk down the aisles, it FEELS like every other item is on sale. It SEEMS like you are getting decent deals. And I buy more than half my items on sale there (usually "saving" on average 20 to 30% off my bill, according to QFC receipts, at least). But when I check out, I feel like I got ripped off. I can easily spend $100 for perhaps a few days worth of food, and I still can't figure out how that happens.
I suspect that the produce is very expensive compared to other stores -- it's hard to tell the prices for the items you get because the tags are so far away from the food, if they are there at all. And the sales in produce are not particularly good. So maybe that is where my costs go up so much. Or maybe it's that one, nice-looking jar of $8 olives I impulsively threw into the cart. Or the double-priced spices.
Or maybe it's all the booze I buy.
Either way, I feel like when i walk out with $100 worth of groceries at this QFC, they weigh half as much (minus the booze bottles) as I would get at either Safeway or Trader Joes.
At least since I have that red advantage card, the Kroger devil sends me really great coupons in the mail for things it knows I've bought before (like a free pint of haagen daaz pint or dozen eggs or whatever). Kinda creepy, but it hooks me just the same, and I usually use at least some of them.
But as I leave the store, scratching my head trying to figure out why my butt suddenly feels looser and sore, and I pop open my $5 Cook's covered by one of those special brown bags, and stumble to few blocks home with my $100 bag of groceries in the other hand. Sure, I FEEL "greener," I FEEL more community-oriented, but also I FEEL like I was just screwed big time.
Still, I'm hypnotized into shopping here somehow. I both appreciate them, and RESENT them for taking my soul, thus the two stars.
But as Oscar Wilde said, "We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell."
Wow. I just went to QFC to buy supplies for a company party with a business check. First, the cashier insinuated that it was a *fake* check. We had to go all the way home to get the check binder. Rather than apologize for this insult and complete waste of my time, the manager brooded over the ordeal like I was some kind of petty thief. She *held on* to my cart while I checked out, then asked for the receipt! I've never been treated so poorly when shopping.
Let me let everyone in on a little secret. QFC charges a lot more than the Safeway about half a mile away. A LOT more. If you lived in the apartments above QFC, it would be cheaper for you to take a cab to Safeway and back than to purchase your groceries at QFC.
But perhaps you like quality cheeses and meats? Well QFC isn't for you either. You'd be much better off going to Metropolitan Market, because their selection is of a higher quality for the same price. And at Metro, they have professionals that can discuss the gourmet offerings at length.
I'll never spend another penny here again. If I wanted to be treated like a common criminal, I'd do something deserving of that.
My only regret is the thousands of dollars I've already given them.
(One more thing--while they were sooo worried about me, potential criminal mastermind, my friend noticed a group of emo kids come in, steal some booze, and leave. Ha. ha. ha.)
Groceries.
Mid-range in both quality and price.
This particular store is a little cramped.
I like QFC and have shopped at many of them around town, However, I find some of the checkers and baggers at this particular QFC to be quite rude and even hostile.
One of the baggers (an older african american woman) was actually annoyed that I wanted my soda bagged because it was heavy for her to lift. In fact, none of the women baggers seem to be very good at what they are doing.
It is always a gamble when I go there: sometimes the folks are nice and sometimes the ones who are rude are working and my experience is not so good.
If it wasn't so close to work, I would skip this QFC all together.
I always forget my QFC card and they keep giving me new ones to get the discounts.
Anyone need a QFC card?
Also, they have this Gruyere and Feta spread that is amazing.
Mediterranean bar is not as good as Safeway's.
Two stars - Two complaints.
1) You claim to be 24 hours, but that doesn't include Sunday nights when I desperately need to get a few things after a 6 hour flight delay and a 1 hour rental car experience (on my first official supposed to be day and turned to night) in Seattle.
2) You are super expensive. For reals. I got almost the same amount of groceries at Safeway for about $40 less. You suck QFC.
I'm sorry if you shop here.
Just walk the three blocks to metropolitan market where the employees are considerably less annoying and the food is almost always better.
Please? For your own sake?
I, like many others am subjected to the lameness of qfc due to its uptown convenience. I have learned to walk those scant few blocks, if only others do too perhaps we can run qfc out of (this part of) town and something else can take up that massive retail space.
My vote is for a indoor roller skating arena. It would be much more helpful in my day to day life than that crappy grocer.
WHO'S WITH ME?
You may not carry the specific pasta sauce that my taste buds crave, but your cheese selection is downright delightful!
And seriously, those little mini carts that I'd never needed or even seen before moving here... metal gridded brilliance.
I just bought a house in Queen Anne, and was convinced to shop here by the multiple coupons they sent me in the mail. From the outside, this store is nothing spectacular. The inside of the store is much nicer than the QFC in Wallingford where I used to shop. They have a great produce section w/ exotic fruits you don't usually see, i.e. baby pineapples, guavas, starfruits, dragonfruits, etc., and a great selection of tasty looking items in the bakery section.
The store looks very clean and has a general good selection of grocery items. The cashiers here seem like your typical I-don't-care-about-this-job twenty somethings, but they are all nice. Part of the latter may have to do with the fact that I shop there late in the evenings. And there is plenty of free parking in the garage. This store is 24-hrs.
Knocked one star off for the dismal 'live seafood' tank that they have in the store. It depresses the heck out of me to see those poor guys in a bare tank, knowing they're going to be dumped in a pot of boiling water by someone (yes, I'm vegetarian...).
Whoa, so when did 8 ounces of cocoa start costing $17? When they started selling it at QFC, that's when...
So aside from being so overpriced that one thing was shockingly half of my bill when I thought I was just running in for about 10-15 bucks of stuff... well, it's stressful to shop here. Using coupons *they* have all over the place, you still have to get one for every single item, very annoying when buying 16 ounce bottles of drinks as I was. The people who work there have never impressed me a bit... the layout is odd... and what's with the milk thing lately? They've had to sell their milk for a dollar a gallon because people aren't buying it... I was about to try it, but it was nearly expired... and wait, it was all milk... I don't know... something was in the air and if they didn't have this drink I really love that is hard to find, I wouldn't have gone there at all... but good golly I'll stick to Metropolitan Market, thank you, where I don't get scalped for buying the decent quality baking goods instead of the overprocessed crap.
Ultimately, this is kinda like that company you get when you change the name's F to a V--yeah, the home shopping one... when you have to SAY quality... you kinda have to question just WHY they say it... and I'm not convinced.
This store rocks in that it's open all night, has nice people and a nice space and it's exactly one block from where I usually end up staying in Seattle. 'Cause it is all about me. Thank you.
Our QFC at home isn't terrible but this one kicks its ass, steals its lunch money and sends it home with a wedgie.
A sequel in the continuing saga of airplane-hangar-style QFC's.
Predecessors include the Harvard Market QFC, et. al.
No wonder the neighborhood on Upper Queen Anne is so adamantly opposed to the Metropolitan Market being sold to the Kroegers chain that owns QFC.
The only explanation I can give for this QFC is that was built in mind to accommodate the flood of Memorial Stadium fans when it lets out, as well as for the new tenants of the southeast side of Queen Anne hill as the latter is bulldozed away in the interests of developers like the ones who have built this QFC.
Very difficult to find things here unless you go here all the time. The aisles go on forever.
A few days ago, after having strode up and down an aisle longer than an Olympic-sized pool looking for something, I crossed over to the other side of the store to ask a store clerk about its whereabouts. He himself had to check an enormous "locator" sign hanging what seemed at least 10 feet above our heads. Then he led BACK to the same far aisle to again start searching one more time.
Everything is dwarfed by the size of this store (granted I don't go to Costcos).
When you finally get over to the check-out line, the cashiers seem to be more interested in caring on conversations between registers than to the customers.
This adds to the impersonal, "anonymous" feel of this supermarket. The old QFC that was razed a year or two ago, on the other side of the Seattle Center, was a pleasure by comparison, though made obsolete by the new Safeway two blocks away.
Poor selection of bread the last time I checked. The loaf I bought was beyond the expiration date, as well.
***UPDATE***
It's a year later, and we've just moved off of Queen Anne. I'm gonna miss this store. In the year since I wrote this review, the selection has not changed. The cheese counter is still excellent. I've used the deli more and have experienced a couple of "meh" dishes, but that's just par for the course. So, just wanted to say that despite my dire predictions (see below), this QFC is still excellent. That is all.
__________________________________________________ _
When yet another hideous condo started to go up kitty corner from the former Tower Records (now Silver Platters) on Lower Queen Anne, I was predictably poopy about it. "More jumped-up spendy condos for irritatingly self-satisfied Junior Yupsters," I grumbled to anyone who would listen.
Now, I'm not quite so peeved, and for an entirely selfish and jumped-up and spendy reason: there's a magnificent new QFC in the street level retail space!
Not usually a fan of QFCs (too pricey for their drab selection), I am still suspicious that management will have to pull in their horns, tailor/limit selection to meet demand, elminate products, and that this QFC will end up like most of the others I've shopped at. In the meantime..... yay for this QFC!
A huge produce section greets you as you enter. I was softened up immediately, because asparagus was on sale for $.88 a pound! The floral department sort of drapes it's fragrant wares at the feet of Produce, which blends into the olive bar, the ziggurat of rotisserie chickens, and then the enormous cold cases heaped with fabulous cheese! Selection is very, very strong - almost rivalling Whole Foods - and features lots of excellent English farmhouse and small producer cheeses.
Behind the cheeses is a quite decent deli, with one of the best deals on fried chicken I've encountered: for $6.99, I got 8 pieces of hot, fresh, nicely crisp fried chicken that had hubby licking his fingers. Take that, Whole Foods! (Yes, I'm still bitter about my deli experience at the new Whole Foods. I need to go back and see if they've gotten their act together.)
Also scored on my first visit: a half dozen REAL cherrystone clams, for $3.00! On reflection, I think that might've been a mistake.
There's a rather vast wine department, a good beer selection, and several aisles of freezer cases holding a bewildering variety of meals to nuke. And, of course, HABA, a pharmacy, tofu and tofu-related products, fancy soft drinks, coffees, teas, beans, scrubby sponges, dish soap, olive oil, cereal, and all the other basics. I've been back for my every-other-day fresh things shopping since this QFC opened, and I'm still discovering things.
Is it pricier than Safeway? Yes. But with yuor trusty QFC card, a few extra minutes to prowl for deals, and the iron will needed to navigate the cheese selection without opening a second line of credit just to pay for your Stilton, you can do rather well here.
I like this store. I think you will too. But hurry in, because.... well.... you never know.
I don't like this place. The aisles are too small when you factor in grocery carts, especially where they keep the milk products and the juice case. Otherwise, I didn't see what is the big deal. Sure it's new, but it's just the same polished turd that is the entire QFC chain of stores.
While the friendly customer service kids were smiling at me and trying to engage me in conversation, they weren't doing their jobs by...
1. Ringing up several grocery items twice, coincidentally some bigger ticket items and
2. Forgetting to put one of my bags in the cart, as I nearly walked out of the store without it. Idle chit-chat is one thing, but get your job duties completed before you ask me how about my day.
I won't shop here regularly. I will continue to get things in boxes/cans at Safeway, and produce/meats/cheeses at Whole Paycheck or the Met Market.
Finally, a decent grocery store.
I really missed Larry's. I was a big fan of that place and gave Metrosexual Market a few chances and they just don't impress me. And honestly, I thought QFC's were nothing but a glorified 7-11. This store proves me wrong.
The main reason it's so great is its deli counter. Boar's Head everything with plenty of choices. Really impressive. And their baby aisle is the best in Seattle. Seriously, we went all over this city looking for decent diapers and formula and only this QFC makes the grade with us.
And with self check-out, this store just makes me day.
Wow. I've never actually enjoyed a QFC grocery store before. This one's so damn neat, that I took both my 15 minute breaks, and my 30 minute lunch, together at the same time yesterday, just to speed-walk my butt down here to pick up some lunch.
Did you know that a grocery store sushi case could be worth going out of your way for? Neither did I. Cheap, delish, and a wide variety of rolls and goodies to choose from. There's thin-crust, wood fire pizza, made fresh and to order if you like, which is just rad. There is, of course, the usual wide selection of everyday and specialty goods you'd expect from QFC, without the ghetto/sloppy feel they usually have.
Also, they must have really beat customer service into every single staff member here, because I've never encountered so many friendly, helpful, smiling people working somewhere in my life.
As another reviewer said, I'm sincerely impressed. And surprised. It would be five stars, but I just cannot bring myself to give five stars to a grocery store. I reserve that for Uwajimaya alone.
Stopped in to grab a quick lunch yesterday. Chose "fresh" California rolls from the sushi section and a bit of broccoli salad from the deli.
It was nothing special - not bad, not great...kinda what I expected from grocery store sushi.
About 3 hours later, however, a whole new saga began. There was clearly something "not so fresh" about my food, and I soon realized I had food poisoning. Not sure if it was the sushi or the salad and I don't really care...but I was up all night so I had plenty of time to think about it.
If I ever find myself in need of groceries or a quick lunch, this QFC will NOT be the place to go. Feh!
This QFC just opened yesterday, finally! I have been envious of the overdone QFC's at U-Village & the Broadway Market; now we have one in Lower Queen Anne! Now I too can wander the narrow aisles of QFC, stacked floor to top shelf with blindingly colorful packages only a 4-year-old could love. Spotting the Crosse & Blackwell plum pudding, hard sauce, & mincemeat was a cinch, surely due to the subdued labels; normally these are very hard to see.
You can buy air conditioners here. Regular 149.99, now 129.99. They are next to the flip-flops and hair color by the pharmacy.
There is also a large wine selection, featuring a walk-in wine cellar. I'm sure this will be a blessing on hot summer days, like the old walk-in fridge at Larry's Market! If only they had Peach Ne-Hi's in there...
Cool purchases: a purple artichoke (first I've seen this season), baby artichokes, and frozen escargots that turned out to be pretty good.
Staples stocked: Hershey's Chocolate AND Special Dark Syrups, MetroMint water in 4 flavors (spearmint, peppermint, orange mint, lemon mint), 13 different Tabatchnik frozen soups, Terra chips (original flavor), grits, Calcium-fortified LactAid, and - quite notably - a nice variety of natural, hormone/anitibiotic-free meats.
What was missing? Woodchuck cider and Jonathan Cope's Silver Queen Type White Corn, in the frozen section (but no one up here has it).
Big-deal bonus: Open 24 hours!
A welcome addition to the neighborhood!
The old lower Queen Anne QFC was awful. I think I only went there about five times in two years, and then only when, for instance, it was 1:00 a.m., I had to get up at 7:00 to get all four wisdom teeth removed, and I needed to lay in a supply of applesauce and canned soup to slurp while the holes in my mouth healed.
The new QFC has a great deal more than Campbell's soup to offer. It fills me with elation. I keep going in just because it's there (it's on my route home from work) and buying, oh, say, a pound of strawberries and an organic mango (yesterday) or a solitary red onion (the day before). I love the fact that the produce section, besides having nice fresh stuff (unlike the old QFC, which had no produce to speak of at all) is right at the front. I can walk in one door, grab whatever it is I forgot I needed for the supper I'm contemplating, swipe my ATM card through the card reader at the express checkout line, walk out the other door, and make my way home, having barely broken my stride.
The back of the store looks pretty appealing, too, like it probably will be inspiring someday when I'm wandering around at my leisure wondering what new things I might try to eat. In the meantime, when I emerge dispirited from the growling, exhaust-choked hole where Mercer dips under 99, I am immensely cheered to find fresh fruit awaiting.
Impressive.
This was my first time at a QFC and I'm extremely happy with The Metropolitan (which is also closer to where I live) that I wouldn't have ventured "all the way" down to 5th and Mercer except for the fact that I was looking for something in particular.
I'm SO glad I went though because as the other reviewers have said, its just amazing. Unique produce in the vast and organic-focused produce section (I found figs! I love figs!); excellent selection of cheeses; good selection of beer and wine...and I think that's all one really needs out of a grocery store. Prices are also cheaper than The Metropolitan (for a few of the things I looked at). Also, the seafood/meet selection at QFC isn't quite as extensive or alluring.
This is a fantastic grocery store. Spacious, clean - and never any children in it! No screaming kids asking mommy for cereal, a free cookie, soda pop, etc. No carts made to look like a race car. It's fabulous. Because for some reason....even the cutest kid seems to turn into Dr. Jekyll when they get enter a grocery store.
Go with a list or you'll end up with way more than you need. It's such a comfortable store to shop in that you'll want to meander through the isles to see what's on the shelves....
I used to frequent them when they were next to Key Arena, and I was terrifically disappointed to hear that they were moving to their new location on Mercer. So, I broke down and went inside the other day....
.....guess what? I was REALLY surprised. First, the people are much friendler (they had lost "something" in the old store, particularly in the deli). Second, they've got EVERYTHING, and I do mean EVERYTHING, but yet it doesn't feel like a big, huge store. Architecturally, they've done quite well with the space (and they have lots of it to work with). Parking is great -- they've got a basement garage that's easy to get in and out of.
The produce was great, the deli had an amazing array of stuff, and check-out was well done. My ONLY complaint (and it's a minor one) is that the bagels (yum!) are right in with the doughnuts (ugggghhhh...)
The new QFC on Queen Anne has definately lost its small homey appeal from the other one near the key... Their much larger staff are ruder and no one remembers you except the wonderful employees that moved from the old store.
Overall the store is great and it is nice to have some choice but the location sucks and it is hard to get to and I don't even know why they have different departments because the people don't help or like to help you... they make you feel like you are wasting their time of talking and gossiping among eachother.
One example I went to the Deli and asked if they had anymore roasted chickens, they only had one on the heat lamp display a "lemon" flavor which I didn't want. So I asked them if they had any more and I could clearly see them roasting and they (2 of them together chit chatting with eachother) said NO, aren't they're any on display I said no they told me that is all they had was the one lemon.
Now, first of all if they were doing their job they would have known they only had one left, secondly they could have informed me how long before the others would be done and thirdly, I am the customer and the cart of many items I was purchasing was going to be help increase QFC's payroll and their paycheck and I should have been greeted better as they kept chit chatting with eachother.
I get very annoyed when I go into the store at the lack of customer service in "some" of the departments. Please note not all the departments are this way it is usually the deli and they never know the answer to anything ... like if you are looking for a certain type of cheese or meat for a special event. Therefore, I've taken my business back to the Metropolitan where the class of the workers out number the young chatting cathy's at QFC. The MET employees gladly answer my questions and direct me to the right place and they are ALWAYS willing to help!
I use to use QFC as a quick stop in and go place in a hurry and thought I would give them a bit more business, but my business is going back to the MET and for a stop and go I would seriously rather visit 7-11!
I'm disgusted... and it is sad because there are still a very small handful of people that I still adore... Helen you are awesome!
When i was in Seattle i saw this place from the outside and thought it was a nice small grocery store for the locals. When i went in i saw amazed how big it was. It was a full on grocery store with everything. one night i was hungry so my cousins and i went there to get some food. I ended up getting the QFC made Cesar Salad and turkey sub sandwich and it was pretty good. My cousins were getting wine for the cruise the next day and they had a pretty big selection. I really wish i had one of these in California near my house.
QFC's generic pharmacy program is saving me bucks where it really counts -- in my meds. Yeah, Wal-Mart, Target and Fred Meyers offers similar plans but QFC is most accessible to me in Seattle proper. $4/$9 generics? The pharmacist was nice and helpful and I was able to peruse around while waiting for my order to be filled. As a person with nil health insurance, this can be a life-saver for me whereas if I went to CVS, I'd be forking $40+ per refill.
I'm not too crazy about this store, but I go there a lot because I live near it. This is one of those more upscale QFCs, so it has a pretty good selection of high quality items. I don't like the layout of the store. It's true that the carts are always a mess - they don't have a good space on the floor for the carts.
The staff seem pretty nice and not overbearing like the staff at Safeway who are always getting in my face and offering help that I don't need. But at this QFC, I did recently overhear an elderly man ask where the butter was and the employee said she didn't know where it was and she didn't offer to go find out for him.
The olives in the olive bar are not too fresh. They're not bad - but try the olive bar at the Magnolia Thriftway and you'll see what I mean.
I also find a lot of outdated items at this store, and I have sometimes purchased expensive items that were not any good. You have to check the dates on everything before you buy. Last time I was there, I looked at bagged lettuce, and there were rows and rows that were brown and nasty with a "best by" date from the previous day. Nice.
One nice thing about this store is that it's never all that crowded when I go in there - unlike the Safeway at the top of the hill where the lines can be a nightmare.
There is a garage under the building that is currently free, but is eventually supposed to require validation.
Stay away from the fish department.
Two weeks ago I bought frozen shrimp from the serve-youself bin. The iodine smell and taste, a hallmark of old seafood, was so rank after cooking, that I tossed the whole batch. Tonight, having given the fish department another run, I selected the exact piece and size of king salmon for $27.69, carefully baked it medium rare, and yuk. It is another old piece of fish that should have been turned into cat food. I am done with this store.
Maybe for the wines...they do have a good selection and good prices.
This is a superb store. Great big deli, lots of soup choices, great bakery with some of the best designed and tasty cakes I have had. The produce department looks great, great beer and wine selection, lots of friendly employees to help out. They have a nice little lotto and western union area next to some clean bathrooms (which is always appreciated).
OK.............so your probably wondering why just 3 stars after this rave review?
Location and Design. Someone fell asleep at the wheel or hit too many happy hours while configuring this store. There is plenty of parking and no lines to worry about at this store....why you ask? Because the are not attracting very many customers to one of the nicest supermarkets in Seattle.
Here is the problem, if you drive to this store....which the majority of people do like any other store, you want easy access and convenience. This store's parking lot is off Taylor Avenue just north of Mercer Street. If you live nearby you must take a left (north) when you exit this store........otherwise if you take a right you HAVE to merge onto Mercer street and get stuck in a typical horrendous backup.......if your jumping onto the freeway it's not so bad...............if your going anywhere else, your gonna be pissed. When you exit the store and Mercer is backed up, the line waiting to merge onto Mercer runs by the exit of the store. This means you need to hope someone will let you sneak by to make that left turn....and if they do.....you need to be looking for cars turning off Mercer and going north on Taylor (your view will be blocked by the cars trying to get to Mercer so LOOK out and be very careful. This is going to be a continuous problem at this store entrance/exit and hopefully nobody gets killed or seriously injured while making a quick shopping trip.
By the way.......if your car does get crunched at this location........Werner's Crash shop is 1 block away and they have a excellent reputation. I also wonder if the low attendance at this store has any affect on why QFC did not go forward with their planned store at the Metropolitan location on top of Queen Anne hill (cash flow problems?)
I realize my review has been somewhat harsh............please visit this store.......it's beautiful and has great employees..............just be careful if driving and realize if you use their parking lot (90 minutes free) unless you want to exit on Mercer street you must turn left when leaving this store. Good luck!
I'm not a fan of this place - I only go here on occasion because it's the closest place to where I live.
One of my first times here, I ordered some hot food. I asked for mashed potatoes, and that's what I got... except I noticed I was charged for ribs when I got home. Ok, no big deal, so I called customer service and they said to just bring in my receipt and they'll refund my money. So I get back to the store a couple days later and head over to customer service. I wait around for a while, but no one is there. So I head over to a cashier and tell him what happened, and at that point it is obvious he has no idea what to do. He thinks for a while and looks completely bewildered and confused. Then he suggests I head back over to the deli, and calculate what the difference was that I was overcharged, and then claim my refund. Ummm... yea right, what kind of customer service is that? If they really want to calculate the difference, fine, but do it yourself. Eventually I was able to get a hold of a manager, but instead of refunding my money, he asked me if I brought the product back. Are you kidding me? It was hot food from two days ago, of course I didn't bring it back. I eventually got my refund, but the entire experience was made to be much more difficult than it need to be.
As for the store itself, I'm not very impressed. QFC masquerades as a fancy, upscale grocery store with low prices. But in reality, the selection is poor, the quality of produce isn't great, and it's overpriced. If you want cheap prices you can go to Safeway, and if you want nicer stuff you can go to Metropolitan Market or Whole Foods.
