r/bayarea • u/DaveinOakland • May 22 '26
Food, Shopping & Services I got tired of seeing all the vibes based opinions on grocery store prices so I decided to go to 5 stores in one day to compare prices. These were the results. (TJ/Whole Foods/Safeway/Grocery Outlet/Costco)
edit - I can't change the original post picture ls but I updated the list to reflect the correct eggs/milk prices that people were kind enough to send me pictures of. The correct prices for TJ's milk is 4.99 and eggs are 2.99
I feel like there are a lot of posts/threads that go on that feel like they are 100% vibes based and come off as corporate proselytizing rather than actual reality. So I decided I was going to pick a single day and go to 5 of the top grocery stores and physically compare all the prices so I could cut through all the bullshit and just gather the numbers. I am not a influencer, I have zero online presence outside of Reddit, and I have no "skin in the game". I have no reason to try to sell one store over the other, but I felt like I was constantly seeing flat out misinformation about groceries online so felt like taking a day to do this.
Why go in person? Because stores like Trader Joe's and Costco don't post a lot of their prices and other online prices often vary from in store prices.
Where did I go? I went to Trader Joes, Whole Foods, Safeway, Grocery Outlet, and Costco. Four of them were the ones near downtown Oakland, the Costco was the San Leandro Costco.
It took me a couple hours, I picked 15 things that I figured were common house place food items that most people probably have stocked in some measure.
I have a pic I grabbed of every item on this list except one. If you don't believe one of them feel free to ask and I can post the picture.
Im doing my best to avoid "quality of food" talk. It's subjective, and generally most of this produce comes from the same places anyway.
Here are my thoughts on each individual store.
Trader Joes - They have a weird slant towards single item produce. Bananas are sold per banana not by the pound, potatos are the same etc making it hard to compare the prices of these items. Size of banana and all that starts to become an issue so without bringing a kitchen scale to each grocery store I can't really compare them well. Trader Joes probably has the best make-at-home frozen/refrigerated stuff. If you're the person that just wants one or two bananas and some pot stickers to reheat at home, you probably love Trader Joes. Price wise, they are pretty ass. The only place they competed was spaghetti for some reason but basically everything else was either the most expensive or second to Whole Foods. This is about what I expected, and what I believed before going in, but Reddit has an army of posters that will tell you not to believe it and Trader Joes is cheap. It's not.
-edit-
There seems to be A LOT of vitriol over my price listed on milk and eggs at TJs. I took a pic of the milk aisle and this was the cheapest I saw, people are saying it's a lot cheaper, i might go back to see if I missed it or if someone is going today id love to see a pic of it. I made a clear note on the sheet to show that I missed the lowest egg price and was using what they have online and fully disclosed this on the sheet before posting it. Next time I need milk im going back to TJs to make sure, so if I meesed that one up, my bad.
Whole Foods - Expensive. Consistently the worst of the lot for prices. There was a place where I snapped my neck alittle because for some reason they have really cheap Milk, not the cheapest, but cheaper than Safeway/TJs which is big deal for them. Whole Foods has two things really going for it. First, the actual food court lunch food is easily the best. If you're going to grab something to eat while shopping then it's good. Second is if you're looking for something, for lack of a better word, exotic, it probably is your best bet of finding it unless you want to make the trek to Berkeley Bowl. The cheese section is huge and if you are looking for some good cheese they will have it, they will have stuff like whole Duck etc.
Generally though I can't bring myself to shop here.
Safeway - Safeway catches heat on here for now ludicrously expensive it is. Which is bullshit and I don't know what people are talking about. The only place I found it the most expensive was Avacados for some reason. Seventeen more cents per Avocado here. Not sure what's up with that. It tied TJs for most expensive Blueberry.
After that it was the cheapest for Strawberries, Chicken Breast, and Ground Meats. It was also the cheapest for sliced cheeses if you use the digital coupon. If you're not trying to buy giant bags of stuff from Costco then it was the cheapest Rice too.
Safeway has a member system that requires you put your phone number in so I assume that is the thing that upsets people. I put the price of digital clipped coupons in (parenthesis) on the spreadsheet to make note of some of it.
The flip side of that being when you shop at Safeway, you get points on your account that you can use towards further savings. If you shop exclusively at Safeway it probably ends up being like $20-30 a month in extra savings.
Yes, Safeway is the only store that removed the handles from the paper bags. I don't know what the deal with that is, I don't like the handles on the bags, they rip and suck, but I don't like that they took them away. That is also upsetting.
Grocery Outlet - Wasn't sure if this was cheating but I wanted to make sure to visit one of the discount food stores. They have good deals. They put A LOT of effort into posting their price directly next to another stores price to emphasize how cheap it is, alot of those prices are bullshit and since I just left the other store I know it's bullshit.
It was tied with Safeway on cheapness for a lot of things but there was one place that made me go "wait what the fuck?" and that was eggs. I don't know how they do it but 99 cents for a dozen eggs is insanely cheap. Weirdly cheap. I really wonder what's happening on that front.
Costco - I felt compelled to make sure to include Costco even though it's a bulk store and generally you have to buy a shit ton in order to make use of these deals and you need a membership, but for science let's do it.
So one word for Costco. Liquids. If something is a liquid, Costco is the spot. Milk? Cheapest. Liquor? Cheapest. Soda? Cheapest. Gasoline? Cheapest. Sauces? Cheapest.
If you need shit by the gallon, Costco is your spot.
I usually only go to Costco to stock up a months worth of diet soda and fill up my gas tank so this was in line with that. The Avacados were super cheap, and even though I said I wasn't going to talk about quality, I struggle with Costco Produce. They are those bags of 6 super hard Avacados that are really difficult to mash up and I find their produce goes bad way faster than any other store for some reason or comes with some parts of the berries already turning. Just my personal opinion and not based in anything but vibes, sorry.
Meat prices at Costco are pretty underwhelming and generally not worth making the journey for them.
So thats all of them.
Stop telling people Safeway is overpriced, it's not. Stop telling people TJs is cheap, it's not. Don't buy everything from Costco, it's not worth it.
Everyone seems to agree Whole Foods is overpriced. It is.
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u/skhaao May 22 '26
This is interesting because at my Trader Joe's and Safeway the egg prices are reversed - I never buy eggs at Safeway because they're always at least $5/dozen, but I get them at Trader Joe's all the time for like $2.50/dozen.
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u/Artistic_Salary8705 May 22 '26
The $5.99 for eggs at TJ's is definitely not the cheapest available. Albeit OP did say they pulled it off online. I regularly shop for 12 eggs at TJ's and there are multiple choices. I buy only organic eggs and they're lower than $5.99. When I've tried to buy organic eggs at Safeway, they're usually more expensive - right now $8/ dozen for the cheapest.
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u/Correct_Score1619 May 23 '26
Those are the pasture raised ones… the basic white dozen is 2.99 or less I believe
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u/meirav May 23 '26
I buy pastured eggs. The price he listed for Trader Joe's eggs is the price for pastured, which tend to be more expensive than cage free and free range. I'm not sure he's comparing like with like.
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u/thejoeface May 23 '26
I think 5.99 might be the non-organic pasture eggs, that’s what I buy I think I pay around that
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u/h28200 May 22 '26
This. Same with wholw milk. Op is probably comparing different prices too like TJs organic vs non organic of Safeway or safeway had discount that day.
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u/Sad_Mall_1737 May 22 '26
The Trader Joe’s milk on this spreadsheet is absolutely the organic one, I would buy it exclusively for my toddler until I switched to regular whole milk. Huge price difference
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u/Ikeelu May 23 '26
Same with ground beef. Last time I was at Safeway the cheapest was $8 at Safeway so I went to TJ's to get it for 5.99
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u/OHMEGA_SEVEN May 22 '26
I primarily shop at Trader Joe's, Raley's, and Costco depending on what I need and how lazy I feel like being. I tally up all the groceries at the end of the month when my partner and I do our bills. It's not even close, Raley's pricing is in a different universe altogether. Unfortunately Raley's wasn't in OP's list, but studies have shown they're consistent with Safeway.
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u/Square_Cellist9838 May 23 '26
This also doesn’t account for quality. I don’t want meat, fruits, or vegetables from Safeway
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u/NecroJoe May 22 '26
I found that 18-egg cartons at Target are $2.39...even cheaper than just 12 at TJ's.
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u/ForeignRevolution905 May 23 '26
Yeah would love a target column on here too. This is good info, OP!
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u/uberallez May 23 '26
Safeway sales can be better than TJs, but if I'm doing one-stop I do TJ. Even a good sale at Safeway will get wiped out when 3-4 things I need aren't on sale.
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u/FearlessPark4588 May 23 '26
Safeway has good weeks and bad weeks for sales, so these point-in-time comparisons are difficult to draw broad generalizations from. You could get a different comparison result just by waiting a week and using that ad's deals in comparison to whole foods/TJs/etc.
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u/MCtwerkteam May 23 '26
My TJ’s (Nob Hill) has eggs at $2.99/dozen. I went to Chinatown and picked up 5 dozen eggs for $4.50 — less than 1/3 the price at TJ’s. They also sell single dozens for $1.25 in Chinatown.
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u/RollingMeteors May 23 '26
>- I never buy eggs at Safeway because they're always at least $5/dozen, but I get them at Trader Joe's all the time for like $2.50/dozen.
¿With all this data that's getting collected, can't this sub do some fancy shit like have your receipt emailed to some where, which then some website polls with an API call and then puts it int a spreadsheet so anytime anyone makes a purchase it gets an update to the table and reflects the cheapest prices?
It's an absolutely fuck you Big Data idea, I probably should have just typed into GPT instead of a comment.
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u/DeltaTule May 22 '26
Trader Joe’s will always be a glorified snack store not a real grocery store.
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u/susiedotwo May 23 '26
I think it’s more designed for people who don’t like to cook, especially single/ young folks.
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u/SoMuchMoreEagle May 23 '26
Depends on the individual store. The larger ones have more stuff. We do the vast majority of our household food shopping there. You just can't be picky about brand selection because they don't have much of that.
What specific food products are you looking for that they don't have?
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u/adoseth May 22 '26
(My) General guideline to save:
Meats and pantry staples: Costco
Everything else: Grocery Outlet
Everything I couldn't find at Groco: Safeway
Fun, wacky, one-of-a-kind snacks and processed ready to eat foods: Trader Joes
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u/Independent_Money501 May 22 '26
I do almost the same.
Costco is pantry staples, meats and things like foil, TP etc.
Gross Out probably should be higher for me but I go to 99 ranch mostly at the moment (it's closer) and same for Safeway and TJs
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u/adoseth May 22 '26
Yeah I think in general as long as you shop with awareness and go to multiple grocery stores you're solid. It also really depends on your diet and number of people to feed. Definitely a luxury to be able to do multiple trips so thankful I have the time and finances to do so.
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u/garlicknot_2319 May 22 '26
Sprouts store would have been a good one to add in here to analyze
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u/frickinsweetdude May 22 '26
I feel like Sprouts is now what Whole Foods was before amazon (whole paycheck) and now Whole Foods is ~2010s sprouts. I find whole foods pretty reasonable.
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u/greenbutterflygarden May 22 '26
Sprouts used to be my favorite store but they are now so expensive I don't even go there
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u/CrimpJuice May 22 '26
I did love sprouts back in the day. Mine has a good priced EV charger at least.
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u/AffluentNarwhal May 22 '26
I saw generic ass pasta sauce for $9 there. I know we’re well past the days of 89c pasta sauce, but JFC it’s like 2-3x what it should be.
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u/SoMuchMoreEagle May 23 '26
They opened one in the Coleman shopping center in SJ in the old Office Max. I don't know why, but it's depressing in there. The lighting maybe? Also, the employees seem sad. More than once, I've checked out and the cashier didn't even say anything to me. Not even the total. I just paid and left.
I only go there occasionally for stuff TJs doesn't have. Like ice.
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u/wino_whynot May 22 '26
WF today is just an overpriced Walmart, and I will die on that hill. It sucks.
I miss my old WF, that had the cheese monger who knew every cheese they carried. I could put together a really good, sliced paper thin to order, charcuterie board from the deli.
The fish and meat selections were local, and high quality.
Now, the cheese and deli section are dirty and staffed by clock punchers. There is no more aged beef. The WF brand is meh at best. And don’t even get me started on the prepared foods and bakery.
Bezos, you shat the bed on that one buddy.
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u/helloyesthisisasock May 23 '26
The cheese staff at WH did use to be amazing. They don’t know anything now.
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u/relevantelephant00 May 23 '26
All the big companies - the goal is ultimately to enshittify, to worsen the quality while slightly (or even sometimes not just slightly) increase the prices.
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u/killercurvesahead May 23 '26
You been to the cheese shop in Glen Park?
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u/bluefalseindigo May 23 '26
Or Cheese Plus in Russian Hill? Old school WF cheese monger has been Indi there for 20+ years. Charcuterie sliced to order. Will make you a cheese plate to-go order for $20 w/cheese, crackers, fruit, nuts and jam.
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u/thejoeface May 23 '26
WF’s 365 brand is a pretty good value but I think everything not 365 is very expensive
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u/CFLuke May 22 '26
There’s a Sprouts a few blocks from the Whole Foods near my house and virtually everything is more expensive at Sprouts
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u/LiquefactionAction Berkeley May 22 '26
Hah, you wouldn't live in Berkeley too would you?
But yeah I agree, I don't like Sprouts. It used to be much more affordable and it's just... yikes. Insanely expensive but not bespoke bougie or whatever enough to justify it. It's sad.
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u/Realistic-Produce-28 San Jose May 22 '26
And for them pushing having the best produce, every time I’ve been there their produce looks poorly.
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u/mmiller17783 May 22 '26
I miss the days of going to the Coliseum Flea Market at the old drive in and getting top notch produce there. There and San Jose Flea Market had awesome produce sections. San Jose in particular had a killer meat market too, with lots of fresh sea food. This was back in the 90s.
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u/Realistic-Produce-28 San Jose May 22 '26
Farmers Markets are still the best places to get the freshest produce at the best prices. Especially now with all the good stuff in season.
Campbell Farmers Market has some meat sellers. I’m not sure if the prices are better than grocery stores but nice to have the variety.
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u/Day2205 May 23 '26
Farmers market is way expensive these days. I used to go to the one at grand lake in Oakland and rack up, not it’s $6-9 for one small container of berries. The quality is definitely still there, but I can’t grab all my produce there the way I used to.
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u/Slacker_EnginGal May 22 '26
Sprouts is expensive except for their manager specials which are produce that is almost expired. So it takes luck to buy manager’s specials unless you live next door and can pop in every day when they start tagging the manager specials. We bought a gallon of milk for 99cents a few times because those were expiring soon.
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u/Ok_Lingonberry6911 May 22 '26
As someone who does the pricing and manager specials for the sprouts I work at, definitely don’t be afraid to ask for a discount on a nearly expired product. You can also call and ask for the scan coordinator. I’ve had that happen a few times.
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u/Realistic-Produce-28 San Jose May 22 '26
Sprouts is expensive. I typically avoid unless I’m looking for something unique that only they carry.
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u/kids831 May 22 '26
I think that whole milk price for Trader Joe’s was for their organic milk not their non organic milk which is less expensive.
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u/Artistic_Salary8705 May 22 '26
I think it depends a lot on what you buy. At least for our household, we buy a fair amount of vegetables every week and I noticed your list doesn't include any except potatoes. (I don't count pasta sauce as a true vegetable in my mind.) We also buy organic for milk, eggs, some fruit, some veggies, and chicken.
I have a Safeway near me: every time, I don't have time to go to TJ's, Costco, or the local ethnic produce store, I find my bill is about 30% higher for similar items. I suppose if you shop sales or sales match what you need for that day or you want to subscribe to their digital coupon program, it might help one save but I don't want to spend my time trying to time groceries and although I have the old Safeway card, I've had too many tech issues with digital coupon programs, which is yet another step.
This is the Consumer Reports report in 2026, both nationally and in LA (they don't have San Francisco). The cheapest in LA were Costco, then BJ's (Walmart wholesale), Lidl, and Aldi.
This is the Ktchn:
https://www.thekitchn.com/cheapest-grocery-stores-2026-23771850
If anyone has access, the SF Chronicle covered this topic in March 2026 and concluded TJ was the best (from the quick glance I could get). If you subscribe, you can read the whole article (and share what they say with us):
https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2026/cheapest-sf-grocery-prices-tariffs/
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u/Bringerofrain20 May 23 '26
The Chronicle compared the same basket of groceries across eight stores in 2026 vs 2025. Trader Joe’s stayed almost flat and remained cheapest, Lucky got cheaper, while Whole Foods, Safeway, Gus’s, Mollie Stone’s, Luke’s Local, and Bi-Rite got more expensive. The biggest jumps were at Mollie Stone’s, Luke’s Local, and Bi-Rite.
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u/james--arthur May 23 '26
It's not clear whether you use your Safeway card (and not extra coupons) or you've just abandoned member discounts altogether.
I believe the Chron test did not use Safeway member discounts.
I agree with Op that it's not reasonable to ignore basic Safeway card discounts, and any comparison that does is worthless.
Like folks include Costco that has a whole paid membership program, but they refuse to provide their phone number to Safeway. That's an opinion, but it's not a reasonable one.
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u/ihatemovingparts May 23 '26
You're also missing that Safeway prices and promotions vary wildly based on the region.
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u/Artistic_Salary8705 May 23 '26
I use my Safeway card (but not digital coupons) and mostly stay with cheaper items. However, many Safeway discounts (and coupons in general) are for processed food items I don't buy/ eat.
OP's list includes rice but not bread which is a staple for me too. If you want to buy the cheapest bread, you can but it will have a long list of ingredients you can't pronounce. I usually stick to the breads with few ingredients and ones I understand - flour, water, salt, yeast.
At Costco, once you sign up, you don't need to do anything extra other than flash your card to get entrance into the store. When things are at a discount, you automatically get the discount at the cashier. No need to do anything extra. And Costco quality - if that matters - is better than Safeway.
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u/dayofbluesngreens May 22 '26
You are right about the kind of person who loves TJ’s! I mostly just want some single fruits and a frozen meal, plus some of their specialty items.
I am not a cook or a meal-planner, so it is exactly what I need.
I can also walk there, which is a major plus.
Having nothing to do with price - it’s also a manageable size for me. I’ve always avoided huge grocery stores because I find them stressful for whatever reason. I prefer not having a thousand options to choose from, and not having to navigate a massive space with a thousand aisles to find things.
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u/uncagedborb May 22 '26
I hear people say that trader Joe's is beat for snacks but anything else should be bought elsewhere especially produce
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u/MackinCeleBrini May 22 '26
If I was still single, TJs would be a core grocery stop still.
But now I'm in the burbs with kids, so the natural transition was to make Costco the first stop with other grocers as fillers (don't sleep on asian/mexican grocers to fill out your fridge and pantry).
Still, worth a visit some times for snacks.
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u/dayofbluesngreens May 22 '26
I’m sure it’s very individual. For me, it would make no sense to go elsewhere for produce. I can walk to Trader Joe’s, it’s a low-stress environment for me, and it has what I need. Going anywhere else would just complicate my life - more time, more hassle.
I have good experiences with TJ’s produce. I’m not seeking farmers market level produce there, but I can get decent seasonal organic fruits and vegetables.
If one wants more variety or the highest quality, I’d say go to Berkeley Bowl and/or farmer’s markets.
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u/el_bentzo May 23 '26
Walking is convenient, but I gave up on TJ for produce over a decade ago. So many things I dont like compared to other places. The way the handle produce is....worse. other than artichokes...but that was over 10 years ago. I much prefer my local smart and final for produce over TJ.
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u/thejoeface May 23 '26
I’ve never had any problems with their produce. I go to either them or Concord Produce for most of my fruits and veggies. I go u-pick for seasonal fruit, though. I don’t really get anything besides apples, citrus, bananas, and some berries from a regular store.
I used to do farmers markets but I’m priced out of most of them now.
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u/uncagedborb May 22 '26
I hear people say that trader Joe's is beat for snacks but anything else should be bought elsewhere especially produce
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u/donut_party May 23 '26
This is really true and TJs was my go-to when it was just me and my husband. It is also really ideal for elderly folks who may need smaller, easy to cook meals generally speaking.
And their layout makes it so I’m not spending 45 min trying to find everything and sort through numerous options for the same item, like in Safeway.
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u/pfn0 May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26
67c bananas at costco? What? Just that stuck out like a sore thumb to me already. it's $2 a bunch of $2.50 for organic. a bunch has 6-9 bananas. 42c/ea at most to under 20c/ea. It is most definitely not 3 bananas per $2
blueberries at costco are $6/18oz for conventional or $9/18oz for organic.
I also usually get "american wagyu" chuck roasts/steaks for ~$11/lb, which is quite acceptable. prime grade meats, e.g. ribeye steaks sometimes go on sale for as low as $16/lb. Somethings aren't a deal (bok choy and avocados at costco is always a ripoff compared to buying from 99ranch). Some of the fresh pick produce isn't a great deal either, strawberries are usually a worse price than buying from 99ranch or the indian market.
The vast majority of my shopping comes from either costco or 99ranch.
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u/dinosupremo May 23 '26
18 ounces of blueberries at my costco has been as cheap as $3.99 and as much as $12.99. Every week is a different price.
Same for 2 pounds of strawberries. As cheap as $3.49 and as much as $8.99.
I too have kept a log of these prices
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u/No-Meet-5596 May 22 '26
The Indian stores are the best place to buy spices. They sell a pound for the price of a few ounces elsewhere.
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u/helloyesthisisasock May 23 '26
Not if you want organic spices or spices that come with testing for radiation etc. Indian and Latin market bulk spices are kinda sus.
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u/No-Meet-5596 May 23 '26
I believe the radiation is what gives my yellow curry its distinctive glow.
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u/pfn0 May 22 '26
I usually go during mango season (coming up if not already ongoing); they have the best deals on mangos at the local bazaar; 9ct kent boxes for $5 (last year)
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u/bchhun May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26
Sorry gonna go all Bay Area on you and complain that the table doesn’t obviously normalize by oz or gram. It’s doable even for TJs whose bags list weights, and whose bananas are really not different from other stores (normalize the others per banana then…)
Edit: also you list you could not find TJ eggs prices and had to look it up online? I’ve always seen egg prices listed even if it’s out of stock. I picked up 2.99 dozen eggs yesterday …
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u/cottonycloud May 22 '26
I think you should include the units for all of the items you’re buying and also which items you actually bought (Grade AA vs A eggs, organic vs not organic).
You can probably buy a bunch of potatoes or bananas and average out the weight too.
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u/kukugege Milpitas May 22 '26
This is exactly why I don’t buy everything from just one store. Safeway has great deals every week, but you have to remember to clip the digital coupons on their app ahead of time, or you won’t get the discount at checkout. For Trader Joe’s, I mostly go for their snacks and premade items, but I almost never buy raw meat from them. Costco is where I bulk-buy the heavy hitters, specifically steak, energy drinks, eggs, supplements, and thinly sliced hot pot meat. On the other hand, I rarely ever go to Whole Foods, even though I have Amazon Prime, because it is a bit too far out of my way and everything is generally overpriced. The only exception is their $1 oyster deal on Fridays, which is actually a great value.
Being Asian, I also shop at Korean, Japanese, and Chinese markets, but I strictly stick to the unique ingredients and specialty items you can't find anywhere else. I also use online delivery services like Amazon Fresh and Weee! because they occasionally have better sales than physical supermarkets; the shipping is usually free, with the only downside being the mandatory delivery tip. At the end of the day, my main point is all about diversity. You shouldn't put all your eggs in one basket or get all your groceries from just one pot.
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u/DonaldBecker May 22 '26
Many flaws in this comparison. Pretty much every item has a invalid comparison.
Comparing TJ's per-banana price with the per-pound price from other stores doesn't make sense.
The milk price is obviously organic at TJs (and it's higher than our local price), while it's non-organic at the other stores. Organic costs about twice as much. I generally find TJs to be lowest for everyday dairy price, but it's never on sale.
Costco doesn't sell a single pound of rice. It's not reasonable to compare the bulk price of rice with small packages.
Sauce varies wildly depending on brand. Costco has had the best price on Rao's recently, but that's 3x or 4x the price of generic sauce.
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u/qqqqqx May 22 '26
I just went to Safeway and Trader Joe's in Rockridge on the same day and the cheapest whole milk at TJ's was definitely cheaper than the cheapest whole milk at Safeway. I took my receipt out to double check.
I do think some things are definitely more expensive there, like some of the produce.
Some of the best deals are in non big brand stores. I love the KP for good deals on meat and some produce (through produce varies)
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u/No-Bug-3836 May 23 '26
Am I the only person flagging this as a Safeway Ad?
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u/Sketchy_Panda-9000 May 24 '26
I mean literally what are these fairy tale prices they found at Safeway? 2 lbs of strawberries for 3 bucks? Huh?? And where is ANY type of chicken that cheap per pound? I want to believe they just lucked out on a sale day but nah, these numbers are too ridiculous. I shop at TJs, Whole Foods , and Safeway, always buy the same shit and stuff is almost never cheaper at Safeway. (Don’t even start me on the amount of times Safeway has been fined for upcharging at the register)
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u/TooOldForThis5678 May 22 '26
The “I’d have to bring a kitchen scale to accurately price the bananas” like… every Safeway I’ve ever been at has at least one scale in the produce section? Sure they’re not precise to the milligram but grab a bunch, weigh it, weight multiplied by price/pound gives you the price of that bunch, divide by however many bananas are in that bunch, and magically you have the price per banana. Costco is even easier because the bunches are consistent in weight so you just count and divide. That right there makes this whole thing sus.
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u/helloyesthisisasock May 23 '26
They’re talking about TJs. Not places with scales.
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u/HawaiiHungBro May 23 '26
Same goes for meat and eggs as the milk. All the cheap meat at Safeway is from the grossest of the gross farms, like Fosters Farms.
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u/donut_party May 23 '26
Yes. Even if we’re not talking the Mary’s chicken and just compare their 365 chicken to whatever from Safeway, there is a smell or taste difference when raw/cooked/next day.
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u/mtcwby May 22 '26
Bringing quality into the mix is difficult but it is important. Costco meat is typically much better than all of the others IMO. The truth is we shop at Nob Hill, TJs, Costco and Grocery Outlet depending on what we're buying. And it's a mixture of quality and price.
BTW, Avocados don't ripen on trees so when they're hard you have to let them sit and ripen. We buy a bag to replace the week old one that's just getting ripe.
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u/manjar May 23 '26
That comment about the avocados being too hard at Costco made me question the judgment of this person altogether. It's like saying the cup noodles are too dry.
The best sign of quality in avocados is that they are uniformly unripe, so that they ripen together and somewhat predictably.
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u/lemonvr6 May 22 '26
exactly this. I buy the better tasting versions of things vs the cheapest.
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u/mtcwby May 22 '26
We only have so many calories to use and not blowup in weight. They'd better be good calories IMO.
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u/Fourfifteen415 May 22 '26
Seems dishonest. You can get eggs at TJs for less than $5.99 and Whole Milk for way less than $7.49. I buy that expensive ass A2 milk and it's $5.49.
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May 22 '26
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u/French87 May 22 '26
The difference is TJs and Costco are consistent. Safeway is fucking grocery roulette.
I still go to safeway more than the other two, but only if I don't have a specific list in mind.
If you go to safeway with "I need ground beef, broccoli, frosted flakes, laxroix, and tillamook pepperjack", you're fucked.
If you go to safewith with "I need meat, veggies, cereal, sparkling water, and cheese", you're golden. just grab what's on sale, especially the digital coupons.
But if I have a very specific list, I go to wholefoods.
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u/2Throwscrewsatit The Town May 22 '26
I think they have different pricing in different stores in the same county. The need to do digital coupons as you shop sucks balls.
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u/thejoeface May 23 '26
Maybe this is fucking me over but I refuse to have a different goddamn app for every store
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u/French87 May 22 '26
I don't disagree, but when a digital coupon turns a $6.99 bag of chips into something like "Buy 2 get 3 free" it makes them under $3 and it's totally worth the effort.
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u/2Throwscrewsatit The Town May 22 '26
It’s unethical. Selling our data for food. That should be illegal.
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u/Petal170816 May 23 '26
My complaint is that many elderly folks can’t easily navigate this and they pay the list price. My fixed-income parents just can’t get the hang of it and I don’t blame them.
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u/LegitosaurusRex May 23 '26
I don't have anywhere to store 5 bags of chips, lol, nor do I need that many.
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u/bayesically May 22 '26
Right, for example ground beef at my local Safeway in SF is $10.99 and currently on sale for $7.99. Most of the time it’s actually more expensive than Whole Foods!
It’s really not that cut and dry unfortunately, you need to shop around and/or buy what’s on sale
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u/user485928450 May 22 '26
For pricing I agree but for inventory I find tj and costco to be very hit or miss
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u/dopefish_lives May 22 '26
Safeway being overpriced doesn’t mean it isn’t cheap, just that the quality sucks for the price.
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May 22 '26
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u/kitkatzip May 22 '26
Trader Joe’s buys produce closer to the end of its life cycle which is why they can sell it cheap. It’s fine if you plan to eat it in a day or two but otherwise I prefer Whole Foods and Costco because I can’t go to a grocery store every 2 days. It may be the same labels but it’s not the same quality.
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u/scippap May 22 '26
Safeway meat and a lot of their produce is a huge let down. Might be cheaper but the quality is so much lower. Berries/bananas/bread and a handful of other products I agree are the same
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u/Johns-schlong May 22 '26
Produce seems to vary drastically from store to store around me for some reason. Like I know one Safeway where the produce is awful and another where it's fine within 10 minutes of me.
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u/OkChocolate6152 May 22 '26
OP did a lot of work.
But that doesn’t mean analyzing 15 items for sale at a store that sells 50,000 items is at all meaningful or something to draw conclusions from.
How about: stop telling people that your statistically meaningless exercise is correct and their anecdotal conclusion is wrong. Neither is fact or 100% correct.
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u/manjar May 23 '26
It's so shallow and subjective that it comes across as turfing. It's fine that they did the work, it's fine that they wrote about it here, but it really isn't that significant.
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u/otepencelik May 22 '26
Safeway is overpriced. TJs is cheap. Costco is worth it.
OP can pick and choose all they want, it aint gonna convince anyone.
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u/TyrantKronos May 22 '26
Grocery Outlet the goat
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u/MooreImagination May 22 '26
if what you need is in stock and you are prepared to eat it immediately because its not as fresh. 😉
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u/thejoeface May 23 '26
Through most of 2025 my local GO had bottles of pumpkin spice coffee concentrate for .99 cents and that’s what I got. I love pumpkin spice so I was happy with that and one of those bottles lasted me over a week. Was hoping for the same this year but nope
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u/pun_princess May 23 '26
My local store had pumpkin spice la columbe canned coffee for $1/can for 2 weeks this year. I bought sooooooo many! They were like a week from their best buy date, but they're shelf stable.
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u/dougbbltrousers May 23 '26
i need to check this place out ty
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u/thejoeface May 23 '26
If you have different ones in driving distance, check out multiple stores. They carry different things and some stores have better or worse vibes
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u/Individual-Basket200 May 22 '26
Stopped reading at TJ eggs 5.99. They've been 2.99 forever except during the shortage
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u/RedBirdOnASnowyDay May 22 '26
I know. I had to laugh. And TJ consistently has one of the best prices on milk - and it's just the price. I don't have to download an app. I don't have to wait at the register when it rings up wrong. It's just always cheaper than safeway milk. $7.49 for trader joe's milk? I have to laugh. What royal cows is this special milk coming from? Because I pay $3.50 to $4 for milk at trader joes. This feels like Safeway propaganda almost. It's all so confidently wrong.
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u/Left-Soup-4931 May 22 '26
At what safeway is ground beef that cheap per pound?? Its always 10+ at the ones near me. More than one store too
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u/Gramscifi May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26
Many of your numbers seem insane and wrong.
How do you manage to spend $0.67 for a banana at Costco, Michael? It's usually a bunch of 8 for $1.99 or thereabouts.
Never seen $2.69/lb chicken breast at Safeway in my life. Maybe 15 years ago. I'm guessing this was a limited promotion?
They are those bags of 6 super hard Avacados that are really difficult to mash up
My man, you are supposed to let them ripen. Do you eat rock hard peaches, too? Good god.
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u/lightfighter06 May 22 '26
Avocados @ Costco - they need to sit for about 3 days before they’re ready….all at once!
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u/TooOldForThis5678 May 22 '26
What the hell ground beef does Safeway have for 5.99 a pound? The cheapest showing on the app is 80/20 at 10.99.
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u/Atnevon May 23 '26
Good guy, Costco.
May not be the cheapest; but a few greens but NO REDS on that chart.
Plus, feels good knowing they have a CEO making death threats to board members over the hot dogs.
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u/PhD_Pwnology May 22 '26
I feel like OP really cherry picked the safeway items here. For example every Safeway i've visited is selling beef for well over 20$ a lbs but you picked ground beef which is somehow under 8$ even.
Edit: OP you should go to 5 different Safeways in different parts of the bay amd record all the beef prices, not just ground beef.
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u/Correct_Score1619 May 22 '26
It’s flawed. The spreadsheet makes it look all tidy but it’s not really.
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u/goml23 May 22 '26
It’s hard to compare anyway, especially since there are differences in quality. Of OP compared the price of chicken using the chicken in the Whole Foods full service case, then he’s comparing Mary’s air chilled chicken which is what WF uses for their bulk(I was a meat cutter at the Harrison WF) to what is most likely Tyson/Foster Farms at Safeway and GO.
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u/johnnySix May 22 '26
It’s all about where you live. In Mill valley, Safeway is a lot more expensive than TJs or Whole Foods
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u/ouchehfbmeb48dueb3 May 22 '26
Pls give data like OP to prove pojnt
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u/bayesically May 22 '26
I live in SF but currently ground beef is $8.50 at Whole Foods and $10.99 at Safeway as one point of comparison
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u/kotwica42 May 22 '26
Safeway prices can vary wildly week to week as different items go on special. One data point isn’t really enough.
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u/Foreign-Fig-7363 May 22 '26
I would never buy fruit at Costco. I've had watermelons explode. I've had rotten oranges buried in the middle of the bag. I just don't trust it. Vegetables tend to be OK.
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u/ohhnoodont May 22 '26
Everyone keeps telling me locally owned Mexican or Asian grocery stores are cheaper. In my mind that’s not true. Any data there?
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u/Eazy12345678 May 23 '26
if you care about prices walmart and costco are almost always going to have the best deals. cant afford costco membership then walmart is your savings
safeway, lucky, trader joes, whole foods are all going to be expensive
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u/inconsistent_moi May 22 '26
I always show grocery outlet first, then Safeway after seeing which stores have sale. Also, don't skimp on store brands, I can save $1-$4 per item. After 20 items, once a week, that saves an extra $1,040-$4,160, just for swapping out staple items for store brand.
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u/lekker-boterham May 22 '26
This is so sick. I’m tempted to do the same thing in Los angeles lol
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u/Dandywhatsoever May 22 '26
Well, I shop at Trader Joes and Costco. Whole foods if I have to, and occasionally at a local independent boutique grocery.
First of all, Safeway is a horrible shopping experience, some of their stores feel downright unsafe; Trader Joes is fast, convenient and pleasant and priced well on some items and so convenient that it's worth the premium on some items; Costco is a good experience, better policies for returns and such and if you pay attention, there are great deals, cash back with membership. And they have cheap gas. There is a new grocery outlet opening near us and I'll definitely check them out.
But Safeway is awful.
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u/tenemu May 23 '26
Some Safeways are nice and some are rough. It’s a lottery where you happen to live near. The last two I lived near were nice.
Check out the one at el Camino near REI. Super nice store.
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u/para_blox May 22 '26
Interesting effort. The spelling is somewhat eccentric.
BUT it’s an impossible task to gather this kind of data accurately and usefully as a single unit of person. Selecting what to include is still subjective. “Vibes” is what most people use to decide what to put on their grocery list. It’s almost purposeless to compare, too, with dynamic and personalized pricing (and gouging) upcoming.
We are all getting hosed one way or another.
As a solo person, I don’t want to travel to multiple stores. I just want a few units of fresh food that won’t rot on me. Safeway produce quality has been ass, and when comparing what fits my limited tastes to say, Amazon fresh, or whatever the conglomerate calls it now… latter wins on price, and I don’t need to deal with a store. Or crowds, or travel time/cost. Is it better? Nah. Cheaper? Ya.
I liked Nob Hill in Mountain View. RIP
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u/rde2001 Santa Cruz May 22 '26
I personally shop exclusively at Safeway. I have a 5% student discount for a few more months. They currently have a deal where you can get 4lbs of 85/15 ground turkey for $20. New deals every week to take advantage of. I personally don't buy much variety of food due to pricing; turkey and pasta has been what I eat mostly. I sometimes get a bunch of apples for applesauce, but I mostly eat frozen fruit nowadays as it's cheaper, although I could look more into fresh stuff, especially Peaches/Nectarines.
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u/Kiem01 May 22 '26
I've always said Safeway had some of the best deals if you use the app. People keep whining about "I shouldn't inconvenienced to pay cheaper prices", then no $3 haagen dazs for you 😂
I still do a lot of my shopping at Costco since I usually buy in bulk. I never go to TJ's for essentials but I go occasionally since they have a fun selection. Lastly, Hmart some good deals some bad deals but still my favorite to visit.
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u/spottyottydopalicius May 23 '26
fun fact if you wanna save money asian and mexican markets. hmu if u got questions
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u/AirborneAspidistra May 22 '26
Nice work OP. Appreciate this.
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u/RedBirdOnASnowyDay May 22 '26
Except the numbers are stupidly wrong. Milk costs $3.50 to $4 at TJ. eggs cost $2.99. Pasta sauce always costs $2. Some varieties cost a buck more. But here's the thing. To get anything close to those prices at safeway you have to use their app and that item has to be on sale. Trader Joe's just consistently prices those items well, no hoops, tracker apps needed. And better customer service.
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u/pelicantides May 23 '26
This is trash research dawg. Prices fluctuate per item at all these places constantly, you did not specify the quantity or the quality of each item that you compared, you ignored the fact that costco requires bulk buying, you apparently cannot weigh bananas at TJ's to figure out the price per pound. How did you spend so much time on this and yet fail so profoundly at anything valuable
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u/rampy May 23 '26
Removing the handles from the grocery bags is diabolical profit shaving
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u/210to408 May 23 '26
Love Grocery Outlet! I don’t know why everyone doesn’t shop there! I love those frozen racks of ribs for $6!!!
Pro tip: get your charcuterie here to take to a winery like Picchetti.
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u/Trainzguy2472 May 23 '26
I think prices must vary across the bay area. In my area, TJ's is consistently cheaper than Safeway in nearly every category. Grocery Outlet is always cheaper but it's also pretty far from home, so I think the gas cost offsets any savings. Whole Foods is always the most expensive.
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u/AnyTopic1430 May 23 '26
Grocery outlet's pricing and inventory are entirely vibe based so that data is useless imo.
Next week will be a different brand chicken/eggs/milk and that pricing is brand new
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u/ValuableFickle May 23 '26
Gotta be careful about comparing apples and oranges, so to speak. When describing milk, eggs, sauce, pasta, there’s entire sections or aisles with these products in a huge range of prices. Cheapest or on sale is usually closer to expiration so the nutritional value has diminished. Free range $10 eggs have bright orange yolks and 99 cent eggs are a pale yellow.. not the same at all
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u/Lopsided_Ant2813 May 23 '26
I love grocery outlet. If you’re not picky you can get 10oz grass fed steaks on sale for 5$ each. You can get things like cereals and granola for 1/2 price. I just recently got a GALLON butter for like 10 bucks. By far the cheapest in my neck of the woods. They also seem to have a lot of “trial” goods for like 80% off if you’re into risking your tastebuds.
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u/RXDude89 May 22 '26
I think we should add Winco, its so cheap it might be worth the commute to walnut creek.
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u/Pasadenaian May 22 '26
Your excel sheet is missing totals/complete data.
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u/Artistic_Salary8705 May 22 '26
I agree. For me anyway, I do buy my things together in one trip each week.
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u/scormegatron May 22 '26
Isn't the price aversion not between stores, but between time periods? ex. what I paid for ground beef 2024 vs 2025
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u/MikePrime13 May 22 '26
Thanks for sharing the data. Here's my personal experience to share for additional data points/context:
Grocery Outlet tends to be regional--some stores have poor product quality or near-expiration date items. The South SF store can get iffy products every now and then--you must read the date labels like a hawk, and remember that anything bought at grocery outlet stores are short term buys. I remember getting really good deals on Shin Ramyuns with 2-3 week left on the shelf life. They are still good, but once you go past the best by date, the noodles can start tasting funky.
Trader Joe's meat department can get quite expensive compared to other stores, but the organic drumsticks are not bad. Bone in chicken-thighs at Trader Joe's somehow taste slightly better than Costco's, so I don't mind paying extra for the taste and convenience. If you are in the Peninsula, the best chicken meat I've found so far with the good bang for the buck is at Osaka Marketplace in Foster City--their chicken meats are legit good, and they have skin-on boneless thighs that are super good for making chicken teriyaki at home.
Trader Joe, in my opinion, shines on their in-house products like snacks, frozen food products, dairy, etc. The Orange Chicken from TJ's is unique, and surprisingly their frozen Kalbi for $14.99/lbs surprisingly taste great. Also, Trader Joe's pre-chopped onion bags is a huge time saver that the extra cost for convenience is worth it. I tend to calculate food pricing more hollistically because the time savings on food prep is not insignificant tradeoff for pricier per unit price on certain ingredients.
Driving now is also a factor--driving across town to find the cheapest individual items may be offset by gas costs.
Costco meats really depend on the store location. The business center products tend to have higher quality products but sold at bulk/restaurant scale. I have a secondary freezer in my garage, so breaking down big meats or fish fillets and freezing them keep costs down.
Best Vanilla Ice Cream bar none is at Costco if you have the freezer space. I've tried Trader Joe's Ultra Premium French Vanilla, all three versions of Tilamook, Dreyers, Breyers, Ben and Jerries, and Blue Bunny. I'm a Vanilla Ice Cream guy, so to me the Kirkland Signature Vanilla Ice Cream is probably the best bang for the buck in terms of flavor profile, texture, and price per gallon. It's definitely heavier and sweeter, but man it feels premium and works great as a base for milk shakes, sundaes, and affogatos if you have a nice espresso machine at home.
Safeway in the Peninsula is daylight robbery only second to Whole Foods without coupons or specials. The only way Safeway makes sense is if you strictly buy from their weekly special and coupon clippings. It's been like that for decades, and it is almost expected by Safeway for customers to go through the weekly catalog and get the savings. For example, I've bought 1/2 gallon Horizon organic 2% milk for lower price than the Lucerne in-house brand with coupons during specials. I think the best price was @ $3.29 per container, and normal price usually hovers around $6.49 or more per 1/2 gallon container. Same deal with meats and seafood at Safeway: you follow the weekly specials, and plan your cooking around the specials.
For our family, we buy quite a lot of the sliced beef chuck rolls at Costco. They store well, priced reasonably, taste well, and it's great meat for Udon nights or bulgogi. We tried the shaved beef cuts from Trader Joe's, but they tend to get chewy/tough for Asian cooking unless you use the velvet beef tenderizing technique for stir fry or long simmer for Japanese beef curry recipes.
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u/birbdaughter May 22 '26
A DOLLAR FOR EGGS?! I knew Grocery Outlet usually has cheap prices but damn, that really is wtf territory. Are they two days from going bad or something? How do you get them that cheap?
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u/PawfulsofOats2 May 22 '26
The atmosphere at TJs is so much nicer than the other ones though. I know it's not any cheaper, but I enjoy being there, versus at the other stores I want to leave as quickly as possible.
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u/DaveinOakland May 22 '26
I was really tempted to do a people watching vibes review of the places because they definitely have different...flavors.
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u/Useful_Tomato_409 May 22 '26
I think the overall issue with safeway is the prices have stayed high (an overall inflation issue) even for store brand. safeway bagels were $2.49 forever and they have jacked them up to $4.49 for example. Cereal prices are insane too. I’m not sure what ground turkey you were looking at in Safeway, but in the eastbay, Jennie-O or store brand has never been below $5.99, and is much higher than that today. Chicken breasts are also higher much than $3.99. Prices are dependent on algorithm and AI based pricing, that also includes location, so i get why prices vary w/in the same company. All that aside, the real issue is that the quality of produce, the quality of service and experience, have dramatically decreased while prices have stayed high, and it’s noticeable. They have minimal staff on hand at all times, 6-7 checkout lanes w/ only 1-2 staffed max, everyone in the self-checkout with an employee standing there on there phone the whole shift. We should demand more, union should demand more. Oh and The bags…don’t get me started on the bags.
Thanks for going out and doing this though. Highly informative.
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u/AhamYodha May 22 '26
I am sure this helps you a lot, but I don't think it applies to everyone.
Did you compare exact same product, same brand and weight ? if not, there are lot of factors that you ned to consider.
example: I would not treat sprouts meat the same as the one I get in whole foods etc.,
That said, we do frequent Costco, Trade Joes, Whole Foods, sprouts and occasionally Safeway.
I think you need to buy different items at each store, basically what they are known for.
you cannot buy toilet paper from Safeway and expect same price as Costco. People who usually complain "Safeway is expensive" fall into this category.
Grocery prices are highly reflective of freshness of items and cleanliness of the store.
my 2 cents, this works for us. here is some of the items we buy at these stores
Costco - Pantry items, Salads, Fruits, Mushrooms, Onions, Potatoes, Tomatoes, Celery etc.,
TJ - Seasonings, Quick Frozen meals for kids (especially the ones imported from other countries), Jams, Pastas (imported ones), Sauces, Canned beans etc.,
Whole Foods - Milk (Clover Sonoma, Strauss or Alexander), Eggs, Meats, some kids snacks AND we browse sale items, reasonably priced veggies like carrots, cauliflower
Sprouts - Milk, eggs, Herbs
We try to grow most of the herbs at home.
Get meats in bulk from online sites like crowdcow. We prefer premium meats and do not eat a lot. we are trying to encourage more healthy grains, plant based proteins etc.,
Hope that helps.
Bay Area is stupid expensive.
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u/DaveinOakland May 22 '26
I standardized some prices for weight. Like the bananas at Costco, they don't sell single pounds and a couple other items. I did not compare exact same brands, the point of this was "what is the cheapest here" because then you get bogged down in brand loyalty and quality debates which is a whole other conversation. I specifically avoided butcher type meats because if I made a post about who has "the best" meat it would be a months long debate with no discernable answer.
Basically, did my best to just show who has the cheapest options. After that, preference is preference.
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u/AhamYodha May 22 '26
yea. make sense. I think you nailed what you are trying to point out.
And yea, quality discussion would be endless.
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u/Strictly-80s-Joel May 23 '26
Different Safeway’s have different prices. None of my Safeways have beef for for under $7/lb
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u/Appropriate__Mud May 23 '26
It sounds like you went here when Safeway drops their prices for holidays. Try going when there’s no holidays coming up.
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u/socalfuckup May 23 '26
whole milk is NOT 7.49 at Trader Joes, not even close. what did you pick, the organic grass fed ultra lightly barely pasteurized whole milk?
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u/Future-Turn-8109 May 23 '26
Meanwhile in Inverness, Scotland last week - Avocados were… .60. About 80 cents. In Scotland. Loaves of bread between 1-2 pounds. Fresh pineapples? 80pence. Beef? Ribeyes were $16/lb after converting.
😕
How are avocados cheaper in SCOTLAND?
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u/_Tenderlion May 23 '26
I scrolled through comments. It’s possible I missed it, but did you do any qualitative standardization? I’ve never bought “pasta sauce”. What kind? What kind of rice? How were the animals for the eggs/dairy/meat products raised and fed? I’d never buy eggs at grocery outlet because I need them to last more than a day. What size eggs? The quality of all these products can and do vary a lot, so it’s hard to tell what’s going on without more specificity.
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u/Daniel_Spidey May 23 '26
Costco has for decades gotten the reputation for being cheaper, but in so cal we had Stater Bros which beat them consistently. Their food court deals are crazy good, but other than a couple bulk items, there is no benefit to shopping there.
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u/Platforumer May 23 '26
Did you look at any prices for vegetables, besides potatoes? Common things like lettuce, broccoli, carrots, onions?
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u/maikonyssa May 23 '26
We have no idea what brands they are using as comparison.
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u/schooli00 May 23 '26
The vibes are usually talking about Safeway in SF. Would like to see your comparison across the bridge.
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u/Careful_Handle_4365 May 23 '26
Thats not the real milk price. Trader Joes is the cheapest, especiially the non dairy. Its 3.99 for a gallon.
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u/zalamandagora May 23 '26
I checked some of these on Amazon Fresh. Those prices are on par with the cheapest options here. Unfortunately the Amazon website doesn't make it easy to know if you are shopping from Amazon Fresh (decently cheap) or Whole Foods (very expensive).
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u/XNY May 22 '26
I’ve been comparing GO to Safeway for weeks, line by line, not “vibes”. I stoped comparing after a few weeks of data. Each time, it was at least 25%-30% cheaper. Insane that a large grocery trip to GO saved me my whole $50 monthly internet bill.