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Tag: safeway (Page 1 of 4)

Safeway is a super market chain operating in Northern California under that name and in Southern California under the name Vons. From time to time it buys other chains or is itself acquired by others. It’s hard to keep up. It’s the closest full size supermarket to my house, and the only one that does pick-up/delivery without a third party, so it’s where I do most of my shopping.

Tate’s Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies review

March 11, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Not bad, but too sweet

Tate’s cookies were on sale at Safeway, and while I’m not usually a cookie buyer, I was curious to give these a try. They looked pretty fancy and the regular price was quite high. I thought they were good for a commercial cookie, but not something to write home about.

The cookies are smaller than similar ones – those from Pepperidge Farms, for example – which is not a bad thing for those who want an occasional sweet treat and can limit themselves to just one. They are crispy, which I enjoyed, though they also sell “soft” cookies. Flavor wise there were hints that reminded me of the homemade cookies my aunt used to make, but just hints. Mostly, they were sweet. They didn’t have enough walnuts – or large enough pieces of walnuts – for either their flavor or texture to push through.

I did like that the cookies have mostly natural ingredients: unbleached flour, semi-sweet chocolate chips, butter, white and brown sugar, walnuts, eggs, salt and baking soda. It does have added “natural flavor,” whatever that is, and I think it probably takes away rather than add to the quality of the cookie. There is a lingering sour/metallic taste that I don’t quite like (it could be from too much baking soda too).

I appreciate that they come in an easily resealable package so that they can stay fresh. Each portion of 2 cookies has 150 calories, 16 grams of carbohydrates, 11 grams of sugar (21% of daily value!) and 9 grams of fat.

Signature Select French Toast Sticks Review

March 10, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Terrible in every sense – except for taste

I shouldn’t have bought these French Toast Sticks at Safeway. I was planning to get plain old frozen waffles to have as a snack mid-morning, when hunger finally hits me but I feel it’s too early to actually have lunch. But then I saw these and I was curious. Curiosity killed the cat.

These French Toast sticks are bad nutritionally. The serving of 4 sticks – equivalent to a single thick slice of bread, has 310 calories and 40 grams of carbs – and that’s before you dip them in maple syrup. They don’t seem to contain any egg. As far I can tell, they are made by dipping bread slices in soybean oil and then dusting them with a batter made of flour, sugar, water and other ingredients with caramel and turmeric for coloring. They are probably then fried once more. And they are expensive if you compare them with the cost of making French toast at home, even if you use now-expensive eggs and milk. The package of 12 sticks, equivalent to 3 thick slices of bread, is $4. And you can’t cook them in the toaster. When I got them, I thought I’d be able to cook them just like frozen waffles, but these have to be cooked in the oven, toaster oven, air fryer or microwave.

My first time, I tried them in the air fryer and God, were they good! They were crispy outside and melt-in-your-mouth soft inside. The perfect texture. Dipped in maple syrup (and you don’t need much of it, given how much sugar they have to begin with), they were just delicious. Alas, because they are mostly carbs I was left hungry not too long after. In all, I don’t think I’ll buy them again, but I enjoyed them when I had them.

Safeway Bakery Cinnamon Rolls With Cream Cheese Icing Review

October 6, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Delicious, after microwaving

Safeway has these cinnamon rolls with cream cheese icing on sale for $2.50 every few Fridays (regular $6), and I got them several weeks ago. They are very good – as long as you microwave them first. They are semi-freshly made, so they don’t have the annoying, metallic preservative taste of the ones that come in a can and you need to bake yourself. They are obviously not as good as home made ones, but they don’t require the work either.

I love cream cheese frosting, so I loved this, but it is ridiculously sweet, so I can’t eat more than a bite. Still, it’s a very good bite.

Safeway Tuxedo Truffle Cube Cake Review

October 6, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Restaurant quality dessert.

Every Friday, Safeway has a bunch of items for $5 – among them, a bakery item. They usually rotate among a half a dozen of choices, but I was happy to find a new item this week: cube cakes. These are large, 13 oz, square portions of tall layered cakes in several flavors. They usually sell for $8. Obviously, they are large enough to share.

My closest Safeway didn’t actually have any of these available on Friday, so I had to get them from the larger Safeway a few miles away. It was worth it. The Tuxedo Truffle Cube Cake, at least, was absolutely delicious. You’d be happy to get it as a dessert at any restaurant.

The cake included layers of moist white and chocolate (I think) cake, and chocolate and cream cheese mousses. The chocolate ganache layer on top was absolutely delicious, it tasted of a deep chocolate fudge, but the strong flavor was mellowed by the rest of the lawyers. The cake was lighter than it looked and just tasty.

Overjoyed Madelines Review

October 6, 2024 / / 0 Comments

A nice take in a favorite

My daughters love Madelines. I started getting them for them when they were very little and we’d stop at Zocalo coffeehouse for a snack and play. The little cookies/cakes were the ideal size for toddler and preschoolers and even elementary age kids. Plus being small, they weren’t too expensive.

For quite a while now, Safeway has been selling these overjoyed/Safeway Select madelines boxes, baked by Sugar Bowl Bakery. I buy them for my daughter when they go on sale for $5, which happens every few Fridays. She loves them. They taste very much like the ones she remembers from her childhood. They are like a dryer, denser sponge cake, hard enough to withstand dipping but soft enough to eat on their own. Flavor wise, they are better and much cheaper than the ones we got at Trader Joe’s.

Gino’s East of Chicago Deep Dish Supreme Pizza Review

September 25, 2024 / / 0 Comments

It wasn’t bad

I love Chicago deep dish pizza, so when I saw  Gino’s East of Chicago Deep Dish Pizzas for sale at Safeway a few months ago, I got very excited and got two of them. I absolutely hated the plain cheese pizza. I thought it tasted only of a bad pasta sauce and couldn’t stand eating it. Thus I was very wary to cook and eat the supreme pizza. It sat at the bottom of my freezer for months. But it was occupying valuable freezer space and, having waited so long to do something with it, I didn’t feel good about giving it to someone else. So I baked it.

Imagine my surprise at finding that this pizza wasn’t bad. I won’t say that it was particularly good either. It didn’t have the overwhelming cheesiness of great Chicago style pizzas. But it was perfectly edible. The sauce, so offensive in the cheese pizza, could not compete with the flavors of the sausage, onions and green peppers, and thus could be ignored.

I still didn’t love it, so I don’t think I’d order it again, but I’m glad the pizza didn’t go to waste.

Pizza Reviews

Signature Cafe Smoked Rib Tips Review

September 20, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Not bad when on sale

Every Friday, Safeway has a bunch of items on sale for just $5 – and these always include a deli entrée. Sometimes it’s chicken in some permutation, sometimes it’s their sandwich, and sometimes it’s ribs. Lately, they’ve been featuring “rib tips“. They are usually $10.50/lb though I only buy them when they’re on sale for $5/lb.

They are pretty good. Nobody would confuse them with E&J’s, but the rib tips are tasty and not overly fatty. They can be a little tough, however. The BBQ sauce is pretty standard – what I now know is Kansas City style. Even my daughter likes them.

Signature Select Ultra Thin Crust Garlic Chicken Alfredo Pizza Review

August 21, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Pretty tasty

I was surprised at how tasty this pizza was. I don’t usually like thin crust pizza, but it is a great way to save carbs. And this one is really ultra thin. The cheese and the alfredo sauce combined so that it looks like there is a lot of cheese. It was flavorful and loved the little bits of oregano. The caramelized onions provided the occasional burst of sweetness. The chicken didn’t contribute much more than protein. In all, I’d get it again.

Regular price is $7, but I got it on sale for $4.50

Father’s Table Variety Cheesecake review

August 8, 2024 / / 0 Comments

OK when it’s on sale

The Father’s Table is a company based in Florida which makes commercial cheesecakes and roll cakes for sale at Safeway and other supermarkets. Their 6″, 1lb cheesecake sampler goes on Friday sale at Safeway every few weeks for $5 (from an $11 regular price), along with their Signature Select cheesecake sampler, and I often get it then. Safeway makes many of their products at home, but given the similar packaging, pricing and taste of this cheesecake with the Safeway Brand, I’m betting Safeway’s cheesecake sampler is manufactured by The Father’s Table as well.

This is an OK, but not great, cheesecake. First, the cake is too thick and too dry. This particularly variety has a chocolate flavored cake, which is somewhat better than the graham one, but still not a winner.

The cheesecake itself is competent but not wonderful. It’s a little on the firm side, and with so many additional flavors, its not always easy to detect that of the cheesecake itself. Still, as an occasional treat it’s not bad. Particularly for $5.

O Organics Traditional Hummus Review

August 5, 2024 / / 0 Comments

A good, solid hummus

I wasn’t a huge hummus fan back when I first tried it, during my year abroad in Egypt. I much preferred tahini by itself. Over the years, however, hummus has grown on me, and I often have it as a snack. I’ve tried a lot of different brands, and I can’t say that any of them stand out. Then again, why would they? Hummus is just a mixture of chickpeas, tahini (sesame paste) and oil, with some salt, lemon juice and garlic for flavor. There are, of course, a wide array of flavored hummuses – but I prefer the traditional.

Organics is one of the home brands for Safeway/Vons supermarkets (currently owned by Albertsons, slated to be sold to Kroeger’s). This O Organics traditional hummus was pretty good, though not special. It’s smoother and has a less chalky consistency than other commercial hummus, and a it features a brighter lemon juice flavor – even though lemon was listed as the next to last ingredient. It also does contain citric acid. The flavor was smooth, and it seemed to have a good ratio of chickpeas to tahini. It uses canola oil, which is not the best, however.

At $6 for the 10-oz tub it’s on par with other supermarket hummuses (which have become quite expensive lately), but I bought it on sale for $4. I’ll get it again when it’s on sale, but I wouldn’t pay full price for it (or for hummus in general – there is usually a brand on sale, or I can just get it at cheaper stores).


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