The 52 best and worst grocery stores in the country

Walmart's placement is right on the mark. What a horrible place to shop!

Why isn't Macey's in Utah on this list? Personally, I have lived in most of the western US and Macey's has the best selection, price, service and cleanliness of any of the stores I have been in!

Macey's is a Associated Foods corporate owned chain, I'm surprised that they didn't list associated foods or at least their corporate owned flagship stores like Maceys. The independently owned stores in their network have a much greater variation in their quality, and would probably bring down their ratings if the whole network of chains and independents were included.

I don't go to Walmart for the service (although I haven't had a bad experience). I generally know exactly what I want when I go there, they have a good selection, and the prices are great. I can buy bananas at both Maceys (I do like Maceys) and Walmart. They taste exactly the same. But, they're cheaper at Walmart. Level of service either way doesn't change that.

Just how many of these stores are i Utah that was inspected? And how many was in Salt Lake City?

Wegman's, yes!

Now if only they were located around here--or anywhere besides the east coast....

I love shopping at Walmart. . . The prices are right and I don't need "service." I can service myself. If I need directions to find an item, the staff always helps. I'm most interested in paying a reasonable price for a decent product. Why would I want to buy the same item (or a comparable one) and pay more somewhere else? Even if the staff at another store is "friendlier," I don't want to pay extra for a smile.

mayhem mike, I'm glad to hear you can service yourself, and it makes me smile that you do so at Walmart. the prices at Walmart are why everyone shops there, not for the smile as you say.

While I do occasionally shop at Trader Joes, who could possibly say their prices are excellent? I only go there to buy some things I can't find elsewhere. But, their service is excellent as it should be at their prices.

Having moved from Utah to the East Coast area and experience Wegman's, I can't see how their prices could be considered "very good". Some prices aren't bad, but overall they are a high end grocery store. They have an excellent produce, meat and deli selection, but the prices are rather high when compared to other grocery stores.

Other than that, the store is top notch.

We shop walmart as my husband works there. Hyvee was listed I was shocked they are so expensive.

Will never shop at Walmart. Once you understand how they do business with their suppliers, you'll never want to spend a dime at Wally World. I have no problem spending a few more dollars with honorable companies.

Wal-Mart is great for canned, boxed or bagged foods... those are the same pretty much everywhere you go. I won't buy meats or produce there though.

Comparing some of the "best" to not seeing Harmon's on this list is a joke. And you can't call Harmon's too small after looking at some of these. Nearly every Smith's I've been in aren't that clean and have had poor service.

I mostly shop at Harmon's, simply because I can trust the produce and meat. I'll add my review here-

Service: Excellent
Perishables: Excellent
Cleanliness: Excellent
Price: Some of it's a great bargain, a lot of fair, and a few things horribly unjustifiable. (But I gladly pay for friendly, very informative, and a very clean source of my purchased groceries. I make a lot of my own stuff and my goal is making everything myself.

While reading through the whole list I kept thinking..."Wegman's has got to be on here.". Sure enough, number 1! It is an amazing grocery store, and when I lived in upstate NY I would mainly shop there. I agree that prices are a little steeper though.

The only reason I shop at wal-mart is they are open late. The only reason. I've had more bad 'standing in line' for 10-15 minute experiences there. They used to have a CSM who made sure lines didn't get long. Whatever happened to the smocks? and the customer service? Apparently they died with Mr. Walton too. Either way, I have vowed to stay away from it as much as possible. Wal-mart is what is wrong with America. Cheap Chinese goods at near-slave-labor prices. I wish Target stayed open late.