Fred Meyer - No Hot Deli?

Alaska, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. No non-grocery posts.
storewanderer
Posts: 14396
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 299 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Fred Meyer - No Hot Deli?

Post by storewanderer »

Brian Lutz wrote: August 28th, 2022, 11:38 pm I haven't tried the Safeway fried chicken recently (if I ever get lunch at Safeway I tend to get the China Express stuff instead) but I recall that they adopted the old Albertson's recipe (which I thought was pretty good) after the merger. The old Safeway stuff was pretty mediocre. I also had the Winco deli chicken recently and thought that was pretty decent too.
WinCo still has a pretty low price on their chicken. I think some WinCos are still doing a high chicken volume. I haven't had their chicken in quite some time.

Safeway chicken is hit and miss. I had some that must have been real old oil as I was burping up what tasted like chicken skin for about 2 days after consuming some of it. I didn't buy any for close to a year after that, the last batch I bought was pretty good but very lightly/thinly breaded and did not taste anything like Albertsons fried chicken. Almost tasted like a Chinese fried chicken, maybe they borrowed breader from the Asian food tenant they have.

Smiths fried chicken seems to be pretty terrible especially for the prices they charge. They installed new conveyor type fryers somewhat recently (replacing pressure fryers in some cases) and that change was supposed to help but I don't know. The breading can be okay but the meat itself just doesn't taste much at all, and seems tougher than it should be.

Raleys puts out a really, really good fried chicken if you get a location that is breading it in store. That is hit and miss and if they skip breading in store at a given day/time and go to the frozen pre-breaded one, it is not exactly bad but needs to be half the normal asking price for the "quality" of what it is (also far smaller pieces).
Brian Lutz
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1426
Joined: March 1st, 2009, 5:51 pm
Location: Piedmont Triad, NC
Been thanked: 56 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Fred Meyer - No Hot Deli?

Post by Brian Lutz »

storewanderer wrote: August 28th, 2022, 11:56 pm
Brian Lutz wrote: August 28th, 2022, 11:38 pm I haven't tried the Safeway fried chicken recently (if I ever get lunch at Safeway I tend to get the China Express stuff instead) but I recall that they adopted the old Albertson's recipe (which I thought was pretty good) after the merger. The old Safeway stuff was pretty mediocre. I also had the Winco deli chicken recently and thought that was pretty decent too.
WinCo still has a pretty low price on their chicken. I think some WinCos are still doing a high chicken volume. I haven't had their chicken in quite some time.

Safeway chicken is hit and miss. I had some that must have been real old oil as I was burping up what tasted like chicken skin for about 2 days after consuming some of it. I didn't buy any for close to a year after that, the last batch I bought was pretty good but very lightly/thinly breaded and did not taste anything like Albertsons fried chicken. Almost tasted like a Chinese fried chicken, maybe they borrowed breader from the Asian food tenant they have.

Smiths fried chicken seems to be pretty terrible especially for the prices they charge. They installed new conveyor type fryers somewhat recently (replacing pressure fryers in some cases) and that change was supposed to help but I don't know. The breading can be okay but the meat itself just doesn't taste much at all, and seems tougher than it should be.

Raleys puts out a really, really good fried chicken if you get a location that is breading it in store. That is hit and miss and if they skip breading in store at a given day/time and go to the frozen pre-breaded one, it is not exactly bad but needs to be half the normal asking price for the "quality" of what it is (also far smaller pieces).
I went and tried the Safeway fried chicken again today. I thought it was decent, but as you said the breading is rather thin, and it got a bit soggy in the take-out container if you let it sit too long (they serve the 2-piece chicken meals in the "standard" 3 compartment take out container with 2 sides.) Didn't see the hot deli department being very busy, but I did go in a bit before Noon so it was probably before the usual lunch rush. Even though Safeway has a reputation for being expensive $7 for the 2 piece chicken deal is still considerably cheaper than the equivalent KFC or Popeye's meals. There was also a prominent sign for the 8 piece for $5.99 "Cheep Cheep Chicken Mondays" promo.

I think part of the reason Fred Meyer can get away with not running the hot deli is that they devote a relatively small amount of counter space to it compared to the cold deli. Safeway stores here generally have a much larger hot deli section (a large portion of it is China Express) so it would leave a much larger hole in the store if they stopped operating theirs.

I'll get the Winco chicken every so often because my wife will occasionally want to go for the cheap pizza, but I've found that the sauce they use in it gives me really bad heartburn.
storewanderer
Posts: 14396
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 299 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Fred Meyer - No Hot Deli?

Post by storewanderer »

I noticed WinCo has a meal for 3.98 with 2 piece (white or dark) chicken, 1/2 lb side. Not sure what they define as a side but most of their salad offerings are pretty cheap stuff. That is not a bad deal at this point. Their 8pc is currently priced at 7.98.

I think NorCal Safeway is around $8 for that meal and there was an option that came with 2 chicken strips and 2 1/4lb side portions (not very rigid on that 1/4 lb). That can be a deal and also enough food for 2 people as their strips tend to be very large and retail 9.99/lb and their side items are all $5/lb+.

Popeyes in Reno runs 7.19 for a 2pc Dinner (white or dark) with 1 side (about 3 ounces of side...) and 1 biscuit (no drink). This is a fairly recent price increase, the previous price was 6.69 for quite a while. Popeyes app offers $1 side items from 5-9 on Tuesday/Thursday (though this offer doesn't seem to apply in CA). I think KFC is a little bit more expensive, but you can't seem to order any meal without a drink included at KFC.
Post Reply