Food Basics

My husband just come back from your store with haddock (Catch of the day), the fish has freezbur and looked like it was freez so money times. Freez fish even twice can lead to changes in texture and flavor, and there's an increased risk of bacterial growth if proper thawing and handling procedures are not followed. Consuming double frozen fish may result in potential food safety concerns.

Selection is limited, and prices are not as low as other retailers, especially concerning fresh meat.

A buddy and I (Dharvinder Singh) came here in November 2023 to purchase Food Donation Bags for the less fortunate. The Manager Don and his awesome staff were very helpful and had the requested 100 bags of Donation Bags ready the next day! They also contributed a few bags of their own to the cause! Hats off to the staff at this store! And thank you again from us and the beneficiaries of the food!

Good sale prices on produce and some specialty items. Not much for fresh baked items but decent enough. Bring your own bags. Better prices on half the items compared to a Loblaws.

I love the convenience of this store but unfortunately the shelves are never stocked, sale items never available and their own brand of chips never available. Anytime I inquire I’m told it’s on tonight’s truck so available tomorrow. Well like the old song says “Tomorrow never comes! ”

You need to do better and please don’t tell me it’s because of Covid, that excuse is long over.

Cleanest food basics I've been in, in a while. It was well stocked. The cashier was pleasant and the prices were decent. Will definitely return.

Always clean. A great selection at good prices. Nice produce also. Always can find a staff member to answer questions.

Women that works at self checkouts around 3: 45PM (07-21-22) went out of her way to pound on the plexiglas besides till 2 to tell me I need to put the basket in front of the till not take it I wasn’t even planning on taking it? Just a rude person not sure why she would be taking care of the self checkouts.

This store had really turned around for a while, was clean and well stocked. Sadly it has fallen back to its old ways. The store is generally filthy. It sells food.and it's filthy. Produce is often on the verge of spoiling, so you have to really watch what you grab and be sure to use asap. Again, inspect everything you buy, on multiple occasions I've seen spoiled packs of meat and have had the misfortune of buying expired milk. Unfortunately I was in a rush and didn't check the dates, and surprise! Foul smelling old milk! Clearly no one is checking dates on stock, the dairy/milk section is so dirty and there are often loads of empty milk crates and no new product stocked behind. Sadly, this really is one of only 2 grocery store options in Hespeler, so it seems regardless of how the store is run, they will do business as people have few options. Buyer beware.

Update February 8,2022 - New store manager named Don, the rudest person I have ever encountered and I will not be returning to this store to do my shopping.

I can see from previous posts that it is very common for this location to only have 2 cashiers on, when the entire world is in a chaotic state you would think that on a Friday morning they would have more than 2. I shopped at this store yesterday morning (Friday, March 28,2020) and was appalled that there was absolutely no social distancing by either the staff or the customers. They have taken no measures to ensure this is being done other than a few floor stickers near the 2 cashiers that were working.

The line up was all the way down the frozen food aisle to check out.

After sending a letter to Metro head office to voice my concerns, I received the generic, "thanks for your email, we take these things seriously and we apologize for your experience but hope to see you soon".

Way to go Food Basics, you could learn something from your competitors who are doing 100% better in this crisis.

I will give props to the cashiers who have to work in these conditions.

Unbelievable!

Always out of stock of their flyer items and only ever have 1 cash register open, no matter how many people are in line

Consistently well stocked for a smaller location. Friendly staff good prices. Hardly ever a line up. Self check out for under 20 items.

I'm not a frequent shopper at Food Basics, however I have to admit that my experience today was appreciated by a simple selfless gesture.
A cashier attendant by the name of Joanne assisted cashing me out. In the midst of me setting my groceries on the the conveyor a bag of samosas opened and made a mess. Though I grabbed everything and handed it off to Joanne, so that she can show he management team. She politely asked if I would like to grab another bag of samosas. I quickly hopped on the chance and made the best of it.
When I got back my groceries were all bagged and ready for me to pay. She didn't have to, but she did. I offered her a tip, and she politely refused. Stating that it's not allowed, whether or not it's true I didn't argue. As thankful as she was, I was even more thankful. After a long day, her small gesture of kindness was very much appreciated.

If the management team would be as so kind to buy Joanne a coffee, tea, or hot chocolate? That would be amazing!
Not because she bagged groceries, but because she didn't have, yet she did.

Thank you Joanne!

Shelves, freezers, produce are always neatly stocked. Staff very helpful and friendly. Their selection of ethnic foods is decent but could be better.

Was pleasantly surprised with the selection in this store however I wasn’t able to get a couple things. Staff were nice and store seemed clean.

Very clean with excellent staff. Some customers do not follow guide lines and in a daze while shopping and rude when you mention they are going the wrong way

My local grocery store.
No complaints here, they usually have stock of sale items. Staff are helpful and the store is usually clean.
***Had a really meaningful conversation earlier this week with Ryan, the store's assistant manager. Over the years, I've observed Ryan to be caring and considerate to his staff- and it's plain to see why they seem to really enjoy his leadership. I've also noticed Ryan working on shelves, cleaning up and just always being present to know what's going on in his store.
It's people like Ryan that will enable my family and I to continue to do 95+% of our grocery shopping at this location.

Thanks again!

Has good sales, staff is very nice, some items go out of stock fairly quick is my only downside

Not a bad place, except they had boxes of food that were opened and they didn’t seem to care. Which seems like a health and safety issue to me … either you would think they would take it off the shelf or put it on clearance. Especially during this pandemic, instead the worker offered to glue it shut or tape it for me what if someone had their hands in the box. Ryan the manager didn’t seem to care about the issue.

Store is clean and well organized. In addition, they regularly have excellent deals and you will find yourself getting true value for your money. This location is highly recommended!

It's among the few stores which we used to visit too often as a household - found it amazing but yes I would say sometimes or may be mostly, it runs short of inventory and sales are not as attractive as they were used to be. As per their history of offering good deals, we expect much from Food Basics.

Little busy there today, people walking around without direction. Guess we're all tired of following the guidelines. Shelves were all stocked, so got what I needed and got out.

Besides being clean what I like most is the Covid safely rules. When checking out no one else can bag their groceries beside me. I go out of my way to shop at Food Basics situated at Franklin/Jamieson Parkway!

I prefer the Jameson Parkway location. The staff are super friendly, the store is well laid out. They do an excellent job with all the covid19 safety protocols.

Always liked this store
Prices are reasonable
Staff are friendly and caring
The store follows all covid restrictions for everyone's protection.

It is what it is. It's got all of the basics. Good place for staples. You'll need to head somewhere else for any specialty grocery items.

Self check out is not really working here, it's poorly implemented, not enough space to put your things and produce takes forever to scan. I am now using cashier's lanes, which they only have two now. Sad.

I would give ZERO stars to management if I could. There were about 45 to 50 people lined up to get checked out. They had 2 cashiers on. One was the Express lane. They were also responsible for the lottery counter. There was one cashier monitoring the chaos in the self check out section. Poor employees were stressed to the max. They kept their composure which I admire but it was very unfair for them to be overloaded. Manager could have went on a cash but did not. Very poor customer service on management's part. Hats off to the 3 cashier's that held it together in the rush.they deserve 5 stars.

Great value, the selection is a little lacking in the meat department and could use a little help in the fruit and vegetables area. Overall though, I will be shopping here from now on. I even asked staff to help me locate a couple of items, with no problems done happily! At the cash I tested the cashier out by telling her that I couldn't locate canned beets.she was on the PA.and I had canned beets on the belt in minutes! Great overall experience.

Prices are good on the flyer specials but high on the ones not on special. And the Hespelar store is not good for stock on the specials.

Very bad experience when I told staff she was killing fly front of me instead complaining to the Manager or the supplier

Food Basics has reduced their check out lines, makes for a stressful end of shop as they don't hold a full grocery load

Haven't shopped at a Food Basics for quite some time but today I ran in and filled a cart. You really do save a good chunk of change at Basics. I figure I saved well over $50!

This place is a bop and a half! I want chicken, I get chicken. Would reccomend 100%. Great vibes from this place and staff. The cashiers in particular are so friendly and courteous. Again good chicken from this place.

Store is vast;y improved over what it used to be. Staff is efficient and friendly. Good selection. I wish isles were slightly bigger but its a small store.

I survived, 5 stars for surviving. Also they have a pretty good selection of energy drinks. Parking lot is a bit of a nightmare due to the proximity to the old age home in the area.

A great place to shop for a family of four and stick to a budget. I like how the fresh meat is packed in recyclable trays (like the ground pork).

Clean, better selection than I expected. Meat department is not thrilling - I'll continue to get steaks from Farm Boy or Costco.

I agree with others posting reviews. A month to expiry whipping cream that is bad. I think it’s the run down open fridges. It’s dirty in that area. Apples that are rotten and manager saying no other kind of apples wth. Those are basic grocery items. Sort of poorly managed store. Needs an upgrade. No choice cuz of location. It’s a hit or miss kind of store

Bought yogurt there today. I should have checked the expiry date in the store (although I shouldn't have too!) as when I got home I found one of them is 3 days past the best before date.

This store consistently fails to remove expired milk/juice/cheese and yogurt products from their shelves. On numerous occasions over the 8 years I've shopped here I've brought this to the attention of the dairy dept worker, and been assured the issue would be resolved. I've witnessed the dairy workers put the expired items I've removed for them back on the shelf. Meat products will often go bad LONG before their best by dates indicating improper handling of meat some where in the supply chaing. You can't shop here for produce on a Monday morning even by 9am, their produce dept will not be stocked. Who runs out of bananas, and onions? Can you get more basic than bananas for crying out loud? I keep shopping here due to it location, but I've had enough. After today's visit when I waited almost 10 minutes in line to check out, then was told that lane was now closed (with no warning or sign), I'm done. There are too many other choices in the area to keep trying this poorly run and managed store.

This store isn't as good as other food basics. Staff are super friendly but they lack many products that can be found at other FB

Good sale prices on produce and some specialty items. Not much for fresh baked items but decent enough. Bring your own bags.

Pretty good selection of most items you need and people there are very helpful and friendly with good prices

We went to Zerhs to get some turkey time bread for stuffing the turkey. Which was the only place in past yrs that i could find it. We went through 5 workers before i found out there was none.
It was a zoo in there. As we had wandered around and checked the prices we were in disbelief at the prices.
We then went to Food Basics and as we walked in there was the bread. I was so relieved.
It was busy but not wall to wall people walking at a snails pace. There was a steady flow of people walking in and walking out.
I always shop there. And our experience at Zerhs just confirmed our loyalty.
If you are looking for Turkey time bread - Food Basics has it.

It's alright for a food basics. Not the best kept in comparison to others but it's in a convenient location. I'll go here if I need a thing or two and I'm in the area but won't go out of my way to come here. Affordable prices and a reasonable selection.