Seafood City Supermarket — Attraction in Jefferson Township

I'm going to start out by saying that I've never had such a terrible experience at a business, restaurant, store, etc. I wish there was a way to give the supermarket a complete 0 for this particular instance. I'm a DoorDasher who was shopping and trying to find 15 items for a customer yesterday Sun 8/3 starting at around 8:10pm or so.

As it was my very first time going to this establishment, I needed a lot of help finding items and took a while to get things in my cart. I was down to the last 2 items when a young male associate said, "You have 2 minutes before we close at 9pm." As a former Cashier/Liquor Clerk at Mariano's, I figured that was just a simple update. The same young male associate came back up to me a few minutes or so later saying pretty much the same thing and something to the effect of, "We're closed, gotta be done shopping (making a cut off motion with his right hand moving back and forth in front of his throat)."

Once more, as a former associate at Mariano's, and even with other stores, I just assumed this was a simple update for me as a customer and not a requirement to vacate the premises. In my time working at stores, associates were still responsible for checking out customers regardless of the time. I replied to the young male associate, "I have just 2 more items left to get for this customer via DoorDash." Afterwards, and a few minutes or so later, an older female associate yelled, "We're closed, no more shopping! We can't take anymore customers!"

At that time, I didn't appreciate how I was yelled at and replied "I can't get the last items for the DoorDash customer?!" The older female associate went away. Afterwards, another female associate came up to me aggressively saying, "You were told 3 times that we're closed!" I repeated pretty much the same thing (getting even more upset) that I just said to the older female associate, "I know you're closed! Can I shop and get these the last couple items?!"

Finally, a Manager by the name of Sol came up to me and said, "The store is closed! We can't take anymore customers, the registers are shut down, and we can no longer complete a sale." At that time, I began to walk towards the end of the store aisle I was in alongside that Manager. At this time, I continued to walk (with exiting in mind), but Ms. Sol said, "If you don't leave, I'll call the police!" At that point, I was completely livid and said, "Are you serious?! What's your name?" She showed me her name tag and said her name.

I then said, "I'm going to talk to your superior!" Ms. Sol replied saying, "Uh huh! Yeah! Yeah!" in a very nasty and nonchalant tone. I went ahead and continued to walk towards the store exit since I was threatened with the police being called on me. Before leaving completely, I quickly told the associates that I've never been treated like this anywhere in my life and I wasn't trying to cause trouble. Despite saying that, the majority of associates lacked empathy and were very nonchalant as well. By the time, I officially left the store, it was about 9:15pm ish or so.

Again, as this was my first time in this establishment, I didn't know or understand there was a strict closing time where customers couldn't remain in the store or shop (until Ms. Sol made it very clear). I think the other associates could've articulated that store protocol more.

I might not be the owner, but it seems like this is bad for business. In my mind, it's crazy to just expect customers to get out of the store whether done shopping or not. There was entirely no need for the majority of female associates to be that aggressive and for Ms. Sol to threaten me with the police when I began walking to exit the store. I truly hope DoorDash never asks me to deliver from there again and I would never want to return there to be...

Love it here!! As a professional cook I'm thoroughly impressed with this place. For me the highlight of the entire store is the produce! So many fun things to choose from, all fresh and cheap! I especially enjoy the frozen produce section with harder-to-find veggies like zucchini flowers, bamboo shoots, palm hearts, banana leaves (for grilling/wrapping) and more. If you're vegetarian or vegan and you're looking for inspiration, this place will provide it!

The seafood is great too, of course - finally somewhere to buy good fish in this city! The last time we went, we got a bluefish and a red snapper, both of which were fresh and fairly priced (12 bucks for both)! Especially popular are the little blue crabs dancing around in a bucket, ready to fight you but also ready to be eaten. The whole bucket was gone in half an hour. Other great things about the seafood department:

The staff will gut and clean your fish for free. If you're there on the weekend when it's busy, I recommend choosing your fish, dropping it off for cleaning, doing the rest of your shopping, and then picking up your fish when it's ready. It should take around 15 minutes which is totally understandable. The fish selection is huge. I haven't even heard of a lot of the varieties - but I wouldn't hesitate to try anything. I have always known bluefish to be brash and pungent and the one we bought was fresh, sweet and mild. They will hook you up with ice in a nice thick plastic bag to keep your fish cold on the way home. And there's a fun frozen section, which comes in handy if you're looking for shrimp or squid!

The dry goods selection is equally great - every condiment, oil, noodle, and broth you could want.

Overall the place has a great vibe, and it's super cute to see folks lining up for the sago drink bar and playing bingo (featuring a bilingual host!) while eating their snacks from the food court. Very fun shopping...

Update: I reviewed before realizing Grill City gave us undercooked meat. This lechon should be firm and crunchy. If you look at the pictures available, they’re different (dirtier) from what you see in the store currently. It’s a high traffic area, you’d think there would be staff available to dry the floors, wipe down the tables, etc. We won’t be returning to Seafood City (the majority of products are not seafood), and definitely not Grill City. You’ll be able to find better dishes elsewhere around the Chicagoland area anyway.

The store and seating/ eating area is dirty, and the floors are wet. I saw one person cleaning the entrance of the store upon entering, but I’ve not seen anything since then. We ordered food in advance, and spoke with a rep from Grill City FOUR times before they brought part of our order, COLD. The first time, we gave the receipt as proof, but they took it and kept it. The Grill City Street food stand was mediocre at best, not fresh/ food wasn’t moving or getting eaten. I don’t recommend ordering food from here. Other people currently in line have a two hour wait for the order they placed today.

At Grill City, the food was old and dry- for as many people as there were in line, the food in the quick serve was not moving or getting replaced. CrispyTown had fresh lechon and “okay” egg rolls. Everything else was picked through and old. Slim pickings.

There was a lot of over- cooked food in the quick serve line at Grill City.

The variety of the food was good- not only Filipino,but a wide variety of Asian food. The check out lane was quick and okay. Not cheery/ friendly, not terrible, not outstanding.

I’d rather drive over to Niles for a Filipino or...